Diablo III Review

Nothing happened... you just don't understand them.

1) Blizz has stated many times in regard to WoW releases that they will be buggy because they can't possibly test well enough to find the bugs that millions of users can find. This applies to D3 also.
2) Graphics are behind the times? This is their strategy... they want their games to work on computers that are behind the times. They dont' want you to have to spend another $200 on computer upgrades to play their game.
3) Forcing you to play online is done to protect their real $$ AH. They don't want to give you a usable copy of the game because it will eventually lead to people hacking items.
4) If the game isn't hardcore enough for you, that's because its' geared toward the masses... just like other Blizz titles.

As for AH filtering and server stability, all I can say is your statement 'Blizz you used to be cool' is wrong. When was the AH ever easy to use in WoW without an addon? It took until WoW's THIRD expansion to figure out server stability and most of that was probably due to decreased subscriptions more than fixing any issues. Remember 'The instance server is full' errors we used to get?

My guess is you have such high expectations because you don't understand how a large computer system works. I work on systems far smaller than WoW or D3 and the complexity is shocking. The more you know about big systems, the more you're amazed that they work as well as they do.

Lower your expectations and give them some time. Years in development doesn't make up for millions of users.

And I was right there with everyone else, cursing Blizzard for imposing its online agenda on players. How dare they take an experience I've always been able to enjoy offline and force me to bow to the whims of external technology? It's unconscionable! It's intolerable!

It's quite brilliant.

What's so brilliant about DRM and lag?

Everyone in here is missing the point... sadly.

I'm not going to come here and defend blizzard, at all. I'm a gamer that played Diablo 1 & 2, and I'm enjoying the hell out of Diablo 3 (No pun intended...).

You are missing the complete point of D3 skills, it's not meant for you to leap and jump and do whatever you want whenever you want, this is the new "talent tree", you have to pick your poison and it must better be good or you will fail on harder difficulties, you don't have to "respec" to change it, you just have to change it and give it a couple seconds for the abilities to cooldown, this helps a lot depending on the groups you make to play online.

I know, it's an ONLINE game that you could also play single player but... ONLINE, it's the whole point of the game, if you want to enjoy the game offline "pirate" it as someone offers as solution.

The AH (Auction house) sucks, because it's NEW, doesnt matter how WoW AH works it's a totally different thing, with different items with different stats, all that matters is that it's not the same. Of course everything is cheaper in the AH instead of investing money into training your Blacksmith and crafting the things by yourself, it's bloated with things and at different prices because it's... NEW.

Everything balances by itself, most probable we will see more and new things added into the game as the game matures, pretty much like every blizzard game up to the date, with the difference that rolling out new patches and add content is much better since everyone is ONLINE.

Guys... be frekaing patient, the game as it is is amazingly good, don't tread on those pesky reviews you read like Duke Nukem Forever, if you like the game you like it, if you don't like the game because some dude didnt find it good well it's your loss. If you want a game that has no bugs whatsoever... I'm sorry guys but welcome to 2012, where no game is ever perfect out of the box.

Who among you still play single player games btw? I have found the lack of multiplayer on new games deal breaker, else go find it on p-bay.

@ah

well sometimes you cannot look at the lowest buyout price on a searched item because they mix in the none buyout items, I bet they will add a check box, show buyout only or something to that degree, one thing I forgot to mention is all the hacks already out, people can leave the game without the 10 second timer really makes you not want to play hc when others have that along with chicken hack. chicken makes you auto leave the game if you have low life and thus renders hc a joke.

the way they sell gems is really cool

@lag thats expected this early on it will clear

@ always online, every major title is cracked within the first week so yeah hackers can test there hacks, I really have no clue why they offered no single player, lol maybe they didnt want people complaining the games to hard since single player is in fact harder since you cant trade, other then that im at a loss to understand this move, oh duh people could install the game on a friends machine, people who are not pirate savy could get a free single player, there we go it all makes sense now

Oh yeah I love the spider comment as well nice one Julio

"Plagued with disconnects and shot through with lag, the May 15 launch of Diablo III had players and press alike railing against the always-online nature of the latest entry in the genre-defining action role-playing series. While not entirely unexpected, those unfortunate events punctuated the problems with requiring constant external server access for a single-player game."

I have no idea why people didn't just switch servers to solve their "no connection" and lag problems. I played on the EU server with no hick-ups at all from the moment it was released.

This reviewer is entirely too easily pleased - it's like he was going to like the game no matter what. And his fawning over the nuances is really the stuff of hard-core fanboi ravings. Seriously, who gives a rip about what achievements others are getting? You're staring at the screen jumping up and down for joy of guys who "made level 20 on hard mode" achievement? You paid $60 for the game and that floats your boat?

Arguably one of the worst reviews I've ever read.

"Who among you still play single player games btw?"

I do as most of my friends do. Is there a problem with that? Not all of us need to have our social fix via gaming you know. We CAN enjoy an activity on our own.

I just finished Diablo 2 In co-op mode with my brother It was great and we were looking forward to Diablo 3 so we could continue, but after seeing that online only "bullsh1t" were gonna wait for the offline "patch" to come out, or we'll just have to walk away from this one.

I dont get my fix through social gaming, it isn't as appealing as it was 5 years ago nor it is as involving or add the difficulty of competing against other players instead of the machine.

I have to admit the game at the very beggining felt very slow, easy and unapealing I even got to a point where I wished I could've read reviews or even not paying for it, then it got more complex, had more things to take into place, the story became more involving and you had to actually choose the skills w/runes to make things fit into your gamestyle.

It's the best review I have read, the guy actually made it through the whole game and then played some more, it's what the guy here felt, and how more people are feeling (Past the connection problems).

Btw good for you if you like minesweeper, I used to like fallouts and rpgs of the sort but when you are stuck in a single player universe nowadays it's not as fun as it used to be.

"...but when you are stuck in a single player universe nowadays it's not as fun as it used to be."

You're playing the wrong games then. I'm currently having a blast with:

Legend of Grimrock
Rise of Flight
Toy Soldiers
Hard Reset
Walking Dead
Skyrim

And I have a dozen more single-player games waiting for me when I'm done with those.

I definitely have to side with @TomSEA on this one... Single player games will (and should) always have a place in gaming. There are times that I want to enjoy a game, at my own pace, without being forced to deal with potential *****s, rammy players who invite team wipes, impatient groups who don't understand real life situations that require delays, etc. When and if I want a social multiplayer experience, I will log into one of my regularly played MMOs or hop into one of my preferred pvp or coop games. But, and I can't stress this enough, I need to have a CHOICE in what or how I play.

To add to the argument: I do a ton of travel, and don't have the luxury of a 24/7 high speed data connection, so does that mean I (and those in situations like me) should be forced to suffer because someone in the planning stages decided "online is da bomb" and went with it? The only time I will ever even consider purchasing a game such as Diablo 3 is when/if they patch it to provide a true offline experience. Which is too bad, I was a read Diablo fan, and initially looking forward to this newest version. But, I digress... The point is, sometimes true single-player (and offline) gaming isn't just a preference, it's a requirement.

Who edits these articles? I was expecting a review of Diablo III, but instead I wound up reading a review of Diablo II. C'mon guys...

Sarcastic remarks aside, this review makes D3 seem absolutely enthralling. If only the actual experience were so magnificent. The "social" aspect of the game can be fun, but the whole thing just seems like a mundane grind. The simplification of all the game's systems combined with the lack of effective story telling just sucks out all of the fun. It's still enjoyable in small doses, but it's certainly not a "brilliant" title.

Also, having a HC character put in danger because of lag is not a perverse pleasure... Unless you're into that sort of thing. It's an infuriating consequence of online gaming that makes you want to kill either your ISP or Battle.net. Not something I'd tout as a positive feature.

Well said.

I am pissed though that I have a 300ms ping on US servers with just 2 players. What the crap is that? My internet is 100meg so its no slouch. I get 33ms in WoW. Lag city here.

the thing is, whiners will always whine and happy people are always happy. Sorry if a *game* didnt improve your life for the better.

"First review I've ever read where lag in a game "adds to the experience"..."

Yes I'd be livid if lag killed my hardcore mode character. Don't think I'll be buying this any time soon. Maybe from the $5 bargain bin...

I see the internet whiner collective is out full force for this game. There is so much misinformation and bullshit being spread about this game right now It's ridiculous. I bought it launch day digitally, and I feel it was money well spent. Aside from some minor problems on launch day, I've been able to play whenever I want, and you know what? I'm having a great time playing with friends.

I wasn't sure what to think of the skill system at first, but now I find it quite brilliant, you don't have to make new chars or respec to try different builds.

Bottom line: don't listen to whiners on the internet, and decide for yourself, get a guest pass or wait for the demo, which I think is coming.

lol how can anyone hate the town portal

Blizzard is going to have to do a much better job than BF3 and SWTOR. Lots of downtime there. Plus in Australia, BF3 had downtime in peak gaming periods (as it was off-peak in other regions). I don't play SWTOR but have heard of multi-hour outtages in peak periods there too.

Unacceptable to not be able to play even single player because they decide to do some maintenance... why that expectation you ask? Well it's because until now that is how it has been. Always on internet connections or internet server ping dependencies have not been the norm. Australia has relatively poor broadband to Korea and Europe - low ping dependencies punish us here. So why should we now choose a more inconvenient access method? The legit users are being punished. Again...

TomSEA owned the reviewer, hard. In fact, I can boil this review down to one line: "If you're a hard-core Farmville player, Diablo III will take it to the next level!"

If you're playing D3 hope that this blog will help you http://d3-guide.blogspot.com/

Is it me or all the complaints are from Guest!