Blizz MUST change the overall gameplay style

#1 - Nov. 4, 2013, 7:46 p.m.
Blizzard Post
As it stands now, the "best" way to play the game is to get 5 stacks as quickly as humanly possible, then group up and kill as many mobs as possible. Other than the obvious (maxing out the number of enemies killed = more chances to get loot), I think there are a number of things contributing to this style of gameplay, which can be fun, but is ultimately repetitive (IMO):

1. Bosses simply aren't worth it. Harder to kill with less reward - not to mention the time associated. And my god, the f'ing cut scenes - those alone are enough motivation to not do boss runs.

2. 5 x NV stacks + farming is the only type of bonus...we need more. Not to mention, all this does is increase your MF and guarantee rare drops from elite packs (often better to just skip elites since most rare items are crap).

3. Monster density + monster difficulty. When I first heard about Inferno mode I thought it would make all the acts essentially the same in levels of difficulty so there would be the option to play whatever act/zone you felt like. However, this is completely undone due to the major differences in monster difficulty/density (still). Why bother going into Halls of Agony if it takes me twice as long to kill some of the mobs, they hit twice as hard, and there are half as many of them? In that time I could find and set up another crypt run, rinse n' repeat.

So...I think there need to be more options with built in rewards for how we play the game:

1. Explorer - Rewards for exploring 100% of each zone (maybe make it 90% or something like that so it doesn't get to be too tedious if you miss a spot). Let this effect stack for multiple zones cleared in a given act.

2. Hunter - Every elite pack you kill also increases the chance of gem drops from other elite packs - perhaps even higher

3. Gatherer - Add x to each stat for every doodad you smash/break/open. Once you've done this for 100 doodads, there's a chance to get 5/6/7/8/9/10x each state for every doodad you smash/break/open.

4. Gladiator - Fighting (and killing) more than 1 elite pack at a given time (within a certain amount of time from first initiating to prevent people from trolling around the map to gather up all elites), increases the gold/gem drops.

5. Bosses - give bosses something that elites and white mobs don't have. Extra chance for gems/crafting materials/legendary plans/legendaries or something along those lines.. Have these effects amplified for doing Explorer/Hunter/Gatherer/Gladiator runs.
#2 - Nov. 4, 2013, 10:41 p.m.
Blizzard Post
We've been putting a lot of work into how players tackle the game for the expansion, and you might find what we have to say about Reaper of Souls at Blizzcon very interesting. I definitely recommend checking it out!