Why go Hardcore?

[NightyNight]

I've opened like 5 HC chars in one day...They all died under lvl 10 :P
OK, so I'm used to SC...rushing into a group of enemies only to get an item, you know what happend then... :P

Anyhow, what if you get some real good items in HC, then u die, a tiny connection problem can cause that, a tiny mistake, using the wrong potion or whatever, then it's all gone...a great way to get pissed on the game and quit...Yes, the people are nicer, there's more teamwork, more cooporation, more caring, but still, it dosent worth it...hours of gaming, and a tiny lag and it's all gone...So I wonder...Why go HC?

[Aerath]

Fun ?

Knowing that mistakes actually are fatal here, rather than 'go back to start, do not collect $20,000' ?

Sheer idiocy ? ;)

[Razaki]

Sheer idiocy ? ;)

I tend to agree with that point more so than the other two. :drink:
Really, though, people play HC for different reasons. It is a much more challenging game, and it tries to bring the fun back into the game moreso that Softcore does. You actually must worry about clicking the altar of the Ancients, or fighting the bosses. It uses more strategy. Don't get me wrong, some people would rather play SC, but others simply like Hardcore for its higher challenge, but its all a matter of preference.

[Palm]

You have to know how to play hc. To me a good player in hc is not a player that never dies but a player that can progress through the game in items and playing experience. That is, when you die with a char he has already neted you enough items to more then make up for what you lost. You will learn from your death and next time around your char will be better built and better equiped. When you are able to achive this minimum standard of play you will enjoy hc and loath sc because it is forgiving of bad chars and bad players. HC forces you to think seriously about how to build your char and to learn from your mistakes. Occasionally you might lose a really good item and that sucks but its part of it. Diablo is a competition obviously and knowing that chars that are higher in lvl and better equiped than your own might die at any moment gives me some satisfaction in that it makes the game more open-ended.

If you're dying that often you need to radically re-evaluate what your doing in the game. Go with a strong char, think defensive, high life, high resists, dont forget blocking.

[Avarielle]

I did hardcore because it seemed alot more fun (and actually got to play again, having not played since d2c, and a week when d2xp came out). The chance of your char dieing, and how my heart would always race everytime I saw my hp pool plummet was quite exhilerating - enough to keep me here.

For my first char I did a fire druid (which was alot of fun, and made it to level 67 with 1167hp's and no other eq then what he found.) Was able to easily kill anything in nm... except for lister and his meanies... He eventually died on my first time ever in hell diff to a pack of fanat aura'd speakwomen. Coincidentally, my next sorc also died to a fanat aura pack... Think I'd learn my lesson? =)

Anyway bottom line, I recommend fire druid for a first char, they have tons of hp's, with fissure/volcano can easily kill anything, and with a good merc can concentrate on mf, (though that's probably why I died in hell, almost no resists). Anyway, have fun =)

[WebDragon]

My one and only foray into hardcore was sheer cockiness on my part. My conc barb was such an effective tank for pretty much anything in softcore, that I decided try the build in hardcore and tank like I do in softcore. Its was definitely exciting tanking a veratible swarm of nightmare cows for a good 2 minutes with a level 39 character. Good times.

P.S. The barb still lives....

[Kitriara]

Well, I want to preface this by saying I have a cable modem so lag is never a problem for me, but for some I spose its a consideration.

The problem with softcore is that after I tried hardcore once, I couldnt go back because it lost meaning. Think about: the goal in this game is to not die. Without death being final, there is no urgency. I found myself playing my softcore characters not even caring if I ran right into that bosspack, because the worst that happens is I lose some XP and gold. I went to hardcore and never looked back... this was two years ago I think. Maybe more. Jeez, have I been playing this game this long?!?! =)

[Avarielle]

Lag is always a slight problem for me, since my dad refuses to use anything other then a wireless network (though it's a cable modem) I get ping spikes to about 2k ping every couple minutes, but still just part of the game (plus I have yet to die because of lag, wooo =)).

[Silkweed]

Ego.

I feel a lot more pride having a level 15 HC character than a level 99 softie.

I've met guys at work that play this game and we get to talking. They tell me about all their characters and builds and items, and when I talk about mine it's all cool and then bam I tell them I'm a hardcore player and they're in awe. There's just so much more satisfaction.

[Unholy_VI]

I've opened like 5 HC chars in one day...They all died under lvl 10 :P
OK, so I'm used to SC...rushing into a group of enemies only to get an item, you know what happend then... :P

Anyhow, what if you get some real good items in HC, then u die, a tiny connection problem can cause that, a tiny mistake, using the wrong potion or whatever, then it's all gone...a great way to get pissed on the game and quit...Yes, the people are nicer, there's more teamwork, more cooporation, more caring, but still, it dosent worth it...hours of gaming, and a tiny lag and it's all gone...So I wonder...Why go HC?

So you killed Baal in Hell on softcore after dying 1000 times. who cares? Of course people come over to hardcore and use chickenlife so that essentially they are still playing softcore. And its the same thing.

So you got some good equipment that will last you forever. Again who cares? you would have eventually finsihed the game without the godly equipment and made level 99 if you were willing to stand around through a few thousand baal runs.

Thats why Hardcore is cool. it's becuase what you do/dont do and decisions you make from when to fight to what skill/stat points to place and equipmetn setup to use....

ACTUALLY MATTER...

in softcore it doesn't.

[Cleglaw_Himself]

Hardcore mode is why I still play diablo. No other game has this option to my knowledge.

Softcore just isn't fun. Oops, I died. Oops, I died again. Oops, I died again. I am never learning from my mistakes, I'll just run up and hit Diablo again with my lvl 5 sorceress. Surely I'll kill him soon. How many times can a person die? How many corpses can one body have?! The logic of it all was what frustrated me. In hardcore, you have to be more careful and softcore (for me) is terribly pointless.

Also, items in softcore never die, so eventually everyone has all godly equipment. Surely they must get bored of that? (However, I suppose this is starting to happen in hc too...)

And, best of all, HC dueling is by far the most fun I've had in a computer game. Before chickenhack was best, but now I build chars designed to take out chickeners.

[Slash]

The thing is, its not "you should play HC" In reality it is what you enjoy most. To us it is worth the risk of loosing all your Uber stuff to a little bit of lag for the thrill cnd the challenge. To us that is what keeps this game fun, not the items or loads of great chars(of course they help ;) ) That is one reason why i hate botters/chicken ect....but thats another issue



If you didnt read this then thats ok cause i prety much repeated what unholy, razaki, and palm said :) only ya get it in one little Paragraph :P

[PhatTrumpet]

sc is st00pid only n00bs play sc hc roxxors your boxxors
Ego.

... huh?

[CreLuSioN]

i do it for the feeling sc bores me and when i get a high char up in hc i feel like i accomplished something + LLD in hc is awesome

[Kevman]

Just to add to this debate.

My opinions.

SC - Yes I cant lose items - so this takes the joy out of finding the more "common" items. I found a Skin of Viper the other day - 20%.
Happy - I was ecstatic :)

Time spent - then losing items.......
So what. Its not the items that make the game fun, its the PLAYING.....
I play a char for 40 hours then it dies. Am I upset? Not much - If I enjoyed playing the character, then it wasnt time wasted......

My opinions anyway :)

Kev

[Tha_real_blade]

Softcore or Hardcore it's all up to you,
if u'd like some more challenge go play hardcore, but please DO be prepared to die.

a long time ago someone made up these hardcore rules :
1. don't die !
2. If rule number one is ignored, do not whine.
3. if you do die, just start over again.
4. whatever you do, have fun.

works fine for me,
since patch 1.10 i had :
1 lvl 71 smite-din
1 lvl 50 meteorb
1 lvl 52 concbarb
1 lvl 91 concbarb
and a lvl 32 pure light ama
they all died, and got proper funerals.

at the moment im building a pure blizz sorc for mf-purposes (lvl 12 atm)

cheers :drink:
...blade

[ConnerMacleod]

Why go HC? Well, other than the idiots running around trying to ruin HC with their hacks, I prefer HC to SC anyday because:
1) Death matters
2) It actually requires skill and knowledge to play effectively
3) You won't find level 34's in NM Baal runs, or level 40s in Hell Baal runs. Two things I've noticed in SC since I started playing it.
4) It's a true test of your Diablo playing skills (not same as #2) and success for me is pushing a character as far as I can.
5) Economy is better
6) PKing is real, Duels are more of a challenge.
7) A well thought out hunt can result in 100 ears and lots of unhappy players
8) HC: Your Deeds of Valor will be Remembered SC: "SEND ME TP!"
9) Taking HC skills to SC, and then duelling. OMG another story for another time! SC people seriously need to learn how the mechanics of the game work.
10) Your first character in HC will teach you something new, just like my 100th HC character still taught me something new.

[Warlock(ADI)]

There is reason to go hardcore. You must feel it, thatz all.

[ConnerMacleod]

Feel the force, Luke!

[det]

Like Warlock said :clap:

I was shocked when my Softcore lv 22 Barb in Version 1.0 died to the Cold enchantment from Council members. He died again in NM and Hell..and was totally wrongly build. But I learned from it. I actually kept playing SC until patch 1.07 was out (SP only) but every death of my characters was a blow to my heart. On day my most beloved and most perfectly equiped amazon (still SC) died at lv 77 to Hell Fanatics in Travincal. I was so depressed, I discontinued to play her..and that was when I felt, I really was born for HC. I still made a last test and played a SC Charged boltress all the way solo to the end of Hell without dying..then made the switch to HC and never looked back...there is just no point anymore..like there is no point in playing SP anymore.

In the Hardcore online community I have found friends and with it many fun hours of gaming and fantastic items that would have eluded me otherwise.

Dupes, TPPK, Chickenhack? Yes, they have become bad parts of the game that I loathe with all of my heart - but so are drunken drivers on the motorway. Its just something I am prepared to face and deal with :)

[NobodyII]

Why go HC?

Well, if you really have to ask, then maybe HC is not for you.


Anyhow, what if you get some real good items in HC, then u die, a tiny connection problem can cause that, a tiny mistake, using the wrong potion or whatever, then it's all gone...a great way to get pissed on the game and quit?

One of the first things you learn in HC is to mule items off and find some friends. Then you should have more then one character.
I usually die playing with some friends and get looted. Sometimes I do die playing alone. My choice, my responsibility, my mistake, bnet lag, etc. I know the consequence of my choice. I have die to lag, mistakes, stupidity, etc, it happens.


Ego.

I do like the "EGO" answer, very true. I have seen several people that come to HC think they are great, find out they truely suck and run back to SC.

[STINGER]

HC is simply a progressive step in the game. Most people start SC, play till the challenege isnt there and try HC.

Once they try HC they usually realize really fast that in reality they were not near as good a player as they thought they were.

Many people stay in SC possibly forever and that can have to do with many things like terrible connections, very little time to play so item losses can be eztremely costly and the list goes on.

I dont look down at SC players, as they are there by choice and just because someone plays HC I dont look a them as eleite as many HC players dont know WTF they are doing either, but they have chosen a harder way to go about it.

I will however from time to time heckle SC people when I see one calling the other a NOOB. I find it rather strange when a "softie" calls someone a NOOB. Actually I find it pretty annoying when anyone runs around throwing the noob term all over the place and generally I find that when you finally evaluate all those Noob calling poeple most of them are the biggest nubs in the game. Cant do this build without all of that, must have SS to make this, have to have (2) stones for a sorc, cant quest Hell, must have rush..........what is Kahlims Will? WTF is this damn Gidbin thing? There are now sewers in Act 3, those are in Act 2 you NOOOOOB!!!

Play HC for a month.......when you are done trying that go try and play SC and it will probably tell you eal quick which one you would rather do. No matter what, I am willing to bet you will at least make better SC builds after seeing many failures in HC.

Uber is boring.........Not having death knockin at the door is boring......lvling to 99 isnt exactly the most fun in the game.

Try facing Diablo at say lvl 27, pretty crappy gear, poor resists in HC........that can be somewhat stressfull in HC, hell it can be a quick fight going the wrong way. In SC, hell you run up hit him and die and stay there you will get the quest! Funny thing is, in HC you will also get the quest, but you wont be getting back up!

[SonOfRah]

Here's my thoughts...

1) the question really isn't why play hc? but rather why not? Its a natural extension to a game as much as a higher difficulty level is on other games. Eventually after any amount of time playing, you will end up trying the hardest difficulty setting and stick to it.

2) I really really really feel that the "latency" excuse is really just lying to yourself. You don't need the greatest connection or computer system to play hc. Heck you can get by on some pretty bad connections and system specs. I know people who play hc with 10fps or less framerates, and play wth a ping over 1000. Sure its harder, but so is hardcore.

3) The only really choice that determines your descision should be this: do you mind the set back of dying and loosing the time, effort and equipment of your characters? This makes me really ponder why people will go for chicken/map hack. If you are so concerned with dying then really - you should stay in softcore, since it is irrelevant.

4) game hacks are irrelevant. Sure I've been killed by drop bugs and the likes, and I have lost some pretty sweet gear to boot - but the realisation is that the game isn't any less fun because you just lost a weeks worth of leveling. The end isn't more less than the start, and nor is the journey in between.

[eurymone]

After trying hc at the end of 1.09 patch, I simply cannot imagine coming back to sc. It's just so...lame, sorry! Always playing alone or in the public games, and working full ime, I find it quite challenging to build a high lvl char. I've had a few, death of my beloved trapper caused few months of break, but I'm back into it! Learning all the time

[HAMC8112]

So I wonder...Why go HC?

It's the place to be! It's the place where victory is to survive and death is defeat!

[Palm]

About the ego thing... I think there is a certain amount of respect for hardcore players because it takes some balls to play HC. I don't know of any other RPG where death is final. The fact that you can lose hundreds upon hundreds of hours of "work" and effort should give you pause to think. Therein lies the difference between SC and HC players. HC players don't necessarily play better, though they usually do, but they have numbed themselves to the event of losing a char. When you are prepared to accept the death of ANY of your chars and keep on going you are a HC player. :P

This detachment comes with time. With time you will also learn to survive better and longer. Ultimately it's up to you which road you want to take, the important thing is that you have fun.

[nebby]

Why go HC? Well, other than the idiots running around trying to ruin HC with their hacks, I prefer HC to SC anyday because:
1) Death matters
2) It actually requires skill and knowledge to play effectively
3) You won't find level 34's in NM Baal runs, or level 40s in Hell Baal runs. Two things I've noticed in SC since I started playing it.
4) It's a true test of your Diablo playing skills (not same as #2) and success for me is pushing a character as far as I can.
5) Economy is better
6) PKing is real, Duels are more of a challenge.
7) A well thought out hunt can result in 100 ears and lots of unhappy players
8) HC: Your Deeds of Valor will be Remembered SC: "SEND ME TP!"
9) Taking HC skills to SC, and then duelling. OMG another story for another time! SC people seriously need to learn how the mechanics of the game work.
10) Your first character in HC will teach you something new, just like my 100th HC character still taught me something new.

What Conner said!

Unfortunately, ever since a certain b@$t@rd who will go unnamed... *cough Mousepad *cough cough...invented chicken & maphahack, the SC lame-o-s have polluted the otherwise happy world of HC (which is what eventually caused me to quit the game, not dying).

Of course, even with chicken, you still get the occasional unequaled joy and laughter when someone chickens a few times, then dies in 1 hit when an ES/FE council member goes splat, or an eth bonesnap charger spanks them out of existence. Wooweee! Now how are you going to get that kind of fun in softcore?

[RPGHymn]

even chicken has its drawbacks, you leave thegame instantly which makes you lose what your doing.

i just started playing hardcore and i love it. It involves so much more stratigie and skills, altho i have noticed there are a large number of low level pkers.
I guess ill deal wit it and get some friends on HCL.

Ya playing on softcore has only taught me that you cant trust no one and when you find the ones you trust, they just backstab you :(

[Kevman]

It's the place to be! It's the place where victory is to survive and death is defeat!

And of course the HC people can do fantastic quotes :lol:

Sorry Ham, couldnt resist .............

Kev

[Baranor]

Valhalla or bust! That's why!

[wangboBW]

and i believe chicken can get killed by lag too if im not mistaken ^^

[TheCerberus]

Yeah I think so too. On Asia a sorc got killed by cows, and he was like "WHY DIDN"T MY CHICKEN GO OFF, LAAG."

[dystopian]

even chicken has its drawbacks, you leave thegame instantly which makes you lose what your doing.

That is not a drawback to chicken ... don't try and justify it like that. Chicken hack makes hardcore softcore and has ruined what the hardcore economy should be like.

[Dirty Don]

Recently I started branching out to other realms. From east to west, and soon to Euro. I also tried making a serious run at SC east latter. Seeing if my formula for sucess would work there.

(Formula is"
Make Summoning necro
Collect P.Gems in NM cows
Get good necro gear (full trang) and keep running NM cows and Hell Countess
Trade for MF gear for a NM Meph running Orb sorc
Trade for gear to run Hell Meph with an Orb sorc
Trade for 11-14 max jewels and KILL EVERYTHING)

But I digress. The point is that I could nto stomach getting past Normal. The mentality of the people is so negitive and no one knows anything about the game. Lvl in Tristram runs no one stays together and many people were dying up to 5 times per run.

The phrase "Noob" is used 10-30 times per game by what I hope are 11-13 year olds.

The fact of the matter is, the HC crowd is MUCH more mature and usually better at playing the game. And LLD or Low Lvl PKing is sooooooooo adictive. Not to mention that while botters are doing their darndess to ruin it, the economy is a hell of a lot better.

[Baranor]

I remember a time when even SC players knew what they were doing. Then again, that's a long time ago, when people still remade parties to kick leechers out.

[xOSERx]

y'all make me want to give up my SC ways...

-Oser

[baalos]

There is nothing wrong with people that enjoy softcore.

I don't play it, but I still do have an old zon on a sc account... y'all make me want to give up my SC ways...

-Oser

[VaN_haMMerSteIn]

I've opened like 5 HC chars in one day...They all died under lvl 10 :P
OK, so I'm used to SC...rushing into a group of enemies only to get an item, you know what happend then... :P

Anyhow, what if you get some real good items in HC, then u die, a tiny connection problem can cause that, a tiny mistake, using the wrong potion or whatever, then it's all gone...a great way to get pissed on the game and quit...Yes, the people are nicer, there's more teamwork, more cooporation, more caring, but still, it dosent worth it...hours of gaming, and a tiny lag and it's all gone...So I wonder...Why go HC?

It's not all that bad. I have a character named VaN_HaMMerSteIN, Level 95 Frenzy barb, he has freakin' low life, no block, crappy resists... he uses dual Light Sabers for god's sake.
He's been around for over a year! (No chicken)
Holy crap. He's a year old! Is that not freakin' sick?
I think it is.
Now, if I can do it then you can. Easily.

[SgtPPS]

All sounds good for HC i am one of those SC players that is bored and tired of all of the crap of SC so I said hey what the heck let me try HC let me go check out HC forum and see what is going on. Like you all of said if i die because it is my fault or got killed by a low level Pker that is fine. But to a TPPK is insane I guess I will stay in SC and that is ashame that b-net or blizzard is not doing anything with the bot's and hacks I have seen this going on for 9 years of hacking.

[Palm]

TPPK does keep alot of people out of HC. It's in my mind the thing that hurts HC (different from the game) the most. Seasoned HC players learn to cope by being ever vigilant but things must be particularly tough in LOD right now.

[Badnewzbearz]

I've rarely posted here (I do lurk a lot), but I felt the urge to reply to this.

Like a lot of players, I started in softcore, where I learned the game through trial and error, along with some study in forums like these. As I became a better and more serious player, even in softcore, I always HATED to die, under any circumstances -- and I would do anything to avoid it. I was always hesitant to try hardcore for one main reason: the fear of losing items.

When a couple of years back a friend convinced me to try hardcore, I realized I was home, and that I had pretty much been in training for hardcore all along.

Hardcore forces you to play the game the way it was meant to be played, and the rewards, challenge and fun are so much more intense. When you appear in a channel with your HCL lvl 90 Guardian, you're saying to all that you've never died; you've won every battle and met every challenge along the way (or retreated to fight another day).

Events, that softcore players take for granted, take on special meaning in hardcore. Getting my first HCL character to Act 5 Hell was a big moment for me; besting the Hell Ancients for the first time; and finally getting your first Guardian. Sure, dying is always painful -- but the potential rewards and the satisfaction you get from true success, far outweigh those losses.

[HCTwinJava]

I've opened like 5 HC chars in one day...They all died under lvl 10 :P

... ...

but still, it dosent worth it...hours of gaming, and a tiny lag and it's all gone...So I wonder...Why go HC?


Once you walk out of a theater, the movie you have just seen is over, but you don't feel you have just wasted your time and money (unless you picked up a worst movie to you). The same applies to game play.


But the problem with game play is that when a movie is over, it's over, but when a game is over, it's perhaps just a new beginning! Particularly, when you are thrown by the game maker with an insolvable riddle to solve, your game play may become a never ending sucker of your life and energy.


Let's talk about d2.


once you beat the game on all 3 difficulties in SP and/or on a realm, continuing playing this game becomes meaningless. you want to do something more challenging if you still like the game. Then, it's time for HC: you want to make your mortal chars immortal!

What a dilemma!


You may enjoy HC by actually playing it alive. All your chars are mortal. when they are still alive, you feel proud of being temporarily immortal.

You may also enjoy HC by beating other ppl's chars. If you beat others in a legit way, you feel the honor and the pride. If you beat others in an illegit way, you still feel the pleasure, though it's quite a bit evil.


You want to solve the insolvable problem by making the mortal immortal. That's the eternal riddle that Blizzard created for a gamer to solve. Many players are so obsessesed in solving the insolvable, just because the very obsession brings excitement to these addicted ppl (needless to say, myself included sometimes).