Dexterryu

Good thing they allow for a full respec/reclass... especially for your #3.

Getting really good reviews, mostly saying it improves upon and refines the first game. Only thing that isn't standout good is that the story narrative is just OK. Gonna be a busy August with BG3 and this.

All good. People keep expecting a lot, especially with the recent hype that the game has gotten so you are on point with that. If anything it's irresponsible reporting/marketing if they are saying that. In my book, if they are anywhere near what Witcher 3 had for ending variety (main game, especially) with where the story ended up we're in for a treat. Heck, I just played the very first section of the EA game and was already interested in the side characters. I had to make myself stop playing since the save file won't be compatible and I didn't want to waste hours, spoil, or burn out on the game. Really looking forward to Aug 3 after burning myself on D4.

There's only so much you can write narratively & code for... what we're getting is already fairly generous. I'd also say this is about at much as we can reasonably expect until games are able to be programed on the fly by a generative AI that mimics voice actors.

"Extra" I think. The middle one since I have zero interest in "classic" games. Was a good value initially to play a bunch of games that I didn't want to buy, but now it's gotten really stale and has a ton of junk games. Might just opt to go to the low tier next year depending on the price. I probably would have done that last year had I not purchased during a black Friday sale. That said... even with the stale library it's hard to say it's a bad value when you look at the delta between the two when on sale. I think there was less than a $25 difference for the year between the essential and extra versions with the sale. $25 wasn't too bad a gamble considering, and I have played through a couple of games on it.

I've messed around with it from time to time. It's not bad if you like sandbox style RPGs where you have a mix of building/fighting stuff. There's a lot to the crafting, which if you like that sort of thing you'll probably really enjoy it. But also an incredible amount of progression that makes it feel slow.

I think you're getting what I'm saying. To me wandering around a bunch of planets with a bunch of random fauna with BSG AI that either ignores you or charges you is just as boring because it's the same 1 or 2 enemies with different skins. Now, figuring out how to survive or get a key resource from a dead but dangerous planet is really interesting. How could you solve problems in places with more or less gravity and/or atmospheric pressure? If life does exist how did it evolve in those conditions? Most games always assume everywhere is basically 1 Earth Gravity.

This depends. Do we want a Ratchet and Clank/High on Life game or do we want something a bit more grounded? Astronomy/Astrophysics is a bit of a hobby for me so I may be different. I see lots of eye roll inducing stuff from Hollywood/Games when I see things that just wouldn't work from a physics perspective and break my suspension of disbelief.

From an Astonomy perspective... 1000 planets with complex multicellular life is likely getting more on the fiction side of science fiction. At especially if the game is set in our galaxy. 1000 planets with maybe a dozen or so that are beyond just being rocky seems about right (assuming we won't be exploring gas planets).

This is basically me, or close to it. I've finished the campaigns for Oblivion/Skyrim & Fallout 3/4 which took about that time... but by the end the combat and talking to all too robotic NPCs had me just wanting to get the games over with. When I saw Starfield last year, I thought much of the same. Now the hype is growing (which it always seems to with Bethesda games) and I am trying to decide if I want to buy into it or not.

Might not be as big a deal unless you're playing with people. There are frequent checkpoint/save points so if you DC or just need to exit out for whatever reason you aren't set back too long.

They are there, they're just implemented as Uniques vs being a set.

Most of the legendary's will have aspects that will greatly impact a build. So while these aren't a "set" identified by green font, they are already there for the most part. This also gives players flexibility in their build instead of chasing whatever the current meta is.

There is very much an endgame. Tier 3 & 4, plus a slew of activities and nightmare dungeons open up once you complete each tiers capstone dungeon.

One of the Pros/Cons of the Barb is that they have an extra gear slot that other classes do not have. The pro is that once you are geared up, you are stronger. The con mostly is this will make you feel a little weaker early game. Gear drops fairly regularly so keeping it up is not terribly difficult... generally. Min/Maxing might be a little harder at end game.

They're all fun. They're already getting buffed/nerfed so don't make a choice based on current balance as it is changing. They all have some things that are challenging about them and things they do really well. So play what you think sounds/looks the coolest to you.

Just hit 49 on my Necro last night before logging of. Currently in WT2, Act 3. I've been doing a bunch of side quests and the dungeons that have aspects for my class so I'm probably much higher level than I should be at this point in the main story. Really enjoying myself so far but I do have some gripes that I'm going to share with the devs via Reddit and the official forums. Gameplay stuff: 1. Corpse explosion w/shadow damage modifier - need to make this more transparent. Can't see what's going on at all whether it's my character that does it or someone else. I like this version but can't stand using it due to the visibility issue. 2. Some side quests seemed designed to unnecessarily waste time. Example... Start quest at an Inn. Run to the very bottom of the map -> back to the inn (thankfully I can portal there) -> quest giver says one sentence to meet them at another far away spot -> We kill some stuff -> "Meet me back at the inn"-> One more sentence -> "Let's meet at this other place" (that was right next to where we just were)-> Run there, fight, finish. Lots of pointless running. QOL stuff: 1. NPC Vendor placement - Why are they so spread out in the town. Can these be consolidated? Pointless running around. 2. Gems - Like the mechanic (a staple since D2), but can we get an Inventory tab for these? Time waster to keep dropping them off in the stash and taking up unnecessary inventory space. Takes away from the combat which is the fun part of the game.

100% agree... my point is that large companies that want to attract/keep talent call this out specifically and work hard to cater to it. It's not a cognitive property per se, but it is the way that many have adapted to modern day media and communication. At any rate... let's get back to talking about Diablo 4 and how to this point (on PC at least) it's been a near perfect launch.

I guess my writing wasn't as clear as it could have been. My point was that any type of consumer product has to at some level consider their audience. Depending on the situation short attention span can be an advantage or disadvantage. As a leader where I work (AWS) it is somewhat of an advantage and we keep our internal messages very succinct and concise. No 1000 word emails - desired outcome first, additional details after. On the flip side, longer attention spans are better for various types of analytics or fine craftsman ship. In the case of a game, the majority of players are likely Milenial/Gen-Z so it's probably tuned to their taste.

Where did I imply that it was a deficiency? It's just a difference.

I'm going to guess that you're a fellow GEN-X... in which case I can say I agree with you. However, I wonder how much the short attention span of GenZ factors into the loot frequency. I'm of the opinion that the pixel color choice used by the item name is over emphasized. Most games, unless you're leveling you don't even look at anything that isn't at least Rare (yellow) quality because it can't be an upgrade (in which case, I'd rather it have just been a gold drop instead of taking up an inventory spot.

I agree with you on too much loot. Division felt that way. When you're min/maxing for better roles it gets dull fast. Diablo 3 launched with the opposite problem in that useful loot was too rare so people mainly geared up via the auction house (which got removed in the expansion). So it's all about the right mix. The server slam felt just about right whereas the first beta weekends were intentionally overtuned for loot drops to allow people to get to Ashava.

With Diablo, Blizzard basically cracked the code on human brain reward responses for a virtual experience. Along the way each of the games had really good polish (D3 launch being somewhat of an exception). It's one of the thing, even with the sounds that the loot drops make effectively almost have a pavlovian effect. Having played all the Diablo's extensively just the noise of a legendary drop in the background gets my attention and piques my curiosity. They've mastered digital crack. That said, I agree with you on the seasonal characters. That does not appeal to me as much. D3 seasons at one point had the right mix for me in that they were a chase for seasonal gear sets.

I think the difference between when CG moved the needle and now was at the time CG was still new and cool. Even with those, their was still progress being made which added a little to the cool factor. Now, CG is everywhere and no one cares.

Why is this thread here and not in the politics board? This is the board that I come to AVOID all of that crap.