Will you play single player first?

[RedawgTS]

Are you going to play the single player game first before you jump into multiplayer? Personally, I normally do but after becoming so accustomed to multiplayer in D2 I'm not sure I can go back to SP, even if it's a new game.

[ExtraStrongFireEnchanted]

That's something to think about. I vote I don't know. If leaked alpha/beta/demo whatever is available much earlier than MP, then I probably won't resist to try it. Never really thought about this, I already picked barb as my first character for MP HC, so I'll probably try other class in SP, like Witch Doctor. Love jungles, love the concept :)

[Tsumaru]

I am predominantly a Single Player gamer. I do everything Single Player, and if I enjoy it, sometimes I'll go into multiplayer with it. With D2, I wasn't a huge battle.net guy - I played with my brother over LAN most often. But I've done my fair share of online gaming with strangers too. Definitely Single Player first. I might go multiplayer at the same time with another class; but I will always stay a few missions behind my SP so I can fully immerse myself into the story properly. Multiplayer tends to jump around, skip dialogue, and go too fast for me.

[raveharu]

I vote no.

I have already promised people I know(family and RLfriends) to start the game together. I think its more fun to explore the game with others. Also another reason is I can't wait to see the new 2.0 Bnet and the features.

[lionheart]

I always play only single player, there is no reason for me to change now. If my cousin gets the game too then we might do a couple of LAN games but thats about it. My goal is the beat the computer to death :grin:

[MooCQ]

I couldnt get myself to play singleplayer.. it'd be torture to know that all my friends.. would be gaining levels.. I'd rather be playin with everyone!! not alone.. id go insane!

[Tsumaru]

I think its more fun to explore the game with others.
If they are friends and family, and you all play at the same pace - I would agree. I do a lot of D2 with my brother, but he plays really fast and seems to skip a lot of dialogue. I think he would listen to the quest dialogue - but I love engaging in all the different convos. So while I'm sitting there listening to Warriv's gossip, he's wiped out the Den of Evil on his own. =P

That's why I play single player first. I can go at my own pace and do everything I want. Even though exploring the game with others is more fun, it's less fun if you can't explore at the same pace. That's just me though. =)

[Mcwhopper]

If they are friends and family, and you all play at the same pace - I would agree. I do a lot of D2 with my brother, but he plays really fast and seems to skip a lot of dialogue. I think he would listen to the quest dialogue - but I love engaging in all the different convos. So while I'm sitting there listening to Warriv's gossip, he's wiped out the Den of Evil on his own. =P

That's why I play single player first. I can go at my own pace and do everything I want. Even though exploring the game with others is more fun, it's less fun if you can't explore at the same pace. That's just me though. =)

What a coincedence, if I wouldn't know better I'd think you were my brother. You just described the exact same d2 relation I have with my own brother :jig:


Im ze speedy type of player, pure MP for me. I will probably play a tad slower the first time around, but not much :thumbup:

[Oneone]

Im prolly gonna paly coop with some friends i hope :D

[Grunthex]

Absolutely. First, second, and probably permanently. There'd have to be something amazing to make me play multiplayer. The exception possibly being if I were to play it with a few other single-player style players.

[ThulRasha]

Yes, I will play single player first. But that will be online (in a passworded game), to unlock hardcore play.

Asuming this mechanic stays the same of course.

[Flux]

I'm surprised at all the yes votes. You guys should have more faith in your odds of making it into the beta!

[stephan]

I don't know. It depends on the state battle.net will be in.

[yalthar]

I voted no but thinking about it I might play it through by myself first so I can take my time to enjoy the content. But it's not gonna be in single player mode.
Unless I find some likeminded people to play it through with. I definitely don't someone bringing in their highlevel friend to rush us.

[yalthar]

I voted no - I'll definitely only be starting multiplayer characters.
But I'll probably play the game through by myself first:)

[knifebunny]

I think that Blizzard, from what I can ascertain, will be making the multiplayer experience for D3 a lot more than what you guys remember from D2... I think the multiplayer thing will be an entirely new thing.

I've been thinking about this a lot, as I have never really played a lot of D2 online personally myself but im under the impression a lot of things are going to be made easier.

for example;

- travelling (getting to places, and other players quicker)
- trading of items (im not going to say auction house but a better way of trading lets say)
- forming groups not only via battle.net interface but within the game
- better way of tracking friends and communicating (perhaps addition of in game microphone, like WoW)
- interface for clans or "guilds"

They havent said much other than that they plan for "big things" with battle.net, so all we can do is speculate. I think the online experience will be definitely something else.

Whilst I played D2 mostly single player and a bit of LAN'ing, from my gut feeling im going straight to multiplayer and I can already say this without hearing about their actual proposed changes.

[Thyiad]

I will play SP - and I include TCP/IP in that - first. I want to enjoy the story and you can't do that if everyone is racing the ladder.

Can I just remind everyone again to post in the thread and then vote on polls. When you vote you get taken to another thread that has no relation to this subject and so your post is lost. Thanks. :)

[ThulRasha]

I'm surprised at all the yes votes. You guys should have more faith in your odds of making it into the beta!

Oh good point, I completely forgot about that.

[Mcwhopper]

Thyiad you can also just play relaxed online. There is no slave driver with a whip threating to woop you when you are not racing online.
Finishing a game slowly on MP is the same as doing so on SP (with a proper inet connection and a A+ bnet) with the added benefit of being able to actually trade and contest with other players the moment you finished the campaign :)

[Apocalypse]

i will play the game alone my first trip through but it wont be single player. the char i make will be on the servers i will just play in a passworded game. also while i am playing with that char i will make other chars to group with friends so long as they do not pass where my main guy is. i always enjoy the story more when i go through it myself the first time

[Feonn]

Yes, 100% sure... :D

Need to explore the game first and such, before going online :P

[mouseman]

I'd like to play single-player-like multiplayer :) Couple of friends, playing in LAN, taking it slow, sharing the quests and the loot - generally enjoying the company and the game. Playing the game in bnet first time through is like watching an oscar-winning movie with fast forward.

[ColtFourFive]

Best idea yet:

play single player.. in a passworded game on bnet! you get all the benefits :grin:

I'm going to play through in a private game, but every now and then I might join a pubbie and party up just to see what its like, maybe to replay a quest/boss.

and besides, I need my hardcore characters as fast as I can get 'em!

[Sincubus]

I will only play single player, I don't need droppers and cheaters around me.

[sbn]

I will play MP exclusively, and here is why:

When Diablo 1 came out all I had of course was dial-up...In France, where I paid by the minute to use my phone on top of the monthly ISP cost. So after a couple of months it just did not seem worth it with what I was paying.

When Diablo 2 came out, again I had dial-up. I started out online first day, but after an hour or so ended up going to single player and doing the game there first. Then after about a year I got better dial-up service and started online exclusively. I now regret not playing D2 from the start online, I think it would have been funner.

Now when D3 comes out, I probably will not touch the SP. I just do not care for SP games much anymore. Besides, MP will always extend the life of every game. The excitement will be almost the same as when ladder resets, except one huge difference. Everything will be new and unknown. I expect it will be very exciting the first few days as we play through the game. And that is all we will see, no idiotic "Rush 4 Forge" or "Griffs 4 HRS".

[Matora]

I plan on playing the game in a password protected environment with a few good friends so we will be able to explore and apreciate the environment, aspects of play and all the goodies in good time. Multiplayer also lets others, like my good friends point out stuff I might have missed.

[ELox]

As others have mentioned it will be online but in a passworded game. Might play with my buddies online if they agree to stop and smell the roses a bit before slaughtering countless denizens of evil ;)

[Fizh]

I will start with multiplayer, but im going to play it as it was single player. In private games most of the time, so i can learn about the game in my own tempo. No rushing, powerleveling or things like that.

[Apocalypse]

I'm surprised at all the yes votes. You guys should have more faith in your odds of making it into the beta!


gotta be honest, i have zero faith in getting into beta. i really thought i might have a good shot with d2 considering..... but for d3 i really feel i have no shot at all lol (pray that i am wrong)

[pinefi]

Hell no! I made that mistake in D2. After 'discovering' the multiplayer option, I *****-slapped myself.
EDIT: Haha, you can't say the b word? :D tight.

[Saint Anger]

I will play Single Player almost exclusively.

Well, there are the odd ventures onto BNET with my cousin (in private games), but as the only reason we play those private games is because tcp/ip doesn't work between our computers, it might as well be SP (no interaction with anyone else on BNET).

[zarfen]

If I get some friends to play with I'll probably go online(I should hook up some spf ppl when the time comes :scratchchin:), alone or in friends-only groups, I will definetly avoid public games for the first few playtroughs, if not always, I really get tired of stupid kids running around leeching, stealing and abusing others...

[Felix]

Think I will go straight to battlenet, then play at least through normal in a passworded game to get the whole story.

[Machina]

Nope, straight onto Battle.net for me to play with my friends in a private game.

[sneakytails]

I will be playing single player over a LAN with my bro the day D3 hits the shelves. Its gonna be awesome, unless he gets into beta and spoils everything!

Both gonna take the day off on launch day, how many games will make you do that?

lol

[AxlStrife]

I'm on the fence on this one. I only have 1 other person I play with online, and he probably won't get the game, BUT I have good experiences of D2 B.net. I'll make my decision once I get some more info.

[Telzen]

Sigh dumb poll tells me its closed. Anyway I will be playing online but in a passworded game. I like to play by myself or only with others I know usually. Don't really see the point of playing singleplayer when you can just password your games and then you have a character ready to play with others if you want.

[toppknott]

I'm going to create a character of each class in single player, check out all the skill trees, follow my instincts about which one I'll enjoy the most, and then immediately hop online. I prefer to play with others rather than by myself in multiplayer games, even on Battle.net, for reasons not limited to but including increased character experience and tons of loot everywhere.

[konfeta]

Depending on how laggy Battle.net 2.0 will be. I'd much rather play a thorough and no interruptions "For the Story" even if it means losing potential loot.

And look at it this way - if there are Nightmare and Hell modes (or equivalents), why do I care about my first character and it's items? I will probably screw up the character, and the items I find will be the equivalent of D2's Isengard Plate spam.

[stillman]

Well I'm not paying nearly $60 Canadian a month for nothing. I'm going straight to bnet.

But I will declare this: I'm actually going to read the instruction booklet first! I know, it will be agonizing seeing the gleaming new CD fresh out of the box sitting there as I speed read. But I want to know what the skills/spells are like before I invest in them. I don't want to wreck my chr by wasting points in things just to see what they do.

[Tsumaru]

Wait... where did you get "paying $60 a month" from?

[Telzen]

Wait... where did you get "paying $60 a month" from?

I assume his internet connection.

[stillman]

Yes, my high speed internet connection. It's a lot, and I want to get my money's worth. Playing all those hours single player would be a waste when I could do the same on bnet (as many of you noted with password games).

[Mcwhopper]

Well I'm not paying nearly $60 Canadian a month for nothing. I'm going straight to bnet.

But I will declare this: I'm actually going to read the instruction booklet first! I know, it will be agonizing seeing the gleaming new CD fresh out of the box sitting there as I speed read. But I want to know what the skills/spells are like before I invest in them. I don't want to wreck my chr by wasting points in things just to see what they do.

That's a dangerous thing to do, don't use a manual to base your character on. Manuals don't tell you anything: I remember my WoW manual mentioning things like battle ground and siege machines years before they would become reality.

Just do as I do, wait with spending character points until the community posts all the precise data possible :)

[Tsumaru]

Oh, I pay my $60 a month for these brilliant forums. =P

*cough*yeahright*cough*

[Malrenn]

I play on Bnet mainly to be able to trade with others. I usually run alone in a private game though. If D3 has some kind of content that requires a team, I would certainly do more grouping. I am not sure if there is going to be exclusive content for this or if it will all scale per player. Sort of how now many people need an assist with Uber Diablo. Id like to see some things that requires a group focus, but is not required to progress through the main storyline.

[havedeath]

I'll play through all the quests by myself on battle.net the first time. I can level on realms and still enjoy the story.

[Feramors]

I will have different characters for different things.

I honestly doubt I'll have a single "single player" character. I'll probably have a few "multiplayer single player" characters, if that makes sense.

I have a few friends who will want to play the storyline through online with me, and I'll have a different character for each, then a few characters for myself that I just prod around with.

On a side note, I'm really looking forward to the new Battle.net. I odn't know what they ahve in mind, but Blizzard is not a company to dissappoint its customers.



P.S. Woo! First post! :D

[imjustsomeguy]

Multi. There really is no reason not to play on bnet with your first character if you have a good internet connection. Like others have posted, I'm going to play by myself with passwords until I pass the game (first difficulty level) and after that I will start playing with other people.

If it's the same as D2 then there will be no difference in playing on battlenet verses offline. The only possible downside I can foresee is some lag and disconnect problems early on but I don't think it will be anything like the release of D2. I'm sure Blizzard has learned a lot from that experience, the company has come along way since then. And if there is lag early on then you can hop onto an offline character at any time, even level one up simultaniously with your bnet char if you are paranoid about it.

The upside to starting off on bnet of course is that you will not have to start your character over when you finish. You will also keep all the gold and items collected in that time which is a big deal when starting out.

If I remember correctly, in one of the interviews or articles someone from Blizzard was asked about respeccing and I believe there was some form of it mentioned. This could mean our first characters won't be a waste due to newb skill placement.