Well I haven't got to get my hands on it yet. I put 20 down on pre order of the collectors edition, and had to pay a huge cell phone bill this week, but I will be getting it Saturday.
As far as the single player/multi player, i think they probably based that decision off of the popularity of online play with Diablo II, and admittedly, I had a lot more fun playing with my friends, going through Act after Act, slowly leveling up. The only one I played single player with was the first Diablo (which I think was the best) and that was only because I had no connection when I first played it.
But also, it probably is a safety thing. Starcraft II, you can't play without an internet connection, and it prevents some of the hacking of achievements and portraits, and more so lately they are really cracking down on the bootlegged bot programs for the portrait farmers in 1v1.
At the end of the day, I will still love Blizzard. Starcraft had a lot of growing pains too, but when it came right down to it, it was worth it.
Speaking of the Collectors Edition, anyone else got it? I am curious about the soundtrack...If no one has posted pics or anything, I will post pics of mine when i get it.
I finally got to play extensively last night. Got almost through Act 2 normal. Gameplay and lag seemed to improve after their "rolling restarts." So far I am loving the game. Great feel and character depth. And the areas are huge, so lots of exploration. I was afraid the game would be too easy, but it is obvious they had dialed back some of the mobs in the beta. Haven't died yet, but I've come real close on more than a few occasions.
I hit level 10 this morning and defeated the skeleton king. I got my first rare item (a belt). I was still disconnecting every 10 minutes or so, which was annoying. They took the servers down for about an hour and a half for maintenance, and i promptly lagged out as soon as I got back on.
This game is cool. I'm spending a lot on the crafting, but they really do need to fix the servers.
I got the starter edition from BleedBlackNGold (thanks!) and finished the Skeleton King last night. Thoughts:
Annoying that I killed the Skeleton King and got 3 nice items -- none of which I could use. (Can you re-do encounters to try and get loot you can use?)
I'm happy it runs on my 6-year old rig.
Unless I am mistaken, DII was better at letting you go wherever you wanted within reason. I felt like I was being herded almost every step of the way in the 10 levels I did so far.
Not sure I understand the followers and their special skills. I never saw the Templar use the skill I gave him (Heal) even when he almost died; I'm fairly sure he never used it on me in fights when I was getting hit although maybe he only uses it when health is extremely low.
Maybe I am on super-easy level but I don't think my health ever dropped below 60%. I haven't even used one health pot yet. Even in WoW within a few levels you accidentally took on too much and got spanked for it.
Visually on my machine it is very pretty. I imagine for you guys with the newest machines it looks stunning.
The storylines are well constructed even if extremely linear so far.
I like the little extra speech that some NPCs give as you walk by. The guys in the Inn who have their little banter about the play or music is a nice, fun touch.
Haven't crafted much yet -- if I would have realized that early on, I would have saved more of the blues I got to be reforged/disenchanted later. The little bit of extra money you get selling to me isn't worth the ability to DE and then craft new items.
Having said that, the two crafted items were better than anything I have had available to buy or have received as loot.
The portal ability is nice. I'm a hoarder when adventuring and pick up just about everything and it's nice to be able to portal back, sell, and then get back out immediately.
Haven't played other classes much yet but the monk is kickass.
The area to explore at least early on didn't seem as expansive as I remember in prior Diablo games, but that might just because I am getting old. Most of it was a path to follow that occasionally got wider in spots.
All in all a very good game, but extremely linear from what I see -- progress in the game, the areas to explore, the quests -- all leading down one specific path and only one at a time type of events. Now I have to decide if I want to drop $60 on a full version now or wait until later...
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Credulity kills. -- Carl Sagan
The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -- Neil Degrasse Tyson
I got the starter edition from BleedBlackNGold (thanks!) and finished the Skeleton King last night. Thoughts:
[*]Annoying that I killed the Skeleton King and got 3 nice items -- none of which I could use. (Can you re-do encounters to try and get loot you can use?)
I'm pretty sure you can. You can also redo them online with friends - the quests scale to your group, and loot drop is individual (you don't have to share/roll for drops).
Most of the other stuff you listed is stuff that's mostly been in every version of Diablo. I'm expecting for the levels to get a little more expansive later on, but it's always been somewhat linear.
I agree with you on the crafting stuff. I've been able to craft some pretty good stuff early on. I'm looking forward to the later levels when recipes drop. Apparently the really good ones will be from the bosses on nightmare mode.
I'm pretty sure you can. You can also redo them online with friends - the quests scale to your group, and loot drop is individual (you don't have to share/roll for drops).
Most of the other stuff you listed is stuff that's mostly been in every version of Diablo. I'm expecting for the levels to get a little more expansive later on, but it's always been somewhat linear.
I agree with you on the crafting stuff. I've been able to craft some pretty good stuff early on. I'm looking forward to the later levels when recipes drop. Apparently the really good ones will be from the bosses on nightmare mode.
After the Skeleton King it really opens up. The areas get more expansive, you get more random events, and more boss mobs.
[*]Annoying that I killed the Skeleton King and got 3 nice items -- none of which I could use. (Can you re-do encounters to try and get loot you can use?)
One of the best parts of playing in a group has to be that you can trade loot to each other because eeryone gets different stuff. Ive been getting super lucky with the number of yellow drops I get, but unlucky in that almost none of it could be used by me, but I least I can give it to one of my friends.
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Originally Posted by Abraham Lincoln
You can't always believe what you read on the internet.
I hit level 10 this morning and defeated the skeleton king. I got my first rare item (a belt). I was still disconnecting every 10 minutes or so, which was annoying. They took the servers down for about an hour and a half for maintenance, and i promptly lagged out as soon as I got back on.
This game is cool. I'm spending a lot on the crafting, but they really do need to fix the servers.
I can't wait till saturday! This reminds me of the Skeleton king in the first game, he dropped a crown I think when you killed him.
I haven't picked it up yet, nor have I played any of its predecessor's. Is the story line epic so far? I heard the sequel had a great story line to it. Yes, I only have a small interest in loot, and big interest in story lines.
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The greatest fools are ofttimes more clever then the men who laugh at them. - Lord Tywin
The intuitive interface and ease of play is just so fun with this game. Stuff that ****** you off, griefs you, or otherwise makes a gaming experience miserably, Blizzard smartly removes from gameplay. But at the same time they know how to preserver the fun.
These are guys that actually play their games. I'll be playing this game for a while. I LOVE how all your characters share the same wallet and bank without having to trade items back and forth through the mailing system. I also love how the teleporters and waypoints all make sense as to where to go. You're just never lost and can jump into the fun right away.
I wish Blizzard would take over the itunes interface.
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If everyone had the same opinions about everything, this world would be one boring place..
Linear Mode
