A "Re" Without The "Master" - Alpha Review & Attitude Concerns

Depends what you consider big changes. Chaning few skills is minor change honestly.

changing how loot drops(ploot) is major change for example as it changes game mechanics.

Skill balancing is not a minor thing lol.

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Sorry should have been more specific. Meant Grim helm, but could have just as easily been Grim shield. In this instance, it actually doesn’t matter which item I mention…I’ll do a calculation for you…let’s try amulets (In Classic, Diablo is the only monster in the game that can drop +2 amulets)

In an 8 player Diablo kill, with 0% mf (that’s the usual number for people running cs) your chance of a rare amulet is 1:150. With Qbug it’s 1:27.

This is not as trivial of a difference as finding uniques in LoD. Changing this bug is a massive deal for a remaster, it’s not about finding things faster than people who don’t use the bug, it’s spawned an entire culture of characters without the Quest completion. It’s an iconic part of Classic D2.

Imagine the developers of 1.09 coming out publicly and telling you there was a bug in the original code, that items were actually supposed to be 5-6 times as rare as they are now. Should we change the whole game because of that little bit of info?

We’re all used to playing this game as it is, with the exception of a few who havent played in 15 years, and the small mod community. This remaster should not change drop rates.

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And yet they balanced many skills in 1.13c, so why is that fine but balancing in remaster not?

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I suppose that I could be considered one of the purist. I like D2 the way it is and still play it after all these years because of that. I have tried to replace it over the years. I tried D3 for about 40 minutes (yuck, I still want those minutes back), I played Guild Wars 2 years, Guild Wars 2 about 1 year, Conan about 1 year, Rift about 1 year and Grim Dawn about 1 1/2 years. I always come back to Diablo 2 LOD.

I do not think that I am toxic to potential new players or other people who are asking or demanding changes. I do not enjoy toxic people and I do not see the point in being nasty to people that you disagree with. I do post my opinions about the game and weigh in on suggested changes because I want my wishes for the game to be known.

I will admit that I am not very receptive when someone who has only experienced Diablo through D3 or a D2 clone like PoE says D2 needs to change because it is not modern like those games. In my opinion, Diablo 2 LOD is superior to both of those games and all the other clones that have been spawned over the years. However, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I may post a counterpoint to make my stance on a subject known but I will not belittle anyone.

I took Blizzard at their word that this would be a remaster of the original game. To me that means that you freshen up the graphics and make the game more widely accessible. The core of the game should stay the same. That is how it works when you remaster a movie or remaster an album of music or photographs. or art. You do not change the masterpiece, you just freshen it up.

The other thing that I expect from Blizzard is that they keep their promise of a 2021 release. The more changes they make, the less likely it becomes that they can meet this stated goal. Thus, I want them to fix only what must be fixed and make the minimum of changes required to remaster the game. I am certainly not against future DLC or Expansions to improve or change the game if it is financially feasible for them as a company.

As many others have stated, core changes to the game or fixing what someone thinks should be fixed can be a slippery slope, Changes and even fixes can have unintended ripple effects throughout the game. Already the change to the resolution and adapting to other screen sizes has caused issues that will affect game balance and will have to be addressed. Other things like stamina, stash size, charm stash, stacking, potions, bugging, drop density, visual effects, etc have all been mentioned as areas that need to be changed. I am not necessarily against making changes in any of these areas. I just think that now is not the time to change anything that does not have to be changed. Now is the time to get the remaster finished and get it shipped. Then carefully planned patches and DLC/Expansions can deal with changes that are wanted by the community. That will continue to bring freshness and evolution to a game that a lot of people are very excited about and have been waiting for for a very long time. Does Blizzard want to make that kind of a commitment to a 20 year old game? We will have to see.

I have no intention of asking for a refund for the game. The only things that could make me do that would be for the game to become unrecognizable to me or not ship this year.

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The purpose isn’t to be a “purist” who doesn’t want any change because of nostalgia.

It’s about how some old-fashion facilities, which could be changed for QoL reasons, have an impact on the way we play the game.

I think it’s an error to think that fixing all boring things and making everything easier will just lead to a better game, without more consequences. They will impact the experience in some unpredictable ways.

Boring things may force some players choices.

The Devil wants sacrifices, not QoL !

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Well, it is a perfect tesing ground for D4…

I can tell this guy plays easy, colorful games.
I prefer the opinion of people who have spent 15000 hours instead. We’re here to relive d2, not make it d3.

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I’ve said this a few times now. The #1 thing new players will complain about is how easy it is to brick a character and waste tons of time having to rebuild a new one because the didn’t realize xyz skill is a 1 point wonder.

This will be somewhat alleviated shortly after beta, as youtubers begin creating skill guides, but the game is still very unfriendly to new players.

Most of us are so far removed from what it was like to learn many details of the game that we forget that the process actually took a really long time. I’m not one for explaining everything, or suggesting now put a point into this skill tutorials in-game, but I do think there need to be playstyle-highlight clips somewhere, so that people realize that most builds focus on 1 or 2 skills and their synergies.

The arreat summit has always been there, and I still talk to veterans that don’t know some of the basics and how they work.

I don’t know what more we need, other than maybe a link to the arreat summit in the lobby?

It’s a slippery slope, right? I don’t want anything intrusive in game - the quest updates are already a bit more than I’d like. However, I do think there should be a tips/help/getting started section somewhere in the menu that explains key combos like how to feed your mercenary, how to quickly add potions to the belt, how to move items to stash quickly, etc… and I think their should be a character build highlight section that shows two meta builds (not every skill point, but something like a short video showcasing it and saying, “this is the Fanatic-Zealot, it focuses on fanaticism and zeal”) per character and suggests the user explore more on their own to find others.

This reply is 100% the reason this post exists in the first place and serves to illustrate the entire attitude problem that needs to be adressed.

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I don’t think this is true. It’s also FAR smoother-playing than the 25FPS-animated vanilla.

Ok, but i dont really understand how is it related to what I said, I wasnt talking about FPS or game being smooth or not at all. I was talking about people finishing the game and then stop playing.

I agree, this attitude is a problem I would love to have new players fall in love with the game, and I will greatly enjoy teaching many people about the game and setting them up with some starter gear.

I agree with you but it goes both ways. There are people like this on both sides with the attitude that only their opinion matters. It is like that in virtually every game forum that I have ever read. In fact, it is like that on virtually every forum of any kind that I have ever read.

It is sad but I do not know that it will ever change.

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I disagree. I would love for new players to fall in love with how the game IS.

You all sound like the naïve girlfriend who thinks she can get him to change into what she wants. They either love a game many have loved for decades, or they don’t. If they don’t, who cares.

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What are you on about? Are you some kind of game reformist, trying to steer this remaster into a remake that tries to please everyone and ends up pleasing no one?

D2 is a defined game which caters to a specific audiance. New casual noobs need to accept it for what it is or move on with their lives. I am not going to lose any sleep over that some Fortnite kids can’t get into the game LMAO!

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what a terrible way to lose all your credibility.

Please show me one comparison where the classic is objectively better, where if we went and asked 100 people, where the majority would say the classic version is aesthetically more pleasing.

I understand what youre trying to convey, but using extreme exaggerations do not help your case, and only cause the people you want to read your post, to skip it in order to find one not written in hyperbole.

blizzard is actually hitting a higher approval rate, but if the only place youre trying to source opinions is third party sites like jsp, then yes… youre going to find an echo chamber that praises the original.

Also, at the time of you writing this, skill showcases have been made largely available for each class on youtube. So I’m curious about how much you actually invested into this line of thought, before laying your thoughts and opinions on the forums (thats what they are, subjective thoughts and opinions.

I’m happy to tell you, that if youre so displeased with the modernized graphics and you feel they pale so much to the originals, all you need to do is press “G” (default binding) and the game will toggle “Classic” graphics.

Hope this helped, much love drium.

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I think that just shows you didn’t look at them at all! And you didn’t spend a weekend playing with them, either.

Most of the ice spells look outright terrible, with some, like Blizzard (ironic), looking worse in this remaster than they did in the remake. The frost/frozen/freeze effect also looks really, really bad. It’s a blue saturation filter in the worst way possible, which is odd considering D3 nailed that effect.

There are also MANY complaints about lightning spells; some look less dangerous and less lethal overall, have been shrunk in size, and the blue vs white coloring is a hot debate.

I’m not going to make a complete list for you. The threads are out there, the videos are out there. You’re the one who needs to do their homework. =)