Diablo IV, Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 Forums - Diabloii.Net
Game Design, Lore and Limitations: A Critique of the D3 Gaming Forum
All too often I hear someone say "Such and such is not realistic", and someone else return with "This is D3. It is not realistic." I have had this happen to me and I see it regularly on the forum, particularly when talking about restrictions or improvements to skills.
Remember game developers are creating an alternate reality, and in that reality, there are new limitations and possibilities. Going beyond those limitations is not "realistic" within that universe. On the flip side, if you fail to approach those limitations, you end up with a character that is not epic.
Pretend you are in a different, invented gaming universe, where it is common for characters to magically manipulate inanimate objects, but are restricted from, say, directly effecting living organisms. (This could be because of a "soul" or what not - essentially, however the developer wants the lore to be.) So someone gets on a forum and says "I want a spell to rip out the hearts of all the enemies on the map." In addition to being overpowered, it is not realistic within the game universe: the limitations have already been set. From the opposite side of the argument, if the developer makes a one character who can use his mind to split open a mountain, pushing the limits of the realism, and a second character who only levitates spit balls, forum people are perfectly right to call the latter inadequate in terms of epic-ness.
Although D3 limitations are not as clear-cut, this is something to keep in mind when reading, writing or responding to critiques on character and game design.
All too often I hear someone say "Such and such is not realistic", and someone else return with "This is D3. It is not realistic." I have had this happen to me and I see it regularly on the forum, particularly when talking about restrictions or improvements to skills.
Remember game developers are creating an alternate reality, and in that reality, there are new limitations and possibilities. Going beyond those limitations is not "realistic" within that universe. On the flip side, if you fail to approach those limitations, you end up with a character that is not epic.
Pretend you are in a different, invented gaming universe, where it is common for characters to magically manipulate inanimate objects, but are restricted from, say, directly effecting living organisms. (This could be because of a "soul" or what not - essentially, however the developer wants the lore to be.) So someone gets on a forum and says "I want a spell to rip out the hearts of all the enemies on the map." In addition to being overpowered, it is not realistic within the game universe: the limitations have already been set. From the opposite side of the argument, if the developer makes a one character who can use his mind to split open a mountain, pushing the limits of the realism, and a second character who only levitates spit balls, forum people are perfectly right to call the latter inadequate in terms of epic-ness.
Although D3 limitations are not as clear-cut, this is something to keep in mind when reading, writing or responding to critiques on character and game design.