Multiplayer - Revision history

Flux at 12:32, 24 February 2012

2012-02-24T12:32:13Z

Flux: /* Development Priority */

2012-02-06T11:39:48Z

‎Development Priority

Flux at 11:35, 6 February 2012

2012-02-06T11:35:23Z

Flux at 11:30, 6 February 2012

2012-02-06T11:30:35Z

Flux: /* Development Priority */

2012-02-06T10:23:07Z

‎Development Priority

Flux at 10:21, 6 February 2012

2012-02-06T10:21:27Z

Show changes

Flux at 12:53, 26 November 2010

2010-11-26T12:53:28Z

Flux: /* Easy Game Creation */

2010-10-15T04:52:02Z

‎Easy Game Creation

Flux: /* Easy Game Creation */

2010-10-15T04:49:10Z

‎Easy Game Creation

Flux: /* Maximum Party Size */

2010-08-16T04:12:13Z

‎Maximum Party Size

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Image:Party01.jpg|frame|More is fun.]]
-While Diablo III is fully playable solo, without any "[[raid]]" type content that requires multiple players to defeat, the [[D3 Team]] had cooperative multiplayer in mind all along. As frequently stated in interviews, "Do no harm to co-op." was one of their main considerations during all development decisions, and whenever they speak of the most fun way to play Diablo III, they stress that a friendly party of up to four players (which is the [[maximum game size]] in Diablo III) is the best way to experience the game.
+While Diablo III is fully playable solo, without any "[[raid]]" type content that requires multiple players to defeat, the [[D3 Team]] had co-operative multiplayer as their highest priority all during development. As frequently stated in interviews, "Do no harm to co-op." was one of their main considerations during all development decisions, and whenever they speak of the most fun way to play Diablo III, they stress that a friendly party of up to four players (which is the [[maximum game size]] in Diablo III) is the best way to experience the game.
-Diablo III features several improvements over Diablo II's multiplayer experience: there are now individual loot drops, there is no nonconsensual PvP ([[PKing]]), and other game features such as the party system and the [[quests]] system have also been upgraded. On the other hand, some of D2's major bonuses to group play, such as greatly increased drop rates and experience gain are not present in Diablo III, and there are many fewer skills with shared benefits for the whole party. As a result fans have often pointed out[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/bonuses-to-co-op-in-d3] that while D3 removed numerous problems with D2's MP play, it's actually removed a lot of the bonuses as well, and that the D3 developers seem to simply assume fans will play together, even in the absence of actual benefits for doing so.
+Diablo III features several improvements over Diablo II's multiplayer experience: there are now individual loot drops, there is no nonconsensual PvP ([[PKing]]), and other game features such as the party system and the [[quests]] system have also been upgraded. On the other hand, some of D2's major bonuses to group play, such as greatly increased drop rates and experience gain are not present in Diablo III, and there are many fewer skills with shared benefits for the whole party.
 The other major aspect of MP play in Diablo III is PvP dueling, which now takes place exclusively in the [[Battle Arena]].
@@ Line 13: / Line 15: @@
 In D3 there is no more party system. All players in the same game are automatically in a party, and there is no way to leave a party or go hostile in the basic PvM game mode. Players in reasonably close proximity share experience, and all gain benefit when anyone in the party hits a [[health globe]], but gold and items are not shared. Instead, all players in Diablo III get their own gold and item drops that no other player can see or take. This makes [[ninja]] looting a thing of the past, but also forces a player to run to fetch all his own gold and items.
@@ Line 24: / Line 35: @@
 * Improved [[Friends List]] features on [[Battle.net]].
 * The [[Banner]] system allows players to easily warp to the location of their friends in a game.
-* Many quests and [[boss]] battles are designed so players can (or must) do them together to receive the rewards.
+* Many quests and [[boss]] battles are designed so players can (or must) do them together to receive the rewards, and the game includes mechanisms to instantly transport all players to the boss's level for the big fight.
 While these features are definitely boosts to co-op, some fans have pointed out that they're more about the removal of anti-co-op features, rather than the adding of specific benefits to it. On that side of the coin, Diablo 3 has some areas with fewer co-op bonuses than were present in Diablo 2.
@@ Line 58: / Line 69: @@
 ==Trading==
-The trading system has been entirely overhauled in Diablo III. Trading is now automated and made much more convenient through the [[Auction House]]. Ironically, this has removed almost all of the multiplayer aspect of trading, since players no longer need to speak to other players to exchange items. Whether these changes are good or bad for multiplayer can be debated, but most players felt the Diablo II system was hopelessly inefficient, and that Diablo III's will result in much easier distribution and acquisition of desired item upgrades, which will be beneficial to the overall play experience.
+The trading system has been entirely overhauled in Diablo III. Trading is now automated and made much more convenient through the [[Auction House]]. Ironically, this has removed almost all of the multiplayer aspect of trading, since players no longer need to speak to other players to exchange items.
@@ Line 69: / Line 84: @@
 * See the [[Arena]] article for full details.
@@ Line 82: / Line 95: @@
 ==Chat Channels for Diablo III==
-Blizzard intended to phase chat channels out of B.net with their newer games, starting with [[Starcraft 2]]. That plan did not last in the face of intense player criticism, and chat channels were added back into Starcraft 2 some months after release.
+Blizzard intended to phase [[chat channels]] out of B.net with their newer games, starting with [[Starcraft 2]]. That plan did not last in the face of intense player criticism, and chat channels were added back into Starcraft 2 some months after release.
 They were not present during the Diablo III beta, but have been confirmed as a feature[http://twitter.com/#!/Bashiok/status/166324491994148864] for the full game. This was no surprise, after the developers said they hoped to include them, eventually.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/d3-will-have-chat-channels-on-battle.net/]
-<blue>Bashiok: Regarding chat channels, they weren't a [Starcraft 2] launch feature but are indeed coming, and the tech will be there and waiting for Diablo III, I'm sure.</blue>
+Chat channels debuted with [[beta patch 13]] in February 2012, and proved instantly unpopular due to their small size and general lack of convenient chat features. See the [[chat channels]] article for full details.
@@ Line 92: / Line 105: @@
 [[File:Party02.jpg|frame|Four player party.]]
-As of the beta test, the [[Friends List]] is at least partially integrated into the game creation options. A buddy on your Friend's List can see if you are online or in a game, and can join into your game instantly, if there's room. So far there's no automated way to stick together and move from one game to another, though the developers talked about creating such a system during the development process. [http://pc.ign.com/articles/101/1017305p1.html]
+As of the beta test, the [[Friends List]] is integrated into the game creation options. A buddy on your Friend's List can see if you are online or in a game, and can join into your game instantly. Players in the same game can also instantly create a new game together, as the realization of a feature long desired by the developers.[http://pc.ign.com/articles/101/1017305p1.html]
-...It's not in the game, so this is not a promise, but I can tell you that my desire for that is that you just be able to hit Escape, menu comes up, and you can say, I want to redo what we just did. I want to replay this part of the game, restart my game essentially, with all the same people. And I just get a confirmation thing, hey, you want to? If they say yes, we go, and if they say no, they stay in that same game.
+Public games are no longer named and displayed for the joining, as they were in Diablo I and Diablo II. Many fans have complained about this, but Blizzard has insisted that their automated system, which will sort characters into games with other characters of the appropriate level, is a superior solution to this issue.

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:39, 6 February 2012
Line 117:		Line 117:
	[[Category:Gameplay]]		[[Category:Gameplay]]
	[[Category:Basics]]		[[Category:Basics]]
		+	[[category:battle.net]]

@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 ==Multiplayer Difficulty==
-[[File:Party-left-the-game1.jpg|left|Fewer players, weaker monsters.]]
+[[File:Party-left-the-game1.jpg|frame|Fewer players, weaker monsters.]]
 Monster hit points adjust automatically when additional players join or leave the game. As of the beta test, each additional player in the game increases monster hit points by 75%. Thus:
@@ Line 63: / Line 63: @@
 ==PvP==
 Diablo III's Player vs. Player combat system has been entirely overhauled as well. Gone is any sort of in-game PvP, whether dueling or PKing. Players now have no way to directly attack each other in-game, and this even extends to sprite collision. Other players can not block doorways or chokepoints themselves or with their [[pets]], and none of their spells or skills can hit you for any damaging or debuffing effects.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Image:Party01.jpg|frame|More is fun.]]
-While Diablo III is fully playable solo, without any "[[raid]]" type content that requires multiple players to defeat, the [[D3 Team]] had cooperative multiplayer in mind all along. As frequently stated in interviews, "Do no harm to co-op." was one of their main considerations during all development decisions, and whenever they speak of the most fun way to play Diablo III, they stress that a friendly party of up to four players (which is the maximum game size in Diablo III) is the best way to experience the game.
+While Diablo III is fully playable solo, without any "[[raid]]" type content that requires multiple players to defeat, the [[D3 Team]] had cooperative multiplayer in mind all along. As frequently stated in interviews, "Do no harm to co-op." was one of their main considerations during all development decisions, and whenever they speak of the most fun way to play Diablo III, they stress that a friendly party of up to four players (which is the [[maximum game size]] in Diablo III) is the best way to experience the game.
 Diablo III features several improvements over Diablo II's multiplayer experience: there are now individual loot drops, there is no nonconsensual PvP ([[PKing]]), and other game features such as the party system and the [[quests]] system have also been upgraded. On the other hand, some of D2's major bonuses to group play, such as greatly increased drop rates and experience gain are not present in Diablo III, and there are many fewer skills with shared benefits for the whole party. As a result fans have often pointed out[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/bonuses-to-co-op-in-d3] that while D3 removed numerous problems with D2's MP play, it's actually removed a lot of the bonuses as well, and that the D3 developers seem to simply assume fans will play together, even in the absence of actual benefits for doing so.
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==The Party System==
 There is no more party system in D3, at least {{iw|Multiplayer not like there was in D2}}. In D2 players who joined a game were neutral, neither friend nor enemy. They could become enemies by clicking the hostile button, or become friends by joining a party together. Once they were partied, they shared [[experience]] and [[gold]], if they remained fairly close together. Partying was optional though, and parties could be dissolved or abandoned, or everyone in a party could simply go their own way within the same game.
@@ Line 26: / Line 28: @@
 While these features are definitely boosts to co-op, some fans have pointed out that they're more about the removal of anti-co-op features, rather than the adding of specific benefits to it. On that side of the coin, Diablo 3 has some areas with fewer co-op bonuses than were present in Diablo 2.
-* The maximum players per game has been lowered from 8 to 4.
+* The [[maximum players]] per game has been lowered from 8 to 4.
 * The [[experience]] gained no longer scales up with more players.
 ** [[Monsters]] do still gain more hit points, though. ([[Beta]] testing indicates a 75% increase per additional character in the game.)
@@ Line 36: / Line 38: @@
 <blue><font color="#FFFFFF">Part of me thinks it’s cool that I can play solo and never feel like I’m missing out on something. But another part of me thinks that since this is an online-only game that we should WANT to play Co-Op and that there should be added incentive for doing so.</font>
-Faster killing speed means more drops, more drops means more power or money. Since the goal of the game essentially boils down to either power or wealth, or both, the advantage (in our opinion) is pretty clear and doesn’t need any additional incentive.</blue>
+[[File:Party-left-the-game1.jpg|left|Fewer players, weaker monsters.]]
@@ Line 65: / Line 81: @@
 ==Chat Channels for Diablo III==
-Blizzard intended to phase chat channels out of B.net with their newer games, starting with Starcraft 2. They did not include chat channels in the design, and resisted adding them until continuous player requests wore them down. Chat channels were not supported during the beta or upon launch in July, but by October 2010 they were said to be well under development and due to be added in the future. There's no guarantee they'll be enabled for Diablo III, but if fans demand it they probably will.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/d3-will-have-chat-channels-on-battle.net/]
+Blizzard intended to phase chat channels out of B.net with their newer games, starting with [[Starcraft 2]]. That plan did not last in the face of intense player criticism, and chat channels were added back into Starcraft 2 some months after release.
-::'''Bashiok:''' Regarding chat channels, they weren't a launch feature but are indeed coming, and the tech will be there and waiting for Diablo III, I'm sure.
+<blue>Bashiok: Regarding chat channels, they weren't a [Starcraft 2] launch feature but are indeed coming, and the tech will be there and waiting for Diablo III, I'm sure.</blue>
 ==Improved Multiplayer Game Creation==
-As of the beta test, the [[Friend's List]] is at least partially integrated into the game creation options. A buddy on your Friend's List can see if you are online or in a game, and can join into your game instantly, if there's room. So far there's no automated way to stick together and move from one game to another, though the developers talked about creating such a system during the development process. [http://pc.ign.com/articles/101/1017305p1.html]
+[[File:Party02.jpg|frame|Four player party.]]
 <blue>There was some poor matchmaking in Diablo 2, it was kind of esoteric and hard to use. We want a platform that puts you right next to someone else who's into the same thing as you, at the same level. We want you to be able to open up that friends list and say, oh, my friend Steve's killing Diablo, join! And you're right there next to them. We want players to be able to play together very, very easily. That's going to be a lot of work.

@@ Line 86: / Line 86: @@
 <blue><font color="#FFFFFF">AG: I know that in StarCraft 2, a lot of the development was focused around multiplayer - a lot of the game design and the development being done was on multiplayer first. Is that something that you guys do with Diablo as well, or is a bit more focused on the single-player or a bit of a mix?</font>
-Jay Wilson: For us it's a little bit more focused on the [[singleplayer]], it's not quite the same as [[StarCraft]]. I've played [[RTS]] before and I've seen people do it both ways and I seem to prefer the method where you work on multiplayer first, because you're really establishing the core game mechanics.
+Jay Wilson: For us it's a little bit more focused on the singleplayer, it's not quite the same as StarCraft. I've played RTS games before and I've seen people do it both ways and I seem to prefer the method where you work on multiplayer first, because you're really establishing the core game mechanics.
-For us, a lot of the core game has actually come out of singleplayer, but what we've done along the way, is we've always had cooperative play enabled. So people play cooperatively all the time. Any time anything does work for [[cooperative play]] we fix it right away. So any mechanics that don't work, any kind of balancing or tuning that needs to be done, we try to do it simultaneously for both – but we do focus on single-player more.''
+For us, a lot of the core game has actually come out of singleplayer, but what we've done along the way, is we've always had cooperative play enabled. So people play cooperatively all the time. Any time anything does work for cooperative play we fix it right away. So any mechanics that don't work, any kind of balancing or tuning that needs to be done, we try to do it simultaneously for both – but we do focus on single-player more.</blue>

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:53, 26 November 2010
Line 8:		Line 8:
	In D3 there is no more party system, since the hostility option has been removed. (There will be dueling and [[PvP]] in special games for that purpose, but it's not going to be an option in regular, [[PvM]] games.) The D3 Team found that it was pointless to have a additional party system menu with invitations and joining required, so they simply removed that option. All players in the same PvM game in D3 are in the same party, by default.		In D3 there is no more party system, since the hostility option has been removed. (There will be dueling and [[PvP]] in special games for that purpose, but it's not going to be an option in regular, [[PvM]] games.) The D3 Team found that it was pointless to have a additional party system menu with invitations and joining required, so they simply removed that option. All players in the same PvM game in D3 are in the same party, by default.

		+
		+	==In-Game Notifications==
		+
		+	Jay Wilson spoke about the various in-game notifications and conveniences in an interview from Blizzcon, 2010. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-2010-interview-jay-wilson-diablo-esp/]
		+
		+	<blue>We’ve tried to put a lot of hints in, for cooperative play, so other players notice if you stop moving. Especially if you open up a skill page or your inventory, we put an icon that displays over your character’s head and on your portrait so the other players will see it and know that you’re busy. That you’re doing something. ...As developers, we’re looking at ways to make it easier for characters to communicate and we’re looking to put more option in for that. After all, the game knows if a player is looking at their skill page, so why don’t we just provide some sort of in-game notification to other players? So the players in the game don’t have to wonder why someone in the game isn’t keeping up. When you know the other player is doing something specific, you’re a little more patient.</blue>

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 As of early 2010, there aren't any details about how the game joining/creation menu or controls will work. The team has said they want it to be a very easy, intuitive process, but it's something they're still working on, and much of it likely depends on Battle.net functions that aren't yet enabled. Jay Wilson did speak on their aspirational goals at Blizzcon 2009. [http://pc.ign.com/articles/101/1017305p1.html]
-::'''''IGN: '''Considering that this is the big debut for the redesigned Battle.net, have you figured out anything you're planning on doing, with the exception of things like, obviously, easier ways of setting up co-op lobbies or creating panels so that everybody can immediately jump in and start up exactly where they left off?
+::'''''IGN: '''...have you figured out anything you're planning on doing, with the exception of things like, obviously, easier ways of setting up co-op lobbies or creating panels so that everybody can immediately jump in and start up exactly where they left off?
-::''Jay Wilson:''' Well, for us, Battle.net is... we're not quite at that stage. The full extent of our Battle.net development is that we do run through Battle.net. Pretty much everything that we reveal about Battle.net is going to be introduced in Diablo 3. I won't go through all of this because I don't want to take all your time, but the social networking aspects, the easy communication across games, and definitely... some of our big hooks are really good matchmaking, there was some poor matchmaking in Diablo 2, it was kind of esoteric and hard to use. We want a platform that puts you right next to someone else who's into the same thing as you, at the same level. We want you to be able to open up that friends list and say, oh, my friend Steve's killing Diablo, join! And you're right there next to them. We want players to be able to play together very, very easily. That's going to be a lot of work.
+::'''Jay Wilson:''' We're not quite at that stage. [Talking about B.net D3 features.] Some of our big hooks are really good matchmaking, there was some poor matchmaking in Diablo 2, it was kind of esoteric and hard to use. We want a platform that puts you right next to someone else who's into the same thing as you, at the same level. We want you to be able to open up that friends list and say, oh, my friend Steve's killing Diablo, join! And you're right there next to them. We want players to be able to play together very, very easily. That's going to be a lot of work.
-::'''''IGN: '''It's the situation I had with Diablo 2, I would be seeing "Cows 555 Go Go Go" or "Cows 666 Go Go Go" over and over again. Diablo 3 will remove the need to make that kind of hackneyed solution?
+::...It's not in the game, so this is not a promise, but I can tell you that my desire for that is that you just be able to hit Escape, menu comes up, and you can say, I want to redo what we just did. I want to replay this part of the game, restart my game essentially, with all the same people. And I just get a confirmation thing, hey, you want to? If they say yes, we go, and if they say no, they stay in that same game.
-::''Jay Wilson:''' We definitely want to do that. It's not in the game, so this is not a promise, but I can tell you that my desire for that is that you just be able to hit Escape, menu comes up, and you can say, I want to redo what we just did. I want to replay this part of the game, restart my game essentially, with all the same people. And I just get a confirmation thing, hey, you want to? If they say yes, we go, and if they say no, they stay in that same game. Somewhere a programmer's heart exploded, but that's our intent, that you shouldn't have to have this really convoluted way to replay content. One of the other things that we'd really like to focus on is, that the endgame not actually force you…well, it doesn't force you, it's your choice, but not make the most advantageous way to play be to do the same thing over and over again.
 ==Maximum Party Size==

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 The [[D3 Team]] has not yet committed to a maximum game size for Diablo III. The issue is still open to debate, but the developers have said 4 or 5 characters will likely be the maximum. This is a drop from the 8 allowed in Diablo II games, and it's entirely due to gameplay, rather than technical issues.
-D3 could allow 8 or 16 players in a game, but in playtesting the team found that more than 4 or 5 was too many. More characters didn't fit easily onto the screen, the spell effects were too visually-overwhelming, the party split into two or three groups, and the general play experience was degraded.
+There's no technical reason not to allow up to 8 (or more) players in a game; the issue is fun and playability. Not how many ''can'', but how many ''should''.  The ideal, not the possible.  Here are some quotes from Blizzard developers on the issue:
-Jay Wilson quoted from the game's debut press conference. [http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/06/28/diablo-iii-design-panel/]
+[[Jay Wilson]] quoted from the game's debut press conference, June 2008. [http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/06/28/diablo-iii-design-panel/]
 ::''Though the team hasn't decided how many people will be in a group, Wilson said to expect four to five players.
-[[Jay Wilson]], from Blizzcon 2008, on October 17, 2008: [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-press-conference-with-jay-wilson/]
+[[Rob Pardo]], October 2008: [http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/919/919059p1.html]
 ::''Q: Is four people multiplayer games set in stone?''<br>
 ::A: It grows more and more set all the time. In Diablo 2, eight player games are very uncommon, and they wouldn’t be in the same party or the like and we have just found that it’s not as fun as with four people. We have the ability to set any number we want, but four seems to work out very well.
-[[Kevin Martens]] and [[Julian Love]], from Blizzcon 2009, August 2009: [http://www.giantbomb.com/news/hands-on-with-diablo-iiis-street-fighter-inspired-monk-class/1658/]
+[[Kevin Martens]] and [[Julian Love]], August 2009: [http://www.giantbomb.com/news/hands-on-with-diablo-iiis-street-fighter-inspired-monk-class/1658/]
 ::'''Kevin Martens: '''For the maximum number of players in a game, we're going with 4 now. That's how many you can have on the games on the show floor. That's not final, and we'll keep looking at it during development. On PvP, we're going to do more on that, but we're not really showing any of our ideas yet.  We're more focused on co-op at this point, and we want to make people play together more. The loot drop is one example. Now when loot drops the first pass on items is all for you, and only if you pick things up and put them in your inventory, then drop them, can your friends see them or pick them up. Also on multiplayer, the code's very good already and very smooth, and we will keep it that way all through development. The multiplayer is very fun and we're going to keep it at the highest possible polish.
 ::'''Julian Love: '''The important part about how many people can play together is not technical limitations. It's about how many is fun.  How many effects are going off, how much chaos is on the screen. Our testing is trying to find the sweet spot for those considerations. We have fantastic programmers, and technology has come a long way since Diablo 2, so we're not limited on that front.
-* For a detailed discussion of the pros and cons of maximum party size limits, check [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/on-the-drawing-board-11-maximum-party-size/ this recent On the Drawing Board] article.
 ==No More Hostility==