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[TheYanger]

i just hope they have more itemization in the game other than, armor, weapons, and gems.

All these changes just make it seem like too many cooks in the kitchen.

I'm not sure why you need more items than that. there are a lot of armor slots, which is really all you need. 'what' a slot is is so unimportant, there are still plenty of places to equip stuff, more than D2 even if you count the lost stuff.
I mean, you're complaining that they take a system and make it not 'loot based' but runes were going to be dumb as loot anyway, they're part of the skill system. You might as well argue that you should have to LOOT every skill you learn. You should have to LOOT a left click action button slot. I want to trade my potion slot for an action button 4 RARE with -.1 second GCD.

This argument is idiotic.

 

[V_Arnold]

Without fun gameplay, loot is meaningless.
You can have LITERALLY thousands of different mechanics built around loot, but when gameplay is not fun....well, you wont stick around.

Also, now items are not there at all? All the level of gem drops are nothing?
Gameplay complexity >> loot complexity, for me.

Without a fun gameplay, no matter what loot it offers, Diablo 2 would not have survived a decade.

 

[Rentahamster]

Gah, delayed again until 11PM PST. Screw it, I'm going out to get drunk.

Hamster is back and drunk as hell. Anything cool happen?

 

[Corky]

Damn man, I can tell you this now I know why the game isn't out there yet since they can't seem to make up their minds. This isn't a small change to say the least.

Also, anyone think that the reason one of the lead designers left (?) was because of internal wishes within the dev team for radical changes like these?

 

[TheYanger]

Damn man, I can tell you this now I know why the game isn't out there yet since they can't seem to make up their minds. This isn't a small change to say the least.

Also, anyone think that the reason one of the lead designers left (?) was because of internal wish for radical changes like these?

It's not really that radical though. The runes are all designed. It's a bit of UI work sure, but otherwise it's just balance tweaking that they were already doing. The UI part is already done, so it shouldn't be a significant setback from this point. If they were suddenly ADDING the entire rune system from scratch, requiring programming all of the abilities, designing and balancing them from nothing, and more importantly art assets, sure. But all that stuff is already done. Shifting it away from the loot code isn't nearly as much work.

 

[Corky]

It's not really that radical though. The runes are all designed. It's a bit of UI work sure, but otherwise it's just balance tweaking that they were already doing. The UI part is already done, so it shouldn't be a significant setback from this point.

Considering the game has been more or less looking visually the same the past years I must point out you terribly underestimate Blizzard's dedication ( to a fucking fault if you ask me since it attributes to us waiting years for things like an expansion ) to balancing, now they've got to focus more on the balancing of this system, which takes time, which costs money, etc. I think this constitutes a radical change.

 

[Boken]

ZombieSupaStar is crazy, that is all.

The unlock rune system:
-looks ugly
++makes leveling more fun because you get more shit from levels
-feels like it removes choice since you only have one rune per skill for the first many levels
+is not random

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

Considering the game has been more or less looking visually the same the past years I must point out you terribly underestimate Blizzard's dedication ( to a fucking fault if you ask me since it attributes to us waiting years for things like an expansion ) to balancing, now they've got to focus more on the balancing of this system, which takes time, which costs money, etc. I think this constitutes a radical change.

It's retarded, I can tell you right now, while it was fun playing the beta, it wasn't something earth shattering, it definitely had this "should have been out 5 years ago" feel to it. First Blizzard game where I've felt that. If they can't hit in 2012 its just laughable. Rehire Condor. And fire their project manager.

ZombieSupaStar is crazy, that is all.

Insightful, moving on...

 

[Boken]

I had nothing to add since theYanger already said everything I wanted to. I don't see you responding to his points - perhaps because they are too good, hmm?

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

I had nothing to add since theYanger already said everything I wanted to. I don't see you responding to his points - perhaps because they are too good, hmm?

Not really, he obviously likes the new system, I don't. The fact that Jay Wilson goes into damage control multiple times in the post detailing it shows I'm obviously not the only foreseeable person on the planet to dislike the change.

 

[Boken]

No - you essentially used an extreme argument ("why not make weapons unlocks too") to debase unlocking runes. That makes no sense. To parallel your argument, why not make level up tome drops the only way you can level up? There is a difference between loot and gameplay/character mechanics. I don't see how you can go from runes - which are related to skills and thus primarily a character mechanic to weapons - a loot mechanic.

I think you're just blindly upset at the fact that "types of loot" went down by one without considering it wholistically. Perhaps if they made gems unlockable then you'd have a path to make a "why not unlock weapons too" argument, but this does not work with skill based items (runes).

Think of it this way. Pretend originally, Diablo3 had +stat tome drops, and they were the only way to improve your stats. Lets say this is a terrible system (and it is) and Blizzard reverted this change to make stats improve when you level. You would get upset. "why not unlock weapons too" you would say. This is the same idea. This is also the same point V_arnold makes, bless his soul.

 

[TheYanger]

Considering the game has been more or less looking visually the same the past years I must point out you terribly underestimate Blizzard's dedication ( to a fucking fault if you ask me since it attributes to us waiting years for things like an expansion ) to balancing, now they've got to focus more on the balancing of this system, which takes time, which costs money, etc. I think this constitutes a radical change.

They don't though, there's nothing 'new' gameplay wise in the game. They added them into the levelling process as unlocks, but that's minor compared to making sure the abilities themselves aren't broken which they've presumably been doing for a long time. The tweaking they need to do now is just making sure they feel like a good ability progression, especially early on. that's relatively simple.

 

[John_B]

The runes as items were simply to complex for inventory management. They could perhaps have done it as a training system: give rune to a npc trainer and you learn the skill. You would still end up with the same interface as now though.

Personally I prefer skills to be available from the start, and not something you have to go pokemon-hunting for. The new crafting system should keep everyone more than busy producing loot.

In general it sounds like people just want the game to be released, but tack on some badly argumented points how the newest changes suck, just to not sound like a whiner .

 

[Corky]

They don't though, there's nothing 'new' gameplay wise in the game. They added them into the levelling process as unlocks , but that's minor compared to making sure the abilities themselves aren't broken which they've presumably been doing for a long time

I fail to see how taking a mechanic that revolved around random drop and then changing it to guaranteed throughout the level progression as something minor. Especially considering how game altering and complex the runesystem seems.

The tweaking they need to do now is just making sure they feel like a good ability progression, especially early on. that's relatively simple.

Again you use words like "just" and "simple", maybe it's due to my ignorance when it comes to gamedesign and programming but nothing about this comes across as simple nor minor.

If anything I'd be willing to wager that this change is probably ( one of many ) factors that has led to D3 missing its recent launch targets.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

In general it sounds like people just want the game to be released, but tack on some badly argumented points how the newest changes suck, just to not sound like a whiner .

It needs to be released, the beta plays great for a 2008 game.

 

[TheYanger]

I fail to see how taking a mechanic that revolved around random drop and then changing it to guaranteed throughout the level progression as something minor. Especially considering how game altering and complex the runesystem seems.

It IS minor though in the grand scheme. I'm generalizing and simplifying things here, but it's basically just deleting the drops for runes, and making every player start with them all instead, and then sprucing the ui up to support it. There's not a lot new going on here. I mean, did you want runes? did you want the game to support that level of customization? Relying on drops for that is dumb, they're either so rare that you can't even make the builds you want without luck or trading (that would be awful), or so common that they might as well not even frigging drop. What did they add to the game as a drop rather than an unlock? Your average piece of equipment with stats and random attributes and +better is a good thing as a drop, because you can already play your character you're just making it better. When I plan on having an alabaster runed war cry as a crucial part of my build and I can't get the drop, that's just making me angry rather than making me happy. (No idea what that rune combo did, don't care, it was an example).

 

[Corky]

Ok, first of all saying something is minor in the grand scheme of things doesn't actually make it minor. Adding another class to D3 is minor in the grand scheme of say making a new game.
Second, even though you say you're oversimplifying it but that doesn't even begin to explain it.

Old system ) Runes, random drop, they're apparently very rare, they alter skills.
New system ) EVERYBODY GETS EVERY "RUNE" through leveling

How can you say that this a) minor or b) "just needs some balancing"?


Am I missing something?

 

[Tremis]

I fail to see how taking a mechanic that revolved around random drop and then changing it to guaranteed throughout the level progression as something minor. Especially considering how game altering and complex the runesystem seems.

Its still 'pretty much' like this IMO as they seem to be adding +specific skill affixes to the game. This was datamined as far back as patch 10 and I somehow missed hearing about it till now. So we still get to wait on cool drops that enhance a particular build! Don't know if this helps. I was super mad last night upon hearing the new changes and that alleviated most of my concerns.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

Ok, first of all saying something is minor in the grand scheme of things doesn't actually make it minor. Adding another class to D3 is minor in the grand scheme of say making a new game.
Second, even though you say you're oversimplifying it but that doesn't even begin to explain it.

Old system ) Runes, random drop, they're apparently very rare, they alter skills.
New system ) EVERYBODY GETS EVERY "RUNE" through leveling

How can you say that this a) minor or b) "just needs some balancing"?


Am I missing something?

Since everyone gets all the runes for every skill (and their are no rune levels) there are a lot less of ranks of runes to each skill to balance.

I need to brush up on my d2, and d3, because right now Diablo 2 feels to have more depth to its character customization/or itemization/ or fucked up your character, reroll-ization.

 

[Boken]

The way you write it makes the old system sound terrible. Maybe it was.

Also, you're misunderstanding him. TheYANGER is saying the change to support the new runes in the engine is minor, you're saying the gameplay changes aren't minor.

 

[Corky]

Since everyone gets all the runes for every skill (and their are no rune levels) there are a lot less of ranks of runes to each skill to balance.

I know but something that was random drop and or rare surely must've boosted the characters "strengths". What I'm trying to get at is removing the random element needs more emphasis on the balance since now everyone gets them.

The way you write it makes the old system sound terrible. Maybe it was.

Also, you're misunderstanding him. TheYANGER is saying the change to support the new runes in the engine is minor, you're saying the gameplay changes aren't minor.

Whichever it is, support or endresult game changes they both add to the dev time be it by one day or one month.

Also, in case it wasn't already obvious, I don't feel one way or the other about this new system other than it invariably making the game come out later.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It needs to be released, the beta plays great for a 2008 game.

They don't "need" to release anything. They need to do whatever they have to do to make it right. I would rather they release in the Q4 2012/Q1 2013 timeframe instead of rushing something out now and have it be half-assed. I don't care how late it is anyways at this point, I've got Tera.

 

[TheYanger]

Ok, first of all saying something is minor in the grand scheme of things doesn't actually make it minor. Adding another class to D3 is minor in the grand scheme of say making a new game.
Second, even though you say you're oversimplifying it but that doesn't even begin to explain it.

Old system ) Runes, random drop, they're apparently very rare, they alter skills.
New system ) EVERYBODY GETS EVERY "RUNE" through leveling

How can you say that this a) minor or b) "just needs some balancing"?


Am I missing something?

Yes, you are. Systematically, nothing is significantly different. All of those runes already existed. All of the skills were complete and in the game in all variations. This is not a new gameplay system being added, it's an item type being removed. And if they were going to be rare (which I don't think we know one way or another) then it was an AWFUL setup that needed to be changed. Promising billions of variations and then making them depend on random drops (lest you be stuck with just a few base skills with no runes) would be the stupidest thing they could do. Runes are the entire justification for removing the skill trees of diablo 2 in terms of 'build'. They SHOULD be entirely available to every character, this is a major feature of the game.

This is what Jay talked about in his post, as drops there are too many problems:

A) runes are common - if they're common and you get them all anyway, what is the point in making them drop? It just clutters the floor and seems dumb. They SHOULD be available as necessary to people for gameplay reasons, but at this point making them drop is stupid and this is why they took that away.
B) Runes are rare - This makes them valuable item upgrades, but it introduces far too much randomness to developing your character how you want. This isn't like finding a rare sword, because you're going to get THOUSANDS of swords over the course of the game, all with marginal upgrades, this is like "Oh, if you get a sword you can attack, but you only have a 0.001% chance of getting a sword at all and without it you can't attack"

What would the benefit be to the old system, in any terms? I would love to hear some.

Again, D3 has TONS of item types, they've added pants, shoulders and bracers already, on top of what D2 had. There will be PLENTY of items to find.

 

[John_B]

It needs to be released, the beta plays great for a 2008 game.

Where is this game that makes Diablo 3 outdated? Or do you just mean it doesn't look like Battlefield 3?

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

I know but something that was random drop and or rare surely must've boosted the characters "strengths". What I'm trying to get at is removing the random element needs more emphasis on the balance since now everyone gets them.

They probably assumed everyone would get them, I can see your idea of a "PHAT LEWT OMG" style drop, but also can see Yangers more "OMG I NEED THIS 100% ESSENTIAL & DIDNT GET IT /permaragequit", I'm betting blizzard assumed more of a "everyone gets the trophy" mindset, and this just completes it.

I'm trying to keep a somewhat open mind here and not revert into a total oldmanyellsatcloud.jpg when I hear about more and more changes/removals from what Diablo 1/2 were, but like I said the game needs to get out soon, it doesn't feel 2010+ at all when you play it...

Where is this game that makes Diablo 3 outdated? Or do you just mean it doesn't look like Battlefield 3?

I mean for as long as it has taken them, it just doesn't feel warranted. I realize WoW ruined the company for a good 6 years, but they need to get Diablo's pussy off the pedestal and launch already. Graphically it looks fine, sure there could be more polys here and there but overall the artstyle overpowers the lack of engine horsepower, I mean its 2012 and they are still ripping shit out and in, wtf have they been doing for 4 years (or 8 years or however long this version has been THE DIABLO 3).

 

[SteveWD40]

Is the down-loader borked for anyone else in the EU / UK?

I was downloading the beta to my new laptop and I set it before I went out last night, 5 hours later and it's at 17% running at 10kbs...

I downloaded Path of Exiles beta in less than an hour at 1.75mbs just after stopping the D3 download, they are about the same size.

I used the same net connection to DL WoW's full client before now so I don't think it's a "port forwarding" issue but I could be wrong, feels like pushing water uphill dealing with Blizzard sometimes.

 

[Corky]

They probably assumed everyone would get them, I can see your idea of a "PHAT LEWT OMG" style drop,

Actually...

"Also, in case it wasn't already obvious, I don't feel one way or the other about this new system other than it invariably making the game come out later."

 

[John_B]

I mean for as long as it has taken them, it just doesn't feel warranted.

I have the same feeling, but I'm still certain the game will be released as a considered masterpiece.

They probably did aim for something near-perfect that is humanly impossible to achieve. WoW evolved immensely with patches and expansions, but the Diablo-team somehow felt they could not afford to be good at launch and eventually great down the road.

That is in the past though.Now it's like right here, and they are tuning the game to be super tight, and we just have to wait a little while longer.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

I was reading somethingawful, and they bring up some good points, wouldn't selecting a rune at certain levels to unlock would be better than just unlocking a pre assigned one?, What if the rune you want is level 60? you're fucked until 60, also does that mean that a level 60 rune is better than a lower level rune? aren't they supposed to be relatively equal just different tweaks to skills?

 

[Mengy]

The real issue, as I see it, is that they changed what RUNES are completely. In D2 they were items that could be socketed into weapons and armor to give them stats, like gems, but certain combinations gave items powerful abilities (runewords). Now, in D3 runes are unlocks to skills that provide skills new abilities. They are more like skill synergys that you can choose. Skills are abilities that are earned as you level, not found in loot. In that context, I can see why they changed the runes from loot to earned.


So, the real issue is that they changed the definition of runes, and we aren't getting a replacement for the old D2 runeword system. I wish they had called these skill unlocks something other than runes, because in the D2 world of lore they are not runes. It's a tad confusing.

Still, I'm sad we are losing the D2 rune system, I kind of liked it.

 

[Freki]

Still, I'm sad we are losing the D2 rune system, I kind of liked it.

They will come back in one of the expansions - that i am quite certain of ;-)

 

[V_Arnold]

The D2 rune system does not have the capability of co-existing with a normal colored item-loot mechanic. It renders them obsolete, to be mere stepping stones. Do we really want to go back to gold/loot being meaningless, with a few exceptions, and only several high level runes having real value?

 

[KKRT00]

Is the down-loader borked for anyone else in the EU / UK?

I was downloading the beta to my new laptop and I set it before I went out last night, 5 hours later and it's at 17% running at 10kbs...

I downloaded Path of Exiles beta in less than an hour at 1.75mbs just after stopping the D3 download, they are about the same size.

I used the same net connection to DL WoW's full client before now so I don't think it's a "port forwarding" issue but I could be wrong, feels like pushing water uphill dealing with Blizzard sometimes.

Try turning off p2p, it helps sometimes.

Where is this game that makes Diablo 3 outdated? Or do you just mean it doesn't look like Battlefield 3?

Every high profile game that have been released for past 5 years?
But i dont want to discuss this again, it is outdated, just accept it guys.

 

[John_B]

The real issue, as I see it, is that they changed what RUNES are completely.

They call them skill runes now, and runes are just characters. So it's not like they altered the old system - well the new crafting system overtakes the role of the old rune system - they just labeled a new skill addition as runes and used the same symbols.

The new skill rune system does not have ranks, and we've instead made each around the equivalent to what the rank 4 or 5 rune was previously.

I don't see why they couldn't have made the rune ranks grow with character level. Perhaps the ranks were necessary before because the runes were items and the ranks was what increased the item value.

It does take away some of the skill growth (which was cool), but I understand that you can't keep growing the skills (rank 12 = 20 hydras pop-up out of the ground). They have a few expansions to add later, and it could be a mess to adjust that many ranks without breaking the concept.

 

[IceMarker]

The D2 rune system does not have the capability of co-existing with a normal colored item-loot mechanic. It renders them obsolete, to be mere stepping stones. Do we really want to go back to gold/loot being meaningless, with a few exceptions, and only several high level runes having real value?

This. I do not want another case of the "Stone of Jordans", at least Blizzard built upon that misstep with things like Uber Diablo.

 

[John_B]

Every high profile game that have been released for past 5 years?
But i dont want to discuss this again, it is outdated, just accept it guys.

I'm sure you are a world class software engineer with years of game design wisdom...

I think if someone dropped a vibrating dildo on their keyboard, it would have typed out a more meaningful post than yours.

 

[Mengy]

Every high profile game that have been released for past 5 years?
But i dont want to discuss this again, it is outdated, just accept it guys.

Technically, from a graphical standpoint, yeah, D3 is behind the curve some.

From a gameplay standpoint though I expect D3 to rise leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. Blizzard just does gameplay like no one else can match. Assuming history stays true to course we are in for a genre defining game that will be the king of the pack for many years to come. And none of the other "graphically more advanced" games in the genre can match that.




EDIT: Oh, and hey, the servers seem to be up. I just started a new game...

 

[V_Arnold]

Every high profile game that have been released for past 5 years?
But i dont want to discuss this again, it is outdated, just accept it guys.

You are so much more likeable when it comes to Path of Exile-threads
If you are telling multiple others to just accept it, the problem is most likely with your perspective. Just try toaccept that your perspective on things is different (not superior, different) than of others, imho.

 

[Valnen]

Been playing a bit this morning. Game feels MUCH more polished than the previous patch, if that's even possible. The UI looks nicer yet again too.

 

[jet1911]

I have a (stupid I'm sure) question. Let's say I'm playing with the Monk and I'm using skills to attack instead of my weapons. Will the weapons in my hands affect the damage I do when I attack?

 

[Freki]

I have a (stupid I'm sure) question. Let's say I'm playing with the Monk and I'm using skills to attack instead of my weapons. Will the weapons in my hands affect the damage I do when I attack?

Yes - If you enable advanced skill descriptions you will see the exact %

 

[erragal]

Whichever it is, support or endresult game changes they both add to the dev time be it by one day or one month.

Also, in case it wasn't already obvious, I don't feel one way or the other about this new system other than it invariably making the game come out later.

Actually the more likely reason for this change is to make the game come out sooner, not later. The previous system was clearly having significant problems as they've mentioned iterating on it many times in the past year and have been very forward that it was the only system still very much in flux. Even a few months ago they were throwing out public communication saying the main idea being tossed around was a system which put affixes similar to gear on the runes to increase the randomness/value and now we end up with a far more streamlined (read: easier to implement) system. Considering runes were already set up to only drop at certain difficulties/level ranges prior to this change it couldn't have taken much effort to decide which level to assign specific runes to. I just don't see any real validity to the argument that this far less complex system will require any significant iteration being that it is no longer tied to item drops.


There's still more customization of individual characters in D3 than there was in D2 as the removal of synergies guarentees that. I wouldn't be surprised to see the skill runes make some sort of return in the expansion.

 

[perfectnight]

Wow... DH is so much better now. Absolutely amazing job they did.

 

[Cipherr]

Wow... DH is so much better now. Absolutely amazing job they did.

awwww god.... I need into beta....

 

[forrest]

It's definitely feeling more polished overall, but man some of the UI changes I just can't get on board with. The skill assignment UI in general is way to confusing and much less elegant/streamlined than its previous iterations. Locking out hotbar spaces so that I can't put an ability where I want to on the bar? Try this, assign 3 abilities one to LMB, one to RMB and one to your first action bar slot. Then go in and swap RMB ability with your first action bar ability. Anyone seeing a problem with this? smh

I can't help but feel like the UI, the system of mechanics and elements that let you interface with the game, should be intuitive and easy to use, but on the other hand should offer some sort of personal customization. At least a minute amount so that it feels right for me or you if you should prefer something slightly different.

Currently it feels like I have this sports car with tons of awesome features and an awesome place to drive it, but I can't adjust the seats, steering wheel or mirrors.

 

[SteveWD40]

Try turning off p2p, it helps sometimes.

How do I do this?

 

[John_B]

Locking out hotbar spaces so that I can't put an ability where I want to on the bar?

They will unlock with time and then you can turn on "Elective mode" from the game options menu to put anything anywhere.

 

[TheYanger]

It's definitely feeling more polished overall, but man some of the UI changes I just can't get on board with. The skill assignment UI in general is way to confusing and much less elegant/streamlined than its previous iterations. Locking out hotbar spaces so that I can't put an ability where I want to on the bar? Try this, assign 3 abilities one to LMB, one to RMB and one to your first action bar slot. Then go in and swap RMB ability with your first action bar ability. Anyone seeing a problem with this? smh

I can't help but feel like the UI, the system of mechanics and elements that let you interface with the game, should be intuitive and easy to use, but on the other hand should offer some sort of personal customization. At least a minute amount so that it feels right for me or you if you should prefer something slightly different.

Currently it feels like I have this sports car with tons of awesome features and an awesome place to drive it, but I can't adjust the seats, steering wheel or mirrors.

You can though, go into gameplay options and enable um...E something mode. I can't think of it but it's in that blog post. The current incarnation is so that newbies don't trap themselves with dumb buttons, but you can still assign anything anywhere if you want.

I have a (stupid I'm sure) question. Let's say I'm playing with the Monk and I'm using skills to attack instead of my weapons. Will the weapons in my hands affect the damage I do when I attack?

Your weapons affect your damage with EVERYTHING in the game, for every class. It's definitely a bit counter intuitive if you don't enable advanced descriptions and you're a D2 player, I suffered through gimpy wizard and monk damage my first time running the game and thought my barb was a god, all because your dps is SUPER important for every ability. Base stats also have much much more effect on things than before. Just getting good weapons and + to your primary stat will easily double or triple your damage in the beta.

 

[Rentahamster]

After a little bit of playing, I still haven't warmed up yet to the new rune system yet. I don't hate it, but I'm not falling in love with it either. Perhaps I'm just not used to it yet.

I wish that we could have dabbled in the old system so that we'd at least be able to compare it ourselves instead of just having Blizzard tell us "yeah it's totally better, trust us lol"

Couldn't they have solved the old issue of inventory space if runes were instead a consumable items that just unlocked a particular power level?

 

[TheYanger]

After a little bit of playing, I still haven't warmed up yet to the new rune system yet. I don't hate it, but I'm not falling in love with it either. Perhaps I'm just not used to it yet.

I wish that we could have dabbled in the old system so that we'd at least be able to compare it ourselves instead of just having Blizzard tell us "yeah it's totally better, trust us lol"

Couldn't they have solved the old issue of inventory space if runes were instead a consumable items that just unlocked a particular power level?

I don't fathom posts like this still. What is there to compare, the abilities are the same, you just don't have to find them. It was blatantly obvious before how gimp some of the abilities were without runes, but looking at the skill calculator you could see the massive potential for fun with different combinations - so what is the fun in hunting down the items that let you do it? The only real flaw in the system as far as beta is concerned is that we don't unlock multiple runes for the abilities so you can't really pick and choose yet, you just rune everything with the first one. But that sure beats us having no runes cause they don't even drop yet, or not being able to get any that do what you want in the first place, etc.