Diablo III: Don't Forget To Eat Today

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I will believe D3 is 'dead' when Blizzard announces it. Besides, I still have fun with it, so it doesn't really matter if they are done developing it yet or not.

I'm also guessing the next expansion will be the fall of Imperius and the BBEG being Wrath. It is about the only part of the Prophecy left that hasn't been addressed yet. Rise of the Nephelim would also be amusing. Doubly so if they can get the AI on certain character builds correct and you have to basically PvP against other 'characters' with default gear and skills.

[The Glyphstone]

Personally, I'd like to see them subvert what everyone is expecting, and not have Imperius go evil. Valor will turn to Wrath, but what if instead of just being Maltheal 2.0, the new Archangel of Wrath just decides it's up to him to singlehandedly solo Hell, and ends up trapped/stranded/imprisoned? The nephilim are the only people immune to the loss of Valor from the world and the lack of Wrath to take its place, so it's up to them to mount a rescue expedition and restore Imperius before Diablo can do whatever horrible evil Macguffin Ritual requires the sacrifice of a member of the Angiris Council, like resurrecting Tathamet or something. Imperius is such a jerkwad in D3 that I want something other than the blatantly obvious, just because.

[Dhavaer]

Have two-handed weapons been buffed? I just got a staff, only 3 levels higher than my wand, that gave me at 66% increase to sheet damage.

[huttj509]

Have two-handed weapons been buffed? I just got a staff, only 3 levels higher than my wand, that gave me at 66% increase to sheet damage.

Buffed since when?

Last couple months? Yes. 2H weapons got a significant damage boost. I'd quote patch number but I'm too lazy to look it up (was it 2.1?).

[Psyren]

Patch 2.2 stuff!

- New Bounties!
- New Goblins!
- New Legendaries! (Meaningful ones!)
- New 6pc sets!
- New rift maps!
- New.... file type?

Only minor class changes though. Boo.

[Anxe]

Where's my new dye colors? I want to have an actual rainbow dye instead of just coloring each piece a different color!

[Derjuin]

Patch 2.2 stuff!

- New Bounties!
- New Goblins!
- New Legendaries! (Meaningful ones!)
- New 6pc sets!
- New rift maps!
- New.... file type?

Only minor class changes though. Boo.

Whoa, they are getting rid of MPQs? I remember fiddling with those back in Starcraft...

@legendaries/sets/new bonuses: Hooray, hopefully this'll bring a bit more diversity to the game. I don't think they will be able to top Furious Charge's versatility and synergy potential for barbarians, though... it's hard to argue with crowd control, very fast movement and massive damage all at the same time.

[Psyren]

Whoa, they are getting rid of MPQs? I remember fiddling with those back in Starcraft...

@legendaries/sets/new bonuses: Hooray, hopefully this'll bring a bit more diversity to the game. I don't think they will be able to top Furious Charge's versatility and synergy potential for barbarians, though... it's hard to argue with crowd control, very fast movement and massive damage all at the same time.

Indeed - and it's not just fast movement, but it's movement through enemies, letting you use it for offense and defense. I doubt my build will change much.

But regardless of what the new sets and legs do, they present new transmog opportunities, so I'm looking forward to them for that reason if nothing else.

[Seerow]

So I started playing again last week to see what I could do with Season 2. I rolled a Monk because it was the only melee class I haven't played yet, and so far I'm really enjoying it. I didn't find out until I was already 70 and pretty far along into gearing that it is apparently the new FoTM. I hate it when I roll FotM without intending to, especially when every random game I join has 1-3 other lightning monks dropping the super lightning bells. (seriously, it's pretty nice. 20mil crits in mediocre gear, plus ongoing damage. Now I just need a Lightning Elemental Gungdo's to start dropping shocking grasps in aoe groups for massive damage)


Anyway, I thought the topic title of this thread was a joke. Then yesterday I'm rifts in public games, just moving along farming... when around 4pm someone in the group says "Yeah I should probably get off and go grab lunch, I'm starting to get dizzy"

I immediately thought of this thread and couldn't stop laughing for a solid 5 minutes or so.

[NineThePuma]

It IS a joke. Because whatshisname, the angel dude apparently has to be reminded to eat and occasionally forgets, but yeah, gamers in general are good at forgetting they have bodily functions.

[The Glyphstone]

Thus making it appropriate on multiple levels.

[Psyren]

So I started playing again last week to see what I could do with Season 2. I rolled a Monk because it was the only melee class I haven't played yet, and so far I'm really enjoying it. I didn't find out until I was already 70 and pretty far along into gearing that it is apparently the new FoTM. I hate it when I roll FotM without intending to, especially when every random game I join has 1-3 other lightning monks dropping the super lightning bells. (seriously, it's pretty nice. 20mil crits in mediocre gear, plus ongoing damage. Now I just need a Lightning Elemental Gungdo's to start dropping shocking grasps in aoe groups for massive damage)


Anyway, I thought the topic title of this thread was a joke. Then yesterday I'm rifts in public games, just moving along farming... when around 4pm someone in the group says "Yeah I should probably get off and go grab lunch, I'm starting to get dizzy"

I immediately thought of this thread and couldn't stop laughing for a solid 5 minutes or so.

I barely see any monks. The FotM is almost certainly Demon Hunters with sentries and Marauders.

[Seerow]

I barely see any monks. The FotM is almost certainly Demon Hunters with sentries and Marauders.

In Seasons?

Monks are ridiculous because of the Gungdo bracer, that makes exploding palm absolutely ridiculous.

[Kerrin]

Looking for a bit of witch doctor level 70+ advice...

What sets should I be looking for?

I already have a Mask of Jeram (not a set but very nice itself) and the set that summons the three companions (templar, sorcerer, thief).

Is there an outstanding set for the witch doctor I should go delving for?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Looking for a bit of witch doctor level 70+ advice...

What sets should I be looking for?

I already have a Mask of Jeram (not a set but very nice itself) and the set that summons the three companions (templar, sorcerer, thief).

Is there an outstanding set for the witch doctor I should go delving for?

The one that lets the fetishes persist is pretty nifty...

[Psyren]

In Seasons?

Monks are ridiculous because of the Gungdo bracer, that makes exploding palm absolutely ridiculous.

I don't know about Seasons, haven't played in them in months.

The one that lets the fetishes persist is pretty nifty...

That, and I think there is that one item that makes them all shoot a dart whenever you do.

[Anxe]

The gloves that increase pet attack speed by ~50%.

[The_Jackal]

The gloves that increase pet attack speed by ~50%.

Tasker and Theo.

I already have a Mask of Jeram (not a set but very nice itself) and the set that summons the three companions (templar, sorcerer, thief).

Ashera's Vestments aren't very good, in my opinion. The core failing is that they just don't hit very hard, especially if you haven't geared them up. Aughild's is a far better set to go for, for a 'just starting out' crafted set. Then I would get to work running Act I bounties to try and get a Ring of Royal Grandeur, so you can cram together the legendaries you need in combination with your sets.

But at day's end, the idea of 'going for' a particular set of gear is pretty ridiculous. Just keep running content and build your collection, and cobble together the best outfit/build you can out of what you've got.

[Kerrin]

Hey, thanks, everyone, for the advice. I'll keep an eye out for some of those legendary items.

Interesting timing, I just got the plans for Aughild's while paying tonight! Looks very good against elites.

[007_ctrl_room]

I will believe D3 is 'dead' when Blizzard announces it. Besides, I still have fun with it, so it doesn't really matter if they are done developing it yet or not.

I'm also guessing the next expansion will be the fall of Imperius and the BBEG being Wrath. It is about the only part of the Prophecy left that hasn't been addressed yet. Rise of the Nephelim would also be amusing. Doubly so if they can get the AI on certain character builds correct and you have to basically PvP against other 'characters' with default gear and skills.

i dont think i'll ever stop having fun with it (thats what she said?) to be honest, and while i enjoy the expansions and the storyline overall, i really just enjoy it for the fast gameplay. oh and the LOOT.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Hey, thanks, everyone, for the advice. I'll keep an eye out for some of those legendary items.

Interesting timing, I just got the plans for Aughild's while paying tonight! Looks very good against elites.

It is considered to be a staple 'filler' set, due to the bonuses against elites and relative ease of access. Once you get the pattern, you can make them pretty much at will. Personally, I've got Cain's right now to try and get more Magic Item Find so I can finish off that last piece of Firebird's for the full set bonus. Then I'll probably replace Cain's with Aughild's.

Although, I've been tempted to try a cold-based build lately. Pick up the Source that lets Ray of Frost pierce, combo with Blizzard and maybe Frozen Orb plus buffs. It would be more defensive because of the crowd control from slinging around all that Chilled and Frozen.

[huttj509]

Well, news of Season 2 ending in a couple weeks (April 4?) inspired me to continue my goal of the Lorebook conquest, on Hardcore.

Just have Act 5 left to do, after finishing 2 (dang fezuul spawn), 3, and 4.

Edit:

HUZZAH!

[huttj509]

As a side question:

Spoiler: Image

Show

Where's that +8.6% healing on the Dash Prism coming from? I see nothing on there that's not on the Marauder's, except the resist all.

[GloatingSwine]

Maybe the XP on Kill is mistagged as providing "healing".



(I want moar of the marauder set, only have the shoulders)

[Psyren]

Season 1: 8/29/14 - 2/3/15. Total length: 158 days
Season 2: 2/3/15 - 4/5/15. Total length: 61 days.

Methinks it's time they brought the AH back if they want to reinject some life into this thing.

(Or some form of item trading. Or a story expansion/DLC.)

[huttj509]

Season 1: 8/29/14 - 2/3/15. Total length: 158 days
Season 2: 2/3/15 - 4/5/15. Total length: 61 days.

Methinks it's time they brought the AH back if they want to reinject some life into this thing.

(Or some form of item trading. Or a story expansion/DLC.)

Season 1 was excessively long.

Season 2 was/is ~ the length they're intending seasons to be.

[Psyren]

Season 1 was excessively long.

Season 2 was/is ~ the length they're intending seasons to be.

If they're short though, that's even worse for the model. It means that if you simply wait two months, all the season-only Legendaries get dumped onto the regular loot tables, and you don't have to waste time playing through the campaign again, getting to 70 again on at least one character per primary stat, regrinding your artisans and paragon from scratch, reacquiring filler/gem recipes, and repeating your progress though the lower rifts until you finally reobtain the sets that let you compete on the higher ones with more MF until you can find them.

It means that the most of the folks who care about Seasons now are the ones who care about the leaderboards, and only a fraction of the base is hardcore enough to give two imps about the ladder itself. Even in D2, they knew that most of the folks who played ladder did so for the ladder-only goodies (runewords especially), not merely for the e-peen of seeing their name on some list.

[GloatingSwine]

It means that the most of the folks who care about Seasons now are the ones who care about the leaderboards, and only a fraction of the base is hardcore enough to give two imps about the ladder itself. Even in D2, they knew that most of the folks who played ladder did so for the ladder-only goodies (runewords especially), not merely for the e-peen of seeing their name on some list.

If only a fraction of the player base gives a damn about something, designing extrinsic rewards to push the players who don't give a damn into doing it isn't going to energise that playerbase for the game or the thing you want them to do.

If only a small fraction of players care about leaderboards that's actually fine, as long as the leaderboard system is well designed for the needs of those players.

Blizzard don't actually get anything out of people being on the leaderboard model, and the intrinsic competition among players who actually care about the leaderboard will sustain it if it's worth sustaining at all.

[Psyren]

If only a fraction of the player base gives a damn about something, designing extrinsic rewards to push the players who don't give a damn into doing it isn't going to energise that playerbase for the game or the thing you want them to do.

If only a small fraction of players care about leaderboards that's actually fine, as long as the leaderboard system is well designed for the needs of those players.

Blizzard don't actually get anything out of people being on the leaderboard model, and the intrinsic competition among players who actually care about the leaderboard will sustain it if it's worth sustaining at all.

I'm not saying the leaderboards will go away - after all, even if only 100 people care enough about it to play, that's still enough for all of those folks to see their names up in lights, and so play they shall. But my assumption is that Blizzard wants more people in Seasons than just the leaderboard-chasing crowd. What I predict will happen is that the folks who don't care about seasons will play in bursts - for a while right after a season ends, if there indeed was some season item that they wanted for their build... or if there wasn't, they'll simply play some other game entirely until the following season ends, and if that season doesn't have anything they want either, they'll continue to sit the game out. And my assumption is that Blizzard doesn't really want that player behavior to be a thing either.

[GloatingSwine]

I'm not saying the leaderboards will go away - after all, even if only 100 people care enough about it to play, that's still enough for all of those folks to see their names up in lights, and so play they shall. But my assumption is that Blizzard wants more people in Seasons than just the leaderboard-chasing crowd. What I predict will happen is that the folks who don't care about seasons will play in bursts - for a while right after a season ends, if there indeed was some season item that they wanted for their build... or if there wasn't, they'll simply play some other game entirely until the following season ends, and if that season doesn't have anything they want either, they'll continue to sit the game out. And my assumption is that Blizzard doesn't really want that player behavior to be a thing either.

On the other hand, long delays between season resets will just cause people not to re-engage with the season format because they either capped out their season character's progress too early and lost interest, creating the bursty play you already identified but also including a reset if they wanted to start a new seasonal character, or didn't cap out and so have a reason to not engage with the next season at all.

The length the season "should" be will be implicitly tied to the rate at which characters can progress, and for a committed player I suspect that quite a lot can be achieved in two months.