#patch 1.0.4

Good night partypeoples, bioware release a new update for anthem next week. According to the developers, the upcoming patch notes have a length of about 13 pages https://www.reddit.com/…/developer_livestream_march_20th_2…/

New arrivals for DbD Patch 1.0.4

[GESTURES!!]

May 15th, 2012 is the day that most of the people (or perhaps in a more relevant term, gamers) lost their soul to the highly anticipated game by Blizzard Entertainment (Activision-Blizzard), Diablo III. With a span of 10 years and counting from the previous hit, Diablo II, and its expansion, Lord of Destruction marked a huge success for Blizzard, which makes for a pretty big pair of shoes to fit in. In continuing that tradition, Blizzard decides to venture into making the epic saga that follows from Baal's and the Worldstone's destruction. So all the fans are expecting the next release to wow them off their feet with new content, breathtaking graphics and scenarios as well as a gripping plot for the return of the Lord of Terror, right? Sadly, it did not. It is a little over 3 months since the game has made its debut and already the playerbase has dropped by 50 percent or more, simply by looking at the available public games that have dropped by 50 times (initial week of Diablo III launch had an average of 8,000 public games available) and the 'Offline for A Century ago' buddies on my friend list says it all. Question is, why would anyone spend roughly 65 Dollars (US) to a supposedly epic game just to ignore it after? Afterall, 65 bucks is a hefty price to pay for a game that has one of the highest fanbase ever (more so in MYR).

Forget Fun, the Replay is Obligatory

Gearing up? It's going to cost you time, money or both

The game has a fatal flaw whereby everything and anything is created to revolve around the Auction House, be it the in-game gold or real money. With that in mind, Blizzard has made changes through patches to 'facilitate' the prosper and use of the Auction House with unnecessary tweaks and 'nerfs', as what most of the gamers would refer to with the changes. What this translates to is that Blizzard is putting more challenges and obstacles for players. While this is a general acceptance by the gaming crowd, the infrequent gamers who enjoy the game, but do not possess the time (and for some, money) to keep up with the game itself will just be trapped in a loop of disdainful gaming. Countless of hours will be spent just to beat the game's highest difficulty, Inferno and the only two options a player is left with is to either diligently grind their way there (hence, the countless of hours needed) and pray that Lady Luck's on their side or by forking out real money to gear their characters up. Think of it as either you pay a hefty toll to skip the traffic or just stay in the slow-moving lanes. For those who are slowly finding the displeasure of doing the monotonous runs of 'state-your-Act-of-preference-in-ratio-to-your-survivability-that-you-will-be-grinding-in' will eventually turn to the use of Blizzard's new opt-in mechanic to generate a boon from player's interaction via trading - the dreaded Auction House.

Greed is in the Eye of the Beholder

Not everything is priced at $250, but they are still costly in Real Money Auction House

Players who are still playing now have turned to the Auction House to help seek upgrades, be it with the use of in-game gold or real money. Like any game that is economy-centric, the trading of these items can get messy. When a player puts an item that is by first available to the market or is coveted, they are the ones to set the bar on how much the item will cost and in most cases, they cost a lot. At the rate for some of these items' cost, it's safe to say that you are either willing or capable to afford to keep up with the current market or you part a lot of time from your day-to-day routine just to afford these items. While not forgetting there's such a thing as in-game gold auction, the disparity between a decent piece of equipment to that of a 'top roll' item is incomprehensible.

The Good, The Bad and The Jay Wilson factor

"I can't think of anything that makes me happier than watching people play a game I made and have fun. People bring a lot of things to the world and some are good and some are bad, but I can't think of anything you could bring to the world that's better than fun. And that's why I like to make games."

- Jay Wilson, Game Director, Diablo III

While working on patch 1.0.4, we came up with all sorts of ideas for ways to improve Diablo III. Some of them you’ve probably already seen, such as the general systems changes, the awesome buffs for Legendaries, and the improvements we’re making to the barbarian, demon hunter, monk, witch doctor, and wizard. The entire team really banded together to get as much into this patch as possible, and one of the exciting changes I’d like to tell you about today is called the Paragon system. Two of the issues we’ve been thinking about while working on patch 1.0.4 have been what to do with Magic Find and how to give level-60 players who aren’t satisfied with the item hunt something more to strive for. I’m sure many of you are aware of the blog we posted proposing some different Magic Find gear-swapping solutions, as well as our general thoughts on how rewarding the game is once you hit level 60. The Paragon system is designed to help us address these concerns -- but before we get into exactly how it works, let’s go over these two core issues in a little more detail.

While working on patch 1.0.4, we came up with all sorts of ideas for ways to improve Diablo III. Some of them you’ve probably already seen, such as the general systems changes, the awesome buffs forLegendaries, and the improvements we’re making to the barbarian,demon hunter, monk, witch doctor, and wizard. The entire team really banded together to get as much into this patch as possible, and one of the exciting changes I’d like to tell you about today is called the Paragon system. Two of the issues we’ve been thinking about while working on patch 1.0.4 have been what to do with Magic Find and how to give level-60 players who aren’t satisfied with the item hunt something more to strive for. I’m sure many of you are aware of the blog we posted proposing some different Magic Find gear-swapping solutions, as well as our general thoughts on how rewarding the game is once you hit level 60. The Paragon system is designed to help us address these concerns -- but before we get into exactly how it works, let’s go over these two core issues in a little more detail. Magic Find As you may remember, we posed a number of possible solutions to the gear-swapping issue and asked you to give us your feedback. While we saw some support for a couple of the options, what your responses ultimately told us was that although having to swap into Magic Find gear mid-fight annoyed some of you greatly, others were ambivalent, didn’t gear swap themselves, or -- in a few cases -- wanted to see gear-swappers penalized in some fashion. Those who do swap gear generally do so for the raw power advantage it gives, so we wanted any solution we went with to provide the same level of power. Overall, our analysis of the situation really hammered home one stark truth: we needed to come up with a way to make our Magic Find system more fun. Level 60 Rewards We understand that some players feel frustrated once they hit level 60 because they no longer feel like they’re making progress. It can be demoralizing to play for an hour, not get any drops, and also be out a big chunk of gold from repair costs. Your play session may not only end without an upgrade, it can wind up being a net loss. Everyone wants to feel like they’re making some progress when they log in, even if they don’t get that new sword.

Introducing the Paragon System The new Paragon system coming in patch 1.0.4 is designed to address Magic Find gear-swapping while providing players who’ve reached level 60 with an extended progression system.

Here’s how it works:

After you hit level 60, any further experience you earn from killing monsters will begin to count toward Paragon levels

There are 100 Paragon levels

Every Paragon level will reward you with:

Core stats such as Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality in amounts similar to what you’d gain from a normal level

3% Magic Find and 3% Gold Find

In addition, a distinctive increasingly-impressive border will surround your character portrait in the in-game party frame to denote your Paragon progression, with a new frame earned after every ten levels. Your Paragon level will also be visible to other players wherever your normal level is shown

We know that a lot of you out there are level 60 -- maybe on multiple characters -- and this system provides a way to make progress every time you log in to the game.

To support the new system, Nephalem Valor (NV) will now also provide a 15% experience bonus per stack, applicable toward Paragon levels. The first Paragon level should take about as long as it took most players to get from level 59 to 60, and the experience requirement will rise from there. The time to reach the upper Paragon levels approximates the long-term time investment required to get a level 99 character in Diablo II.

… What Was That About Magic Find On Items? While the benefits to progression are obvious, you may be asking how this impacts Magic Find on items. We wanted to find a solution that was not only very forgiving of gear swapping, but one that would ultimately help us slowly and gently move Magic Find off of items in the future. It’s such an intrinsically important stat to the core purpose of playing the game that tying it to gear -- which is a customization system in many ways -- is ultimately an approach that would continue to cause problems. We need to transition away from it, and do so in a way that doesn’t flip the entire game end-over-end.

With the Paragon system in place, we’re capping Magic Find and Gold Find to 300% (before Nephalem Valor). This means that without any Magic Find gear at all, you’ll hit the cap when you reach Paragon level 100. This way, you can continue wearing your current Magic Find gear as you slowly but surely work to gain Paragon levels. Eventually, once you hit Paragon level 100, you’ll have the freedom to completely focus every slot on stats that help your character kill stuff faster and stay alive longer. The idea is that if you’re currently swapping gear in and out for the Magic Find bonuses, you can continue to do so… but gain enough Paragon levels, and you won’t need to anymore.

Phew… The Paragon system is a fairly big addition to the game, and one we’re pretty excited about. On behalf of the entire Diablo III development team, we hope you enjoy the changes we’re making with patch 1.0.4, and we look forward to seeing you in-game when it releases. Stay tuned to Diablo3.com for the final patch notes and official launch announcement in the days ahead. Jay Wilson is Game Director for Diablo III, and his Necron army is WAY better than your Eldar army.