Is it just me? i really cant get into this game. This is my first Diablo game, i used to watch my friend play Diablo 2 on his PC, it looked interesting. I played halfway through Act 1, and was just bored. I can clearly see the game is well built, AMAZING sound, its just so boring for me. I find the combat just tedious, and rush in and go to the next. Obviously im playing it on normal and playing it on higher difficulties will make it more intense. I guess i should give the game more time?

Have tried both left clicking AND right clicking, not together of course, that would be patently ridiculous.

I would stick it out for higher difficulties and if at all possible play it with 3 other friends, when things like crowd control, healing and buffing come into play if feels more like a video game.

im the same with cheese.

lots of my freinds and other people love it.

but ijust don't like it. if find it boring and just can't get it to it.

i guess people just have different preferences and tastes.

The gameplay will probably never excite you, if anything it'll bore or annoy you. But then again that's not what makes the game enjoyable. It's all about loot-lust. Opening that resplendent chest and seeing what comes out, killing a pack of elites and getting a few new magic items or killing a last boss and just be showered with items. Unfortunately it takes a while before that really kicks into gear, but if you've ever been excited by loot in games I'd give it another shot.

I think I had a similar feeling. I've found that Diablo 3 gets more interesting when you get more abilities, play with friends, and play on higher difficulties. The massive hand holding the game gives you though out the first act, and for a chunk of the normal play through, could make me see why you are not so interested in the combat. My suggestion would be to find a group of friends and play with them, a full party would be optimal. I really do believe that this game is the most fun when you have a plentiful friend list and can jump into a game with them and beat some demon arse. Play through the game once and try out Nightmare. I do not know what you have tried or who you have played with. If you are still not interested in the game, then I would suggest a couple different classes. if you still have nothing, then maybe this game is not up your alley. Dungeon hacks are not notoriously known for their overly exciting combat, but I have had more fun with D3 than any other of it's genre.

i'm wary of any game that uses operant conditioning as its main pull

@killacam said:

i'm wary of any game that uses operant conditioning as its main pull

Just letting you know that this made me look up operant conditioning on Wikipedia,

There isn't necessarily something wrong with you or the game when you don't see why a popular game is popular.

Maybe it's just not your cup of tea. Nothing wrong with that.

I love watching my friends play this game and my cousin in Toronto handed me a guest pass when he bought the game, so I gave it a whirl. This was my first Diablo game, so I truly didn't know what to fully expect. Needless to say, the gameplay bored me and the camera angle was annoying.

I guess I just can't stand these type of games and their style of play.

You don't have to play everything.

I loved Diablo II, but I can't get into this one. Perhaps it's because I picked the Demon Hunter and there's absolutely no variation in the combat or the gear I can use at this low level.

@Sayishere:

I must say that suggestions like changing class or whatever won't help. Instead put the gaming off for a bit until you have an important project or exams coming up. If you are the type to put things on the back-burner and procrastinate, this will be the perfect game considering that at this point a serious procrastinator is ready to rather clean up or sort boxes of old stuff, rather than studying or preparing.

The deliberately crafted Skinner Box and the soothingly monotonous compulsive push-button activity will then take full effect and make you forget and ignore all worries or responsibilities coming up in your life. Also you can earn about 10 cents an hour with this activity by selling things on the auction house, so you are covered financially. And yes, hook up with like minded people, social interaction via headset and chat window, is a very enriching experience and a straight path not to just having fun but to make great friends for life, as the saying goes 'merry loves company'.

@Rumour said:

@killacam said:

i'm wary of any game that uses operant conditioning as its main pull

Just letting you know that this made me look up operant conditioning on Wikipedia,

Everyone who plays games should know what this means, especially these days when it´s become so prominent with points, badges and leveling everywhere. Cracked.com (yeah, I know) did a really good article on this kind of game design a while back that was based on a Gamasutra article by a behavioral psychologist who works at Microsoft. Scary stuff.

I can´t get into Diabo either for that very same reason and it´s the same thing with MMOs and "social" games on Facebook. I just don´t like feeling like a rat in a Skinner box.

@Sayishere: If you are referring to the slow easy pace of the game then it's kind of the games fault as it's supposed to be a pushover on Normal difficulty. Also earlier acts are longer and even less fast. but at the same time act1 normal you have actually barely experienced the real Diablo, you're basically still in the tutorial parts.

However as you go further in it can ramp up pretty quickly making combat/gearing/setups much more fun and relevant.

If it doesn't engage you when you start playing in Normal, I doubt it's gonna grab you on harder difficulties.

It is pretty damn boring until you get a decent number of skills and runes.

If the gameplay of Diablo series, Torchlight, Titan Quest, Sacred or any of the other clones don't grab you then yeah it's probably not going to hook you now. Nothing wrong with it, just find games you do like. I'm the same way with Starcraft, I love the look of the game & all the sci-fi elements in the game but an RTS I know I just cannot enjoy playing.

@MeatBoy: Pretty much all games operates with a skinner box setup to a certain degree, not just MMOs and social games. If anything, those games rely more on social pressure and less on empty rewards than other games.

@killacam said:

i'm wary of any game that uses operant conditioning as its main pull

I want to be wary of these games, but my brain loooooooves what they do. If only D3 had funnier hats to wear, I'd be set for life.

Personally I hadn't played a Diablo game before 3 and I am currently loving it.

You don't have to play everything.

Stick with it. If you ain't liking it by the time you are playing Nightmare difficulty, Diablo III is probably not for you. Being halfway through Act I, you have seen nothing yet. Certainly do a full playthrough on Normal.

@Ares42: It´s true that most games us those techniques to a certain degree, but the genres I mentioned often have them as their primary focus. Have you ever played Cityville? Of course the social pressure is a big factor but so is the constant and overwhelming feedback you get from every god damn click. Coins and stars pop out of absolutely everything and quick little progress bars fill up every second. The fact that you can pay to make the game less grinding (thereby in fact paying to NOT play the game), should tell you the gameplay is not the focus of the experience.

The point is that games in those genres are typically built to make you grind for the so called extrinsic rewards in stead of playing for the intrinsic rewards that come from mastering interesting challenges, feeling like your in control, relating to others (cooperating and competing) and not to mention exploring the world, experiencing the story and so on. A game (considered as a system of rules, goals, interesting challenges and so on) should be fun and intrinsically rewarding on its own. Rewards structures should only be adding to the fun, not trying to be the fun.

Edit: If reward structures were the fun part of games, this would be the best game ever: Progress Wars

I can't get into it either, keep getting Error 37! <RIMSHOT>

I could never get into Diablo. I can see the appeal and why its so loved but a game based mostly on getting better loot just never appealed to me and gets boring and tedious fast. Its not bad though if you just want something to play for a short time in between doing other things.

Same here. Totally respect the game in every way and absolutely see it is built with great precision and care, however I just can't play it. When I try to decide between playing diablo 3 or dragons dogma I pick DD everytime. Luckily someone gave me a starter code so I didn't spend any cash or I'd be quite upset.

@MeatBoy: I was just trying to point out that if you don't like to be in a skinner box, you probably shouldn't play videogames. But I can see how you find it more comfortable when it's not so obvious it's there. Most "normal" games might have more sophisticated trappings, but the only real difference between those and MMOs and social games (or rather online/multiplayer games) is that they don't have the social trappings. While a game like Cityville might be very blatant about it (never played it myself), there are plenty of non-social singleplayer games that also operate in similar ways. And at the same time there's plenty of multiplayer games (MMOs and social games included) that have more sophisticated trappings.

@Sayishere said:

Is it just me? i really cant get into this game. This is my first Diablo game, i used to watch my friend play Diablo 2 on his PC, it looked interesting. I played halfway through Act 1, and was just bored. I can clearly see the game is well built, AMAZING sound, its just so boring for me. I find the combat just tedious, and rush in and go to the next. Obviously im playing it on normal and playing it on higher difficulties will make it more intense. I guess i should give the game more time?

I love the game but the normal mode is way too easy at points and i can see that as a turn off to people, especially those who maybe dont have an affinity to the genre. it does get more interesting but its hard to convey, watching videos of late game stuff could show you what i mean but some of the stuff is hard to convey second hand, having a full team coordinating and using your abilities at just the right time can be immensely satisfying.

though maybe its just not for you and i can understand that too.

@Ares42 said:

The gameplay will probably never excite you, if anything it'll bore or annoy you. But then again that's not what makes the game enjoyable. It's all about loot-lust. Opening that resplendent chest and seeing what comes out, killing a pack of elites and getting a few new magic items or killing a last boss and just be showered with items. Unfortunately it takes a while before that really kicks into gear, but if you've ever been excited by loot in games I'd give it another shot.

That is what Diablo is all about. But I don't get the same loot-feeling as I did from the two older games. I honestly don't know what's wrong with me.

@Buscemi: I think your problem is the same as a very large portion of the people that bought D3 has. You're older and you've done it before, many times.

I can see how someone can think this game is boring and tedious. However if you are really into loot based games, then you will be in loot heaven with this game.

Yay. High school intro to psychology discussions.

It may not be your cup of tea, mate. If the loot lust isn't enough to grab you, the gameplay isn't going to be the thing to keep you around

@Ares42: I think you´re grossly underestimating a lot of very good games that, while may incorporate extrinsic rewards (at least achievements if nothing else) still focus on the gameplay as a reward in and of it self.

The most important thing about extrinsic rewards to me at least, is that they actually symbolize overcoming some kind of challenge and not come as a result of grinding. They also shouldn´t be controlling how I play. I love the achievement popping sound on the Xbox 360, the leveling sound in Diablo and the crazy fireworks at the end of a stage in Peggle as much as anyone, but like I said, they should be adding to the fun, not be the fun. (Also: Peggle would be a great game even without the fireworks. It´s chock full of interesting challenges too)

I´m not saying this applies to you, but I get the feeling that a lot of people are actually missing out on the best parts about video games, but just sticking to the grinding of MMOs.

Yeah, it's the same for me. I just need to unlock nightmare because I just simply won't have fun unless it's challenging. So far, the fun part for me is unlocking the skills of different characters, but there is a lot of stuff in the game that just feels pointless. Why am I even killing these dudes if I could do it in my sleep, why is this loot even dropping if it's pointless to even pick up, and why should I even care about gold, it seems to be mostly pointless other than upgrading the dude who lets you craft? I understand everyone's complaints about the whole skinner box thing, but I really don't care about that because I feel I am not in any way affected by that sort of thing. Games are fun for me because of either a quality story (which not many have), or unique gameplay systems and mechanics to learn that provides a challenge to get better at those skills, not just having a player character get better by leveling up. So far Diablo III has very little of any of these things, and I'm just sort of waiting it out until maybe it gets better.

Basically I'm really bored with the game right now, but I'm playing because its fun to play with friends regardless, and I just want to get to the harder difficulties so then maybe it will actually start getting fun.

this thread started with, is it just me? I couldnt be bothered reading after that...

@wmaustin55 said:

@Buscemi Me either. I think it's the scarcity of legendary/set pieces and them not even being particularly good if you find them. That and auction house? Not sure but I'm feeling the same way kinda

Could very well be. I don't get that feeling of gratification when I find items, not like I did before.

The way I see it, though, is what has happened with a lot of Blizzard games over the past years. I don't want to say that they're designing their games toward people that might not have played older Blizzard games, per say, but it's something along those lines. Trivial things like not sharing loot and how you respawn just a few seconds from your corpse. Things like that. I'm not putting anything up, if that makes any sense. I know that Dave talked about this in one of the subscriber videos. How social drama makes up so much of a game. Arguing about people stealing from the guild bank, changing your banner to an Alliance kind just before changing side. Those things don't exist anymore. It's streamlined to such an extent that it feels meaningless.

I had to play with other people to fully enjoy myself.

@avantegardener said:

Have tried both left clicking AND right clicking, not together of course, that would be patently ridiculous.

I would stick it out for higher difficulties and if at all possible play it with 3 other friends, when things like crowd control, healing and buffing come into play if feels more like a video game.

Don't make it sound that bad. You never even talked about middle clicking.

@AndrewB said:

@avantegardener said:

Have tried both left clicking AND right clicking, not together of course, that would be patently ridiculous.

I would stick it out for higher difficulties and if at all possible play it with 3 other friends, when things like crowd control, healing and buffing come into play if feels more like a video game.

Don't make it sound that bad. You never even talked about middle clicking.

OH MY GOD, I JUST THOUGHT I'VE NEVER EVEN MIDDLE CLICKED MYSELF! I got to go! Reminds of the time of I discovered sprint in Skyrim at about level 10.