Diablo II Beta Stress Test

[Diesel]

I thought this might be a better place for general discussion about the game than http://www.aliensoup.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000163.html .

Anyway, it's pretty good so far. Not so impressed with the "improved" graphics, since they seem a little cartoony, and the beta has a lot of bugs, but it has me pining for the full version already, and I only put an hour into it yesterday. I honestly don't know why it's a 100MB download, since there's nothing in the game that would indicate that it would require that size, especially considering that, unlike Diablo, the online game is server based, meaning that everything about your multiplayer account is stored on the server, and not in the client.

Pretty good so far, but I only give it a 6/10.


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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[torvus]

USWestBeta server's been down all morning, so I'm playing on East when I get the chance. It's an iffy connection though. But then again, I shouldn't complain. I'm playing it from work and it's justifiable :p

[Diesel]

Playing from work... lucky dog!


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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[torvus]

Smoke dawg! *woof*
Actually, I think the game is pretty good so far. How far does the world go? I can get to the crypt and the masoleum, but that's it.

[Diesel]

I haven't even gotten that far. As I said, I've only been able to put about an hour into it.
I think I'm still stuck in The Cold Plains.


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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[torvus]

Well hey, if you need any help, look for fraigbait on either Dark Realm or Wraith's Domain. Today I'm going to be on the east server but when I get back from the weekend, I'll be on the west server. This goes for any fellow Alien Soupers :) If there is a password, it will be "no such thing" spaces included, apostrophes not!

[Diesel]

I always set up my own game, if anyone's interested.
Trial By Fire (appropriate name, if I do say so myself)

I'll set the password as 'aliensoup' if anyone wants to pop in. I'll be trying for the East server, but I also have a character on the West server.


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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[torvus]

Sounds like a plan. I'll probably be playing as a barbarian :)

[Diesel]

http://www.aliensoup.com/ubb/smilies/lol.gif
I'll be a barbarian too.
I'll be the one wearing armor, with some kind of weapon in my hand.
Look for me in the game. I'll be the one running around killing things and picking up items the dead guys drop.
:)


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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[torvus]

Considering Blizzard's track record to date, I think they will take this seriously. But I've been away all weekend, so I have no idea how the servers were. All I know is I came in today and I couldn't get my Diablo II fix :(

[Diesel]

torvus> What you experienced tonight is exactly what's been going on since Saturday morning. I've never seen so many "Server Down" messages before.


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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[Diesel]

I seriously hope Blizzard takes the message from this stress test that they're hoping to, because those servers need a whole lot of work.
I haven't been able to access a game since Friday night. Forget about BetaUSEast; it's been down totally. Just clicking on my character on that server instantly pops up the message "Cannot connect to server".
BetaUSWest has been a little better, but not much. I have better luck accessing my character there, but the server's down more often than it's up.

If they don't manage to alleviate these issues before the game goes live, they're going to have a TON of complaints on their hands.



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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[Diesel]

Ouch! I don't even have work to do at work.

Actually, I'm still looking for Blood Raven, next to the Cold Plains. It's only the 2nd quest, but the servers have been down so much, I haven't really had enough time to progress.

I like the mix of weapons and the new attributes assigned to each is a good twist. Not only do you have to have certain attributes, but on some, you have to be a certain level to use it. Nice touch.
Also, the socketed items are a nice touch. Adding skulls or gems to the weapons or armor to upgrade their capabilities is pretty cool. It's also interesting that most of the items have different upgrade capabilities.

All in all, I'm finding a lot I like about this game, but the fact that I can't access my characters if the server is down isn't rubbing me the right way. I know it's only a beta, but the whole server-based system isn't functioning, so the beta isn't functioning.


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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[torvus]

Well that's okay, the servers are up right now and I'm taking full advantage of that.
Yes, the mix of weapons is nice. I also like the new "unique" items, like the arctic furs and death's guard. It turns out if you get the whole outfit, you get massive bonuses. Anybody have a death's touch out there they might be willing to part with? I'll give you a skull and two diamonds for it :)

[Diesel]

Unfortunately, I haven't come across any unique items just yet.
Sounds very cool though.


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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[FetusMan]

How different is it from the original?

[torvus]

Depends on your definition of different :)
Well, from what I have seen of Act I, it looks pretty cool. Pathfinding AI kinda sucks, but that's okay. You can hire mercenaries to fight alongside you. The addition of socketed weapons is a nice addition, since you can now build your own magical weapons. It's a pain to upgrade gems, and questionably worth the effort. I've gone through the game over 10 times and have had one other guy find a gem shrine in a game I created? Am I bitter? Not really. But regeneration or elemental damage etc, is nice. The shadows really make this game, especially when you run behind a pillar and see the shadows move. If you look at the trees outside, you can see some form of parallax scrolling. A little trippy to say the least. Graphics-wise? Don't expect too much. There are nice lighting effects, but nothing really shocking from D1. The monsters have been changed. You now get standard monsters, heroes, and champions in addition to uniques. 5 classes and varied skills. You can focus on one or become a jack of all trades. No real spells, per se, but skills instead. Still costs you mana no matter what. There's a lot of minisucle changes that add up to a game with a lot of replay value, just like Diablo 1 was for me. For a more thorough review, refer to firingsquad.com.

[torvus]

Cool man! Now I don't have to feel bad about taking the weekend off with my wife :p

[Diesel]

That's it!
You've inspired for the new Diablo III weapon - The P-Whip.
Attributes:
Can only be used by female characters.
Knocks the testicles off any male creatures.
Removes the ability to fight back from any male creatures.

http://www.aliensoup.com/ubb/smilies/lol.gif

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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[FetusMan]

What about the PK situation? I always hated being murdered by some idiotic, cheating bastard...

[torvus]

Oh you b*tch http://www.aliensoup.com/ubb/smilies/supergrin.gif I'l get ya for that.
So did you, or anyone else for that matter, get a chance to see the game at all? I've only been able to play at work (told ya I'd get you back).

[FetusMan]

When you are PKed, what stuff do you lose? I'm not too sure about what you said by 'you still only drop an ear for PK'ing'. Huh? Who does? You, the victim, or him, the PK?

[Diesel]

Finally got some playing time in.
Are there seriously only 2 quests in the demo?!?
I killed Dark Raven (Blood Raven, whatever), and now when I go back to town and speak to the "magic" lady, it gives me the "End of Demo" option.
WTF?!?

I could've finished this whole thing in less than 30 minutes of game time. On top of that, I've been unable to access BetaUSEast since Friday. I really dislike the fact that I can only use a character created on a server ONLY on that server.


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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[torvus]

Sorry Dan, thought I had mentioned that. Yeah, only two quests and once you finish it, you're done. I'm mostly fiddling around with gems and the interface now to see how things stack up. Also checking out skills. I thought there was only one. Imagine my chagrin when I found out there were five.
As for your question FetusMan, it is you, the victim, that drops an ear. It's a trophy of sorts for the PK. It's been that way since Diablo 1. As for other stuff you drop, well, you drop your corpse. But upon perusing the readme, it says that only you or people you give permission to can loot your corpse. If you happen to time out, then your corpse will appear in town in your next game. Kinda gruesome, having a corpse following you from game to game. I saw this once and I couldn't click on the corpse. A rather nice feature, especially since when you loot your corpse, you automatically put on whatever you were wearing. If you would like, I could e-mail you the readme. I don't think there's anything too confidential in there.

[torvus]

Hmm, you ask a tough question FetusMan. I can't lie to you. The PK situation still sucks. This time, you can't PK until you are level 9. I had one chasing me down last night, so I ran like the little girl I am. I just didn't want to duel him, especially since he had a frost blade. So I go bolting past some other guy, and the guy that had been chasing me stops to play with him. Since the poor recipient of his ministrations was in my party, I came back and proceeded to thrash the PK with the other guy's help. The guy ran away in short order.
There's my experience with a PK. Yeah, not too thrilling, but that's a fact of life. If you're going to go online, group with another guy that's equivalent level that you know. This game really encourages grouping. On a good note, you still only drop an ear for PK'ing. I guess what it all boils down to is, yes, PK'ing is still a concern, but only after level 9.

[Foru2ctoo]

PK? What the heck is PK? Oh yeah! I remember now! Player killing or player killers! I haven't seen that word used in three years since I left the realm of Diablo on the net. My advice for PK's is to kill them before they can kill you. I hacked my way to a super multiplayer character so I wouldn't get killed by player killers. Those bastards didn't dare touch me! Ha ha ha...

[FetusMan]

That's good to hear (the loot situation). I played legit all the time, and then some PK would kill me and take my stuff.

What about the max players per game?

[Diesel]

Max players is set by the person who creates the game. I've seen games with as many as 8 players.


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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."

[FetusMan]

Is the norm 4? I really hated having the limit at 4.

[Diesel]

4 is the default, but since you can set up parties and hire mercenaries, the fact that you can set it higher makes space for some pretty cool parties.


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From another BBS:
"hmm... Cyrix III, huh? You can put syrup on sh*t, but that don't make it pancakes."