This is horrible LOL thanks i will add it as the perfect bad example.
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Oha, nice. Maybe I should switch to 32:9? But hrm, it’s to low in terms of high for me. But the sight is really cool.
21:9 is perfect I guess.
You can even zoom in or out in D2RE. I read that in some forum. Is that true?
Yeah you can zoom. I’m 90% sure the zoom is fixed tho, so don’t think you can choose how far you want to zom
The issue I’m seeing here is this idea that a certain gameplay style should dictate how the game should be experienced by everyone. Anyone who has an Ultrawide monitor knows the struggles of getting the damn thing to function properly with most games, or praying for support from the get go. The fact that Blizzard is even considering support for these aspect ratios is a HUGE factor in newer players (largely casual) from enjoying the game for the first time. It really isn’t that dissimilar to when 16:9 was becoming the standard.
This idea of playing “zoomed in” or “stretched” isn’t really a solution, why? Cropping a 21:9 or 32:9 image to adhere to 16:9 restraints causes a loss in visual range in the top and lower sections of the screen (assuming the game is kept fullscreen / without black bars) – this literally replicates the exact thing the OP originally stated as being the issue. Additionally, “Stretching” a 16:9 image to conform to a 21:9 or 32:9 aspect ratio would distort the image heavily making everything appear wider / deformed (again, without the use of black bars). Personally, I’m not a fan of black bars when enjoying ANY title casually, they’re immersion breaking for any RPG with static UI elements.
Overwatch (in 21:9 or 32:9) is a perfect example of how terrible these “fixes” can be. Being competitive in that space means changing your resolution to a 16:9 adherent resolution and getting black bars (which is fine). However, you’ve now alienated everyone who wanted to enjoy your title on their new Ultrawide setup casually. In a competitive space I completely understand its implications, and see no issue with forcing 16:9 / Black Bars. But from the MUCH LARGER casual space - it’s hilariously intrusive.
What would I recommend? Well, first of all… everyone talking about D2’s end-game being strongly centered around PVP isn’t wrong. That was definitely a space a lot of people flocked towards after finishing their builds – however, everything that was legitimately competitive had some form of regulation from the get-go, especially things organized on JSP. For those of you claiming you’re a competitive player from the OG days, then you should know this very issue was actively regulated with the immergence of 16:9 mods & support. Why cant that just continue to be the standard moving forward? Any PVP or competitive based tournaments / events simply force users to either play in the original mode, or change resolution / aspect ratio to a 16:9 standard. It’s INCREDIBLY easy to prove you’re adhering to said rules and would fix everyone’s problems. If your argument is “Yeah, but what about open dueling lobbies!?” then you probably aren’t, or rather weren’t, a competitive PVP’r in the first place. Or if it’s “Well, people will take any advantage they can get!” Then your problem isn’t a game one, it’s a human one.
Getting involved in practice lobbies with REAL duelers was incredibly easy, I don’t see why ANY of that would change especially when you consider how much easier it is to organize and develop communities / events nowadays than it was back then (I.E Discord / Guilded).
I guess my point is this… Yes, this is a problem for the competitive scene. But the “competitive scene” will already be imposing rules and regulations to combat these types of “advantages” (Blizzard has already stated that mods will be supported, therefore it’s inevitable) - the environments will be controlled and the integrity of the event preserved (like ANY competitive event is, sports or otherwise). Why alienate a group of people playing the game casually, (or for the first time) under this guise of how YOU think the game should be enjoyed? If you really want to be competitive and get into dueling tournaments then get involved in the communities that offer that and follow the rules like everyone else does. As someone who owns an Ultrawide but is / was a heavy D2 PVP’r, I have no issues adjusting settings to compete; but I completely oppose alienating the casual Ultrawide users experience for the sake of the game being tailored towards me.
Just my two cents.
((Ayyy Blizzard, thanks for D2R 
, excited to play.))
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How many casuals own an ultrawide monitor though?
It’s just an assumption, but I am pretty sure that there are more people who want to enjoy fair PvP in D2 than people who will play on an ultrawide monitor.
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Just gonna butt-in a quick one: Part of what made GM duels possible was that you could check each others gear right before duelling to see that both sides were using GM items (full inventory of charms so no room for swap to sorb etc). However you cannot prove that you’re not using ultrawide unless streaming.
Also if someone does use ultrawide and refuse to admit so it can be hard to prove wrong because he could just be really quick and good at namelocking. So almost any accusation of using ultrawide could be parried with “I’m good at namelocking”.
I realize this is irrelevant to a huge playerbase. But I certainly see why it is so important for those of us serious or semi-serious in the PvP scene.
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Lol…Somebody just cant stop lying.
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I’d argue quite a few actually. The majority of people who own Ultrawides are not competitive gamers, they’re enthusiasts / graphic oriented users; higher refresh rate panels are already proven to be more valuable in competitive spaces than any other factor (including resolution). When you consider that Ultrawides can’t push the same refresh rates as the smaller, cheaper 16:9 panels do, the choice for buying an Ultrawide becomes obvious.
Looking at esport / competitively tailored marketing is a prime example, it’s all about the panel - not the aspect ratio. No Ultrawide user would EVER hold a candle to a 240hz user in most competitive spaces; granted D2R may be different, but the competitive demographic surrounding D2 is tiny when compared to what saturates the rest of the industry.
Largely casual players have ultra wide monitors. Okay.
When I say “casual”, I mean people who aren’t actively looking to min / max or break the game apart to compete (which is the topic at hand).
I think the concern is real for PvP, less so for PvM, so the following choices might only apply if the user has voluntarily entered the PvP world.
The in-game horizon is completely controllable by Blizzard regardless of how much has been spent on a monitor. They could show you the entire world on a 480i CRT if they wanted - through scaling, which would mean less detail, but at least you’d be able to spot everything.
They should have a single maximum view, or possible a couple of options each of which has advantages over the other - but the key is that they should allow all possible game Fields of View on all monitors. The choice of Field of View should not be hardware-locked.
If I have a 4:3 monitor and I want the 21:9 view, then I should be able to choose it. I will see no further than someone with a 21:9 monitor, and the image won’t fill my screen, but I have an option available to me to see everything that they can see.
If they standardize on 16:9 as the one option for “maximum view”, then 4:3 and 21:9 players would have to choose how they want it scaled or cropped. If they choose a 21:9 then 16:9 and 4:3 players should be able to see all of that - at the cost of some black bars on top and bottom.
They could even have you choose from among a couple of options - each of which has advantages and disadvantages. Imagine a 21:9 view that was shorter but wider than a 16:9 option - then the gamer gets to decide strategy of whether they want more sight range in the horizontal or vertical direction. They could even add a 4:3 view that has a balance between the two.
Then every gamer gets to decide which Field of View they want for strategic purposes and then they can worry about how it gets allocated on their monitor. No gamer is locked out of any particular Field of View simply because of their hardware choices.
The only advantage to a new monitor in any aspect ratio would then be to potentially have a larger view of one of the allowed game views (perhaps the one that the individual prefers for strategic reasons).
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Could you imagine this with pvp.
Blizz across town
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They probably should add some black bars around. If they extend the range will be a config mess.
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This HAS to be fixed, as topic said it would ruin PVP and many more key elements in the game.
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That’s because you don’t know what Diablo II LOD is, this is a remaster, not a remake.
This will ruin the intended purpose of the game, especially the PVP which is the true ‘END game’ content of D2.
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Even in PVM, something I don’t think you mentioned.
You could play OFFSCREEN, like attack from far (traps, blizzard, meteor) and the monster would never interact with you because you’re ‘offscreen’.
This MUST be fixed
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They don’t understand the importance of PvP in D2, its what made it so good, and another reason why D3 was so disappointing…
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For those who don’t know, one of biggest concerns David Brevik had in regard to a D2 remaster was the way modern aspect ratios would be handled. According to him, the mob AI is programmed to begin attacking your character as soon as the mobs enter the edge of the screen, and that behavior was/is tied to a 4:3 aspect ratio.
I’m curious if this has been addressed, or if even (current) standard 16:9 is going to provide a relative advantage for players (mobs enter the screen but don’t immediately take any action). Obviously, 21:9 and 32:9 would increase this advantage.
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I’m sure this will be the route they take here.
If they’ve already fixed the AI range problem with higher resolutions, I would just let lower resolutions zoom out more to match the view distance of higher resolutions. Or is it not that simple?
In early D2, hacks let you move the screen around to “far cast.” It didn’t have infinite cast range though I don’t think. You couldn’t just teleport from one side of the map to the other in one cast. That would seem to indicate the game had a built in cast range limit of some sort that was just beyond what you normally could see. Perhaps they’ve left that range as it was for now and higher resolutions just get to take better advantage of it currently?