Replay and the Drudgery of repeat.

[Richard Sharp]

I like that there will be certain amount of randomness to the play areas, but I am hoping that extended play (meaning extra rather than just Easter Egg "secret" levels) will be a part of the NIGHTMARE and HELL difficulty levels.

One of the greatest weaknesses of DI and DII, as well as the many "clone" type games is that the second and third difficulty levels are exactly the same as the Regular or Normal difficulty levels. Even with some randomness (As there was in Diablo I), part of what makes the game great is the sense that you can "find" or run into some place ( or some horror) that you have never seen before.

Due to the lengthy wait for this game, I hope that Blizzard plans to address this serious weakness in the series and add at least 1 or 2 "exclusive" areas for both the Nightmare and Hell difficulties, both as a reward for the dedicated players who "slog through" the higher difficulties, but also as a means of maintaining tension and "terror" as part of the atmosphere of the game. While I know that there will be class specific quests and things to find, what I am hoping to see is difficulty level specific content (Perhaps also random, but random specific to it's difficulty). Ideally, even an experienced player who has completed Normal, Nightmare, and Hell levels with one of the Character Classes, should be able to play a second class and upon getting half way through Hell with a second class, should have the feeling that behind any door, or portal, that they could stumble into a new and terrifiying area where creatures and bosses that have never been seen before could emerge to surprise and terrify the player.

If Blizzard were to add this to what already appears to be an excellent and groundbreaking game, then Diablo III could be as close to a "perfect storm" as would be possible for a PC game.

:crazyeyes:

[Andy2702]

Wow........

[Risingred]

Oh dear god, richard...edit that. Please.

[Moonfrost]

It's actually easier to read the post if you mouse-over it and read the tooltip. Welcome to the forums, Richard!

In response to the post itself, they've said each outdoor map, while mostly static, will have "pockets of randomness". Dungeons will be randomly generated, just like in previous games.

[Glass]

While I know that there will be class specific quests

Actually, no there won't. The story of the quests will be told from your character's perspective but they will be the same quests.

[Adree]

That was fun to read.

[Moonfrost]

Remove the wiki tag and you're all set!

[phaolo]

I completely agree with Sharp.. except for the text character.

[Flux]

Ironically, I quoted this bit today out of the Jay Wilson @ Direct TV video interview that's now on the news page.

We don't do class-specific questing, since we found that didn't work very well in the cooperative environment. Because no body wanted to run off and do the Barbairan quest. However, every quest that is done is done from the perspective of your character. Your character comments on things from their perspective. Also, some of the quests have elements in them that tell you more about your charactr. All characters can do the quest, but it might have special poignance for the Barbarian when he does it.

[Kurogane]

D2 having this weakness? Uber Tristram was 4 "new" areas.

[fnwc]

D2 having this weakness? Uber Tristram was 4 "new" areas.

Uber Tristram wasn't introduced until patch v1.11 in August 2005, five years, five months after retail release.

[Risingred]

Well, now that I can read it... :p

I tend to disagree because that content would get old just as fast as any other. The only difference is that it would be exclusive to a difficulty setting.

I do think it sucks that they took out class-specific quests, but whaddayagannado?

[Doctrinaire]

I tend to disagree because that content would get old just as fast as any other.

If it makes Nightmare and Hell feel more fresh, like somewhat new experiences and not just carbon copies of Normal, I don't see why it should. Of course everything will get old eventually, but the aim is getting the most out of the finite content Blizzard has the recourses to provide.

I'm all for giving Nightmare and Hell some surprises. Nothing major, but maybe a side boss or two and some visual and behavioral tweaks on enemies. Titan Quest had a Hydra that only spawned in Hell difficulty, and it definitely made the game a bit more interesting.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

If it makes Nightmare and Hell feel more fresh, like somewhat new experiences and not just carbon copies of Normal, I don't see why it should. Of course everything will get old eventually, but the aim is getting the most out of the finite content Blizzard has the recourses to provide.

I'm all for giving Nightmare and Hell some surprises. Nothing major, but maybe a side boss or two and some visual and behavioral tweaks on enemies. Titan Quest had a Hydra that only spawned in Hell difficulty, and it definitely made the game a bit more interesting.

From Blizzcon, they said they will add more rewards to regular maps so we won't just be doing boss runs or uber bosses.
Things like uber chests that guarantee certain quality drops, but are scattered at randomised locations each reset, would certainly make it more rewarding to run around the map rather than kill bosses all day.
Naturally the same with Superuniques monsters. And both can be modified as you go up in difficulty.

[Richard Sharp]

The Main purpose of new areas in Nightmare and Hell, is to keep the sense of fear and unpredictability that make that 1st pass through normal level fun and challenging.

Having at least one monster type, as well as some bosses that are unique to Nightmare and Hell would add a great deal the "fear" atmosphere that really makes a game such as this. Sure, uber items are a plus in terms of playing the higher levels, but the idea that it "matters" in a story and atmosphere sense to play through Nightmare and Hell is really the Platinum standard as far as replay value.

Another reason this makes sense is that Diablo III will likely be the only "platform" of this type until at least 2025, if history is any guide. Sure, they may do 1 to 3 Diablo III expansions after the original campaign is released, but the format of the original will be the "pattern" upon which the expansions are built. The more unpredictable each play through is, the more likely people will buy and play through it all again to play the newer character classes that will invariably be released with the expansions.

Another advantage would be that unique monsters in Nightmare and Hell could be designed to easily make monster chow out of Low level PC's running with an Uber Character outside of the difficulty that they should be playing in. This would also serve to discourage the "Boss Runs for loot" that so often plagued Diablo II. When it is at least "possible" to run into something new that you have not encountered before, you play with a sense of respect for that game that cannot be gained by what has become predictable and routine.

My best PC game experiences have always happened when something totally unpredictable (yet consistent with the game's theme) has occurred.....

[Kurogane]

So we're talking about the first forays into Nightmare and Hell?

1. Nightmare, resistance penalty + elemental monsters. lol@first Tainted unique pack. Simply lol. Normal doesn't really press the importance of resists. And even in the few cases it did, the NM penalty was a huge wallop. Much more Hell.

2. In Hell, all those modifiers on unique monsters.

3. If you're a Sorceress or any elemental reliant build, unless you magically somehow come upon the right point distribution the first go around, the immunities will screw you over seriously

Sorry but if you're going to say Diablo 2 didn't "scare" gamers in Nightmare and moreso in Hell, I'm going to call shenanigans, cheater, or you're one of those gamers who played Diablo 2 for the first time while consulting a guide.

[TheMythe]

Good idea IMHO.
Would be cool if Normal had an endboss, which is one tough nut to crack.
Then on Nightmare you have an extra act (monsters included etc) where you not only need to beat the 'Normal' endboss (who'll be tougher) but in that extra act the Nightmare endboss as well.
Than you proceed to Hell and as a bonus next to the Normal/Nightmare endbosses, you get extra endgame content + final endboss.

With each expansion they'll just continue this way on building up on the amount of acts/classes/endbosses.

Idea?

[Malaterre]

I do not like the idea to have additionnal end bosses. Because it would mean that the story changes with the different difficulty levels.

However I like Richard's idea. We know that there will be some random events, dungeons... in the world. Maybe some of these events could appear only in Nightmare or in Hell. For example, in a map you have places where different random events or door to dungeons appear. So for a given zone you have X random things than may happen. Perhaps in nightmare you could have another possibility added to the random pool, and another one added in Hell.

Then you would enter a dungeon in Hell thinking it is (once again) the dungeon with spiders that randomly appeared and it is actually the exploding fetishes dungeon that appears only in Hell :nod:

Obviously, after 10 years, you will know all the dungeons but still, it would add something to playing in Hell (like Uber Tristram did in D2).

[lone_wolf]

So we're talking about the first forays into Nightmare and Hell?

1. Nightmare, resistance penalty + elemental monsters. lol@first Tainted unique pack. Simply lol. Normal doesn't really press the importance of resists. And even in the few cases it did, the NM penalty was a huge wallop. Much more Hell.

2. In Hell, all those modifiers on unique monsters.

3. If you're a Sorceress or any elemental reliant build, unless you magically somehow come upon the right point distribution the first go around, the immunities will screw you over seriously

Sorry but if you're going to say Diablo 2 didn't "scare" gamers in Nightmare and moreso in Hell, I'm going to call shenanigans, cheater, or you're one of those gamers who played Diablo 2 for the first time while consulting a guide.

And you seems to not have played the game from the start. The resistance penalties where not always looking like they are today in diablo 2.

and after your first few characters the little increase in difficulty should have been something you planned ahead for. Or expected had you played any rpgs before in your life.

Not to mention that most players of diablo 2 never played the hardest patch for any amount of time.

If you want a real challenge you step it up and play 1.07 where you can meet triple immunes and a lorde the sies that steal your pots right out of your belt.