End of Days

[Quickdeath]

End of Days

Well, first, I'm not crazy about playing a game during it's beta phase because of the high incidence of freaky problems and imbalances. Of course, some fraction of those persist for serveral versions beyond beta -and of course some aren't even fixed in V13.c (Hey Blizzard, I'm talking about you!)

But I think that the release of D3 will really drain the swamp here in the D2 forums -there won't be any "gang" of SPF nutcases left. And if you find a Zod and there is no one to share it with, then what's the point?

So, I expect I'll play D3 as soon as it is released.

And as for D2 and the SPF? I'm afraid that many of you sound like two high school friends who promise to be best friends forever even though one is going to college in California and the other in Boston - and then get swept up in college life and never see each other again. I think we'll all move onto a different phase of our game playing lives, and if we return to SPF and D2 -there won't be any "there" there to return to. For those of you who haven't learned that lesson yet, don't worry - you will.

 

[Kestegs]

Re: End of Days

I guess I assumed that most of us would just move on to the new D3 SP forum (assuming there is one) It is sad to think of this community not being around, as this is a large part of why I am still playing the game. I do think that this forum will become pretty much a ghost town, but I'm sure there will still be some around still.

Is it not realistic to assume that a lot of people will move to D3 SP forum as long as SP in D3 is not Uber nerfed?

 

[wielanja]

Re: End of Days

As long as D3 sp isn't uber nerfed I will still be around and I imagine many others feel the same way. I had many goals in diablo that sat by the wayside due to lack of enthusiasm.

When I discovered this forum I saw that others were pursuing the same goals and that others cared about me accomplishing my goals. This caused my motivation to instantly be restarted and kept me pursuing my goals.

 

[Ojimijam]

Re: End of Days

Will be buying on or near release day. I havnt read enough on the forums to truly know whats going on with various mechanics etc, and to be honest even if i did read i wouldnt understand.

Chance of playing D2 after D3? Honestly probably not much. Maybe finish off a few goals if they are interesting but other than that its probably going away for good. If there remains a SPF (here as a community or somewhere in D3) I am there.

 

[Low Key]

Re: End of Days

I've pretty much exhausted myself on D2 already, playing it on and off since the first Demo came out. I know I'll be moving on to D3 the second I have the chance.

 

[Nightfish]

Re: End of Days

No, of course the community in D3 won't be the same it was here. It's not been the same here over the years either. I still hear some people reminisce about the good old days from before I was around (yes, I am aware of what I said there). Even while I've been here, things changed over the years. Things tend to do that.

I guess one of the main things for me is "How dumb will D3 be?". If it's in any way like torchlight, I cannot see me participating in any sort of community revolving around the game, except for making fun of it. That's one thing I'm predicting and if current trends in gaming are any indication, that's what it'll be like.

Part of why D2 is awesome is because it gives you the chance to horribly shoot yourself in the foot. Most modern games don't do that. Regardless of how you spend your points, you will succeed because that's what people consider balanced now. A democratic approach, fair enough, everything is equally viable. But does that make me excited about coming up with builds for the game in question? Not so much. Does that even make me feel accomplished after beating the game? Not so much either. Am I even playing those games? Not so much, the third.

In a way, I think the time for gamers like me is largely over. Gaming was for me before it was mainstream. Now everyone's doing it and games geared towards "casual" players outsell their "hardcore" counterparts by a landslide mostly. Used to be when you died in a game, that ****ed you over somewhat. Now, you revert to the autosave taken 5 seconds ago if it's even possible to die at all.

On a related note: I've seen statistics that only 50% of the people that got portal 2 finished the SP campaign. It's like 6 hours long. And developers take that as a cue that their games are too freaking long.

I think I'm really starting to get old because everything was better in the days of yore. Movies weren't in ****ing pointless 3d, there were no ****ing pointless motion controls for games and stuff didn't cost as much as it does now either. Also, there were no kids on my lawn. Mostly because I had no lawn, but my point remains valid.

 

[Morathi1]

Re: End of Days

I will be going straight to D3.

I have pretty much drained myself of D2, haven't played for 6 months now and have no real desire any more. I am literally dreaming about D3, I am that excited! I can almost guarantee this game will destroy my social life as i will play until my eyes bleed haha.

Hope everyone here congregates to the D3 SPF .

*points at Jiansonz and Insane Wayne*

 

[Corrupted]

Re: End of Days

[...]

...Shagsbeard? Is that you? Give NF his account back!

--

[x] Never

D3 will be a decent game in its own way but it won't be (anything like?) D2. It just doesn't interest me much like newer games never has.
I'm curious to see what the diehards will do. The community might be small but it will unify and come up with something I'm sure.

 

[DeathMaster]

Re: End of Days

Even I think I'm sort of over D2 (I've been D2 free for long time), I don't think D3 can be ever as good as D2. It may have better graphics, but the game play would be just like another MMORPG. I won't even touch it, if there is no decent SP mode.

 

[frozzzen1]

Re: End of Days

You sound like tired old man fisheh
But I agree with you 100%

Hat down.

 

[nulio]

Re: End of Days

I wont buy D3 or try the beta. I'll try the game if some friend lends it to me or anything like that, but I don't to risk another addiction

I still see myself playing D2 for some more time, I have some goals to finish, and then I want to PvP with them, a lot. Of course if after D3 is out, there's no one to do some MP with neither nice games of PvP and the community fades, most reasons to play D2 will fade away also.

 

[Hammy]

Re: End of Days

Some very good points, overall. As for myself, I will pick up Diablo 3. Rather not mess with beta, but I will buy it (probably a collector's edition, if I can get my furry little paws on one) upon release. That said, I find it unlikely that it comes close to Diablo 2 in a lot of aspects. Even if it does, as long as I have a gimpy little netbook that won't play high-end games smoothly, I will still play D2. Because I travel from time to time, and my wife likes it when I spend quality time with her. I've almost convinced her that me sitting next to her while playing on a laptop is quality. We're getting there...

One thing that I will disagree with, is I don't think you're giving Blizzard enough credit. I've never played SC (suck at the RTS, can't multitask enough to play an Assassin for crying out loud), but I did spend a lot of time playing WoW. They've made a lot of mistakes in WoW, but they always make an attempt to correct them, and at the core, it's a solid game. The way things are (or at least were a few months ago) may make you rethink the whole trend towards casual gaming. Cataclysm (the recent expansion) is not friendly to casual gamers. They don't see the end-game content, not until more content has been released and the old stuff is no longer end-game. Unfortunately, this degree of difficulty meant that if you didn't spend your points EXACTLY as shown, you were less than optimal, and therefore "fail". The other complaint would be that the classes all got homogenized to the point where there was no specific need for any specific class anymore. I certainly hope those aspects don't find their way into D3. I like different classes to feel different, and I like feeling "overpowered" with an "underpowered" build.

Even after all that, I'd still play WoW if I didn't work 40+ hours a week, have a wife, and a house full of critters that require my attention. Actually, that's a lie. I'd be playing Everquest. The first one. That'll teach you the meaning of the word, "hardcore".

But, Diablo 3 has been a long time coming, and there has been a lot of community input. Whether Blizzard chooses to ignore the intelligent people around here and the other good forums and side with the b.net crowd I guess will determine a lot of the direction. In the end, Blizzard has a history of polishing quite well. At release, I doubt it will be the game we are all hoping for, but I can imagine it moving in that direction over time.

Also, regarding the SP/b.net thing... Did anyone consider that they might fix the lag and actually (really) prevent cheating this time around? If I had an opporunity to hang out with this crowd online, I would be all for it! You can create private, password-protected chatrooms (or at least you could in the past, I don't know if you still can). You can also password-protect your games. If they added the ability to boot people from games (much like voting to kick someone from a group in WoW), I think it would be a stellar experience.

Not trying to blind you all with artificial sunshine, but I think it's at least worth looking at the potential ways that they can make the game awesome, in addition to the ways they can make it terrible.

Just my two cents...


-Hammy

 

[GoldenredDragon]

Re: End of Days

I still play D1 from time to time, as well as various mods, like TheDark for Hellfire, or Median Xl. So yeah. I'll be playing D3 as soon as possible, but I'll never forget D2, nor D1 for that matter...

G.R.D. (Fanboy)

 

[RobbyD]

Re: End of Days

There's no way I don't try out D3 - it's been so long in coming and I've gotten so much enjoyment from D2 that it deserves a try. That being said, I fully expect the first D3 release to be an intentionally incomplete game, like D2 classic is. I don't think I'll fully dive into D3 until the first expansion comes out. Blizz is holding out on weapon switches like they did for D2, and I bet you can get a character over level 60 on the expansion.

 

[Wolfgang Abenteuer]

Re: End of Days

I'm sure I'll still play D2 even after D3 (assuming D3 is enjoyable, in which case I'll just stick to D2). Like a few others I still play D1 from time to time. As for old school gaming, I still play NES and SNES games - and I don't mean on emus with cheats and save states, I mean the actual cartridge on the actual system with the regular controllers. I can get a copy of River City Ransom for $10 (and that's among the higher-priced games) and it's every bit as enjoyable as a modern corridor-cutscene-laden FPS that goes for $50 because it's got purty graphics but not much else.

And I find myself starting to act like Cranky Kong. :badteeth:

 

[WoRG1]

Re: End of Days

Well, I'll probably play D3....once one of my buddies who buys the game gets tired of it and lets me borrow it :badteeth:

I'm not completely discounting the possibility that it will be so awesome that I actually buy a copy myself...but I sure ain't holding my breath. Still, Blizzard has made awesome games in the past, so maybe...

One of the things that has really kept my interest up in D2 has been the ability to 'time travel' and play in previous patches...I feel certain that this will NOT be possible in D3...you will be forced to play in the current patch (certainly true of Starcraft2...)

I certainly agree with NF that good games allow you to fail, and hate the current trend of making games 'more accessible' for casual gamers

I surely hope the community here survives the launch of D3, but I fear that Quickdeath may be right...

+1 to grumpy old guys, I guess...

WoRG

 

[Grisu]

Re: End of Days

I think I'll play both, although I won't have the time to play either of them very much. Currently, I'm a bit tired of D2. I still have a lot of goals I want to achieve in D2, but it's really more about the goal right now, not about how I get there - most of the time, it bores me. But I've been there before, fun will come back some time

So, yes, I'd be glad to try something new as D3, but I'll also go back to D2 some time for sure.

 

[JimmyOfJudecca]

Re: End of Days

I don't like reading this kinda stuff. Or like when you feel the D2 itch and go hunt for guides then someone a couple of miles down the road posts about how there is no point in D2 or something. But in the end they are kinda true! It is a sad thing growing older and nobody said anything about it.

There were many interesting and heartfelt comments here about games in general and D2/D3.

And for me this community has become a huge factor in making D2 a more enjoyable game so I hope D3 will follow suit.

I completely agree. Well said!

Once D3 has been out for a little while, I plan to pick it up. However, if it just so happens to fall in my lap sooner rather than later, I certainly won't kick it out of bed

D2 will always hold a dear place in the cellars of my black soul.

 

[Assurbanipal]

Re: End of Days

I am going to give D3 a chance.
I've read that some Fallout 1 and 2 team members are working on this game, it may be a good sign, as I just worship both parts.

However, in second hand, I am not a huge fan of new games. I even refused to play in Fallout 3 (level restriction to 20!? no total action freedom?!), Heroes IV and V (I'd tried V, yes, the graphics was so good! but... 3d environment stolen clarity from the game. In H3, which is very often my guest up to this days, one look may bring me a lot of important information about my gaming situation, what cannot be said about H5).

H3, F1 and 2, D1 and 2, all are challenging, with multiplicity of ways of doing things, funny details, huge worlds. D3 has a fierce competition from the past in my case, we will see, we will see...

 

[JimmyOfJudecca]

Re: End of Days

I will almost definetely buy D3 as soon as it is released. I will probably still come back to Diablo 2, though it does depend on how good D3 is.

Edit: Just for reference I voted release day. I won't be playing Beta (unfortunately) as I am getting married in November and thus won't have much free time.

Congrats on getting married Jcakes. Welcome to the circle:cloud9:. We have lots to inform you on... First, the word is "ironic", not "irenic". Second, the response is "Yes Dear" & "I'm sorry, I was wrong".

LOL, just kidding. Plenty of ups and downs to go through. You'll be fine. And for the record, I am happily married.:thankyou: