Time Capsule from PoE Closed Beta -- a classic PoE vs D3 thread circa 2012

...or is it just Tl;dring what I said? ;)

Seriously, though, comparing gameplay changes made on feedback from a closed beta community to the ending of a game is really tenuous. I recall the ending-outrage and didn't give much of a doodly-squat piddlefart. As a student of stories (wow, that didn't sound wanky *at all*), I appreciate the fact that a writer/author has their own story to tell and whatever ending they provide, that's it. You deal. Or you write really bad fanfic and pretend it never happened. This happens a lot. Point being, changing the end of a story based on player feedback post-release is *STUPID*. Changing content and mechanics based on beta feedback, not so stupid.

The argument for the rune skill change is multifaceted -- but the first and most convincing I saw was that it was just too complicated to balance in time for release. The argument that the runes would clutter your inventory was silly -- they could just change the inventory to suit it, like, say, a rune bag, since everyone would be collecting them. The argument that it's related to the end-game does make sense but not *as much* sense as the first one. As soon as Blizzard bragged (and it was bragging) that each class would have millions of potential builds at any given level, I knew that whether or not they could pull that off would be the difference in my eyes between Blizzard releasing a game that made as large a leap from D2 as D2 was from D1, and just releasing another Diablo-type game -- all budget aside.

Also, if the D3 beta were about testing server strength, they'd suck it up and do a proper open stress test just as they did with D2. The fact that they haven't is just a bit fishy to me. Oh, there are answers to this question on the official forum, but not really very satisfying ones.

There are also quite a few people bitching about what is now called (by the beta testers themselves, amusingly) "Runes on Rails." Really rolls off the tongue, that.

I can't help but feel that D3 will be played more for the Lore rather than to relive the magic of the first two prequels. The magic being the actual gameplay experience. And I agree that the journey is definitely more important than the destination.

Looking at the beta videos of PoE, however, I was instantly reminded of D1 - that dark, eerie feeling that made your skin crawl. I'm really surprised how well-crafted the game is, especially the graphics. I'm definitely going to check this game out once it goes live. I just hope it has an epic story line as well! Excellent work GGG.

Also everyone forgets that the real Diablo III beta was due in house by Blizzard...

Path of Exile is a true beta, those off us that got into the beta ARE their beta testers. Doing the job Blizzard did in house. The "Diablo III beta" is like Path of Exile's public weekend, except it is a ere demo for stress testing.

Too many companies are calling their stress tests "beta's" these days.

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goldenapple100 wrote:

Looking at the beta videos of PoE, however, I was instantly reminded of D1 - that dark, eerie feeling that made your skin crawl. I'm really surprised how well-crafted the game is, especially the graphics.

I guess everyone agree with this.
PoE looks really good and is dark, unlike D3.

But I'm more interested in the gameplay, and people, who think D3 isn't deep, are seriously missing something and should open their eyes.
(not really talking about you here, goldenapple100, but I quoted your post because that's the most positive thing that come back everytime for PoE, no one talks about skills and gameplay)

PoE was fun during the first difficulty level (except the mandatory screw-your-first-passive-tree because you don't know the game and it's mandatory to allocate points). But after this first difficulty level, the game felt short.
Uninteresting skills, poor loot, basic enemy behaviors...
I rushed to Chaos to see if it was different, and it wasn't... I didn't even pay attention to the loot during my last 5 levels, and I was level 53 against level 55 mobs. It was just boring to look at all this crap on the ground, and for nothing really...

The game looks good, but it's the gameplay which keeps the players.

LoL looks like shit, but 11 millions of players play the game because it's fun (compare that to the better looking game HoN).

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kodr wrote:

LoL looks like shit, but 11 millions of players play the game because it's fun (compare that to the better looking game HoN).

People are playing LoL beacuse it's mainstream and very easy to play and have fun. HoN is more advanced/difficult and fill niche market.Like PoE and Diablo 3. Diablo 3 is mainstream and very easy to play, understand and have fun. PoE is niche.

Not saying one is good while other is bad.. It's matter of opinion. But fact is.. D3 will be played by more players than PoE because PoE is not catering to majority and D3 is just..you know..masterpiece for too many people.

LoL is popular because it's accessible, but deep enough to have an eSport presence. Same with SF4, same with GW2...

D3 is a bit the same in this aspect, accessible but deep enough, and most people here completely miss the "deep enough" part.

I only read the intial post, non of the others. As a fellow Diablo fanatic and long time player i too had some of the thoughts that u are having. Although i just wanted to point out that blizzard did not get rid of ID scrolls exactly. they just made it so that u just right click the item to ID it rather then right click a scroll and then right click the item. So really they just got rid of an extra click and freed up a small bit of inventory space. If u really are upset about not having an item thats called "scroll of identification" then i guess i just dont really understand.

Other then that ur points are valid. PoE does have some inovative ideas compared to some of the linear things blizzard has come up with. I do feel that the shared skill tree for all classes is somwhat of a good idea but right now i find it kind of excessive and confusing. The idea of skills being items u find/gems 4 ur items is also another neat idea but upon testing it i find its alittle annoying. As to ur point of feeling the Spooky, on edge, scary monsters running at u from the dark feeling. I feel nothing of the sorts. I felt the first 2 acts were somwhat tame compared to the feel of diablo. The moment i step into a bosses room and the boss becomes visable is nothing compared to the feeling of stepping into lvl 4 catacombs or lvl 3 durance of hate. So far in PoE i feel like im fighting too many zombies/skeletons, which at this point arnt scary in the slightest. I wanna see more big scary hideous original creatures. My favorite zones are the ones where ur fighting bandits, monkeys, and those neat boulder guys. Also the dead pirates were a nice change.

I didnt write this to try to change you're mind or force diablo 3 on anyone, but i felt this would be a good place to throw my opinion of the game out there.

I give props to GGG for creating a game in this genre as a small "underdog" and having it be this fun for veterans of this genre and new players alike. But i still feel that with blizzards assets and reputation, the finished product that is Diablo 3 will inevidably reign supreme over PoE and any others.

I have already purchased D3 and i have no intentions of playing this game when it is released. But I am enjoying the gameplay and ladder climbing of the beta while i await the release of D3.

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flowing wrote:

As to ur point of feeling the Spooky, on edge, scary monsters running at u from the dark feeling. I feel nothing of the sorts. I felt the first 2 acts were somwhat tame compared to the feel of diablo. The moment i step into a bosses room and the boss becomes visable is nothing compared to the feeling of stepping into lvl 4 catacombs or lvl 3 durance of hate. So far in PoE i feel like im fighting too many zombies/skeletons, which at this point arnt scary in the slightest. I wanna see more big scary hideous original creatures. My favorite zones are the ones where ur fighting bandits, monkeys, and those neat boulder guys. Also the dead pirates were a nice change.

Yeah I would like to see more scary monsters, nothing here is as scary as boss monsters in Diablo II. Still, this game is still in beta, and new stuff is being add all the time. This is something they can change ;)

Qarl said the other night that he'd like to see the Act 2 boss in play before open beta. That'd be nifty.

When I compared the critters in PoE to Diablo, I was speaking specifically of the first named boss I met, which had more 'effects' on it than any non super unique in Diablo, ever. Resistant to all, regened life, and something else. It was nuts.

Hailrake's a meanie too.

And anyone who doesn't hear 'Fresh meat!' the first time they see Brutus never heard 'Fresh meat!' to begin with.

I'll be honest, the possible skill combinations, whilst awesome, is also extremely overwhelming.

I understand the more "hardcore" gamers might like this but realise that most games, even 10+ years ago, didn't go into the depth that Path of Exile has, and the only other game I know that did was FF10 (which is probably where they're getting some inspiration from -- it looks incredibly similar).

I love the concept of these kind of customisability, especially as an old-school classic gamer where I'd take literally days just to come up with the perfect character, but those times are long gone and the world's moved on with them.

I'm not saying we should abandon all hope, just that you should expect a bit of confusion from newcomers. The skill tree interface alone is the most intimidating interface I've ever seen, bar the FF10 version (they're about the same). The average gamer today is going to be highly confused and possibly even give up before they've even begun.

This might sound absolutely wonderful to the "hardcore" community but that's a very passive-aggressive stance to take. People should welcome the idea of larger and more in-depth communities, not shun them away with intimidation and elitism.

From a marketing standpoint - which is the main thing Grinding Gear Games should care about (making the game "fun" is secondary to making money, since you can't do the former without the latter) - it may bite you in the ass, however.

This really is the age of instant gratification and, whilst I don't like it, that's the way it is. I'm not saying the game has to be changed, just altered in a manner to make it a bit more user-friendly. In-depth tutorials and perhaps some filters would be a great start to decreasing the gap between those "hardcore" gamers and the newcomers who will eventually rush in.