I have a fantastic suggestion for Diablo 3

[iThinman]

Exactly how much data do you think it takes to store one accounts worth of information that all this data moving is going to slow things down? It is just variable values. They don't actually forge copies of all your gear at a machine shop.

:|

[ShadoutMapes]

With unlimited freespecs there is no need to have more than one of a character class at level 60

so this doesn't really make sense

Bull****.
People can make new characters for whatever reasons. Blizzard severely limiting our ability to make more than 1 char of each class is really bad for something which is supposedly a multiplayer game.

[zapotek]

Bull****.
People can make new characters for whatever reasons. Blizzard severely limiting our ability to make more than 1 char of each class is really bad for something which is supposedly a multiplayer game.

For me the biggest problem with the character limit is stash use. Instead of having several characters of the same class but with different builds(and thus equipment) I am going to have to use up the shared stash to have multiple equipment setups for each of the classes, not counting the pvp set each of the classes will need. Instead of logging back and forth between different character to get access to new playstyles I will need to move equipment around.

I plan to have 5 hc and 5 sc characters, one of each class. Equipment for different builds must be saved otherwise it will be a gigantic hassle to respec("creating a new character"), having to spend lots of time trading. I can easily see the need for having a minimum of at least five gearsets per class. I want to experience everything about the classes, not having to choose to have "my paladin slot being a zealot".

[a black kid]

With unlimited freespecs there is no need to have more than one of a character class at level 60

so this doesn't really make sense

couldnt disagree more. on top of the fact of liking to play different styles (for instance a spectral blade melee orientated wizard, and a meteoblizz sorc) there is different gear for different skills. so say i really enjoy 3 different wizard builds (and yes, i plan on having 3 wizards), am i expected to change out all my gear AND respec every time? i think that would be foolish, or at the very least tedius. plus i've always been a person who enjoys the process of leveling up, and using the skills i plan on using end game while leveling up, to get the best feel for them in a progressively difficult environment.

also, what about friends that play the game? ive always enjoyed leveling with friends. so ive got one of each class, all solid geared with many hours put into them, and my friend buys the game. am i supposed to say "sorry, i already have a max of each class, so we can't play together until you've played through at the very least two difficulties alone"

[beingmused]

With unlimited freespecs there is no need to have more than one of a character class at level 60

so this doesn't really make sense

5 SC, 5 HC, there's 10 right there. Zero room for mules of any kind. 10 characters is absolutely restrictive.

[DiabloBaal]

I also have a fantastic suggestion for Blizzard..........

REMOVE THE ALWAYS ONLINE DRM

[ShadoutMapes]

? ive always enjoyed leveling with friends. so ive got one of each class, all solid geared with many hours put into them, and my friend buys the game. am i supposed to say "sorry, i already have a max of each class, so we can't play together until you've played through at the very least two difficulties alone"

Exactly...

[stonerdoom]

The only reason why I'm even making 10 instead of 5 characters, is to have 5 extra inventories to store stuff.
Other than that, I'll only play 5 SC chars.

This.

You don't need three of everything. Each guy has ALL the skills/runes (remember the big deal that everyone made about it). All you need is your equipment to twink your guy to the slant that you want.

[starrise]

Exactly how much data do you think it takes to store one accounts worth of information that all this data moving is going to slow things down? It is just variable values. They don't actually forge copies of all your gear at a machine shop.

:|

I have no idea how much data it will take, I have estimates, but no idea if they're correct. If I had to guess, I'd say at the absolute most 1 MB per account (which for a million people is about a terabyte of storage on a single copy. Regardless, moving data uses up the ability of a storage drive's controller hardware to access further data. There is only so much parallel data movement that is possible within the confines of a single drive. Using up that data movement with useless, pointless dynamic data restructuring is a ridiculous waste of resources, and removes real-time reading/writing. Because of this, they don't use giant, 2 TB hard drives to store data like you might on your home computer. They will use a large quantity of smaller drives connected in parallel to dedicated servers to obtain maximum bandwidth access to the data.

They undoubtedly set up a framework in advance for how data is stored that is more or less static. Because character data is entirely predictable in terms of how much data is used. Things like which class, which gender, the fact you have 6 skills at most and what is in each slot, what your current rune choices are, a finite number of gear slots and references to the item database which item is where, each character's current progression (in the current quest) and overall progression (what quests have ever been completed) and level, gold on the entire account, shared stash unlocks, achievements, etc. All of these are merely reference values or short numbers, not actual significant storage, so they take up little bits of space that adds up. Because of this predictability, they can preallocate exactly the necessary amount of data in a rigorous manner, with no fragmentation. Then, data writing just changes reference values if certain data changes, and data seek/reading is highly predictable, dramatically decreasing access times, and reducing wear and tear on the drives to a small fraction of a dynamic system, saving tons of money and heartache, and keeping the system real-time.

Just because they are saving money relative to dynamic storage solutions does not mean this is cheap. They will need to run a lot of parallel, real-time backup copies of all of the data in case there is data corruption, because even tiny errors can cause severe customer backlashes (deleted items, characters, achievements, progression, etc). When the game saves your character server-side, it doesn't just do it once, it probably saves 5 to 10 copies all at the same time on different, parallel drives.

In a sense, the data framework IS effectively forged on the drives (not literally, but metaphorically) since the framework won't change. The individual data values may change, but where they are in relation to all of the other data will never change.

This is also part of why patching and maintenance takes so long: they sometimes have to restructure all of this data to account for new variables/references that didn't exist or were unforeseen in earlier builds, or perform integrity checks and pull/rebuild from parallel backups as necessary.

These systems are nothing like when you copy/paste data on a home computer. There are serious, costly ramifications for inefficiencies, and the systems are far more robust and complicated than home computers. A lot of complex thought from skilled people goes into planning these things out.

[Darkmere]

Starrise got it. You can't just IMAGINE new spaces and they get filled by the Blizzard data Wizard. All this stuff has been designed the way it is for a reason. Nothing says Blizz won't implement more slots later, but it's not a trivial task, no matter how much wishful thinking and grand ideas get thrown at it.