Tuesday, May 15, 2012

[Diablo 3] Release

Diablo 3 was released last night. I actually got home pretty late, so I decided to stay up for a little bit longer and see if I could get started at midnight.

I got the infamous "Error 37" for about half an hour or so, but eventually I was able to log in and play. I'm starting off with a Demon Hunter, mostly because I think she has the best voice. It's really too bad there's no knight/paladin archetype in D3.

I got to level 5 before deciding to go to sleep. The cutscenes are very nice. The game does seem a little harder than it was in beta, at least starting in the cathedral. But that might be because the first group I ran into was a pack of champion bats, with a couple harvesters mixed in, so maybe it's just a skewed first impression.

I am thinking about trying Hardcore mode, maybe even from the start. But I'm not sure I'm the type of person who can restart and replay from scratch when my character dies. I rather think I'd just end up playing something else instead. So maybe Hardcore isn't the best idea for me.

How were your Diablo experiences?

12 comments:

  1. My experience? When I was trying it, I didn't get any further than login server being servicd. I have the annual pass, and I'll pickup the collector edition for the goodies later today.

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  2. Absolutely fantastic. Being in the Aussie timezone, I got home from work about an hour after the game launched, and was able to get in after a minute or two of error 37. Played all evening apart from a dinner break, completed Act 1, and once I'd burned through the parts I'd played repeatedly in beta, I loved every second of it!

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  3. Hi, I read your blog often, but rarely comment, especially since I don't play WOW anymore. But, I did pick up a copy of digital D3 so here goes. =)

    It took me about 1 hour after launch time to finally log in (all hail mighty error 37!). But, once I got in, everything was very smooth. I solo-played up to level 12 within 3 hours. I actually opened up my game to public though no one joined. I guess not surprising since most people were still having major issues getting in.

    I'm only in normal Act I, which has been a breeze (maybe because I picked a barb?). But, I do agree that it does feel a little harder compared to beta, even when comparing the same parts. Maybe more accurate impression is that enemies seem to hit harder. In fact, I died once (pretty quickly, I might add) when I took on some champions + pack of mobs without paying attention. Loving it so far.

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  4. Diablo 3 Paladin6:17 PM, May 15, 2012

    I would strongly suggest to play softcore first,
    after some sick powerleveling I got nightmare finished and I died a lot to suprises (and being unconcentrated).
    Like the first time you see a champion group with a new afix is always a problem, and that was as a shield monk with gottesschild, heal and defensive mantra.
    If your wizard is pulled into a beefy group of chamions and stunned, then you will bite your keyboard.
    Boss fights can be compared to learning WoW Raids, after you fail the first time, the second time is a walk in the park with the right skills and knowledge, so that speaks against HC also.
    Also in the last days, there were some lag spikes, like 1-2 or to per day, irrelevant for softcore, not so for hardcore.

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  5. So far so good.. Blizzard has done an amazing job.

    I just got booted hunting a staff in some caves and can't reconnect but I suppose a forced break for food is a good thing?

    I could have sworn Blizz said Waller and Vortex mobs appeared in the higher difficulties but.. surprise! My poor Wizard really felt squishy with those ones - especially when walled in a tight hallway.

    No deaths yet, though several near-death experiences.. about the level of excitement I'd hope to find in Hardcore and the mob design/variety so far is impressive, so I'm pretty happy overall.

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  6. Terribly. I could log in almost instantly, my girlfriend got various error messages and couldn't, so I just checked every part of Tristram waiting for her.

    We could only play half an hour today before going to work. Maybe today afternoon the servers will be able to handle the load.

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  7. Played the Beta, wasn't too impressed. The graphics seemed a tad dated. I just didn't see anything that stood out from the previous games to make me want to buy it.

    What makes D3 great? [Other than it's Diablo =) ]

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  8. I know Diablo III is good because time just melts away like a Dali clock painting when I am playing. I really like the updated rework, the graphics, they stuck with the iconic music which is great. The story is better, cool cut scenes. I am pleased so far. I logged in about 1:30AM on the 15th and had no problems. They fixed the Mac sound issue where it would not default properly. I died to a lag spike at one point. Its a fun game.

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  9. Some advice on hardcore.

    Diablo has its origins in roguelikes. Nearly all roguelikes are hardcore.

    Hardcore is scary at first, but when you get used to it, you realise it is the BEST experience of RPGs. All of your emotions become intensified as you struggle to survive.

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  10. What experience? OH you mean the 2 hours I've gotten to play even though I've had work off? Yeah, seriously Blizz? I know it's hard on them to release a game like this but it's also why I was against having to be online to be able to play the game, even if you just want to play the single player through once (or multiple with different classes) and then move on to the next game.

    Overall I'm just very annoyed with not being able to play the game because of the continuous "Error 37"s as well as the plethora of times the servers have been taken down completely to maintain a game that has been released for less than 72 hours.

    The game itself, from what I've gotten to play, is very enjoyable and I'm looking forward to being able to play it more.

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  11. I just finished a fairly thorough walk through Normal mode.. and holy hell is it good - and ultimately challenging (at least as a squishy Wizard)!

    Starts off fairly easy with the odd near-death if you lose concentration or push ahead too quickly. Surprises you periodically as you progress with generally avoidable instant death situations. And then starts to make you think, hard, about how you're supposed to reskill to get past a given boss.

    And it even ends well(-ish*).

    Anyhow, I'll be open to co-op in one form or another now.. probably start up other classes to see how they play and take the next difficulties on my Wizard a bit slower.

    As for hardcore.. it starts getting tricky after the first act so make sure you know what's coming, gear/skill well, possibly outlevel the area a bit (inferno excluded since you can't), and try hard not to get one-shotted.

    Hats off to those few who actually manage to beat Diablo in HC Inferno.

    */sigh (would clarify, but spoilers and all that..)

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  12. Just having fun playing D3 for the first time having never played the previous versions.

    So far at lvl 21 or 22 as a Monk.

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