# Diablo 3



## jojoinabox (Mar 20, 2012)

I'm getting it...and I'm saying goodbye to the last little bit of my social life...

Plan for summer: glacier riding + beach + skateboarding + diablo 3 = perfect


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## CheeseForSteeze (May 11, 2011)

From what I understand, the game content is not on the CD you get. The CD just contains installation client and the serial key you link to your BNet account. You have to download all the game content.


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

Great, typical fucking Blizzard. I have a data cap on my internet here - which means I won't be able to DL anything to the computer which can actually play the game - AKA not my laptop :/


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## CheeseForSteeze (May 11, 2011)

I agree. I'm not quite sure what the point of shipping a CD/DVD set with only a serial key but leaving the content to be retrieved from the server. The game client already authenticates with battle.net in order to combat single player piracy. The whole point of an on-line distribution model is to eliminate physical distribution and retail overhead and the whole point of still having physical retail distribution is to reduce bandwidth consumption for both the users and game developer's servers. It saves them no money to not include the majority of the game content with the retail package.

This model literally takes the worst of both but gains hardly any of the benefits of either.


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## Nefarious (Dec 26, 2010)

The even bigger problem, which people are complaining about, is that Blizzard is cutting out all the businesses that could potentially sell the full game client. The lost revenue for small to medium business is pretty substantial. 

I don't know all the details, so this may be completely inaccurate. I read something about it today and was pretty disappointed in their poor choice of economy stimulation considering they're one of the biggest game developers out there.


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

why would you not just order the digital copy?

I had it DL'ed completely like 2 weeks ago, fully installed at 8am like 18 hours before servers went live.

They had alot of downtime yesterday, and servers were extremely busy for the first 4 hours of opening night.

I've still had PLENTY of time to play, plus Blizz has gotten REALLY good at this kind of stuff. Very soon downtime will be to regular maintenance only, they know what is expected. They've been doing multiplayer games (not single player games put on the internet) for like 20 years.

Nothing is out of the ordinary for Blizzard on this one.

*pretty sure you can still go dL the whole game client and then just authenticate it when your key gets here.


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## LordOrion (Mar 29, 2012)

I'm freakin'out for Diablo III, beside the installation issues and the problems on B.Net during the first 2 days, it's great! If you loved Diablo 2, you're going to get mad for the D3!


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

I bought it with an Amazon gift-card I got for my birthday, so a digital copy wasn't really an option. It is really strange how they decided to launch it - if they're not going to put content on disks, why the hell are they even selling physical copies? They could have successfully initiated the first all-digital release of a videogame. It seems like the far-future of game sales is going to shift away from retail anyways.

Either way, I'm still pretty excited. I'm fine with getting Blizzard games a few days late because the first few days are a clusterfuck anyways with launch bugs. I'll just bring my tower to a friend's house in town and let it download.


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## Rider161 (Oct 12, 2011)

It's good.. better once you hit level 10 with any character. I would agree with some that no skill points to spend is a bit saddening as I do enjoy different builds in Path of Exile, however each game is enjoyable to play for their different aspects for a dungeon crawler


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## bntran02 (Feb 26, 2012)

I bought it the day it came out and have not had any issues at all. Only thing I can think of so far is a few very short server lag issues that happened once or twice. Nothing to fret about.

I dont know what is everyone referring to as "game content" but I would think that most everything is stored on the physical disc including "game content" because the total installation is 15GB. What the servers are probably used for is to keep track of character progression (level,items,quest completion, etc...) which is relatively low data rates


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## CheeseForSteeze (May 11, 2011)

HoboMaster said:


> I bought it with an Amazon gift-card I got for my birthday, so a digital copy wasn't really an option. It is really strange how they decided to launch it - if they're not going to put content on disks, why the hell are they even selling physical copies? They could have successfully initiated the first all-digital release of a videogame. It seems like the far-future of game sales is going to shift away from retail anyways.
> 
> Either way, I'm still pretty excited. I'm fine with getting Blizzard games a few days late because the first few days are a clusterfuck anyways with launch bugs. I'll just bring my tower to a friend's house in town and let it download.


League of Legends is probably the most widespread title to date that was released all electronically. I'm not aware of any physical retail distribution of the game. Of course, this jives with its subscription-less payment model.

Anyway, I am too excited about the prospect of cutting out electronic retailers and distributors and going with online distribution. Someone made a point that this removes revenue for electronics retailers but what do those retailers really add of value to the product that justifies them existing? Nothing, it just makes the product more expensive. Making games cheaper upon release is a good thing.

This model has allowed microdevelopers to come into existence and start to thrive. $1-10 games with amazing content coming from small, 1 to 5 man game studios are available on Steam now that the retail market would have destroyed because of the way physical retail distribution and retail works now are available on mobile and pc desktop platforms. I bought a game called "Limbo" for $3 which had about 2-3 hours of content and probably was more creative and had better thought out gameplay than the turds that used to retail for $50 that were nothing more than unoriginal, rehashed Quake clones in the mid to late 90's. These developers can sell these games at this cost without worrying about having a big publisher and still make lots of money for themselves all because the process is streamlined and cheap.

The music industry is going through a similar phase and the RIAA is having none of it. Let's hope something similar doesn't roadblock the gaming industry.

I may hold off on D3 for a few more days.


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

This stuff is pretty old news. I only physically bought the first iteration of WoW, since then there have been like 3 xpacs, SC2, now D3. Companies like Valve have been pushing the concept with all their retail titles over Steam for quite a few years. With music this evolution has happened simultaneously but gone further with streaming. This step is as significant as any other such as from tape to cd, or cd to mp3. Sure I have a few hundred albums on my microSD card, but when my phone has service, I usually listen to Pandora.


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## mixie (Mar 29, 2011)

The real reason they sell the hard copies is fanservice for the obsessive collector crowd. Those people eat that shit up, a lot of people I know buy two copies and one goes in storage in case it's ever worth something. (then it ends up with Barry on Storage Wars :cheeky4: ) 


I do contract work for blizzard....if you have watched any of the videos on the Diablo 3 website (trailers, game play or classes description videos) That's my work!! I hate to brag but Im really proud of some of that stuff it was a big project for me. 

I keep thinking I'll buy the game but I don't want to get a new computer.


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## CheeseForSteeze (May 11, 2011)

snowklinger said:


> This stuff is pretty old news. I only physically bought the first iteration of WoW, since then there have been like 3 xpacs, SC2, now D3. Companies like Valve have been pushing the concept with all their retail titles over Steam for quite a few years. With music this evolution has happened simultaneously but gone further with streaming. This step is as significant as any other such as from tape to cd, or cd to mp3. Sure I have a few hundred albums on my microSD card, but when my phone has service, I usually listen to Pandora.


The technology has been around but it's only recently that it's facilitated the creation of an entirely new genre.


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## skip11 (Jan 28, 2010)

Level 43 Monk here.


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

skip11 said:


> Level 43 Monk here.


Did you take the week off to stare at your computer 16 hours a day? 43 already, that's crazy :laugh:


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## skip11 (Jan 28, 2010)

57 now ahaha


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## CheeseForSteeze (May 11, 2011)

Ok, I finally broke down and bought it. Being a huge D2 fan, I had to convince myself it wouldn't ruin Diablo for me. Battletag is PublicEnemy#1397


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

Having been playing it for about 3 weeks now, I would have to say it's pretty sweet and addictive. Like anything Blizzard produces nowadays, it does not stray far from the formula and mostly just fixes things that were annoying or petty in D2. The inclusion of deeper boss, monster and player mechanics also makes it much more of a game that requires some skill, vs a mindless grinding fest until your so high a level you just roflstomp shit.


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## Irahi (May 19, 2011)

You... must not be to Inferno yet.

D3 is pretty much the definition of a grind game


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

Irahi said:


> You... must not be to Inferno yet.
> 
> D3 is pretty much the definition of a grind game


Oh trust me, I completely agree it's a grind game. My point is merely that in addition to the grind-factor, there is also some thinking and skill that is required - which was lacking from D2 to a greater degree.


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## skip11 (Jan 28, 2010)

Yep definitely a grind game. Stuck on inferno act 3 heart of sin quest.


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

Keepin my 60 monk conservative gearing up in Hell, mostly for gold used at the AH, Inferno is no joke.

30k HP
10.4k DPS
634 All res
5.1k Armor

The trouble is now going from someone with a few hundred k gold laying around to getting tens of millions for really top end items. I dont think I care that much.

Did a 9mile 3k'+vert hike today that was way better.


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## tomtom88 (Nov 13, 2008)

Snowklinger, you didn't happen to travel to Boulder and hike the Devil's Thumb Loop did you?

Oh and the obligatory, Diablo 3 is everything D2 was but better.


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

I did the Pegmatite Points right next to Mt. Rosalie (13er) in Bailey.

pics from there last year:

Looking down, then up from treeline.
















Up on the points.








Pretty sure thats Pikes Peak to the south just barely visible.


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

I'd be doing the same thing snowklinger, but it's been fucking raining for two weeks and we still have 6-12 feet of snow above 5000ft elevation . It was partly sunny yesterday so I hopped on my road bike, 15 minutes into the ride it starts downpouring. Life in N. Idaho


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

Ya last year there were snow fields on this hike into late summer. There wasnt a single stitch of snow up there yesterday. Most of the 14'ers are totally clear too.


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## tomtom88 (Nov 13, 2008)

Nice that looks like a great hike.


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## Whoracle (Feb 6, 2012)

I have a level 43 monk and a level 25ish barbarian. I dont play much, but its a fun game when i have nothing to do for an hour or two. Probably wont even get too serious like i was in D2 and WoW lol.


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## mrmidWest (Sep 26, 2011)

52 DH at Diablo on Nightmare.. Anyone who wants to add me I'm Suisilence#1789


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## jpchase (Jan 1, 2012)

I really may have to give this game a try based on all the reviews, although I'm not too crazy about starting up another addictive time sink of a game.


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## cav0011 (Jan 4, 2009)

Im a 60 DH on inferno, If you havnt gotten the game yet and dont want a mindless grind then dont get it. If you enjoy mindless grinds then its fun at times, inferno difficulty is really really really boring and annoying.


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## Whoracle (Feb 6, 2012)

i usually play once or twice a week. Throw on some music, roast a few bowls and mess around for an hour or two. Just because you CAN spend a ton of time grinding, doesnt mean you HAVE to to have fun.


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## cav0011 (Jan 4, 2009)

except once you have beaten everything whats left? the boss fights arnt all that challenging or exciting.


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## skip11 (Jan 28, 2010)

The elite packs are.


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## Kwanzaa (Sep 4, 2011)

This game is pretty lamesies.

I put about 60 hours into it and I feel i should have stopped at 30. I kept thinking it had more to offer but its pretty "meh".

I turned it on today, got to the character selection screen and said "fuck it". I just saw an ad for lego batman and it looks way more awesome.


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

Kwanzaa said:


> This game is pretty lamesies.
> 
> I put about 60 hours into it and I feel i should have stopped at 30. I kept thinking it had more to offer but its pretty "meh".
> 
> I turned it on today, got to the character selection screen and said "fuck it". I just saw an ad for lego batman and it looks way more awesome.


Welcome to Blizzard's Brick Wall of Death, it exists in all of their games.


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## Whoracle (Feb 6, 2012)

In my opinion they took too much of the choice out of leveling up. I like how in D2 i could spend my strength, dexterity, etc points. Then there were also different skill trees, and within those trees were different specs (IE, frozen orb sorc vs blizz sorc etc). With this game, you really doint "customize" your character, you grind until you unlock everything. On D2 i had so many characters and spent so much time because I had multiples of the same character but different specs.


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## CheeseForSteeze (May 11, 2011)

I mean, you kind of get what you expect. To me, the fun is playing through the story with your friends and discovering new abilities. I do agree, I liked the skill tree in D2 more, I just wish they had a respec option.


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## KellionBane (Oct 20, 2013)

Blizzard released an update last week revamping a bunch of stuff in the game, in preparation for their upcoming expansion.

- Paragon Levels are infinite, they give you a stat point to spend on a wide variety of stats every time you level up.

- SmartLoot - Stuff drops that your character can use pretty often, on average you tend to get at least one legendary drop every 2-3 hours.

- Items have been re-itemized and buffed across the board.

- Classes have been tweaked.

- The auction house is closing down.

- Legendaries are Bind on Account, and are only tradeable in a 2 hour window with the people that were present when you found the item. (So, play with friends).

I've put quite a few hours into the game, this last week, and I'm honestly enjoying it far more than I did when the game originally launched.


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

KellionBane said:


> Blizzard released an update last week revamping a bunch of stuff in the game, in preparation for their upcoming expansion.
> 
> - Paragon Levels are infinite, they give you a stat point to spend on a wide variety of stats every time you level up.
> 
> ...


ditto.

I've been playing a bit. I pretty much only play my warrior. I'm at level 69 paragon. My burst dps is crazy...2.8mil crits...


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## SnowOwl (Jun 11, 2012)

i miss having enough time in my day to play video games. Oh and it would also be nice to have my fuckin laptop working again.

#1stworldissues


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