March 21 Updates: Flask System Dev Diary/Screenshot of the Week

I think it's based on EXP you get, not number of monsters slain.

Ok. Very interesting. I'd say this is one of the biggest, most important, and most interesting announcements yet. Potions are such a key part of any ARPG and you went and made them substantially more interesting.

Decreased player size is an fun and humorous mechanic. I could definitely see that placed on unique armor as well. Increased player size would be a ton of fun. Who wouldn't enjoy being a giant and stomping around at least for a little? These mods are probably best used sparingly. Also, I hope there's a natural looking shrinking/growing effect rather than instantaneous size changes.

Why does the unique flask say "Minara's Vial" and "Crystal Vial"? I think you really only need the first one and you'll get the point across just fine. Saying that it's a crystal vial as well is just very redundant and only serves to add more text to an already wordy box.

Speaking of redundant, why are usage instructions written on every single flask? It's not like the player will need constant reminders. "Oh yeah, I need to right click on it to use it". I would suggest replacing all of that with a once and done bit of text in the very beginning. Have an NPC in the Shore Encampment say it, get it over with, and you never have to look at that same bit of text ever again.

This sort of thing was the reason Deckard Cain was included in D2. It wasn't to identify items, it was to follow you around and act as a giant instruction manual for every mechanic in the game. There wasn't an instruction set that would pop up every time you opened the horadric cube despite the fact that the horadric cube is a very complex game mechanic. Deckard Cain explained how to use it once and you never had to worry about it again.

"Why does the unique flask say "Minara's Vial" and "Crystal Vial"? I think you really only need the first one and you'll get the point across just fine. Saying that it's a crystal vial as well is just very redundant and only serves to add more text to an already wordy box."
^^^
Im guessing its the bottle size(small,medium,large)indicating if its a mana or health pot.However this could be replaced by a small picture/symbol.

"Speaking of redundant, why are usage instructions written on every single flask? It's not like the player will need constant reminders. "Oh yeah, I need to right click on it to use it"
^^^
Fully agree.

and lol Chris you were right

Now, I wanted to devote a separate post to the beta delay. August? Oof. It was obvious that the beta would have to get pushed back even by February. Five months though? That's a pretty daunting wait and a little discouraging. I really hope you'll accelerate the amount of people let into the alpha to compensate. Otherwise, people will start losing steam.

On the other hand, thank you for being up front about the delay and not just leading us on. I would have been substantially more upset if you just kept saying that it would start 'soon' for several months.

More to the point, I hope you realize that you absolutely can't push it farther back than this. The game needs to be up and running well before D3 if you want any chance of keeping a sizable community. If that means that you'll need to release with not quite as much content as you originally intended then that's how it has to be.

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tpapp157 wrote:

Why does the unique flask say "Minara's Vial" and "Crystal Vial"? I think you really only need the first one and you'll get the point across just fine. Saying that it's a crystal vial as well is just very redundant and only serves to add more text to an already wordy box.

In PoE base item types are very important, maybe that is why it is specifically mentioned to be a Crystal Vial. I do agree that it could be improved and I think "Minara's Crystal Vial" would be a good solution :)

Also, I'm still hoping for bioluminescent fungi in the caves. It'd be pretty cool.

^^ yep crystal, standard glass etc just added base variety imo


I see a few problems with this system, the main 1 being this will still encourage hoarding of potions because of the mods on them. it will be quite attractive to take more than 5 and switch and swap as necessary regardless of the fact you need to charge them. so no as it is i dont see it changing anything to that extent unless im missing something


1st time i have been disappointed, august for the start of closed beta worries me alot as its approaching into the time zone of much more well known games of the same genre. of course if the game is not ready then its not ready but its going to have atleast a few months closed beta at which point it means a 2012 release

thats worrying to me on a player count basis

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eversorgod wrote:

^^ yep crystal, standard glass etc just added base variety imo


I see a few problems with this system, the main 1 being this will still encourage hoarding of potions because of the mods on them. it will be quite attractive to take more than 5 and switch and swap as necessary regardless of the fact you need to charge them. so no as it is i dont see it changing anything to that extent unless im missing something


1st time i have been disappointed, august for the start of closed beta worries me alot as its approaching into the time zone of much more well known games of the same genre. of course if the game is not ready then its not ready but its going to have atleast a few months closed beta at which point it means a 2012 release

thats worrying to me on a player count basis

maybe the closed beta is only 1 month? then 1 month open beta, who knows?:)

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eversorgod wrote:

It will be quite attractive to take more than 5 and switch and swap as necessary regardless of the fact you need to charge them.

The difference is that you won't be spamming a hundred different potions. You'll probably have a few alternates that you'll use depending on the situation but that's not necessarily any different than all your other equipment. Plus with five different flasks, you can have a very broad range of effects to choose from at all times.

I think it's been mentioned before but belts should definitely allow you to hold different amounts of flasks. Early belts may only allow two or three flasks. Late belts would allow up to five. Some very rare and unique belts could allow you to hold a sixth flask.

closed beta wont be 1 month though lol

also yea belts = flask slots would be good, as for what you said the point of this system was to stop hoarding but this system encourages me to hoard flasks for different situations, careful planning will mean you have an answer to everything if you have a decent selection. this is mainly down to the flask mods and the fact that it seems there is no limit on inter changing