Diablo 2

[House of Mustard]

Okay.   So I hate RPGs (in computer form).  I hate them mostly because I get really sick of having to go to this town and talk to all the villagers and then go to that castle and talk to the king and the guards and the scullery maid and then go to the old hermit who lives on the hill.  I hate that.  I really really hate that.

Anyway, while playing Warcraft 3 I realized that I kept losing because I only cared about making my hero tougher and I kept ignoring my base.   So Fell suggested I try Diablo.

Bah!

It is the most addictive game I've ever played, and there is a remarkable dearth of having to talk to anybody.  My RPG hatred still shows up a little.  I can only handle the first act before I have to start over with a different character.  But still -- Hoo Boy!

[Fellfrosch]

The second act, I think, is the most RPG-ish of them all. You're really going to love the fourth act, though: it's just a tiny little town with two shops and a waypoint, and three NPCs who could care less about talking to you.

[House of Mustard]

If I ever get that far.  I have never completed the second mission of the second act - whenever i get to it I get too stinking frustrated looking for all seven tombs.  I just restart and try the first act again with a new character.

[House of Mustard]

Here's a question:  If an item is yellow it's rare and if it's blue it's uncommon, or whatever, but what if it's green?  I found a green belt that is extremely cool, but it lists a bunch of other stuff that makes no sense in the description.

[Tage]

Blue items are simple magic items. They have one or two mods.

Green items are set items, which is a very interesting idea. When you collect items from the same set, they boost each others power, adding more mods to each item. If you collect a whole set, it adds a bunch of mods.

As cool as that sounds, set items still generally aren't as good as the gold Unique items.

[Prometheus]

I've actually been playing Diablo 2 a bit recently. My charcter account from our old run at hardcore mode is still alive and well, and I've picked up a bunch of cool stuff recently. Just one more item (Lightsabre) and I'll probably start working on my melee necromancer. (Yeah, all the other necromancer concepts I can think of sound boring. Kinda like druids.)

The general feeling is that 1.10 might come out sometime soon...maybe this year even.   I'm looking forward to the new ladder system the patch will introduce. Under those conditions we might even be able to compete on the ladder. (If you haven't heard of the new 'ladder character' concept yet, it's all on battle.net's D2 website)

[Fellfrosch]

The second act quests are structured really funky--they give you the big ones right off the bat and then you have to solve a bunch of little subquests in order to do them. I like the first act model better: they tell you to do something, you do it, you get a reward, and they tell you to do something else.

[Prometheus]

Agreed. Act Two is structured poorly. I didn't realize it for a while, but I'm pretty sure you can go into the palace of Act Two after you kill Radament even if you haven't gotten the cube or the staff pieces. Their triggers are sort of messed up. The third act is kind of weird as well though. I spent a good while wandering around town the first time I got that far trying to get someone to give me a quest. They won't when you first arrive...you have to go out into the world first.

Thinking back about Fell's comments about Act 4 though...in the expansion, all the NPCs in town double as a shop of one kind or another...even Tyrael is there to bring back your mercenary.

[Spriggan]

you'll have to borrow Dungeon Siege sometime Fell.  It's still the best looking PC RPG out there.  and hours of fun.

[House of Mustard]

Okay - here's another cotton pickin reason why I hate RPG's -- I've been playing this stupid thing all morning looking for the dumb Claw Viper Temple and I swear the thing doesn't exist.  I've gone back and forth across the whole map and killed EVERYTHING - and there is no sign of the place.  I hate this game.

[Fellfrosch]

You geek. Why do you insist on playing without my kind guidance?

[Prometheus]

What are your account names guys?

[jamer_nimro]

ahhhh diablo ruined my life!!! damn good game though!

[House of Mustard]

Well I know you were all worried, but I would just like to calm all of your fears and let you know that Baal has finally been defeated.  You can all sleep well tonight.

[Tage]

Haha, you actually stuck with a character beyond Act I? Congrats... I guess. Now when are you going to join the rest of us in Hardcore?