I can't remember the specifics of the D2 identification system, but I think it was something like: get rare+ item, use scroll of identification, know what the item was, and sell/equip.

Blizzard wisely decided that scrolls of identification were stupid, and I'm cool with that, but why is there a casting time on identification? In fact, why is there identification at all? What purpose does it serve in a game without scrolls of identification?

The identification 'mechanic' is as much a relic as the strange curios that are being identified.

A lot of old 'gameplay' mechanics are falling by the torch of Why Do I Have To Do Something That Isn't Fun In Order To Do Something That Is Fun?

It's such a weird throwback in a game that progressed so much in the skill/potion system. Here's to hoping they patch it out some day.

I feel like it's suppose to make it a little more exciting. Kind of "oooh a 400 armor belt, please be good, please be good" type of deal. I don't really mind it

This is probably a VERY rare scenario but imagine your in the middle of a boss fight and you just picked up a yellow item beforehand, you could spend a couple of seconds identifying to find something that could be useful and equip it. I think its an interesting trade-off, making sure your not equipping newer and better weopons in the middle of combat. It also makes a little bit of sense in the, wow I just picked up a rare item. But I have no idea what it does, let me take a second to understand how it works.

@destruktive: I don't know if everyone has the loot text on, but I feel like the excitement quotient is realized when you see the yellow+ item on the ground, but I also see where you're coming from.

@gamefreak9: I like this explanation most of all of them. Just this idea that these items are a big deal and you should take a few extra, relatively quiet moments to examine it.

I believe the reason why you are forced to channel stuff like the teleport stones and identification is so you can't trigger it in the middle of combat. Personally I think they should allow instant identifies while "in town".

i like the casting time. its like rolling dice.

what is it, what is it, what is it....ohhh

It seemed odd to me to start with that if there was no item needed to identify stuff then why do I even need to do it.

I'm glad they left it in now. When you pick up an orange it gives you a great moment of suspense and excitement in that short period of identification. Very satisfying.

@destruktive said:

I feel like it's suppose to make it a little more exciting. Kind of "oooh a 400 armor belt, please be good, please be good" type of deal. I don't really mind it

Pretty much this. It's not enough of an encumbrance to really justify complaining, but it's also enough of a nostalgic flick to make fans like I happy to see it.

@ck1nd: Definitely true. I just find it too much of a momentum buster for my tastes and it's inclusion baffles me about as much as white and grey items, which sell for so little they may as well not be in the game. In fact, whites and greys only exist to make blues+ look better. I suppose there are people who equip whites believing they're better?

Actually, that's a great idea for a challenge playthrough: Only white items.

The developers have said that it's to create that specific 'drumroll' effect in order to build excitement for what the item might be. I really like it and think it's an important part of the game.

It's more important in the case of legendaries and sets where if a legendary bow drops there's only a small number of things it could possibly be.

I think it's kind of dumb and unnecessary. But I really, really don't care. If someone gets a kick out of it, just leave it in there.

@TobbRobb: I think that's where I'm gonna have to land on this topic. Enough people like it that I can't really rail against it, but I do find it unnecessary and annoying to my play style.

@ElCapitan said:

@ck1nd: Definitely true. I just find it too much of a momentum buster for my tastes and it's inclusion baffles me about as much as white and grey items, which sell for so little they may as well not be in the game. In fact, whites and greys only exist to make blues+ look better. I suppose there are people who equip whites believing they're better?

Actually, that's a great idea for a challenge playthrough: Only white items.

I really think the idea behind including all of those trash items is to just add to the "loot whore" atmosphere that follows this type of genre around. People would be a little upset if potions and blue items only dropped a smaller rate.

It's like christmas. Unwrapping a gift.

And then it's... 'God damn Grandma! Socks again?' or 'Hells yeah! Dinobots. Thanks so very much!'

@ck1nd: Yeah, I mean, the game would feel weirdly empty if the whites/greys didn't drop, but this is all just psychologically manipulating the player. Sure, we see the whites/greys drop, but they are functionally useless in the game past level 5 or 6 when blues start dropping. After that the white/greys are just there to remind you that you haven't struck it big and accidentally click on them while trying to get real loot.

In fact, that brings up another obnoxious trait about white items: useful things like gems, pages, potions, and secret level items drop as whites, which means you cannot safely ignore all whites without reading the title...

I'm not a game designer, but I wouldn't design loot this way. I'd rather all useless equipment be grey, useful, non-equipment items (pots, secret items, gems, etc.) be white, and the rest of the drop color palette can remain as is.

@Seppli said:

It's like christmas. Unwrapping a gift.

And then it's... 'God damn Grandma! Socks again?' or 'Hells yeah! Dinobots. Thanks so very much!'

But more than not, it's socks.

Not sure but I definitely like it over having to keep a stack of scrolls to identify them. I'm just glad that the identify is only needed on rare or above, if it was on the blue items too the game would slow to a freaking crawl as you keep finding them.

Suspense and making a rare or greater item drop an event.

@destruktive said:

I feel like it's suppose to make it a little more exciting. Kind of "oooh a 400 armor belt, please be good, please be good" type of deal. I don't really mind it

this is how i feel too, at least you will never be stuck not knowing until you pick up more scrolls.

@ElCapitan:

I agree with your sentiment about useful items being white, though if I know the next wp is nearby I do pick up white items, which is an indication of slighly better selling price than grey ones. Since i'm going to town ANW it makes sense to just fill up your inv space.

@destruktive said:

I feel like it's suppose to make it a little more exciting. Kind of "oooh a 400 armor belt, please be good, please be good" type of deal. I don't really mind it

This is pretty much why. It's there to enhance the loot lust experience.

I personally like it, it's the gaming equivalent of opening a present and finding out what's inside ^^

Probably so you can't equip unidentified rares mid-battle.

It's really just all about feeling and making it a bit more exciting - which in my opinion works.

That said, it would be cool if it was just a quick "ting" and it is immediately identified. When I do some Inferno Warden/Butcher runs and I get like 10rare drops overall, it can get a bit tedious ;)

I actually like it. Adds to the suspense.

@mazik765 said:

I actually like it. Adds to the suspense.

This is exactly why they do it. It's actually very closely tied in to addiction behaviors. If you have to wait for it, even just a little bit, you are more likely to want it more.

5 seconds is about the optimal amount of time for a small action like this, any longer and you start to get annoyed. Any TF2 players that have ever unboxed an item have experienced this exactly. I think the Diablo 3 identify casting is a bit shorter, since you're more likely to be doing it more times in one sitting, so the annoyance threshold is lower.

@stinky said:

i like the casting time. its like rolling dice.

what is it, what is it, what is it....ohhh

I think that's because it actually is rolling dice! I presume that the item you pick up is a blank template and only when you are standing still and fumble around in your inventory with the item while nothing else happens does the client contact the blizzard server asking "hey, what kind of item should we give out customer?" which then leads to various calculations based on your difficulty, previous items, auction house happenings, etc which is masked by the casting time (also adding "fun"(?) tension for the player). Because it's not simply random for randomness' sake, it probably takes a little longer than in Diablo and Diablo 2 where this happened instantly (without having to contact a server).

I'm curious whether an unidentified item can be placed up for auction. It would be interesting if so.

Because if it wasn't there people would bitch.

I remember in D2 identification was good.. it was a way to sell items of a certain type at one set price. For example.... Unique X item could have ABC stats.. well some ABC stats would sell much higher then others etc on that one item... so instead it would be sold unidentified to keep the value the same...

Also I'm very vaguely remembering something with the magic find level of the player Identifying having an effect on the stats produced... or maybe I'm crazy.

the "casting time" is properly just so that when you see your rare/lengendary item your insuspence to see if you can use it and have to get to somewhere safe before you can see what it is.

@fox01313 said:

Not sure but I definitely like it over having to keep a stack of scrolls to identify them. I'm just glad that the identify is only needed on rare or above, if it was on the blue items too the game would slow to a freaking crawl as you keep finding them.

so true

@AncientMecha: Screw those damn crates man.

Don't think it's got anything to do with mid-battle stuff. You can change your gear mid-battle if you want, there's no reason to stop you.

The developers said it's for suspense.

I cross my fingers every time.

@AncientMecha: Well in TF2's case they're giving you a chance to change your mind since keys cost money, but, yes, it has to do with suspense...

And it doesn't work for me. I'd much rather just know when I pick it up. There's more than enough suspense in the moments between when I see "Dagger" written in yellow on the floor and I click on it to pick it up.

It's really nitpicky.

But identifying an item is the best part about getting a good drop. It definately feels like your rolling the dice and thats fun.

I like the anticipation while you wait for it to indentify. Weird there are no scrolls like in trochlight but makes sense I guess.