Diablo 3 Impressions

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Tue May 15, 2012 1:51 pm

My collector’s edition just arrived. If anyone has specific questions about that I can answer them. My impressions of it are that it’s nicer than most companies CE but it’s not quite up to the standards of StarCraft 2. The soul stone flash drive in particular is pretty underwhelming; it’s all plastic and feels kind of flimsy. The flash drive that came with SC2 was metal with a light up plastic inlay and made to look like a futuristic dog tag. Also, while fine on its own the art book pales in comparison to the one that came with Skyrim.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue May 15, 2012 1:54 pm

Freddybear wrote: Yeah, I'll do that next time. But on the blizz forum there's a message about server "issues" that they're working on. So maybe it'll be OK.

Character probably desynched. Should be recoverable.

Orgull · Post by **Orgull** » Tue May 15, 2012 1:55 pm

It's working fine for me up here in Happy Canada. No crashes, no bugs, no errors.

I'm loving the game so far. Am partway through Act II. I loved the cutscenes between acts 1 and 2. Awesome. I'm playing a wizard and enjoying it but I'm very surprised at how much more difficult the finished game is than the beta. I've died quite a bit, especially against certain elites. Not complaining though, would hate if it was too easy. They've also made crafting so expensive it's almost prohibitive for a first-time playthrough. But that's ok too.

Two Thumbs Up, way up, so far.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue May 15, 2012 1:55 pm

I'm actually happy to hear that as I chose to get the regular edition and was already suffering from buyer's remorse and/or grass is greener syndrome.

Sorry it may be a bit of a disappointment for those who shelled out the cash though. I own several wow and expansion CE's and enjoyed them.

Butterknife · Post by **Butterknife** » Tue May 15, 2012 1:57 pm

IceBear wrote:Yay! Orange belt for my wizard

I too got an orange belt! I wonder if it is the same one? I would get on and get a screenshot of mine, but server maintenance. Gives me a chance to eat lunch and post to the forum, I suppose.

Game is looking really great. The last few issues with the Beta appear to have been fixed, with only a couple of very minor bugs that I've noticed so far. Very polished and ready to play! Well, when the servers are up. I woke up at 2:00 AM and tried to get on but couldn't, and this morning I tried several times but couldn't log in around 5:00 AM. I decided to give it one last shot before just heading off to work, and lo and behold -- I got in! Been playing all morning.

Started with a Witch Doctor, got almost all the way through the first act, and now I'm switching over to a Barbarian. Witch Doctor just isn't what I want to play right now.

I'll never hit 60 switching around all the time, but I'm OK with that.

LawBeefaroni wrote:
Freddybear wrote:I was going along just fine until lunch time. Rather than quit, I just hit escape to pause the game on the menu.
Pretty sure this doesn't actually pause it. Better off just going to town and leaving it up if you don't want to quit.

Pressing escape will in fact pause your game in single-player. I use it all the time. I'm not sure if it will pause if your game is open to friends, however.

Malacheye · Post by **Malacheye** » Tue May 15, 2012 2:01 pm

I had problems for the first half hour trying to get in. By 1am pacific time, I got in a leveled a Demon Hunter to level 10 and killed the Skeleton King. Drop was a yellow dagger. The (blue) Bow of Vampirism I have been using dropped when I was level 3...I havent found anything better. Even the blacksmith cant make anything better yet.

It took me about 2 1/2 hours to get to level 10, but I wasnt trying to rip through it quickly. I did two areas twice for the exp and drops.

I wont be able to go beyond the demo until tonight after 7pm.

Does anyone know if there is a way to have the right mouse key activate my tumble/dodging ability skill? Having to hit keyboard number 2 in the middle of a fight (especially with the Skeleton King) can be a bit tough.

I'm sort of anxious to try out the RMAH. Maybe someone will want my yellow dagger?

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue May 15, 2012 2:05 pm

Butterknife wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:
Freddybear wrote:I was going along just fine until lunch time. Rather than quit, I just hit escape to pause the game on the menu.
Pretty sure this doesn't actually pause it. Better off just going to town and leaving it up if you don't want to quit.
Pressing escape will in fact pause your game in single-player. I use it all the time. I'm not sure if it will pause if your game is open to friends, however.

I'm almost positive I started taking damage when I tried to ESC pause in SP. Maybe I was in multi?

Won't it time out eventually though, too?

Butterknife · Post by **Butterknife** » Tue May 15, 2012 2:21 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
Butterknife wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:
Freddybear wrote:I was going along just fine until lunch time. Rather than quit, I just hit escape to pause the game on the menu.
Pretty sure this doesn't actually pause it. Better off just going to town and leaving it up if you don't want to quit.
Pressing escape will in fact pause your game in single-player. I use it all the time. I'm not sure if it will pause if your game is open to friends, however.
I'm almost positive I started taking damage when I tried to ESC pause in SP. Maybe I was in multi?

Won't it time out eventually though, too?

I left it paused for quite some time (help carry in groceries, hold my two-year-old, etc.) Check that the option to allow friends to join your game is not set (it is by default), and give it another try.

Malacheye wrote: Does anyone know if there is a way to have the right mouse key activate my tumble/dodging ability skill? Having to hit keyboard number 2 in the middle of a fight (especially with the Skeleton King) can be a bit tough.

Go into the options and select "elective mode". This isn't selected by default, but it lets you put any skill on any button or mouse key. I would also turn on advanced tooltips while you are at it.

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Tue May 15, 2012 2:27 pm

Looks like if you have a DLink-615 router you're hosed and will get constant 3007 disconnect errors. My options are either to connect directly or buy a new router, unless they come up with a fix soon.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Tue May 15, 2012 2:34 pm

Went home at lunch to play. Rolled up a Witch Doctor and having a lot of fun with him so far. He is so out of the norm of what I usually play (melee tanks) that the change of pace is really adding to my enjoyment.

No good items so far, but I'm loving the polish of the graphics/audio. Zombie dogs for the win!

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Tue May 15, 2012 2:34 pm

One impression that's a small early spoiler:

Spoiler:

Played the monk, wizard, and witch doctor so far. Witch doctor seems to start slow, but I think they might get fun later. Monk is pretty cool, but my favorite so far is surprisingly the wizard. Even his earliest spells are powerful feeling and fun to use.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue May 15, 2012 2:38 pm

Sepiche wrote:One impression that's a small early spoiler:
Spoiler:
Love the setting for the first part: basically retracing your steps and fighting some of the same bosses from the first game.

Yeah, they did a good job of that. It really caught my attention during the beta, in a good way.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue May 15, 2012 2:40 pm

1:30 PDT is the newly announced time for restoration of the servers.

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Tue May 15, 2012 2:42 pm

Malacheye wrote:Does anyone know if there is a way to have the right mouse key activate my tumble/dodging ability skill? Having to hit keyboard number 2 in the middle of a fight (especially with the Skeleton King) can be a bit tough.

I think you have to enable "Elective Mode" to do this. Lets you assign powers however you wish, rather than in specific "offense" & "defense" slots.

Fishbelly · Post by **Fishbelly** » Tue May 15, 2012 2:43 pm

Looks like if you have a DLink-615 router you're hosed and will get constant 3007 disconnect errors. My options are either to connect directly or buy a new router, unless they come up with a fix soon.

J.D., is this verified or something you merely suspect is the culprit? I ask, because I was going to buy Diablo III on the way home from work, and (of course) the DLink-615 is what I have at home.

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Tue May 15, 2012 2:46 pm

Fishbelly wrote:
Looks like if you have a DLink-615 router you're hosed and will get constant 3007 disconnect errors. My options are either to connect directly or buy a new router, unless they come up with a fix soon.
J.D., is this verified or something you merely suspect is the culprit? I ask, because I was going to buy Diablo III on the way home from work, and (of course) the DLink-615 is what I have at home.

Not 100% verified by Blizzard but cruising the forums on battle.net there is a definite theme emerging from the people posting the problems. A LOT of people have DLR-615s and are having this issue. A mod even said that it seems to be a common theme and suggested we update our firmware (which people have done and say it doesn't fix the problem).

Servers down until 1:30PDT for fixes so hopefully this issue will be resolved soon.

Fishbelly · Post by **Fishbelly** » Tue May 15, 2012 3:01 pm

Thanks for the quick reply, J.D. The responsible part of me says "Wait until it's fixed", but I suspect the irresponsible part of me is going to win out in the end.

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Tue May 15, 2012 3:41 pm

Fish - If this server maintenance doesn't fix the issue I'd be curious to hear if you have the same problem.

If the problem persists I'm just going to have to connect directly from modem to PC tonight and explain to the wife she can't surf the internet on her iPad.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue May 15, 2012 4:02 pm

Lorini wrote:1:30 PDT is the newly announced time for restoration of the servers.

All servers are offline?

I'm about to go home and it would suck if I couldn't at least attempt to log in.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Tue May 15, 2012 4:10 pm

GreenGoo wrote:
Lorini wrote:1:30 PDT is the newly announced time for restoration of the servers.
All servers are offline?

I'm about to go home and it would suck if I couldn't at least attempt to log in.

Not all servers, no. They're just at reduced capacity, taking them down in sequence in a kind of rolling update rather than all at once. I'm logging in now, although it's taking forever at retrieving hero list.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue May 15, 2012 4:10 pm

D3 Server status. As of right now they are down.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Tue May 15, 2012 4:13 pm

The in-game update says that they're not taking down all the servers at once ("may cause interruption in game play and delays in log in"). /shrug

The fact that I've been sitting at retrieving hero list for like 5 minutes may say otherwise though.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Tue May 15, 2012 4:14 pm

Just got in, so servers are up.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue May 15, 2012 4:27 pm

And I can't get past authenticated, so they must be up intermittently

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue May 15, 2012 4:56 pm

Well, I stayed at work instead of ducking out a bit early, so some good has come from the server issues.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Tue May 15, 2012 5:04 pm

Towards the end of the beta they bumped the difficulty up quite a bit but it looks like they raised it even further for the full release. I actually had to use a healing potion!

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Tue May 15, 2012 5:08 pm

Servers going back down again in about 10 minutes and will be down for at least an hour. They've basically been offline for the better part of the last four hours. What a disaster.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Tue May 15, 2012 5:10 pm

J.D. wrote:Servers going back down again in about 10 minutes and will be down for at least an hour. They've basically been offline for the better part of the last four hours. What a disaster.

Weird. I've been playing all day until they sent out a server shutdown notice a bit ago.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue May 15, 2012 5:11 pm

J.D. wrote:Servers going back down again in about 10 minutes and will be down for at least an hour. They've basically been offline for the better part of the last four hours. What a disaster.

If you never logged off today then you didn't know anything about server issues until right now. Could still be a disaster though, just not for everyone.

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Tue May 15, 2012 5:13 pm

I wouldn't have logged off but Blizzard keeps disconnecting me so I have no choice in the matter.

Butterknife · Post by **Butterknife** » Tue May 15, 2012 5:18 pm

And ... I got to play for another half-hour. But the servers will be down for at least another hour.

I'd be mad but I totally expected this after the Beta. This was the same server performance during the whole thing, closed and open. Blizzard's servers go down all the time. So much for leveling my Barbarian past the Beta content this afternoon, though. Maybe after I get back from Scouts tonight.

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Tue May 15, 2012 6:06 pm

Ok so my impressions of the game:

-- CE Packaging is exceptionally cool
-- USB drive and stand are also exceptionally cool

-- Had a really enjoyable Coke while I waited to log on. Tasted just carbonated enough, but also just sweet enough
-- Had a productive run at the bath room while waiting to log on

-- One thing I'm really impressed with is the touch functionality on this iPad. It worked amazing while I waited yet another hour to log in

-- The Nintendo DS (original) buttons feel satisfying, moreso than the 3DS with it's muted tactile feedback. Pokemon Emerald is feeling a little dated, however, especially when waiting to log into this f*cking game

-- I considered trying out the Pool features of the experience... it being just about 10 yards outside the door here in the room. It hasn't been warm enough for long enough yet to make it comfortable though. Besides that I wouldn't be able to hear if the F**KING game let me actually log in

-- Hats off to Frito Lay. They really know how to provide a tasty snack while waiting on a game that you paid $65 to $100 dollars on to let you play single player.

So that about wraps it up. I'll comment more on the 'go get the kids from after school' feature I'm hearing so much about. I think before long I'll be able to enjoy the 'wife home from work' feature as well. Maybe by that time she can see the character screen?

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue May 15, 2012 6:08 pm

msduncan wrote:Ok so my impressions of the game:

You've got to admit that Error 33 just oozes atmosphere.

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Tue May 15, 2012 6:10 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
msduncan wrote:Ok so my impressions of the game:
You've got to admit that Error 33 just oozes atmosphere.

+1

Amazing error.

Which by the way just gave me a brainstorm. Errors like this should launch a single player mini game as an easter egg. That would be cool and also deflect some of the rage.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Tue May 15, 2012 6:20 pm

Perfect gem activated!

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Tue May 15, 2012 7:21 pm

Well, it seems to have forgotten many of my achivements prior to the restart - Doesn't remember I killed the Skeleton King, doesn't remember me reading much of the lore or the conversations I had. Think I might just start over fresh.

WYBaugh · Post by **WYBaugh** » Tue May 15, 2012 8:05 pm

Logged in today for the first time at 6:30 pm EDT with no problems. Have a level 5 monk and it's pretty cool so far. Had just the slightest of lag in the cathedral.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Tue May 15, 2012 8:14 pm

Shockingly bad lag in a single player experiences seems very wrong to me.

Am I supposed to feel like a wrecking ball at level 10?

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Tue May 15, 2012 8:41 pm

Bruce wrote:Am I supposed to feel like a wrecking ball at level 10?

Yes. And it gets better.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Tue May 15, 2012 9:04 pm

Zurai wrote:
Bruce wrote:Am I supposed to feel like a wrecking ball at level 10?
Yes. And it gets better.

Oh my