I am not invalidating it am just pointing out just because the device of roleplaying a game within your head does not make sense with the design decision of encouraging alt characters as fun does not make the game worse by any means, as we roleplay differently some are more monominded in terms of roleplaying it seems sure fine but I am just stating it might be the most fun to be had since more variation comes with more characters. As it is a game by itself how one roleplay.
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Obviously it’s subjective. You could point at devs who allowed for these unhealthy behaviors but the root of that genre D&D indeed shows how all of that works. You make up a character with strengths and weaknesses that is good in a thing, bad i another thing, spends points in certain attacks they can’t spend in another attack and that makes them unique. Not their name and the fact that they are an omnipotent god.
The only one who can respec is the DM 
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For rizzy, and how often does the topic of worthless gold come up. Bottom line is it’s a safe bet that players who power a single character will have plenty of gold. Devs are on top of it guys.
Well said, I mean playing DnD just the choice or not to choose what weapon specialization gives you the fevers, that is what I call role playing diablo is though ARPG which is fair to the ability to respec in though at a cost so it does not work as an exploit to progress faster.
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I agree. But of a different class.
In terms of gameplay, how is playing same class but 2 different builds, different from 2 of same class, playing the same 2 builds.
What is more fun, level a different class or same class just to be 56% diffeernt from the first one?
It is not about the leveling process. It is about playing with the choices you made in a certain situation over just adapting to that situation by completely changing your character. I’m not against making the leveling of an “alt” easier/more fun. E.g. by using an item I have found in the first playthrough etc.
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Well at the start they might feel samey, but loot and build variation makes up for this so the might end up 356% different.
I mean the game even has rotating paragon boards, with sockets ETC, it also features the best character creation system I’ve seen in any game what so ever, also this is a first for Diablo which is amazing, celebration is what is the most natural reaction in case not depressed but it is also natural being depressed with the world and all.
The build variation and itemization will steadily increase, there is endless possibilities, it is not like D2 or D3 it’s within it’s own system to create build diversity in which is much more spherical in design than D2 or D3 which is kinda flat where D3 is flatter in terms of itemization how it works, D4 has a spherical approach, it is like a quantum leap in difference.
Also the journey you make will change drastically once you know the game better, maybe you find good drops that might be good for a certain act hence choosing to go there first with an alt as one can choose what areas to start clearing in D4 it has more elements of freedom also.
For many people the fun doesn’t begin with reaching max level but actually playing through the game as a different specialist. Obviously it’s very different to play and level up with a fire sorc or an ice sorc, a weather druid or a bear.
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Honestly, I see the D&D rulebook more as a suggestion than a “bible” to be followed. When I DM I often give more value to freeform and creative roleplaying than to having a mathematically perfect stat sheet and I’m more than willing to be flexible with that kind of stuff. Other DMs prefer to be very strict.
I think it’s all a matter of preference.
Obviously
But the whole point of a character sheet is to decide what your character is good at. Imagine a whole party of “my guy is the strongest and smartest and bestest and can shoot fire balls and throw mountains hehe”
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Also the fact that you can make different builds and branchings within these builds along with hybrid builds spontane builds etc, that is an amazing feature. All depends on what loot you find and what you create with it. Loot will feel valuable again which I think is a good thing.
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What’s more fun, having one or the other, or having both?
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Good point. From one point of view the game has 5 characters to play. From another point of view it has hundreds.
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Well if one could write down their own numbers in the loot roll slots you think that would make D4 a more fun game? D4 is about the procedural generation of things, your character eventually end up as a roll by itself though give some degree of freedom to respec at a cost, in the beginning you get the freedom to experiment, this is to make later levels more challenging and loot drops at later levels more specific and unique, it will also make the drops feel better and when something actually drops that works for the current build you are trying to make or maybe make your build branch out abit from your original ideas as new sort of item was rolled and freshly created.
I see respecs as having a change of heart and pursuing a different vocation. True, if you want to do that in real life, you would have to study the new trade and spend time and money into transitioning into that craft. So from a realism sake, it makes sense for respecs to exist and have a cost to them. But on the other hand, in a more action focused game, you may want to abstract or “timeskip” that part and jump straight into the part where your character is already specced into the new build. Plus, say for example you know how to play both the piano and you want to learn the guitar. While it makes sense that it will take time and money to learn the guitar, that doesn’t make you unlearn all the fundaments of the piano (at most, you get a bit rusty at it), so having to pay to respec again to a previously used build is pretty nonsensical.
So for me, neither system is perfect and certain abstractions can be made for the purpose of a better gameplay experience
Though it might and will probably give most real life character builds weaknesses such as carpal tunnel syndrome as a side effect. Ever seen a body builder that becomes a marathon champion? I mean the nephalem are elitists in certain trade which is their own builds and what loot they found and how they messed with the paragon boards and with what gems they socketed the boards with in D4 atleast you can resocket the paragonboards, I don’t think that will cost anything, so there is still plenty around to change a build within a build. like a dream within a dream.
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Yeah, but the whole point of living a fantasy, is that you can abstract away the downsides. Some realism usually has to be sacrificed to make a fun game.
Take Uncharted for example. It’s a game about exploration and discovery, but it doesn’t show the part where you are dealing with seasickness and scurby, or taking care of the logistics of your journey. Most people wouldn’t want to play an Indiana Jones game that felt anything like real archaeology either.
And i totally agree with that. But that’s not the same as “ah let me switch to my fire, let me switch to my pvp, let me switch to my boss” that’s just not wanting to make a competent build in the first place.
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There is a reason why Ivan Hoe didn’t make it into gaming on par with Robin Hood that did I understand, though I prefer the character at the start feeling abit like an empty sheet with some degree of skill and knowledge and being able to care of themself so to speak, that along the way find random procedurally generated papers of procedurally generated numbers that fiil in the gaps and change things around that you can modify in some ways having a skill tree on the side to make some notes, though if gold is the rubber gum for the skill tree but also what I buy gambles or use when I craft along with other resources, then price for rubber has increases which is a good thing for the people working in the rubber buisness which is the enemies and chests and pots, because now there is a better reason to give them whack!
Well learning guitar after learning piano would be akin to a cold sorc respeccing to a different kind of cold sorc, as they are both under the “music tree”. And I assume a partial respec would be fairly trivial compared to say, going from performance arts to welding.
For my part the “added realism” is gravy compared to having a character that feels distinct.
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