[Diablo III] Officially coming in early 2012. Beta now live.

Scosglen · September 2011

Yeah, the early game is always pretty easy.

I'd be curious to know how much harder it gets in a full 4 player game though. Most of the snippets of steams/videos I've seen have been solo.

Topia · September 2011

Here's a good 2-player video showing about what I assume should be average level killing. Looks about right. They fight Leoric at the end, too, and it makes it look tuned well.

Arkady · September 2011

I am in and this game is rad (though buggy) as all hell. I haven't even gotten to the fun stuff yet :o

So one thing I've noticed while playing a demon hunter is that targeting is really loose. By which I mean if I left click somewhere even in the vaguest area of a monster, I will attack it. And by vaguest area I mean about a 6 inch diameter of monitor space around it.

interrobang · September 2011

Topia wrote:

Here's a good 2-player video showing about what I assume should be average level killing. Looks about right. They fight Leoric at the end, too, and it makes it look tuned well.

the animations for the demon hunter's flippy thing are kinda wonky-looking, aren't they? i imagine they'll tighten those up before release though

JAEF · September 2011

Hmm. It may be a result of the framerate, or maybe they sped it up since I played, I don't remember it looking quite that janky at Blizzcon but it's been a while.

They do need to tighten up the graphics on level three though.

Tommatt · September 2011

Got my invite to the beta!!!

Spoiler:

Hopefully I did that right. Gonna look into reporting it.

Venkman90 · September 2011

I like the weapon sheathing in town / inactive, it's a minor detail but there you go. Are there capes? DH seemed to have one on but I couldn't see the slot for it, unless it was the one on the right of the armour?

Scosglen · September 2011

I don't think there is a cloak slot. DH has a scarf/hood type element to his armor design but it's very likely just built into his chest/head/pauldron slots.

Venkman90 · September 2011

Ah right, still looks great.

Arkady · September 2011

This game is pretty much everything I've ever wanted out of diablo. I could not be happier.

ZarathustraEck · September 2011

The datamined armor lists included cloaks, for what it's worth. Unless "cloak" is just their word for cloth armor? Now I need to look at those lists again...

Skab · September 2011

So, based on stuff seen in the beta and a screen of a model that leaked out a long while back, I think I know how Diablo comes back this time around.

Obviously potentially big spoiler here:

Spoiler:

Henroid · September 2011

Skab wrote:

So, based on stuff seen in the beta and a screen of a model that leaked out a long while back, I think I know how Diablo comes back this time around.

Obviously potentially big spoiler here:

Spoiler:

Leah.

We know shes Adrias daugther, and beta makes it clear that her father is the wanderer/adain/kings oldest son. Which would also make her some sort of royalty wouldn't it? But by the sound of the lore files, it seems like the parents shacked up after the events of Diablo 1 but before he leaves Tristram.

There was also a screen of a very feminine looking Diablo model that leaked out a while ago. So I'm thinking maybe something to do with her parents makes her a usable host or something of the sort, and she wont be making it to the expansion.

Just speculation at the moment though, obviously.

So what you're saying is,

Spoiler:

surrealitycheck · September 2011

does anybody know if battle.net latency affects single player games?

Billmaan · September 2011

surrealitycheck wrote:

does anybody know if battle.net latency affects single player games?

I don't see why it wouldn't. A "singleplayer" game is just a multiplayer game that only you join. Everything still goes through the bnet servers.

surrealitycheck · September 2011

fuck me

that's unbelievably lame

i really hope that doesn't interfere with the feel of the combat

Henroid · September 2011

In an ideal world, it'll work like Dungeon Fighter Online. The only things dictated by Battle.net are the items dropping / picked up, that is.

Fats · September 2011

surrealitycheck wrote:

fuck me

that's unbelievably lame

i really hope that doesn't interfere with the feel of the combat

There's no way it won't. I guess those of us on weird connections will eventually get used to everything being 500ms behind.

The_Spaniard · September 2011

Billmaan wrote:

surrealitycheck wrote:

does anybody know if battle.net latency affects single player games?

I don't see why it wouldn't. A "singleplayer" game is just a multiplayer game that only you join. Everything still goes through the bnet servers.

Yes there is latency in the beta while playing in singleplayer, there is even a latency meter. Though I attribute most the lag right now to the fact that it's a beta on beta servers.

No Great Name · September 2011

Watching some of the beta videos of people attacking and the time between the attacks hitting is gag worthy.

The_Spaniard · September 2011

No Great Name wrote:

Watching some of the beta videos of people attacking and the time between the attacks hitting is gag worthy.

It can be, at times I was trying to throw jars of spiders into groups of enemies, and it would be a full second before my character actually followed through.

Xeddicus · September 2011

They better have all this sorted by the time I get my key and into the game. So by Monday.

TheStig · September 2011

the SC2 beta was really laggy when it first came out.

I'm sure they will clean it up by release.

surrealitycheck · September 2011

Yes there is latency in the beta while playing in singleplayer, there is even a latency meter. Though I attribute most the lag right now to the fact that it's a beta on beta servers.

fucking wow

Halfhand · September 2011

Xeddicus wrote:

They better have all this sorted by the time I get my key and into the game. So by Monday.

You got in? Duuuuude hook me up

Xeddicus · September 2011

Halfhand wrote:

Xeddicus wrote:

They better have all this sorted by the time I get my key and into the game. So by Monday.

You got in? Duuuuude hook me up

Bidding starts at 6 gold sovereigns and a kidney.

Spoiler:

Khaczor · September 2011

Xeddicus wrote:

Halfhand wrote:

Xeddicus wrote:

They better have all this sorted by the time I get my key and into the game. So by Monday.

You got in? Duuuuude hook me up

Bidding starts at 6 gold sovereigns and a kidney.

Spoiler:

I'm not in, I'm just stating with confidence that I will be by Monday and the universe will therefore bend to my will.

But if I read "The Secret" also and have positive thinking about my beta outcome being monday... which one of us will the universe choose?

hadoken · September 2011

How random is the dugeon/world layout? Are they still doing randomly generated maps with a fuckton of monsters in a room, and no treasure chest reward? I hope so...

Xeddicus · September 2011

Khaczor wrote:

Xeddicus wrote:

Halfhand wrote:

Xeddicus wrote:

They better have all this sorted by the time I get my key and into the game. So by Monday.

You got in? Duuuuude hook me up

Bidding starts at 6 gold sovereigns and a kidney.

Spoiler:

I'm not in, I'm just stating with confidence that I will be by Monday and the universe will therefore bend to my will.

But if I read "The Secret" also and have positive thinking about my beta outcome being monday... which one of us will the universe choose?

You're too late. See how the universe has already influenced someone to my outcome. BWHAHAHA!

Arkady · September 2011

Anyone else in the beta, have you found any runes at all? I dd not find a single one on my first clear of the game.

Tayrun · September 2011

Arkady wrote:

Anyone else in the beta, have you found any runes at all? I dd not find a single one on my first clear of the game.

Spoiler:

GoodKingJayIII · September 2011

surrealitycheck wrote:

Yes there is latency in the beta while playing in singleplayer, there is even a latency meter. Though I attribute most the lag right now to the fact that it's a beta on beta servers.

fucking wow

I'm generally not a fan of this online-only trend, but Blizzard is quite good at running a stable online experience. Obviously WoW had some hiccoughs its first year or so, but say what you will about it, it's a remarkably stable game--even at release it had less problems than most MMOs. And I've never had problems in SC2 single-player. I think by the time this is out they'll have basically ironed out the latency issues, and any that remain will be corrected quickly.

Henroid · September 2011

Problem is, GKJ, that gamers in general are a zero-sum audience. This way or no way, no in-between. So people are going to be frustrated anyway.

Zek · September 2011

Diablo 3 is not a singleplayer game with DRM. It's an online-only game. Whether or not the benefits of that are worthwhile is debatable, but it's not a failing on Blizzard's part that the singleplayer experience might have latency or disconnections.

GoodKingJayIII · September 2011

Henroid wrote:

Problem is, GKJ, that gamers in general are a zero-sum audience. This way or no way, no in-between. So people are going to be frustrated anyway.

I don't think that's a gamer problem, it's a human being problem. You can't please everyone, obviously, and people tend to sort of hate change.

If someone's only problem with D3 is that it's going to be an online-only experience, I suspect that unless they are impeded by something like a terrible internet connection, this ultimately isn't going to deter them from playing the game.

Arkady · September 2011

Don't know if this has been answered, but it was a common question a thread ago or so. Blacksmith levels and recipes are indeed account based and not character based. So is gold, best as I can tell.

Also monk is basically the most fun I've ever had in one of these types of games. May be too ANIME for some people but I am having a blast.

And also, there is banter between your character and your companion, which is a refreshing change from your mute lackeys in 2.

Ryadic · September 2011

Zek wrote:

Diablo 3 is not a singleplayer game with DRM. It's an online-only game. Whether or not the benefits of that are worthwhile is debatable, but it's not a failing on Blizzard's part that the singleplayer experience might have latency or disconnections.

Pretty much this. I'm pretty sure if this goes well enough, all game companies will start doing this. Blame the pirates.

surrealitycheck · September 2011

Diablo 3 is not a singleplayer game with DRM. It's an online-only game. Whether or not the benefits of that are worthwhile is debatable, but it's not a failing on Blizzard's part that the singleplayer experience might have latency or disconnections.

it would be possible to make it online only without making it so that every single combat check is run through a remote server

themightypuck · September 2011

surrealitycheck wrote:

Diablo 3 is not a singleplayer game with DRM. It's an online-only game. Whether or not the benefits of that are worthwhile is debatable, but it's not a failing on Blizzard's part that the singleplayer experience might have latency or disconnections.

it would be possible to make it online only without making it so that every single combat check is run through a remote server

I think Blizz is reacting to the massive amount of hax in d2.

Henroid · September 2011

Arkady wrote:

Don't know if this has been answered, but it was a common question a thread ago or so. Blacksmith levels and recipes are indeed account based and not character based. So is gold, best as I can tell.

Wait, what does this mean?

Arkady wrote:

And also, there is banter between your character and your companion, which is a refreshing change from your mute lackeys in 2.

Yaaaaaaaaaay. That stuff actually pleases me. :^:

Penny Arcade

[Diablo III] Officially coming in early 2012. Beta now live.

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