[PC] So... A Diablo 3 Thread

the game is so flawed in so many ways, i sincerely wanted to like this game, no, love this game, but these shortcomings are terribly hard to overcome without a major overhaul

i'm like the girlfriend of the abusive boyfriend(diablo), it pains me, but i still stick by it... for now

 

Tell me more about this? I have not been hacked (yet), but now I am worried, but I have never heard of an authenticator app.. what is the deal?

 

whenever you log in to battle net, whether into the game or to their website, after inputting your username/password and pressing enter, it'll prompt you to enter a series of digits, that in essence is the authenticator

the numbers change every 15-20 seconds

if you get the mobile app, i think it's like 8 or 9 digits, the key chain gadget is only 5 or 6 digits

either way, it'll add a layer of security to your account

 

It's basic two-factor authentication security. Something you know (password) and something you have (key chain/app). The idea is that they would have to have both to hack you.

 

And this is an add-on for the Bliz games, that becomes part of the login itself?

Interesting.

I may look into that. So far I have not had any trouble, but a long time ago I stopped typing in my password, and instead copy/paste it from a document, so a keylogger can't catch it. Anybody else doing that?

 

Yes. WoW has had it a long time already. Keylogger can technically catch it if it sends the number to the hacker within 30 seconds or so and he uses the same #s again. But the numbers change every minute so it won't be relevant past that.

 

Well, dang, I got hacked today, too.

Logged off around 1 am this morning, just logged on just now and my whole inventory is gone and 300k in gold.

Have reset the password, submitted a claim for a rollback. How crappy. Gj Blizzard. Nice security.

 

Be careful of the rollback. It may set you even further behind. I requested a rollback and was roll-backed 2 days prior to the hack. So pretty much I was even further behind.

 

So, I just made it to inferno. In my time, I've come across 1 fkin legendary item... In inferno, will I start seeing more legendary item drops?

 

I found 10, they all suck

 

Anyone know when we're going to be able to sell gems again? I worked hard upgrading my craft before the removed it from ah. Now, I'm sitting on a stack of radiant squares and looking to get paid for them.

Anyone remember how much the radiant squares went for, before the ah disabled it?

 

That sucks. I actually ordered an authenticator a couple of days ago. It hasn't gotten here yet, but I decided that $7 wasn't too much to pay to prevent that sort of headache.

Question for you: have you been playing multiplayer with randoms? Rumor was that people were hacking folks in their "recently played with" lists. I've been doing multiplayer, but only with folks I know in real life. I wonder if that means I'm safer.

 

I've found three legendaries and one legendary plan. Two of the items and the plan sucked. The only one that didn't suck was a legendary ring that I found called Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac.

 

Nope. I'm pretty much all solo player except I've played with a friend once. I never chat in the general chat, which I've found annoying and have not figured out how to silence. Bought maybe 10 items or so from the gold auction house and listed once. Other than that, no interaction with any randoms at all.

I've been reading Diablo 3 forums and even the TeamLiquid forums. It seems people are getting hacked left and right without having your account and password keylogged. I've read that even those with authenticators are getting targeted as well, but I'm not sure how reliable those reports are. It seems as if you have idiots claiming the non-authenticators are having malware problems (despite fresh OS installs and anti-virus software) and then others claiming they are hacked with the authenticator keys.

I made a clean install on a brand new SSD, installed Diablo 3 and BF3. Only go to reputable sites that I have consistently been to without problems. Didn't install an anti-virus yet because Windows 7 is having problems activating. Post-hack, I ran Spybot S&D and only general adware came up. No viruses or significant malware.

The protocol seems to be that a level 1 character hacks your account, you are reset to "Search for Cain" quest in Act 1 normal, all your stash and gold are missing. Some have said they lost worn gear, but I didn't. Maybe because my main is 40 on Nightmare and I have relatively junk gear.

Most are speculating this is a security issue on Blizzard's end as keyloggers aren't showing up on people's computers, and those who got hacked are keeping their system relatively safe. It's ridiculous that so many have been hit and Blizzard is practically denying their own security flaws.

 

Looking for some advise on Monk in Inferno. I know there's no 'standard' but what should the breakdown of stats look like? Obviously it depends on your weapons, but something like 10/5/2/2 dex/str/int/via.... I just made that up (I'm not at home, so I can't look up my current stats), but I don't know if I'm lacking in certain areas or what.

 

The legendaries are going to be buffed in the pvp patch some time in the future, but it won't buff ones that have dropped prior to that patch.

They don't seem to drop any more frequently in inferno, but the item level is of course potentially higher. Legendary armor pieces are still often best in slot because they can have traits like attack speed or movement speed on pieces that normally can't have those traits. The weapons are almost always inferior to what you can get in a good yellow or even blue though.

I found a legendary spear in inferno the other day and still haven't identified it. I am curious if the stats are generated when it drops or when it identifies. If it is on identify then keeping it til after the patch and then identifying it could result in getting the buffed stats, but I suspect only Blizzard knows the answer there. But at this point I am thinking I will wait and find out since the legendary spears from level 50 and up on the auction house are only 1-3 million gold at the very top end and it isn't clear if anyone is even buying them at that cost.

 

Haven't played monk, but TSchmal made this post a while ago:

 

I suck. Level 60 demon hunter and can't beat Izual. I need some help.

 

Inferno or Hell difficulty? I am just past Siegebreaker on act 3 of inferno so can't help there. If you're talking about hell difficulty then it could be your gear or your choice of powers and passives.

New preview for the next D3 patch was just posted today:

Last month we gave you a glimpse into how we were taking in initial feedback on the game, and ideas for some potential system changes we could make. Today we wanted to follow up and provide concrete info on some of the changes we've been working on, and give everyone a heads up before the 1.0.3 patch hits later this month.

Bridging the Item Gap

The ilvl (item level) of an item determines the statistical budget for its power. The way the game is currently set up, Act I drops ilvl 61 gear and below, Act II drops ilvl 62 gear and below, and Act III and IV drop ilvl 63 and below. Unfortunately this has caused two main issues. The first is players who find an Act too difficult feel compelled to use the auction house in order to progress. The second is that certain classes, skills, and play styles are less gear dependent than others, so although great items are making their way into the game economy, people feel pigeonholed into a handful of viable strategies. For a lot of people they would rather do something frustrating or boring in Hell Act IV (such as having Tyrael fight for them or breaking vases) for a chance at a "top-tier" upgrade, rather than fight hordes of monsters in Inferno Act I. We're shifting to a philosophy where the best items in the game can drop from many different places, so a wider variety of play styles are viable. If you would rather chain-pull elite packs in Act I rather than 3 minute cat-and-mouse in Act IV, we'd like you to be able to do that and know you can still find the best items in the game.

Nothing would explain it as well as just sharing the intended drop rates coming in the next patch, so here they are. Note that the drop rates vary slightly by item type; the table below represents an approximate aggregated rate of all item types:

As you can see, players who would rather murder monsters 4x as fast in Inferno Act I can do so knowing they have a chance at amazing items, and players who want a challenge can kill in Acts III and IV in Inferno and be rewarded with a higher drop rate.

You Keep Using That Word

As previously mentioned, we're going to be reviewing Legendary items in a future patch. Legendaries won't change in 1.0.3, but it's still something we're actively working on. When we're done, high level Legendaries should be flat out better than blue items, they'll carry a good amount of power with them, and they should also be distinctive or memorable in the benefits they provide. We'll be able to share more information on the specific changes we're making after 1.0.3 launches.

The Nephalem Difference

It's no secret that our goal for the end-game item hunt is players hunting monsters packs, building to five stacks of Nephalem Valor, and then killing a boss. While we're seeing a lot of that occurring, what we're missing is people feeling like it's worthwhile to continue onward after killing a boss. To help hit that goal we're lowering the number of guaranteed Rare items on bosses when you have your full five stacks of Nephalem Valor from two guaranteed Rares to one guaranteed Rare (you still have a very good chance at multiple rares, it's just no longer guaranteed). In exchange, all champion and rare packs will now drop a bonus guaranteed Rare item when you have your full five stacks of Nephalem Valor. The change benefits players with more overall drops, and a reason to push to continue progressing.

You Into the Group Thing?

We're removing the bonus monster damage per additional player in a coop game. Our design goal is for players who prefer to play solo to be able to play solo, and players who prefer to play in groups to be able to play in a group. We feel the bonus monster damage per additional player is one of the biggest inhibitors to wanting to play with your friends. In a perfect world, single player and co-op would be absolutely equal, but that's not attainable when you consider item properties such as "Life on Kill" or skills such as Archon which simply scale better when you are solo. Since the variety and breadth of game mechanics essentially dictate that solo vs. group play will never be 100% equal, our goal is to make them as close as possible but err on the side of coop in cases where we need to make adjustments. The inherent logistical requirements when forming up with other players and attempting to work together effectively warrants some added benefits.

Oh Yeah!

Inferno balance right now has a difficulty gap in which Act I feels about right, but Act II feels like trying to bust through a brick wall. In patch 1.0.3 we're going to be lowering that wall by adjusting the damage and health of monsters in Inferno Act II, III and IV. We feel like Act I Inferno is in a pretty good place. Our design goal with Acts II, III and IV is to keep them challenging, but smooth the difficulty ramp out a bit. If a monk or barbarian is geared well enough that they can use a heavily offensive build and murder everything in Act I, they should be able to swap to a more defensive build and do okay in Act II. As they gear up they can begin adjusting back to becoming offensive in Act II, at which point they can jump into Act III with a focus on defense, and so on. Difficulty certainly ties into itemization, encounter and enemy tuning, and class balance, and all of these things together are going to paint a more reasonable difficulty curve as you hit Inferno in 1.0.3.

Paying for Your Mistakes

Current repair costs at level 60 are barely noticeable, and because of that we see a lot of people wonder if "graveyard zerging" tough enemies or "chain rezzing allies on a boss" is intended gameplay – it definitely is not. To help solve the issue we evaluated a number of new death mechanics, such as just allowing the resurrection timer to increase even higher, disallowing resurrection during boss fights, or putting a debuff on you when you resurrect (such as reduced combat effectiveness). Ultimately we felt that increasing repair costs was the best solution that preserves the fast paced style of the game. Repair costs on level 60 items are going to go up a lot. Our goal is the next time a player is graveyard zerging a boss, it should occur to them that "this is probably not an efficient way to go about things". We're currently evaluating repair costs between 4x and 6x their current values. In the face of increasing costs, we recommend listening to the Hardcore players out there as they probably have some helpful advice on how to minimize repair costs. Following this change zerging a boss will still be possible, but our intent is that it won't be optimal, and players who are seeking to be as efficient as possible will adjust their item hunting routes accordingly.

Whoa, Whoa, Nice Shootin' Tex

We're fixing a number of bugs with Attack Speed, mainly related to the stat not working on some items, but we've also decided we need to reduce the effectiveness of Increased Attack Speed overall. Many players have commented that Increased Attack Speed is such a dominant stat they feel it's required. While we don't have an issue with there being important stats, Increased Attack Speed in particular has secondary effects on mobility in combat, resource generation and resource consumption. We want there to be options and considerations for how you gear up, and one uber trump-everything stat can really work against choice and options. There are two different solutions we're considering to reduce the effectiveness of Increased Attack Speed. The first is to simply reduce the value on all the items to their desired values. In general our desire is to never change items as that makes them feel less concrete, but the upside is you would still be able to look at an item and know exactly what you are getting. The other approach is to change the formula used for attack speed aggregation so that stacking attack speed from multiple slots suffers from diminishing returns. The downside of that approach is that it introduces yet another hidden modifier on an item property (and many people dislike hidden modifiers), and complicates the already difficult decision of item gearing. We're currently leaning toward the first solution, to simply reduce the value on items, but we'd be interested to read people's thoughts on the problem.

Just Three Two Easy Payments

We previously hinted that Blacksmith and Jeweler costs are coming down, and overall it will be far more reasonable to train them up and craft items. The most dramatic reduction is on the combine costs for tier 2-8 gems.

The gem combine costs for Perfect Square and above will remain unchanged.

Nerf Them, Buff Me

Class tuning is not a major focus for 1.0.3. There will be a small number of skills changes, but for the most part we want people to continue experimenting and enjoy their skills for a while. Our goal was and continues to be build diversity, and though we see quite a bit of build diversity, we think we can do much better. Class tuning will be an ongoing process, and we're targeting the 1.1 patch for most class tweaks, with a focus on punching build diversity up a few more notches.

But What About...

While these are a few of the larger systems adjustments we're making, the 1.0.3 patch will include many fixes, quality of life enhancements, Auction House improvements, and other changes. We hope you look forward to the patch as much as we do getting it out there, and again we appreciate your continued feedback. See you in-game!