Feedback from yet another OG gamer

PC General Discussion
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(Obligatory OG gamer since PONG bio redacted)

Note that I only played sorceress and necromancer classes during the open beta weekend because I prefer magic user mains, and was warned here on this forum how lackluster the druid was at this point in the beta (spirit resource management issues, etc.). Moreover, at my age, RDPS with effective AoE is really the only viable choice (you are not facing your target, moron; your target is behind you, fool).

Also note that I won’t waste anyone’s time spewing paragraphs about what the devs got right. Beta feedback should be about bugs and issues that need improvement before launch, not paens to the beneficence of brilliant Blizzard boffins.

TL;DR:

  1. Give us more skill binding options like D2R
  2. Enable one button weapon/offhand switch option
  3. Cancel cutscenes immediately
  4. Make stash bigger
  5. Diversify cellars and make them worthwhile
  6. Improve character creation
  7. Fix necro glow-in-the-dark skeletons
  8. Make inactive waypoints more visible
  9. Keep sorc and necro insanely OP
  10. Remove stinking humans from my world
  11. Let me deconstruct or sell items no matter where I am
  12. Music is bleh, ok, I guess
  13. Clearly, D4 will not be ready for launch, so I can save money until next year (or the year after, when things will really be fixed).

1) UI Needs work

A. Inadequate skill slots: Given that we have dozens of skills available to our character at higher levels, why are we limited on the PC to only six skill slots (or, more accurately, four plus left and right mouse buttons)? I understand that companies see the dumbed-down controller market as the future. However, it saddens me to have to choose between slotting a damage function I use frequently (e.g., hydra) vs. a useful skill I use infrequently (e.g., teleport), thus making teleport de facto unavailable when I need it in an emergency. I much prefer the setup in D2R since patch 2.3, with the “Display active skill bindings” option, which allows up to 16 skills to be accessed immediately with the keybindings the user prefers.

B. One hand/offhand to two hand quick switch button: I don’t want to have to open up a skills menu in the middle of combat to switch from wand plus relic or two-handed weapon (DPS for trash clearing) to wand plus shield (defense for boss fights). We’ve been able to switch instantly since D2.

C. Unable to cancel cutscenes effectively: I keep pressing ESC, yet nothing happens. On the few occasions I was able to cancel successfully, there was a startlingly bright, white splash screen before the game continued. Even a black screen with a logo (to assure us that the game hasn’t crashed) would be preferable.

D. Stash is too small: Given that it is intended to be shared among all of your characters on the realm, the number of slots is pathetically inadequate. You will inevitably find good gear for other classes in your travels. There is no way currently to save a complete set for all of your alts without paying 100K gold in game for more space to put useful junk in your trunk.

2) Visual issues

Preface: Overall, the artwork is high class. However, I do hope the copy/paste nature of the cellars improves before launch (enter cellar, nothing in first room, enter second room, baddies appear from thin air, kill baddies, no treasure chest, minimal XP, cellar done, sad face).

A. Limited options on character creation: Almost every modern video game enables granular customization of things like body type (svelte to medium to thicc), chest size (yes, that is important), individual facial features (eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, chin, ears), etc. I was taken aback to see that I was given only six options for a female necromancer, all of whom clearly needed hospitalization stat for their anorexia, as well as plastic surgical augmentation of the parts hidden under their torso bandages. Similarly, there is no way to make a voluptuous sorceress with the limited choices currently in game. Some have said: “Well, you never see your character close up”, but you do when you look at the wardrobe mirror…and, well, when you think about her…

B. Necro minions: Others have commented on the immersion-breaking nature of the necro skeletons, both because they glow so blue, and because they don’t automatically despawn in town (unless you take part in a conversation, etc., when Blizzard enables despawning). I frequently experienced severe “rubber banding” of my minions when running over open ground outside, but never inside a dungeon or other instance. I hope that the final product will reflect a grimmer and more polished version of skeletons than what we saw this past weekend.

C. Waypoints are missable: On two playthroughs, I missed the waypoint in Nevesk. They should stand out more, like D2. Perhaps they should all have obvious platforms like Kurast. Running back to grab one is not fun.

3) Gameplay fails

A. Sorc is massively OP: Once my sorc got the skill for a third hydra head plus the legendary (from gambling obols) that grants a fourth head, all she had to do was look at an army of enemies, and they all melted. I especially enjoyed standing outside on a dungeon balcony, looking through a window 50 feet away (or standing on the top of a mountain looking down on the valley below), launching a hydrapocalypse on the bad guys, then strolling in to collect loot without their AI even realizing where the attack was coming from. Boss fights involve equipping the legendary that makes Ice Armor leave behind explosive icicles as you run, then running in circles casting hydra and maybe frost nova/frozen orb until the boss dies within 15 seconds or so.

B. Necro is even more massively OP: If my sorc killed mobs by looking at them, my necro killed everything on the entire screen by merely thinking about them. From level 1, the blood abilities that replenish life meant that my toon was rarely below full health. Once she obtained corpse explosion plus the legendary item that makes blood mist automatically explode corpses PLUS reduce blood mist’s cooldown per corpse exploded (suffix “of explosive mist”), she could just run around an entire army destroying everything in sight with her one-button armageddon, all while being invulnerable for ridiculous amounts of blood mist uptime. Here is a YouTube video that someone else made on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_o8-nEH340

C. Where did these stinking other people come from? If I wanted an MMORPG, there are options for me out there (I left WoW after the travesty that was BfA, but I am still a founder in SWTOR, etc.). Here I am, happily blasting the bad guys in a castle up on a mountain in the wilderness, when two or three human strangers show up to steal my glory. I don’t care if I get extra XP even without joining their party. I just don’t want to see PFKs with names like “SooprSlayr, Snotnose Youth” running around killing the enemies I saw first. Please, for the love of all that is unholy, make this an optional “feature” (i.e., enable a pseudo-offline mode for those of us who aspire to be Antisocial Directors of an empty, docked cruise ship one day).

D. Either increase player inventory massively or enable remote deconstruction/selling: I like the legacy ability in SWTOR to call a remote “cargo hold droid” no matter where you are to transfer things out of your inventory without wasting time taking a town portal back. You can also call up a vendor remotely to sell your junk efficiently, or have your companion do it for you (WoW has this function as well with certain mounts, etc.). Please don’t force me to leave in the middle of a dungeon just to offload my stuff, or else drop it on the ground. Waste not, want not, it is written.

4) Music is tolerable

A. Eh. It’s ok. It can’t compare with D2 Wilderness or Harem music, however: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v31nYDRPN0Y

[search for Harem music online]
(limited to 2 hyperlinks per post as “new” user since 2006)

B. There is no B.

Conclusion: Thank you, Blizzard, for this beta weekend. It showed me that D4 will not be finished by the advertised launch date, so I can save money until next year (or the year after, when things will really be fixed). Also, the pre-order perks above the standard edition are sadly lackluster compared to prior games (remember the complete original Starcraft and Brood War games included on Jim Raynor’s 2 GB USB physical dog tag in the SCII Wings of Liberty CE box?). I guess I’ll (be forced to) see you all circa 2025, after you lot beta test the game for me throughout the next two years. Thanks so much for all your unpaid hard work debugging this game for MicroActiBlizz so they can meet an arbitrary, premature launch date to maximize short-term profits for their greedy shareholders, as usual. Cheers, mate.

PS To save time, just respond with one of the convenient numbers below:

  1. i liek it so shut up
  2. ur wrong so shut up (goto 1)
  3. git gud noob
  4. its just beta
  5. but liliths body
  6. lern yur class
  7. why you dissing my Soopr nym???
  8. you lie cuz my class is fine
  9. shh! Dont tel devs sorc and necro are OP or they mite fix it
  10. Blizz has fixed all probs with they’re secret HQ build
  11. devs dunt care wut we say so why whinge (goto 1)
  12. glowing skels are whey cool dude
  13. good dont play ever-- mor stuff 4 me
  14. why u insult consol palyers…wut was I saying?
  15. Stop complaining: at least the art and music are nice
  16. bye felicia (dating myself, but that’s the safest thing nowadays)
  17. I’ts not really a beta, its a server stress test no matter wat Blizz states in writing on there ofishal webiste so (goto 1)
  18. Wut u think is a problem isnt a problem bcz I dont think its a problem so (goto 2)
1 Like
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Have you ever noticed the ones who have to tell you how long they have played video games are the first to criticize everything?

I’m glad you’ve been playing video games since pong. Congratulations. But that doesn’t make your opinion any more valid than the next person’s.

It’s called freedom of choice. You don’t like the game? Don’t buy it. If you feel the game will be better in a year or two, that’s fine. Buy it then. Crap. Buy it when it’s 10 dollars.

It more or less sounds like you had an idea in your head of what your expectations were and you didn’t get what you wanted.

How insecure are you?

  1. You want everyone to know that your opinion matters the most! I’ve been playing since PONG! LMFAO.

  2. You took the time to write out 16 responses you’re expecting from people. OMG. lolol

  3. You make a completely unverifiable claim that Blizzard is only releasing this game to please their shareholders. Where is your proof? I’m sorry “greedy shareholders.”

How do you know that this particular build had anything to do with balancing the characters? Maybe it was more of a stress test? For all that we know, the current build could be much different. I’m just speculating.

I can guarantee you’ll be playing this game come launch day. lmao.

You seem to have a lot of hatred towards this company. Yet, here you are, playing their game.

It just goes back to the whole “I’m entitled to what I want” and if I don’t get it, I’m going to crap all over anyone and everyone who disagrees with me. Why? PONG! lmao

Forced to see you in two years? More like I’ll see you in 2 months. lolol

1 Like
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Here you are online just waiting for someone to respond. haha.

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(TL;DR response was 1,2, and 17)

How insecure am I?

Please, with your evident degree in clinical psychology, you tell me.

“Hatred towards this company”?

If I sound disappointed, it’s because I love the Diablo franchise (except for Diablo Immoral, because phone games are against my religion).

I expected more. I got less.

That is all.

If you don’t want to read my feedback, then don’t read my feedback.

Don’t tell me that I don’t have a right to my own opinion.

Also, since when are consumers not entitled to get what they want? If I show up at a burger place and get fertilizer in my bag, am I supposed to smile, shut up, and give them a 5 star review? Really?

5

Your response proves my point. lmao.

Guess I must be one of those “white knights.”

6

Agree with this but it will be hard as some skills are cooldown locked. I understand why they didn’t add more than 6 skills but it would be a fundamental re-work of how the resource/cooldown system is implemented.

Do you mean the in-game cutscenes or the out of game cutscenes. Out of game cut scenes are skippable.

There is a way to do this with gold as you noted. Don’t like it? Well, stash tabs aint free. I’m fine with it, but if you don’t like it that’s your opinion. Gold sinks are needed in games in order to keep the currency relevant.

I take it this is about the MMO aspect of the game? D4 is going to be MMO, don’t play it if don’t enjoy that style. That said, almost all Dungeon and Story aspects appear to be single-player capable. I don’t see how having other people in the world is really affecting how you play the game.

No. This epicly inflates the ability to grind resources which are one of the main ways to increase power level of your character. It sucks to cart them back, but don’t pick them up unless you are farming for mats or gold.

Overall it seems like you just want a SSF game you can play offline. That isn’t what D4 was sold as nor what it will be. Sucks that you don’t seem to enjoy the content, but maybe the game just isn’t for you?

7

Sports…

You might be violating one of the 17 rules here. lmao

8

I have no idea what you are talking about.

9

I have definitely noticed that the ones who become defensive (like you) offer up no real argument or points whatsoever – just attacking the person posting actual meaningful criticism about the game. Like little children. “Bad mommy, go away!”

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The fact that you harped on my sarcastic “Obligatory OG street cred bio redacted” is hilarious to me. I was literally poking fun at people who take paragraphs setting up their Sierra Hotel gamer bona fides before actually launching into the meat of their posts. But you took it diametrically opposite from how I intended it to be taken.

Once again, this demonstrates the limitations of the text medium as a means of human communication. So many critical nuances conveyed by tone of voice, body language, facial expression, etc., are lost on an internet forum that reduces complex verbal prosody and non-verbal data exchange methods honed over many thousands of years of human civilization into just A-Z and 1-9, with a few punctuation marks to spice things up.

Search for:
Psychology Today Online
Why Is There So Much Miscommunication Via Email and Text?
–How we interpret electronic messages is shaped by our feelings.
Posted February 15, 2015

(unable to post web links)

No one called anyone a “white knight”.

You have a right to your opinions.

Please allow me to have my own, no matter how wrongheaded you think they are (see response 2).

Thanks in advance.

To answer Sports:

I found most of the video cut scenes (not text dialog) to be very difficult to cancel. I hit escape, and the little white circle started going around in the lower right with the word “cancel”. But the video continued for what subjectively seemed like 30 seconds or more before finally being canceled. This applied to the first intro scene, the Lilith scene, and several others I tried to skip on my second playthrough.

It may be a small QOL issue, but it should be an easy fix, if someone took the time to address it. I’m pretty sure “non-responsiveness to user input via ESC button followed by a blinding white screen” is not a feature.

But that’s just my opinion…

11

I don’t agree with a lot of it, but it was an entertaining read.

You should go into journalism.

12

This may be the best thing I’ve ever read on this forum. Thank you.

13

(Bowing). I’m honored to see someone else who appreciates the important role of phosphofructokinase (PFK) in the critical glycolytic pathway. After all, fermentation would be very difficult without it. How could you have an Oktoberfest without sauerkraut, pickles, and certain fine, fermented beverages that will remain redacted in case kids are reading?

Party on, dude!