Diablo 3: An Item Shop's Tale

[W.T. FitsSpoilers, you say? Well, in that case, I suppose I should avert my eyes.]

We had six copies of the Collector's Edition at work. I didn't pick one up when I got off work this morning because I figured that I could just grab one later in the week. It's not like we haven't had leftover collector's editions of past Blizzard releases before. Plus I had the annual pass thing for World of Warcraft, so I already technically owned the game. Just wasn't sure if I could run it or not on this computer.

Got home, saw the install was finished, tried to start it, saw I needed to update my graphics drivers, did that, and it turns out that, yes, this computer can run Diablo 3. So I played for a bit, then decided might as well go grab a Collector's Edition from work.

Got to work, they were already all sold out. This was approximately two hours after I had gone home for the day, which was an hour after the store had opened. So in 3 hours, we sold all six copies. From what a friend in the electronics department tells me, one guy actually purchased 3 copies of the collector's edition.

So I decide to check the Gamestop that's in the building. Nope. All they have are copies people preordered.

So I drive out to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart apparently didn't even get ANY copies of the Collector's Edition for some reason.

The Gamestop over by the Wal-Mart? Same deal as the one in the building where I work - only copies people had preordered.

Amazon? Oh yes, there's copies on amazon. Assuming you're willing to pay between $170-350 for one, which I'm not.

Barnes & Noble.com? Booksamillion.com? Walmart.com? Nope. Nope. Nope.

Well, [BUY SOME APPLES].

This is what I get for not grabbing one at work when I had the chance. No collector's edition goodies for me.

That's okay, I guess. At least I still have the free copy I got for the annual pass.

Note to self: pre-order Mist of Pandaria from Amazon.com before bed tonight.

Edit: And as a final kick in the groin when I'm already down, I can't even console myself with the free copy I've got because I can't login due to the servers being full.

[OctaviaHow does Frederic do it?]

Everything is down

Blizzard

I was just about to make my character, and I can't even connect

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

I've got family in town today.

So I've got at least 4 hours or so before I get home. Maybe they'll be up by then? (We're going to this amazing Indian restaurant. Going to get my lame-ass Nord family to eat Curry and love it.)

[Lhet]

Played for...a long time, got to near the end of Act 3, took a nap...and it's down.
Welp, doesn't hurt to sleep a bit more.

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

took a nap...and it's down.

What a Lhet down.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

Did anyone ever mention that what you want to do is go into options and turn on elective mode? Like, first thing you do?

Elective mode?

[W.T. FitsSpoilers, you say? Well, in that case, I suppose I should avert my eyes.]

I finally managed to get in for like an hour before noticing a message in the chat window that they were shutting the servers down.

Still, it was fun, just running around, smashing dudes' heads in with my barbarian. Very therapeutic.

[RagnarWhat's older? Unicorns, or stars?]

Elective mode?

You know how you can't assign, say, blizzard to left-click, because it's in the wrong category? Elective mode lets you assign any skill to any key.

[Crow.Why, of course!I'm clearly insane! .]

It's this very reason that "always having to be connected" is really stupid. I might as well be playing WoW.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

You know how you can't assign, say, blizzard to left-click, because it's in the wrong category? Elective mode lets you assign any skill to any key.

Ahh.

Y'know, my wizard was running past a pair of villagers in Act One on her way to buy some jewelry, when one of the men said something along the lines of:

"Ahhhh. And there she goes again. What I wouldn't give to have her take me on an adventure."

And then the woman standing next to him goes

"Oh sure. I'm sure she'd be interested in a balding old cooper like you."

[JaceNVTo save one from a mistake is a gift of paradise]

So I've got at least 4 hours or so before I get home. Maybe they'll be up by then?

Since they've been more down than up just during the afternoon here, I figure once we hit evening primetime in all timezones, after everyone gets home from work, the servers will probably never come back for more than a few minutes at a time. It's like the WoW launch, you can probably figure on the game being almost unplayable for at least the rest of the day, and possibly the week.

Fake edit: And now it looks like the servers are anticipated to be up by 3:30 PST. They just keep pushing it back 2 hours at a time.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

Played through most of Act one with Perpetual and Vorelas. That was fun, guys.

[Frosthawkwhat is this. what is this SHIT]

I'm still installing.

[Perpetual]

Yeah, that was a really good time.

Looks like the experience curve works alright for catching people up, vorelas joined us 5 or 6 levels behind (if I remember correctly) and we were pretty much all the same level by the end of the act. Act boss was a bit bananas, but all three of us being ranged and relatively squishy was probably a large part of it.

Shame you couldn't join us The Great M, but I'm guessing it's because your on the EU realms perhaps? I wasn't aware you were on EU instead of the NA, which was probably what that error means. I'm not 100% on how all the regional server shenanigans work though.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

Oh my God. That fight was absolutely brutal. Vorelas was the man, though. Kept on managing to get to us for a revive so the party could keep on ticking.

Absolutely fun though.

I like the fact that playing with more players who are willing to offer each other equipment means that there's more of a chance that you would get something useful.

[MordjaLYRA is the cool pony who likes to hang out. You can find most of the cool ponies with her. LYRA can just chill and do whatever and totally relax. "Take it easy" is the LYRA motto, for example, that's how laid back she is.]

Welp guys, just got this game after all.
Added my name to the list, I'll be running a wizard first of all, then a Monk to play with IRL friends. I'm sharing the account with my brother, and seeing as he's the one actually paying for it I'll probably only be on sporadically, likely in the evenings.
Still!

[Frosthawkwhat is this. what is this SHIT]

Hopefully the servers are back up now, I'm going to start and hopefully get enough experience to catch up with the rest of you.

[Lhet]

Just beat normal, time for nightmare.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

Just beat normal, time for nightmare.

Holy shit. That was fast.

[Frosthawkwhat is this. what is this SHIT]

Is the game buggin' out for anyone else? I had to restart because for some reason it wouldn't let me enter the Cathedral Level One, and then when I tried to log back in it just timed out on me.


Or as my computer really that lame?

[The great MPinke Torte das Pony.---]

Shame you couldn't join us The Great M, but I'm guessing it's because your on the EU realms perhaps? I wasn't aware you were on EU instead of the NA, which was probably what that error means. I'm not 100% on how all the regional server shenanigans work though.

Nope, it was just a general server error. You can't even attempt to join players in other regions (in fact, you can't even see them on your friends list. Great infrastructure there, Blizzard ). Seriously, for a "feature" called Global Play, it sure as hell isn't.

I'm going to be playing multiple chars, some on Americas and some on Europe.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

You know what's surprisingly annoying? That sinking feeling you get when you realize that the cool dudes you partied with are leveling up and playing RIGHT NOW while you're lagging behind due to work IRL.

[W.T. FitsSpoilers, you say? Well, in that case, I suppose I should avert my eyes.]

Put in some more time with some folks from my WoW guild. Then I paused for a short break. Gonna hop back on and add names from the google doc to my friend list. Also, I added my battle tag to the google doc.

[Crow.Why, of course!I'm clearly insane! .]

Just defeated Maghda and taking a nap.

Y'all are always welcomed in my games!

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

SPOILERS ARGHGHLGG.


Also, servers are apparently down for me now.

[Rainbow Crash]

They're down for me too. I've been able to play a grand total of 15 minutes today between the servers exploding and work

[Perpetual]

SPOILERS ARGHGHLGG.


Also, servers are apparently down for me now.

I keep getting boss/event spoilers from looking at the achievements that pop up from people on my friends list

And yeah, just got kicked off entirely. Bah, me and my friend were almost to the last act 1 dungeon

[Val HelmetheadDamn it, fire hose doesn't work that way!]

Going to have to join up with some of you folks soon. I'm sitting at lvl 15 right now, wandering through the torture rooms with my trusty man-servent "Templar".

[Frosthawkwhat is this. what is this SHIT]

I'm at level 8 and honestly I'm pretty psyched about that. Aside from a few rough spots at the beginning and me dying about a dozen times because I suck, it's been fun.

[Scuderia FerrarityThe Corndogs Of Today are the Tacos of Tomorrow]

I cave and buy a copy and now the servers are down. Time for some grocery shopping while this weird sonofabitch downloads.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

I cave and buy a copy and now the servers are down. Time for some grocery shopping while this weird sonofabitch downloads.

This reminds me.


What happens if I play as my level 15 Wizard with say, a level 1 Monk? How strong are the enemies? What is the loot and experience gain like? Money?

I want to know at what point do I stop and say "Sorry, I can't play with you because you're way too high leveled for me. "

[RagnarWhat's older? Unicorns, or stars?]

This reminds me.


What happens if I play as my level 15 Wizard with say, a level 1 Monk? How strong are the enemies? What is the loot and experience gain like? Money?

I want to know at what point do I stop and say "Sorry, I can't play with you because you're way too high leveled for me. "

Depends on where you play. When a level 5 player parties with a level 30, if they play where the level 5 is supposed to be at that level, the lvl 5 levels normally and the level 30 levels how you'd expect. If the lvl 30 takes the lvl 5 player to a lvl 30 zone, the lvl 5 player is going to get almost no xp and all quest progress for that character in that place will not be saved. This means, if you're set on partying with someone who outlevels you or vice versa, you'll want to play in the zone appropriate for the lower level character.

Then again, I don't know about gold and items, so maybe a low level character in a high level zone will still get great loot to make up for the bad xp and lack of progress.

[Crow.Why, of course!I'm clearly insane! .]

Is it possible to change your followers talents? More importantly....how?

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

We did most of Act 1 (before the servers crapped out) last night. Played with two wow friends, and one pony friend. It was great.
I'm a Monk! I use that aoe sweeping thing, along with my passive means (barring however the fuck aggro works in this game) I can aoe tank super well. My spam reduces attack and movement speed, and, when I hit, I debuff my enemies' damage by 25%.

[Vulin]

I'm in the middle of Act 2 right now and the Monk has been confirmed as best class.

It is just greatly satisfying to dash in the middle of a group of enemies, pull them all close together, do a fire-roundhousekick and see them all explode. Oh, and being able to punch someone's head off is fun too.
The only complaint that I have right now is that it's maybe a little bit too easy, since there is no way for me to die right now between Health Potions, defensive spell heal, Health Orbs and the passive that heals me if I use my spirit points, but it's probably going to get a lot harder later on.

[RagnarWhat's older? Unicorns, or stars?]

Is it possible to change your followers talents? More importantly....how?

Right click on his portrait and hit "retrain".

Unrelated: You can bind skills to mouse wheel scroll up and down, so you can put five skills total on a $10 mouse and play mostly one-handed.

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

Unrelated: You can bind skills to mouse wheel scroll up and down, so you can put five skills total on a $10 mouse and play mostly one-handed.

:quagmire:

[Crow.Why, of course!I'm clearly insane! .]

Right click on his portrait and hit "retrain".

Unrelated: You can bind skills to mouse wheel scroll up and down, so you can put five skills total on a $10 mouse and play mostly one-handed.

Ha, I never noticed that. Thanks!

The Wizard still uses the damage on a weapon right? I was using a 2h Bow on my Wizard with (21 dps) 25 intellect on it, and switched to a random 2h sword (31 dps) in my bags and noticed a large increase in damage.

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

Yep! I like that "weapon" just powers your abilities, as opposed to relying on weapon type and damage. WIZARD WITH HUGE SWORD!

[RagnarWhat's older? Unicorns, or stars?]

I rewrote the OP to be more helpful.