Gameplay and gameflow

[Afflicted]

Probably the reason why it's been taking so long to be developed in the first place is because it's hard to make D3 "fun". And new.

Diablo 2 was a monstrosity from the developers - it was *continually* being overhauled and very fundamental changes were made to the gameplay. The most significant of which was probably the skill system - iirc that came very late in development compared to the rest of the game. But lo - the system was a success. Rightly so... but balancing was a *****. (how many patches???)

What I'm trying to say is, designing the gameplay is Diablo 3's main hurdle. What functions do the skills have? So far we've had passive boosts to damage/speed/armor/resistance/whatever, melee/missile/physical offensive skills, summons, traps/totems, offensive spells (think sorceresses), teleport/leap,... D2's skillset isn't all THAT varied. I'd look to DotA for examples of other functions of skills.

So, what sort of gameplay changes are you expecting?

Gameflow is another. How do the monsters behave? How are the fighting dynamics like? Seeing as how quick reactions were critical to survival in D2 at higher difficulties anyway, could we expect the gameplay to flow a lot quicker (thinking DMC or Kingdom Hearts)? Or just more of the same?

What sort of advances do you expect in the gameflow?

[ChrisF]

I think it would be cool if the monsters actually did thier own thing, what I mean is how often do the monsters actually do anything but wait for you to appear? All they do is stand around in groups and wait for you, how about if they wandered around and found you instead of patrolling the same small area.

[mince pies]

I'd like to see it have a more DI feel to it. I remember the first time I played DI and I sh*t myself. Though I was 12 at the time. And it was night time.

[Afflicted]

Originally Posted by ChrisF

I think it would be cool if the monsters actually did thier own thing, what I mean is how often do the monsters actually do anything but wait for you to appear? All they do is stand around in groups and wait for you, how about if they wandered around and found you instead of patrolling the same small area.

Ermmmm... I'm not so sure about this one. Doesn't seem very practical and really doesn't help the gameplay experience for the players all that much. This is Diablo we're talking about here, not Oblivion; players go in and murder everything in sight, not stalk around or chatter or explore or gather stuff up.

I'd like to see it have a more DI feel to it. I remember the first time I played DI and I sh*t myself. Though I was 12 at the time. And it was night time.

D1 was claustrophobic and lacked a 'run' button, among other things. There's a mod around which tries to have the same elements found in D1 and put them back in D2 actually... can't find it though.

[korialstraz]

Originally Posted by Afflicted

This is Diablo we're talking about here, not Oblivion; players go in and murder everything in sight

True.

Originally Posted by Afflicted

not stalk around or chatter

"Stay a while and listen"

Originally Posted by Afflicted

or explore

You never explored the first, second, third whatever time you played it? I still sometimes explore and notice things I havn't noticed before

Originally Posted by Afflicted

or gather stuff up.

That is wrong though. Whats all the infinite mf grinding about if it's not to gather stuff? :laugh:

Imo monsters who can "do" things on their own, and not just stand still and "activate" when you come closer would make the game a lot better. You can never tell when a scout might notice you, and shout a warning to their friends that you are coming. Would be really cool imo =)

[raishi]

having monsters have "allegences" so when different monsters get near each other they may start fighting...its always fun to stand back and watch to things beat each other near to death...then you can walk in and kill them both...bwahaha...like be wandering around and see a brute smashing a fallen's skull in...or the gloam starts blasting something because it wandered too close...or make the rats and birds acctual creatures and the monsters kill them from time to time...

[Elyrian]

I would like to see more chaos and randomness in the game play. . . it's the guessing as to what's coming next that keeps sturdy adventurers on their guard. Perhaps having multiple possible quests in each act that all have different possible outcomes (sort of like not knowing exactly what you will get when Charsi imbues things!) which will in turn bring forth different developments with characters for that game. I like the idea of random shrines (along the lines from original Diablo), and random portal travel. So far in Diablo and Diablo II, all portal shrines go to town. But, what if some portal shrines took you, say, a hall of treasure, or a rare item, or secret place? Or, what if a portal shrine set you down a room full of traps, or in the middle of a legion of skeleton archers and you had to fight your way free? You would never know if glory or danger was waiting on the other end.