Diablo IV

[Bacon Bits]

It looks really good. Blizz always had top cutscene talent, and the gameplay I've seen looks decent. I would be really excited to play it. Sadly, like several other posters, I don't think I will. I don't want to support Activision Blizzard, though I don't think less of people who do. I certainly have given my money to other companies that have done not-so-great things.

Anyhow, I've still got Grim Dawn, Torchlight 2, and V Rising in my backlog all but untouched, and I'm still playing Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor. Though I can't honestly recommend WH40K Inquisitor to anyone... it's a mish-mash of ideas. It has some questionable designs (and questionable redesigns). It also has some frustrating bugs and lacks some seemingly simple quality-of-life features.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Microsoft have no plans to fire Kotick.

I've been through big mergers before. There will not be a chair available for Kotick to sit in when all of this is over, and Kotick knows it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Spells are solid, though only frost nova felt like it had real punch (blizzard felt weaker than it was; frost armor and ice blades were ok).

How much did you level the spells up? I was a fire sorcerer and, while my first instinct was to pick up all the abilities by level 22, when I went back and made humble fire bolt, fireball and hydra all they could be, I was pretty potent. (Hydra always feels like such a cheat, but I love it so.)

I don't think it will end up occupying the same spot in my gaming heart as the first two parts, but it looks like this is going to be a fun game.

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.”​

― Heraclitus

We will never be the kids we were when we first stayed up way too late clearing levels under the Tristram Cathedral, even if the game could be said to be objectively better.

 

[schneeland]

How much did you level the spells up? I was a fire sorcerer and, while my first instinct was to pick up all the abilities by level 22, when I went back and made humble fire bolt, fireball and hydra all they could be, I was pretty potent. (Hydra always feels like such a cheat, but I love it so.)

Must of it was bumped up to max. by the end, with typically the first add-on ability selected. The only exception was ice blade, which I skipped initially and went straight to blizzard (big fan of blizzard sorceress in D2). Might need to see how good it fares at rank 5 next time.

We will never be the kids we were when we first stayed up way too late clearing levels under the Tristram Cathedral, even if the game could be said to be objectively better.

I feel there's something special about the compact nature of the first game and how it resembles old-school D&D with a small village and deep dungeon right beneath it, but you're not wrong - there's definitely a nostalgic bonus for those games from my teens and early twens.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I feel there's something special about the compact nature of the first game and how it resembles old-school D&D with a small village and deep dungeon right beneath it, but you're not wrong - there's definitely a nostalgic bonus for those games from my teens and early twens.

I may or may not be using Diablo 1 as my #Dungeon23 model.

 

[pukunui]

I played the heck out of D2 and D3 back in the day, and while I was looking forward to this one, the shared world/MMO aspect is a real turnoff. I tend to avoid those things like the plague.

I'm also just not that interested in games where the point is just endless grind for slightly better gear anymore. I want a solid story. Jedi: Survivor will be out soon, and hopefully one day Horizon: Forbidden West will be available for the PC, and then at some stage there will be Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. I prefer those sorts of games these days.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I played the heck out of D2 and D3 back in the day, and while I was looking forward to this one, the shared world/MMO aspect is a real turnoff. I tend to avoid those things like the plague.

It's really minor. You see people standing around in town and, when there's something marked as multi-player content out in the world, you can choose to walk across a visible boundary and participate and you see those folks phase in. If you stay out of those areas, the world is completely empty except for you and your group.

I'm also just not that interested in games where the point is just endless grind for slightly better gear anymore. I want a solid story. Jedi: Survivor will be out soon, and hopefully one day Horizon: Forbidden West will be available for the PC, and then at some stage there will be Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. I prefer those sorts of games these days.

Diablo is never going to be Dragon Age, but this story is pretty interesting, IMO. It's what I was hoping for in a second Diablo III expansion, as all of this stuff with Lilith and her former lover were heavily foreshadowed by the NPCs in the Reaper of Souls city.

Sanctuary has gone from being the dumbest name for a fantasy world to actually having a literal meaning and resonance. I'm looking forward to how all of this shakes out, although I'm hoping they can delay having actual Diablo reappear as long as possible.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I'm excited about this but avoided beta and will probably avoid the next one (if I have the strength lol) because I kind of don't want to play Diablo IV, like it a lot, and then have to wait until bloody June to play it more!

I am disappointed by the lack of a Paladin-esque character from the get-go and the Rogue looks a bit disappointing but the latter may simply because any "bow shooter" who isn't the Amazon looks like of lame by comparison (definitely applied to the Demon Hunter in D3). Still, Druid and Necromancer is a solid start.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm excited about this but avoided beta and will probably avoid the next one (if I have the strength lol) because I kind of don't want to play Diablo IV, like it a lot, and then have to wait until bloody June to play it more!

Yeah, my wife is already starting to get the shakes and asking how we can get into the full beta.

I am disappointed by the lack of a Paladin-esque character from the get-go

It's pretty weird, given all the church shenanigans. (Blizzard is a firm believer, across franchises, that both the Light and demons are bad news.)

I would guess that a paladin/crusader will show up either in a major patch or an expansion focusing on the church and/or the fall-out of whatever happens to them in the main storyline. There's a whole lot of meat for them to chew on even in Act I of Diablo IV.

the Rogue looks a bit disappointing but the latter may simply because any "bow shooter" who isn't the Amazon looks like of lame by comparison (definitely applied to the Demon Hunter in D3).

Yeah, my wife started off as a bow-centric rogue and ended up having to respec to get some melee in the mix to make things more satisfying, which she ultimately enjoyed.

In contrast, sorcerer plays just fine with a pure elemental build, although I gather some folks tried to mix elements together with a lot of success as well.

 

[Kaodi]

If people are underwhelmed by the bow rogue I hope they spruce it up. The og rogue retread is what I am most interested in this game, other than the story elements.