D3's difficulties get CNN coverage - again.

[ViralSpiral]

I don't ever remember asking for WoW's original level cap, WoW's enrage timers, or WoW's cooldowns in my Diablo games. I don't remember any of us asking for these things. Actually about the only thing in D3 I remember anyone asking for was instanced loot.

Sorry, I never got the memo that you had been selected as spokesman for all gamers interested in D3. My apologies.

In fact, the big noise, even pre-beta, was "too easy". Blizzard's interpretation and reaction was rightfully, "fine, we'll give you harder". This gets you a thrown on, next to impossible, Inferno and mechanics such as enrage timers. The customers' reactions have clearly been "no, no, no, that's not what we wanted."

Cooldowns? How do you keep skills from being ridiculous when spammable? Necessity, IMHO. And level cap. I don't like it but it does make sense. A level cap allows for future content, with associated raising of the level cap, without that content being already "too easy". And there we come back around to what gamers did say.

Right, because I claimed to be a spokeperson, aside from the fact that I immediately said "I don't remember -any- of us asking for those things."

What amuses me is the amount of overt hostility and snippiness on these forums which was rarely a trait of the old days, except when we had a flood of goofballs during the LoD beta. You can tell people are on edge here, it reflects in lots of posts now.

Anyhow, sure, it might have been too easy, but there is more than one way to increase difficulty. I DON'T CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR ANYONE ELSE, but I would have personally preferred a challenge more based on strategy, tactics, nuanced and skilled play, skill selections, use of terrain, and cerebral engagement then just using really huge numbers (Inferno numbers, both player and monster), and fake difficulty by taking options off the table (Jailer while you're caught in a damage pool that just instantly opened up under your feet) - unavoidable damage, one-shots, and other lazy decisions.

Maybe this isn't the genre for that kind of tactical engagement, but you could certainly achieve an equilibrium like that in D1 and 2, even if it required self-imposed restrictions in order to bring player power down to the level where tactics against enemies are actually useful. We don't get that here - it's almost entirely gear checks and aside from a few new elite affixes on higher difficulties, nothing changes except bigger numbers flying around. Things are tougher, stronger, or faster because of some bigger numbers somewhere. There's not new AI routines - and in fact some enemies get easier because they don't use the abilities they have intelligently; they'll knockback you out of damage pools or wall you off from their minions and thus actually save you from incoming damage. Vortex you close to them out of their mortar range.

It's feast or famine gameplay; either you have the gear and come up against easy/dumb opponents, or you get smashed with little to nothing you can do about it. It's not interesting, there's no variety, and once you have the gear to make it to the end, there's nothing to do but start new toons or farm gear you don't need because you already beat everything. I'll probably get every class to sixty just to say I did, if my patience holds out. Maybe there will be more to do by then, and maybe not. PvP's not really an option unless I get much better internet, though, so I'll need something else.