Into The Inferno

[JaMonk]

So. "Brutally, brutally, hard" eh? We shall see....

With the recent news that Inferno difficulty is a gradual ramp in difficulty, apparently culminating with "brutally hard," what can we realistically expect?

Bashiok said that the later acts (III & IV) will be for the most elite players only. He even claimed that hardcore players may take months to get through each act.

Frankly, I highly doubt this. Of course Flux and all the rest of us hardcore gamers are hopeful at the mention of such brutal difficulty, but is it realistic to think that it will take months? With a pack of 4 characters at level 60 playing strategically and powerfully together, I am sure that a dedicated team like this could take out one Act in a day or two.

I would love it to be as brutal as claimed, but can we really feel safe in expecting this?

Your move, Blizzard.

[Kailenaa]

Well... im a bit afraid about this too. But lets think a bit.
What with nightmare? It have to be hard. Its nightmare. Hard, but ofcourse not for hardcore players and blablabla. Then.. what about hell? It have to be really hard. Its 2 levels above normal! U Cant beat Hell with normal-gear, just trying to rush forward. It may work on normal ( but not always to be honest, even in beta ) But not on hell. And then.. we have inferno. They talk a lot about how hard it is. I Belive them. This is blizzard, they never lay down people that trust in them. No matter how long it takes.

[Ixnatifual]

It's also possible someone finds an exploit, OP skills, items or combination of these that trivialises content. And then manages to complete Inferno before Blizzard can rectify the issue.

[psyadam]

Yes, hacks and such are very possible. I wonder if Blizzard will have some sort of thing where we can see how far the farthest person has progressed so far? That would be really neat. I'm sure it won't happen though.

It's also possible someone finds an exploit, OP skills, items or combination of these that trivialises content. And then manages to complete Inferno before Blizzard can rectify the issue.

[Apocalypse]

i feel that the RMAH will be the main reason bliz will fight hacks and exploits. of course it could go the other way and they dont care if a small percentage of people are doing it as long as everyone keeps buying


as for the topic at hand, i have a feeling the game will be hard at launch and get easier as people complain they cant advance fast enough in inferno. it is in the best interest of bliz though to make inferno super hard, the harder the better. the fewer people who can farm act 4 hell only means more buyers in the AH. so being said maybe they wont make it easier. let people buy their way into act 4 inferno. i figure if 10% can do act 4 inferno then that leaves a lot of potential buyers

[Wildmoon]

If WoW's HM is any indication then I think it can be that hard but I am not sure if it will stay hard for long or not.

[Sex]

I hope it's not as difficult as they are making it out to be, however, I wouldn't doubt it if it comes out like that.

[marshmallow]

I'm kinda meh about difficulty in these types of games because it doesn't mean it'll demand more skill or strategy, just better gear. So the harder it is it just means you'll have to grind longer for items to pass the gear check.

[seffer]

WoW used to be known for how brutally hard it was. There is hope. But I wouldn't count on it being hard forever, they'll probably nerf it.

[Sooru]

If they've simply upped the gear and dps requirement through the roof no amount of skill and coordination can make up for that. It seems they expect us to farm for gear about a month until even with good group play characters will be able to survive.

If this is correct, AH will still facilitate bypassing the gear threshold somewhat to start working on Inferno earlier than most. But will the exceedingly high price asked for first wave of good items be worth it?