Diablo 3 Beta First Impressions and a brief tirade on statistics

[Sirian]

Forcing us to die easily is not the same as challenge. More often than not, it's a cop-out presenting the illusion of challenge. Any monster - in Diablo, Diablo II, and Diablo III - can be made to kill you instantly. That is not challenging. Monsters that use multiple attack types (ranged, melee), additional mechanics (bleeding, knockback, stun), and/or competent AI (terrain pathfinding) can be challenging. Merely increasing HP and/or damage does not, in itself, create challenge. Challenge is found in overcoming obstacles that force you to think, react, and adapt - not in getting one-shotted.

I have little faith anymore that Blizzard knows the difference, but we shall see. I'm reserving at least some of my cynicism for the actual release, rather than marketing ploys.

Blizz has said that their design goal was to keep the same simplicity level of point and click, but add in tactical details that bring depth. We shall see how well they deliver, but at least in theory, I am 100% behind that attempted direction. That's the essence of what was good about D1.

Now we just need this Korea Bottleneck to end and the gaming to begin.


- Sirian