Fallout-NL
Member
I'm in as well (EU), was flagged a couple of weeks ago (thanks again man!). I'll report back with my findings as soon as I get a chance to play it. Which will be tomorrow.
Diablo 3 Beta [Beta withdrawal underway!]
- Thread starter maniac-kun
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InsertCredit
Member
Nothing for me
Same :'(
I second that emotion.
RoaringHawk
Member
How does one gets his account flagged?
AzureSkies
Member
Sadly nothing for me. It's a shame as I was actually involved in the EU beta of Cataclysm and actually reported bugs. Despite the fact that I have a new account for the US version of WoW when I moved to Canada, I'm still checking my old account to see if I got in with currently no luck.
Pixel Pete
Member
Now that my time with Skyrim is coming to a close (kinda, 250hours and still fairly strong but it only lasts so long) I'm back to checking my battle.net every day
So many people got the beta... I'd do anything for an opt-in.
And then there are people that do have their accounts flagged saying: "meh I haven't gotten around to playing it yet... I might do so later on once I'm done with Skyward Sword."
... I mean really?
So okay, I did read the agreement (I swear! Honest!) but I think I missed seeing the bit where it says what you're allowed to talk about. Is there any restriction on what you can say about the D3 beta, and if so is there an online copy of those terms and conditions? I've only played it for like 20-30 mins so far but I'd like to post some first impressions.
perfectnight
Banned
There's no NDA.
My impressions: hnngh
My impressions: hnngh
Fixed
I got in a couple weeks after the Friends and Family kickoff and I've posted videos, impressions, screens, etc. I'm still in the beta, play often and have never been warned, sanctioned, banned, etc. for any of those things.
Just beat SkeleKing for the first time with Demon Hunter, man this game is so bad ass, I'm a big D1 and D2 vet, and there are some minor things I still wish they had kept out (like HP globes), but damn this is going to consume tons of my time when it comes to retail.
Battletag: MrMister#1109 - Add me if you want to play.
Stabby McSter
Member
The HP globes is my only gripe with the game so far.
Do you guys prefer potions? I really felt the potion spamming in D2 was ridiculous. I get that the context of the health globes feels "arcade like", but I'm thinking when the difficulty goes up strategically picking up globes will become important.
I think they should get rid of globes, but keep the potion cool-down, but drop it to like 10 seconds, that way you still sort of spam it, but still forces you to use tactics to avoid damage.
Congratulations to you sir!
Littlegator
Banned
No kidding. It's actually starting to get annoying. I'm the most avid fan of Diablo I've ever met in person, and I've got 4 friends in the beta who haven't even played it yet because they never played 1 or 2. Why are they in and not me? Oh, is it because they all play SC2 religiously?
Acidote
Member
I guess its all luck, I play both SC2 and WoW, and no beta for me either.
Oblivionmancer
Member
So play on any of theirs account
Seriously if I had a friend in the beta, I'd be like 'bitch gimme a turn!'
I also felt a flutter in my heart at a Blizzard email... only to be disappointed again. Played at my brothers for a little bit last night though.
Everything just feels so right. The resource generator and spender system works amazing (on a barb at least). All your skills really feel impactful and the game is just handsdown gorgeous.
Can't wait to either play the full game or beta (wishful thinking) so I can co-op this with my family and friends.
Oh, sweet, that'll be why I didn't see one.
Okay then, my first impressions. I've now completed my first run through, using a Wizard (side note: I found a Wizard Hat, but no Robes, what's up with that?). The game seems to be quite at home with being run from Steam, so I used the Steam Overlay to take a few screenshots.
First things first then: the installer. It's a combined downloader/installer, which means you have to download the game on the machine you want to install it on. I think this is a bit of an oversight by Blizzard, people who have slow connections or low transfer caps at home might want to be able to download the game at a friend's house or at work and then take it home. This is offset by a couple of things: 1) nobody will ever buy the digital download edition anyway as like Starcraft II I have no doubt it will be ridiculously more expensive than the retail version, even when price dropped after a year or whatever and 2) after downloading about a gig's worth of data, the installer gives you the option to start playing while the rest of the download happens in the background. I did try that option but it didn't work too well, was very laggy/jerky. Needs more work.
Then the game itself. No fancy cutscene intros yet, I'm assuming those will come in the retail version. This being a brand new game it supports all manner of resolutions and graphics settings, I cranked it up to 1920x1080 with everything on high and it runs great. Interestingly, characters have now been renamed to "heroes". I suppose that reflects the fact that Diablo games have always been about defeating the bad guys and saving the town/country/world/etc. This does have one small knock-on effect in that your "hero sheet" is now accessed with the H key, not the C key as in previous Diablo games. Also I must say I don't recall seeing any stats in there; the only requirements I ever saw on items or weapons were class and level. I don't know if that's a beta thing but I'm sure this is an issue that will be cited when the vocal masses start complaining about how it's been "dumbed down".
On to the gameplay. I start the game, and my immediate feeling is that this is a Diablo setting, just in high definition
. There are tutorial popups, which can be turned off (and if you're a previous Diablo player you'll probably want to do that after you've learned the new stuff, as they get annoying after a while) but on the surface it just looks like it plays like previous Diablo games.However once you get past the beginning part you start to see some of the differences. You can only change your skill/spell loadout while near an altar, and to begin with you only have two active skill slots anyway (it goes up to a maximum of 5 or 6 I think). So while there are quite a range of skills/spells you can learn, you can only have a couple of them ready for use at any one time. I was a bit shocked the first time I saw this, but after playing through it, maybe it isn't such a problem? The Altar in town isn't the only one, there are a couple out "in the field" as it were. Also this is offset by another new wrinkle: the Stone of Recall. This replaces Town Portal; you don't get it immediately, I think I received it as part of the reward for one of the quests I completed. On the up side, it doesn't have a limited number of uses, only a "cooldown time". There are also the usual waypoints, and at the end of some dungeons there's a "transport to entrance" obelisk which is handy if you need to go somewhere else nearby.
Another thing which is new in this is crafting: after a certain quest has been completed you get access to the Blacksmith and can craft weapons and armour. They're actually not bad, and you also get a device called the Nephalem Cube which you can use to disassemble items into components for crafting (so finally there's a reason to pick up all the junk items instead of just leaving them because they're not worth anything and they take up space - scrap'em and use the parts). There's even a mechanism in place for levelling up this Blacksmith so you gain access to more craftable items. So far the recipes only call for Common Scrap and Subtle Essence, hopefully some of the more advanced items will have more complex recipes in the retail game.
Combat works pretty much like you'd expect if you're a Diablo player, but monsters also sometimes drop "health globes". These work like medpacks in an FPS - if you pick one up you get healed a certain amount straight away. There are also magic item properties which can affect the effects of them. It's important to note that these don't replace potions - potions are still in there, but have a cooldown time on them, so if you're really desperate for a heal they're useful for that.
You can also have a Companion (as distinct from a Follower) cast from one of the numerous Scrolls of Companion that seem to be about the place. Some might dismiss it as useless, since its sole function is to pick up gold lying on the ground for you, but it does free up your attention a little to concentrate on more important stuff like killing monsters.
Followers also have gotten some enhancement in this game - they have their own mini-skill-tree where each time they gain a skill you can choose from one of two. Not sure how much actual impact these will have during gameplay though as I never really noticed my follower using his skill.
So far there's been no sign of gems, runes or socketed items, but again that may well be something that's not in the beta yet.
Overall it was a very pleasant experience and a welcome return to the Diablo universe. And all those people who were whinging about rainbows and unicorns can rest easy, the colour scheme is fine IMO.
I'm sure I've probably repeated some things that others have already mentioned, just wanted to get my first impressions down.
You should really read up a bit more. Most the questions you're asking yourself and other unkowns are pretty common knowledge on stuff like diablofans.com and even de diablo3.com database.
I haven't been following those sites, but now that you've mentioned them I'll check them out, thanks.
Fallout-NL
Member
Did the achievements work for you Danj? I didn't get any.
Thanks for the impressions. I'll get started on some of my own, probably post them later tonight or maybe tomorrow morning.
As a pretty hardcore Diablo fan (ever since the first one): I like the game, that much is certain.
Thanks for the impressions. I'll get started on some of my own, probably post them later tonight or maybe tomorrow morning.
As a pretty hardcore Diablo fan (ever since the first one): I like the game, that much is certain.
Fallout-NL
Member
Right, that explains it .
.I'm not in the beta but I finished reading the Book of Cain. I put up a review on Amazon if you guys want to read it. It's amongst probably the more critical reviews you'll read.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1YCYK...e=UTF8&ASIN=1608870634&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1YCYK...e=UTF8&ASIN=1608870634&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=
I was wondering why nothing was going on with that... can't wait to see it re-enabled so I can customize my banner more.
Add me guys looking for people to beta race or whatever you want: MrMister#1109
I managed to find myself a copy of Diablo I a while back. I've just started playing that again as well. Gotta say it's not as easy as I recall it being.
Guess we were either just superhuman at a younger age, have gotten lazy and suck at games now, or lastly the dreaded "games got easier" argument goes.
I am loving the fact that I have to actually harden the fuck up to play through this though. The atmosphere is just amazing.
Fallout-NL
Member
I've finally finished my impressions of playing the beta over the weekend. Basically I used the beta as an excuse to write a really long piece on Diablo . Here's the introduction:
It's quite a lot of text, so I recommend following the link if you'd like to read the rest.
. Here's the introduction:Timetowaste.net said:
It's quite a lot of text, so I recommend following the link if you'd like to read the rest.
AdventureRacing
Member
Probably the only thing i disagreed with that you said was to do with stat points. I felt like they added next to no depth in diablo 2 and most times when i started a character i would just look up exactly how much str/dex/mana i needed and then pumped the rest into vitality. It was pretty boring and all it really did was force me to really plan ahead so i wouldn't fuck up my stats for later levels.
They were more an annoyance than anything. I just hope the skills have plenty of depth to them as this is where the real fun and depth comes from.
They were more an annoyance than anything. I just hope the skills have plenty of depth to them as this is where the real fun and depth comes from.
Fallout-NL
Member
Yeah, that's exactly right and I had similar issues with the way it worked in DII. I just hope the new system doesn't result in simply class restricting all the items.
AdventureRacing
Member
Yeah i do agree with that. I'm not saying stats should have been removed altogether but the form they were used in diablo 2 was kind of redundant.
I hope we get to see some decent levels of customisation as it will suck if pretty much everyone just looks and plays the same. They need to make sure a wide variety of play styles are possible.
ToyMachine228
Member
I didn't write one on Amazon but posted my feelings here. Overall I thought it was pretty disjointed. The longer deeper stories worked really well and held my interest but the shorter more random stuff felt all over the place. And in some areas you can tell the shark has been jumped by how a given topic is described described. "Most believe this, but I believe that, we'll never know the truth" etc etc
Yeah they try to convince you every once in awhile that this thing was written by Deckard Cain, but in most aspects it still reads almost exactly like the lore pages that were included in the older Blizzard manuals. It's kinda weird when you're reading something supposedly written by Cain, but then all of a sudden you see a section "circled" with additional notes in a completely different font. It just straddles the line between trying to replicate an old tome and yet still working like a more modern book and it's not really convincing.
1. Barb
2. DH
3. Monk
4. Wiz
5. WD
Clearly you have not found a good 2h weapon for barb. Clearly.
FieryBalrog
Member
Everytime I see this thread bumped I get nervous.
Guess I'll work on getting one then
God damn really.. I haven't gotten in the beta yet.. I mean, i had the chance to play all betas from jesus christ, wow classic to sc2 and now no Diablo
It's such a pain for a diablo hardcore player like me to not get into the d3 beta :\
Also I second the "getting nervous" every time this thread gets bumped xD
It's such a pain for a diablo hardcore player like me to not get into the d3 beta :\
Also I second the "getting nervous" every time this thread gets bumped xD
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