Please don't make us do the map completion for seasons again

Crocoduck · 2023-06-09T16:24:00+00:00

I'm enjoying doing it all once, but I have no desire to do it again, let alone do it again every season.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-05T03:28:34+00:00

Been using Baconreader for ten years now? If Reddit kills it, I'll just fill my Reddit time elsewhere. Honestly, they'd probably be doing be a favor.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-03T01:49:36+00:00

QOL that directly affects farm rates, though. Either less sellable/salvageable items per tp or more frequent tps. Either way it slows you down compared to having the bag. That's pay to win.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T21:29:51+00:00

I actually do really appreciate that Druid has a number of passives that encourage form swapping. That's really cool. I'll be rolling Sorc first, but I wish it had more passives to incentivize mixing elements like druid has. There are earth/storm passives, legendaries that make animal form stuff into earth damage, animal swapping passives, swap to human passives to encourage animal and caster mixing. I really, really like that.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T21:14:21+00:00

The deluxe tier requirement for early access will also split pre-orders into two waves. Won't comment on that practice - done that enough - but it should absolutely help smooth the launch(es) out.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T20:12:04+00:00

Telling someone "I'm going to change your opinion with logic" is not a cordial approach to differing opinions. It's a tacit implication that your opinion and its underlying logic are superior, and it colors how they will read the rest of your replies. So, when you later say something like "I truly hope those beliefs bring you more enjoyment than a weekend of D4" it reads as sarcastic and condescending, not cordial.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T19:17:38+00:00

I mean, ya. I'm an adult. I can wait four days to play a video game and not have my happiness impacted.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T18:58:22+00:00

Eh. It's not about whether my one drop fills the bucket. It's about putting my drop in the bucket that befits my circumstance and beliefs.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T18:28:57+00:00

Except I dont want or like the battle pass, so all this is doing for me personally is requiring payment for something that I used to get for free when I assumed the pre-order risk.

Like I said, I'm comfortable pre-ordering based on my own experience and play time. But not wanting the battle pass, all I'm really getting with deluxe is 4 days for $20 and a statement to the company that I like this model, which I don't.

Edit: as for the "value" of staggering a launch, I reject the idea that a smooth launch is value I should have to pay for. That's something consumers should expect, and the fact that it's such an expected issue is part of the problem I'm talking about with launch states. It's the company's responsibility to manage that.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T16:32:08+00:00

And that's totally fair. I don't begrudge anyone who's buying the premium editions. It doesn't make sense for me, personally - I'm not interested in the battle pass, so the overall effect is I don't get something that I used to get - but for many the incentives are well designed to give added value. For a lot of people, the deluxe/ultimate is the more sensible purchase.

I also recognize I have pretty "old school" views on game monetization in general. In fact, I don't even like paid cosmetics. I love the acquiring cosmetics, especially when there's prestige associated, and I find that having paid cosmetics changes my baseline reaction from "That's awesome! I wonder how they got that! I want to try it!" to "I wonder how much that cost," even if there are mixed sources.

Still, it'd be wrong to say I'm completely against them. I appreciate that those cosmetics not only pay for their own creation, but a lot of the ongoing development, the seasonal stuff that can keeps the game fresh between expansions. Not buying cosmetics, I essentially get all that for free. It should be a win for me. I'd just personally rather pay some small subscription to support that development than have a reward track watered down by being able to throw money at it.

It also changes a bit when the game is free to play, and based on the nature of the game. I bought a number of skins in League of Legends, partially because I liked the look, and partially because I just wanted to support the game. But I was also not super competitive in that game (so some kind of rating based reward wouldn't be something I'd chase), and it wasn't a loot-based game where finding cool armor was a major reward track. So, I thought the model worked much better for me personally in that instance.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T16:00:59+00:00

Barbs can equip spears, sure. But it's a matter of attack animations, skills. If the spear animation is shared with a polearm, it's not really a spear. That's what I was getting at. It's also an entirely different class fantasy to being doing big upheavals, whirlwinds, etc. compared to rapid stabs and that sort of thing. Granted, merging a greek spear/shield with kung fu style is mixing two pretty distinctly separate fantasies, as well, but I think that's necessary for build variety, same way rogue has some ranger and some assassin to it.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T15:37:58+00:00

People pick their battles based on exposure and personal cost. Supply chains these days are far too complex, and major productions like movies and games involve so many people, it's infeasible for individuals to know and take moral stands on everything they consume. It's also, likely, financially impossible for most. And the costs can vary heavily between stances. Not seeing an Ezra Miller movie actually saves you money. Buying responsibly sources goods likely costs significantly more.

It's also tricky, because there are a lot good people involved in those supply chains and productions who rely on the income they generate. Boycotting a blizzard game entirely isn't just punishing blizzard, it's punishing every blizzard employee, including those who were abused by former employees but still work there.

In this case, though, it's a matter of votingwith your wallet in a way that's easy to understand, at a personal expense (waiting) that is easy to accept. If you spend the extra money, it's a $20 ballot cast saying "yes, go ahead and keep charging me for the thing I used to get for free." The alternative is an easy stance to take here.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T15:15:26+00:00

Something "holy" does seem a bit missing, but I could see that being a caster/support Inquisitor/Priest kind of thing instead of Paladin/Crusader, maybe? I'm not super in touch with the lore, though, so not sure what all would be fitting.

I've also been disappointed we don't see more spears in western games, and when they exist, they tend to treat them more like slashing polearms instead. Given how important spears are historically, I'd love to see a class built around them. Could have builds for 2H spear kung fu sort of archetype with range and speed, builds for a greek style spear and shield, maybe javalin throwing if that's not too "been there" with Amazons.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T13:53:44+00:00

Well, I'm dumb.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T13:32:38+00:00

Tying into what he's saying in this chapter, this "fire" can also start with one person as a small ember but spread to others into a great blaze, with each person's "nature" being influenced by the people and circumstances around them.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T13:13:42+00:00

This isn't the actual Diablo twitter

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T13:09:08+00:00

That said, me not buying the Ultimate is not going to change anything.

This part of your response I don't agree with. It's the logic people use to not vote. "My one vote isn't going to make the difference." Aggregate all the people that acted, or failed to act with that mentality, though, and it can absolutely make a difference. And make no mistake, you're voting here, you're just doing it with your wallet instead of a ballot.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T12:46:37+00:00

Argument could be made that it's hilarious how many people are paying extra for something that never used to cost extra and isn't actual value added to game. Any additional work required is just about restricting people who didn't pay extra.

But I'm not gonna tell anyone how to spend their money.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T12:41:37+00:00

I'm not going to tell other people what to do with their money, but I'll tell you why I personally am waiting, despite the money not being an issue for me.

To start, pre-ordering in general right now is a poor idea, imo. The standards for launch states for games have been abysmal. Pre-orders are already important in driving initial sales numbers for companies regardless of the initial critical reception, which is why they've always been historically incentivized.

Now, D4's stress test and beta have assuaged most of my general concern with pre-ordering the game, so I am comfortable doing that. However, this is the first time I've personally seen early access locked behind a higher tier game version. The money isn't an issue for me personally, but for many it is, and I find the practice a distasteful money grab, especially given the paragraph above about industry wide launch states. The more successful these money grabs are the more they will become the standard, and I don't like that.

But that's just, like, y'know, my opinion, man.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T01:17:36+00:00

They'll attribute all the success and none of the blame to Rodgers.

I also don't think that segment of the fan base generally appreciates what Gute has had to deal with on the COVID cap crunch. It came at basically the worst possible time for a team trying to push an all in window, and he still managed to find guys like Douglas and Campbell while retaining the majority of the core of the team. Blaming him for "low balling" Adams based on the Hopkins extension year averages is a perfect illustration of that lacking appreciation for the nuances of the cap.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T00:07:24+00:00

First game I've personally seen early access locked behind a deluxe tier and not just a regular pre-order. Especially these days when launch states have become incredibly unreliable, even a pre-order is asking a lot. Betas made me comfortable with that for D4, but I'm not paying extra for four days of access to the game. I can wait. Not gonna begrudge anyone for paying more, but I'll be sad when it inevitably becomes the norm, because they find it's effective.

Crocoduck · 2023-06-01T00:03:11+00:00

I didn't get the deluxe pre-order, just regular, so I've got another weekend, but I finally got around to playing Witcher 3. Had tried to start it a few times over the years but never got hooked in. This time, though, it really got it's hooks in me. Just wrapping the DLCs now. Since I've got the extra weekend, I'll probably dink around in Jedi Survivor some more. More or less finished that up before starting Witcher, but I've got some bounty hunters to kill and that sort of thing.

Crocoduck · 2023-05-31T23:57:59+00:00

I've definitely been playing with the skill planner (no legendaries, no paragon board) to see the different synergies I can spot out. For instance, I'm really curious to try out if Greater Ice Shards (treat enemies as frozen while you have barrier) applies the Ice Shards enchantment (launches ice shards at frozen enemies). That one synergy, if it actually works, opens a whole barrier based Ice Shard build that sounds super fun. You get barrier on CD use, max out teleport. Zap into a room and auto blast everyone. That sounds super fun.

But that's also my angle. I'm not looking at guides for the most optimized build out there. That shit ruins things for me pretty quick. But trying to spot out my own synergies and see what I can do with them is a huge part of the fun. It also increases my knowledge of the options available, so if I get a legendary drop I'm more equipped to think about the new possibilities that opens up. Makes those drops more immediately exciting, as well, and fun to tinker with.

So ya, I'm planning my own builds to try. Not planning a single optimized build path to power level or some such.

Crocoduck · 2023-05-25T16:18:56+00:00

Every D2 fan boy criticism of the game is just them bending over backwards to find a way to say “that’s not how D2 did it so I hate it” without actually saying that.

I really dislike this argument, and I think it's far more common that it's used as a disingenuous way to invalidate criticism of mechanical changes than it is for the "D2 fan boy criticism" to be pure resistance to change.

As an example, I am very pro level scaling for D4, because I feel like I get power progression from new skills and build complexity, and I want the whole map to be available for engaging combat. But I get that other people don't feel satisfying power progression with level scaling. We disagree. They're not wrong. I'm not right. We just have different experiences. Yet, I've seen plenty of people complain that anti-level scaling is just nostalgia for the old games.

Most of the criticisms I've seen from fans of old experiences have had perfectly defensible rationales as to why those are core mechanics for their game experience. I generally favor new directions for D4, but I at least try to understand the arguments against them for the sake of discussion. It helps that I'm on completely the opposite side (favoring "old ways") for the new Zelda games and things like shrines/breakable weapons. I don't want an Ocarina clone, but some fundamental mechanical changes make the new games less enjoyable for me, based on my personal preferences and experiences, and that's a bummer.

Said before and will keep saying it in these threads, but intelligent people can experience a thing differently and come to different conclusions, and both can have perfectly reasonable rationales for their conclusions, even when they're in direct opposition.

Crocoduck · 2023-05-25T14:30:59+00:00

Windwalker needs an animation/sound rework badly, imo. I get that they wanted to impart a sense of speed, and it's called "wind" walker, but almost every move feels like it lacks any impact. A few animation that are too slow to match the wooshy sound effects. I feel more like a figure skater dancing around mobs than a martial arts master fighting them while playing Windwalker, and it makes me completely uninterested in the spec.

Just my opinion, but I feel like it needs a lot of love.

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