Happy Independence (Wednes)Daily!

[jamesixgun]

Happy 4th of July, for those of you in the US (and any expats or others who care).

And a happy Wednesday to everyone else!

RL: Off work for the holiday: whoo! And I've been simultaneously very productive (see below, below) and completely sloth-like thus far. Here in a bit, I'll actually start moving about, maybe have a shower, definitely have a nap, maybe get out and drive around or find somewhere to go walk and make pictures, or who knows what the day will bring. The apartment is clean enough, my chores are done enough, and so today is a day of rest for the JayGun.

D3: Perhaps later... but the real news is:

D2: I got d2 running under OSX Lion! GoGo. It was super easy with the fancy Wine wrapper I found, and completely free, and D2 plays smoother than any version I played on a mac, including under Classic in 10.2, though not quite as good as a top-of-the-line Windows box from 2001 or so... (I updated the D2 mac guide on the SPF if you're interested). And I started a TS/DTailer and played her through the Blood Raven (but not into the Stony Field, since the entrance spawned right next to the Cold Plains waypoint). I may delete her and start again, though, since I forgot about /players 8 until just before taking out the Blood Raven.

It's quite nice to be able to play D2 again... D3 is fun and all, but it's been making me pine for D2.

[BaronScarpia]

Happy 4 of July for all of you!

RL: I'll take the Happy Wednesday, since I'm not on US and have to work... Servers on California are working, right? Because tonight, before soccer, there'll be:

D3: Monk needs to kill stuff on hell and reach lvl 60. For some weird reason, my monk has 21 crit chance at level 54 and will have around 24 on lvl 60. I even managed to buy (yep, game to me is - or at least was - about buying stuff with gold) bracers with crit%, all res, Lres (the one I'm stacking, mostly based on my bracers), vit, dex... It was a happy accident. Last weak, you could find those things for 10k gold, now they cost bazzilion, after the monk vid I saw somewhere went popular. I believe he'll be viable on inferno (need to find the video again, since I kinda run a goodstuff build with good gear that moves fast). After him, WD. And after that, a huge cleaning on stash.

I'm kinda happy I managed to buy lots of %crit, crit dmg gear for nothing, some pieces by accident. I just found a shield thrown in a mule with crit chance, that I bought for nothing just because it has a sock, str and vit. My wizard fells the luckiest kid on the block. I spent 96k gold + 2 self found items on him, just looking for gear to survive on act 1 inferno. Somehow, after a chest upgrade (now his gear cost is 111562 gold + 2 sf) I ended up with 21k damage without magic weapon (I'll post the folks when everyone is at 60).

GAH isn't that fun anymore, stuff is getting expensive. And you can't just buy your godly farming gear for a mainstream build because people seem to be in search for real money for that gear. In the end, it's possible I end up with 5 lvl 60 chars able to at least clear act1 inferno by themselves, before the economy breaks apart for good (the whole reason I was an early adopter of GAH: to be able to use GAH before it's over). Monk seems to be on that road, I'm not so sure about WD. That's why I'm putting time to get those guys there ASAP.

[Valeli]

RL: Might go see the fireworks show, but it'll be so crowded and I don't have anyone to go with this year, and it'll take forever to get back on public transit with all those people... so I probably won't. More likely, I'll watch from apartment balcony which has a (not great) view of it. May also see a movie (didn't yesterday), since I have some time to kill this afternoon.

D3: Probably not a ton today. I'll probably hop on a touch in the evening though.

Glad you're having fun (soon) with D2. I tried to hop back on it but wasn't able too. I missed the cleaner picture a lot (even if I didn't like the artwork of D3 as much), and I /really/ missed the auto pick up for gold. I was shocked by movement speed though. Seemed my D2 guy was walking faster than my D3 char, although I'd always thought of my D2 walk as being painfully slow. Go figure.

[jamesixgun]

@Valeli: yep the lack of auto-pickup for gold is a bit of a pain, but it's mitigated, for me, by the auto-targeting right click in D2, which seems less finicky to me than the auto-targeting left click in D3.

I went off and played D3 for an hour or so (took Judith to the Pinnacle entrance, but didn't enter: not ready to face Diablo just yet; must research a bit first...), and I found that I had no idea what Judith was punching most of the time (or even if she was punching or just standing around...). Granted, Judith is late in the game (the Normal game), and the assassin is just beginning, but I have a much easier time seeing what is going on in D2 than I do in D3.

Of course, the graphics are definitely prettier in D3, but it's easier for my old eyes to see things in D2. I expect this is helped by the wider angle of view, but it's partly due to my mediocre eyesight, and partly due to the lower-quality graphics not being capable of muddying things up too much.

I miss the health globes a bit, but love being able to see most everything I pick up, and know when I'm gaining health (solely from potions, of course, but I prefer that slightly to the not really knowing whether the templar cast his thing, or I accidentally hit q, or gobbled up a health globe). I often come out battles in D3 knowing that I cast the healing spell a couple of times, and downed a couple of potions, and praying that the baddie will die, or Judith can hold on until the timers run out, but somehow, right at the end, Judith would gobble up a couple of health globes and be at full health when the battle ended.

I really like the mana pool (hatred, spirit, whatever) implementation in D3, and I like that one set of skills builds magic juice constantly. In fact, I far prefer this to the potion-pounding of D2, as it seems to make more sense. I know, for example, that I perform certain mundane tasks to build up my creative juices, for example. But I also know that I have to eat and drink in order to regain strength and sustain myself, which is maybe why I prefer health potions to health globes. When I'm battling through a stressful period at work, I don't suddenly find myself fully refreshed for no apparent reason.

Of course, it's silly to compare a video game in which your character fights demons and zombies and whatnot in a middle ages sort of setting to my daily life here in the 21st century...

I wish there were more places to put gems in D2... Gems in rings is brilliant! I found a +x Dex/Vit ring with some other mods and a socket and stuffed a Perfect Emerald in it, which added 20-something to Judith's damage from 1 piece of gear. And the direct and obvious ties between attributes and abilities for the various classes is also quite nicely implemented, and somewhat lacking in D2.

And I agree about the movement speed, though it's just as easy to evade most enemies in both games.

I'm glad I picked up D3, and glad I'm playing it, and glad I'll play it at least long enough to see the final credits. But I doubt I'll be running Wine Bottlers (or whatever) to emulate my current rig on whatever computer I have in another 12 years just so I can run D3, like I'm emulating XP/pentium/direct3D just to play D2 today.

It's all good times, though, for sure!

[Grisu]

RL: nothing much of importance.

D3: My level 46 HC Monk died in Act III NM while trying to find the breach in the Keep. Absolutely surprised me. I had no problems whatsoever and no NDE so far the last few Act in NM, but then 2 crazed goblins exploded at once and I was dead. Didn't even see them coming through the doorway. Sucks, I guess :( Restart again it is, I think.

[pancakeman]

RL: Boring day. No pilgrimage to the usual celebration, instead the whole family has split up. I might go to a baseball game, depends on if I can get anybody to go with me. Chances are not looking good. If that doesn't work out, I'll probably go catch some fireworks in the little town just outside the city and then sulk for a while. It makes for good motivation while I'm writing this whiny, angst-ridden thing that I've been working on. Never before have I had to prepare emotionally to be able to write the way I want, especially not for an hour before I type anything. It has been something like: lights off, thrash metal on, transition to sad acoustic songs, finish with old late 1990s jams. This gets me angry, then sad and reflective, and finishes with a dollop of nostalgia for flavor.

D3: Shut up.

OVG: Oblivion forever and forever Oblivion. I have discovered the Shivering Isles, so now I am knee-deep in that, which is practically another game. I must be getting close to the end of the story quest, so that has stopped in favor of SI and finishing up any small quests I can get. Also closing every Oblivion Gate I can find searching for good Sigil Stones to pimp amber armor. I wasted my 125 Feather one on a sweet hood which, cool-looking thought it may be, offers no protection. The good news there is that I can now carry 725 pounds, so that enables me to tote three(!) bows. Meaning? I never run out of some kind of elemental damage, and the third is a soulstealer with which to recharge the other two. (It's name is Mortos)

[djmbbandie]

RL: Final is tomorrow. Watched some fireworks from the upstairs of my house during a thunderstorm.

D2: Still working on the Blizz Sorc

OVG: Not until Torchlight II.

[Grisu]

RL: Final is tomorrow. Watched some fireworks from the upstairs of my house during a thunderstorm.

D2: Still working on the Blizz Sorc

OVG: Not until Torchlight II.

You know this is the D3 forum, right?

When's TL2 going to be released? Anyone already tried it (beta)??

[Pijus]

Yes, the beta was awesome. I heard a mention of August when talking about TL2 release dates, but don't take that as fact. I think there is/was a thread about TL2 in the D2 spf, started by RobbyD