Diablo 3 Area/Act/Quest ideas!

[McGorilla]

Interesting idea..sounds a bit crazy, but maybe fewer D2 things should be utilized in D3..Hmm, but yeah, that does sound totally ridiculous but fun

 

[Shadow_Drifter]

Hmmm... Pale just made me think of something.

What if there was a Metroid Prime 2 style theme to it... just listen =)

PLOT IDEA:

After the destruction of the worldstone something strange happend to the mortals that defeated Baal. Their concentrated memories of the prime evils (which if it were you would be pretty unforgetable) coupled with the energy given from the stone has caused something unseen to happen... "Artificial" pregnancy for one of the women class characters (carrying triplets)

Being a hero she knows somethings wrong, but also being a mother she cant bring herself to kill the babies that are born, they look human afterall.... maybe the gods blessed her for her hard work. But alas it is the three reborn in the mortal plane... They grow up being nasty children but being human to a degree and born their memories remain dormant for a while.

When they are old enough they begin becoming more evil until their mother relising her mistake trys to kill em... they destroy her absolutly.

Their memories awoken and granted human form (being demons they have the power to release their more dominate forms and powers but can later revert to human form) they seek a way to better improve themselves for still deep down the spirit of their human mother can wrestle with their decisions.

(this is where I get inspiration from something pale said =) )

They find an ancient temple belonging to the Vizjeri Mages. LONG forgotten even by the lore keepers (AKA the new horadrim) They find a spell where they can transend the mortal plane and travel by astral plane (kind of like etherial). The draw back is it was intended for full humans only and the demons find a draw back being that they exist in the same space in both planes. They can howerver foward their weaknesses from one plane to another

Finally learning of them Tyreal returns from exile (NOT EVIL) and teaches new heros the very fundamentals of this spell.

Monsters spawned by the Three also inherit some of these attributes and to fight em the player would have a Astral Travel skill they would need to use to fight the weaker form of the monster (The creatures existing in both planes). Since the heroes are all human they can utilise the spell better and completely move from one plane to another.

For boss fights it would be necessary to jump back and foward across the planes many times to hit the boss at thier weakest.

In the other plane things might look different like as Pale said, rivers red sun is black or purple... that kind of stuff...

NATURAL CREATURES:

sometimes you will fight natural creatures which only exist in a specific plane. The "living" creatures are in the corporeal world while ghosts wraiths and demons are in the etherial world. (some natural creatures will have the same skill as you and you may need to swap one plane for another to kill it).

WEAPONS AND ARMOUR:

Switching from plane to plan will result in you swaping out physical armour for spectral armour. (you would need 2 suits of armour in other words) same applies for weapons... The bonus granted from the armours dont carry over from plane to plane... except defence... better spectral armour means you will resist spells better.

TOWNS:

Towns will be done strangely. While incorporeal you wont be able to buy from people but you will be able to read thoughts. This will grant extra quests. Also the towns grave yard will be host to the spirits of the townsfolk and you may be able to buy spectral armour and weapons. in the Corporeal world you wont be able to interact with ghosts at all

(this would make tristram a very interesting place =) )

thats all i can think of at the moment

 

[Pale_Horse]

Wow! All I have to say is wow. I LOVE it. That was everything I wanted to say and more. Glad someone could put it into text.
The two forms are amazing. Great way to get side quests. I'm gonna have to think long and hard to top that one.

 

[Shadow_Drifter]

Thankee =)

 

[McGorilla]

That was a really good idea, but one thing I'm just a bit curious about is this whole Plane thing that everyone keeps talking about. I understand what it means, I just want to know why people keep coming up with ideas involving planes and stuff like that. Anyway, really good idea well done

 

[Shadow_Drifter]

MCGorilla. My concept behind the planes is that because the world stone got destroyed the barriers between the planes has broken down over time. Tyreal says at the end of D2 EXP that though stopped for now evil will return (or something along those lines)

 

[McGorilla]

Aaaah! I see now..Okay Thank you for that. Good job by the way, your idea is excellent

 

[Pale_Horse]

MCGorilla. My concept behind the planes is that because the world stone got destroyed the barriers between the planes has broken down over time. Tyreal says at the end of D2 EXP that though stopped for now evil will return (or something along those lines)

This is primarily where I came up with the alternate plane idea as well. Seems to be the next step in the game from my point of view. That is, if they continue it where it left off sort of like the transition from D1 to D2.

 

[McGorilla]

Yeah. Maybe in future I should read the whole post *sigh* sorry guys.

 

[Shadow_Drifter]

=) no worries

 

[Jacks]

Ah, and for my first post in the forum. Hello.

Shadow_Drifter, I like your idea. It's clever. What about this, though;
Shifting planes would be like the unsummon skill, or opening a window (Simply a press of the key). That would keep it fast paced, but then again, perhaps actively casting it (Without a mana cost, for that'd just be unfair) and showing an animation for the switch would be better. Personally I think both planes should be layered directly on top of each other (with the same map and dimensions), in order to simplify map generation and make it easier to navigate. Also, you might want other people to know where you're at (Though being completely invisible would be fun for sneaking up and killing people, an interesting element to PvP), and so perhaps having your character displayed in a different way on the screen.

I was thinking that perhaps on the other plane, when you switch, just invert the colors. It'd be the easiest thing to do, I think, as far as load on the computer and what not, rather than filling the screen with various stuff. Also, it'd make it simple for informing others on where you're at - Just having your character map inverted from everything else. For example, you're in this big black-and-red room, and you're character is all white. You need to switch planes to fight the boss, so you hit the trigger to do it (whatever it is) and bam! You and the room invert colors (but any teammates left in the other plane stay the same color), and you can do what you need to do in that plane. To your teammates, your character does it's little animation thing and inverts colors (or dissappears, if that's how you want it). Just thought it'd be an interesting way to do it.

Also liked your idea of the entire spectral and plane-specific stuff. For a monster on a single plane, perhaps it looks like some glowy orb thing floating around when you're on the wrong plane, but when you switch it's the full monster? Also thought since you're switching to spectral stuff, maybe use ethereal weapons and armor for the spectral plane, to throw in a little taste of the old D2 world into D3? For instance, in D2 ethereal weapons damage like a normal weapon but can't be repaired. How about if in this idea for D3 ethereal weapons can be repaired, but only on the 'spectral' plane, as well as only doing damage on that plane?


Another interesting twist would be if you switched the health and mana values when you switch planes? As in, when you switch to the 'spectral' plane, because it's all spiritual, your mana is treated as your life, and you spend your life as mana. When your mana (blue) is completely depeleted, you're automatically kicked out of the 'spectral' plane back into the physical plane until your mana regenerates and you're 'alive' again in that plane, enabling you to do the animation to go back. I think it'd lead for a more balanced character Health/Mana wise rather than the barbarians with ten thousand health and twenty mana. Also perhaps when you're kicked from the 'spectral' plane it drops a certain amount of durability (not the max, just the current, because dropping the max would be uncool) from your spectral equipment?

Perhaps even throw a new spin on the death concept (Diablo seems to have a little habit of that - D1 single player; You die, game over. D1 Multi Player; You die, all your equipment flings about and you restart back in town completely naked, and you must go find all that stuff before someone takes it. D2 single and multi player; You die, you lose a % of money and/or experience, you restart in town and must go find your body. Only if you enable it can others take your stuff), so that when you 'die' in the physical plane (Red globe completely empty), you get automatically kicked to the 'spectral' plane (with a % damage done to current durability of physical equipment), and you cannot return to physical plane until a certain thing. Be that go to town and have some shaman or whatever revive you, or just drink a health potion, I don't know, either sounds alright, but if it's just health potion it makes it too easy to just die and come back full force. Perhaps make it a kick to the spectral, and when you return you must grab your corpse. Traditional, but with a twist.

Overall I do like your two-plane idea. It would utilize the dual-sets of equipment equip from LoD, because you'd need 'spectral' and physical, but without really giving players a chance of loading up on two amazing suits of equipment. More strategic planning this way.

I also like your spin on the towns with this two-plane idea, but I think rather than having it in a graveyard (even though that'd be a nice supernatural edge that the Diablo series has), you could have the 'spectral' NPCs in town with the regular ones, perhaps in the same spot, perhaps in a slightly different. Also, of course, if you use the whole go-back-to-town-at-death thing version of my earlier stated idea on death, you'd need an NPC who could interact with either plane.

Personally one thing I'd love to see is actually having the npcs inside buildings (the ones you come to a lot; Armorer, Magic...dealer...person... You know what I mean, even if I can't describe it well!), like that shaman-thing for the death in some sort of voodoo hut you can walk inside. Probably wouldn't fit well with the organization of space or the viewpoint of the Diablo games, but I thought it'd be travelling a little forward along the path of Diablo's npc evolution (You couldn't go inside buildings in D1=Everyone was standing in front of their door but had a dialogue as though you just burst into their home. D2=You'd find NPCs under coverings and stuff, but the only 'actual building' that was one with a true purpose and recognizable would be the palace and the tavern in Lut Gholein. NPCs didn't have their own homes, but their were plenty of houses in Lut Gholein for some reason...?).



One negative comment I have is that I positively dislike your storyline. This whole bit about the worldstone being destroyed and tearing apart the fabric of space-time et cetera et cetera.... It just seems a little over the top, like you're trying to force some neat thing, as though you came up with an amazing gameplay idea, and now you're trying to fill in a storyline to explain why you're using it. I mean, it's not that bad of an explanation, because it works, but personally I find it a little... Cheesy.

It also seems like you're trying to literally drag out a sequel, kind of like a small child pulling on the edge of a parent's shirt and hoping to get a cookie. It's just too forced, I think. Personally, I find the easiest way to make a sequel when the series seems ended, is to make a prequel that fits all the history that's been described in the series, in order to help the players understand the story a little better, as well as give them more of the feeling of causing the storyline, not to mention giving the game an oppurtunity to make room for a sequel, by planting a hidden, previously un-mentioned twist in the past, that gives rise later (in the next installment), allowing for a sequel at the very end of the series, yet again. Obviously, you need these twists and complicated story bits, because otherwise people will get annoyed at you just dragging it out and stop paying attention. Note Rocky, and it's ten thousand sequels.

(Edit: Of course, the only grammatical error I find, reading my post after submitting it, is at the very beginning. Second sentence, actually, you're to your. Brilliant!)

========================================
(New post)
========================================

Ahhh, I'd so love to work for a company like Blizzard or Wizards of the Coast. Not in programming, no, I can only program VCRs, and sometimes I can't even figure that out (Hah, it took me two years to figure out how to set my VCR to record at a specific time, whereas it took me two minutes on someone elses VCR. Am I just out of luck, or do I have a very evil VCR?), but simply... Writing. It's so much fun, throwing out ideas like this, don't you agree?

Well here's mine, one that I've had since about two months after Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction came out;

The Sin Wars

Obviously, all of us are indeed a little curious as to what exactly happened during The Sin Wars, and The Great Conflict. Why not capitilize on this, and expand the storyline, by making Diablo 3 a prequel to D1, to the point when the Horadrim first is organized and hunts down the Prime Evils.

As far as the opening movie, setting the mood for the entire game, it'd be a great simplicity to take the voiceovers of the books from D1 (The Sin Wars, The Great Conflict, Et Cetera) and just throw together a good animation that illustrates what's going on (what the voiceover is talking about).

Obviously, to keep it fresh, we'll need new classes, but this is Area/Quest/Act Ideas, so they don't go here.

Forgive me if my Diablo history is a bit off in this sketch, but it's exactly that; A sketch, and therefore it's purely my plot idea and I didn't bother researching to find out if it fits perfectly or not.


And the disappointment arrives;

I'd write down the full plot thing but I've been awake a couple days now so my brain isn't at full capacity. I got up to act 2 written for the storyline then I kinda fizzed out on remembering what I had.

However, here's a very (and I do mean very) basic outline of the story.

Outline of acts; (Lemme know if it's out of order, been a while since I read the story line)
Act 1; Unite Horadrim, Gather Soulstones, Kick some Lesser Evil Butt.
Act 2; Slay your way westward after the Prime Evils, Soulstone for Baal Breaks, Kick some more lesser Evil Butt.
Act 3; Slay your way westward some more into Lut Gholien (protecting it), Carve your way into Baal's Encampment (as you have trapped him in a canyon), Kick Baal's Butt and Entomb him in Soulstone Shard with Tal Rasha.
Act 4; Go... somewhere. Kick Mephys butt, capture him.
Act 5; Hooray you're back to Tristram! YAY DIABLO ONE! Kick Diablo's butt, put him in the church.
End of game. Woot.

Obviously I'm going to post the full thing in the next couple days after I get some sleep and can therefore remember what it was. As you see act four I totally forgot where it takes place, as with act two. Hah! I feel like such a newb right now. YAY!


========================================
(New post)
========================================


Ah Yes, now I remember my final long rant before I leave you at peace for the... morning. Wow, it's morning.

Enough with this foolish "Different per diffulculty" bogus. Diffulculties are suppossed to be exactly the same. They're their for replay value, they're there so you can do the same thing with far higher challenge, and they're there so you can (obviously in a level-based game) use your higher-level skills in the beginning of the game. That's why they're the same. They're exactly what they're suppossed to be - You're starting a new game with a level 30 character? Okay, well we're going to level up all the monsters by thirty so you're not going to be completely bored killing everything in one hit.

If the diffulculties were 'different' they wouldn't be diffulculties. They'd be the next part of the game. Duh.

"Oh but it's the same story you're just taking a different path through it." - Wait, did I just hear you say it's the same story? No. You're taking a different path, you said it yourself - Therefore it's a different story. End of discussion. Go home.



========================================
(New post)
========================================


OMFG it merged my posts whyyy? :angry

This is not a doublepost! *kersmack forum*

 

[Acid Reign]

OMFG it merged my posts whyyy? :angry

This is not a doublepost! *kersmack forum*

Probably because it is longer than most novels I've read.

 

[Shadow_Drifter]

Welcome to the boards and yeah... that is a big post HAHA

Yeah when i thought it up, the idea was layers. I mean you would only use a mana free skill to flip and thats it, you wouldnt even need to load because its actually the same map. This also allows for randomly generated "mini dungeons" (EG Caves, assorted sub quest areas).

However I also thought that by swapping there would be certain stuff you could ONLY see on the flip side (creepy junk like trees made of skulls, rivers of blood etc).

As for spectral gear (i think i may have also said ethereal). What i meant to say is spectral gear is only usable on the spectral realm. Ethereal however should be cross "dimensional" but non repairable. HOWEVER to give ethereal a bit of expanded use... since its in two dimensions at once. it can do say double damage on cross "dimensinoal" being???

Monsters on another plane. I didnt want indications to be left (the glowey orb comment) I thought it would be more "Diablo" (creepy) if you swapped over and there may be a mountain of goatmen there that you didnt know were there (kinda for jump factor)

Honestly I dont think switching mana and health around could work.
there are 2 reasons to my errrr reasoning,,,

1: Mages and Warriors - A mage based character needs energy. Swapping them over leaves the mage in a tight spot, because the mage could have a spell that may drain its "LIFE" in oh say 1 shot. Warrior classes however need only take 1 hit and they die

2: If your fighting and your near dead, and your mana is depleted (say you spammed a skill) and you get "dumped" over to the normal plane your as good as dead there too, if you follow.

TOWNS:

I think i mentioned that in the place of villagers on the normal plane (when your in spectral plane) you could read their thoughts (for quest info or even possibly new "suprise" quests)

Death is an issue i didnt think too much about... how about...

In the living world when you die you are sent to a religous figurehead (a priest or shaman)
In the spectral world when you die you meet the reaper at the graveyard? (A small story plot line could be added to this if wished)

As for people who can communication across the planes... you might need to leave that to specific people. Like the assassins (since they are telepathic) or basically anyone that has that skill

STORY: (yeah i decided to post like this to address certain parts of your post)

But the worldstone did break... at the end of D2 exp. and on top of that Tyreal said that by it breaking that evil will be delayed but will be back.

I can however appreciate its kinda cheesy, because i did rush it and was basically using a plot to kinda fill in ideas.

STORY PROGRESSION

D2s story left open widely the probability of a sequel. A prequel could also work however.

The beauty of the Diablo series is that because it relies so heavily on the concepts of heaven and hell, that a timeframe could take place anywhere from say 2000 BC to 2000 AD (though modern times in such a sporadic jump might make the game a bit strange and probably totally loathed)

What if you could incorporate a means where by in certain quests (in the sequel) you play a part in the past?

I mean you select TWO chars at the start of the game... and say you do act one and an event takes place that sends you a vision of a past hero (your second character) as they take part in the sin war? (dunno killing time now till more people hope on ventrilo for dod source action =) )

So have 5 acts. 2 of these acts will take place in a distant past. This will actually allow concentration on the time frames (unless of course blizz can come up with a truely brilliant on one timeline).

So say your party kill a lesser evil (end act 1) spouting some crap like "A spirit bond? it cannot be.." (as i said crap =) )... tyreal explains that you have a spirit bond and that your spirit is that of an ancient hero that was in the sin wars. Your focus shifts and you awaken as the hero knowing only that you are the hero (not the guy from the spirits future). (( ALSO NOTE: that what is done here is what happens canonly according to the Sin War IE you dont seal baal, Tal Rasha does etc))

i rekon it could work... and now i must eat 'for my stomach shrivels any further.

 

[McGorilla]

Wow..nice ideas guys This thread has recently been spewing forth some great ideas

 

[Jacks]

Probably because it is longer than most novels I've read.

I could've made it longer.:sly

=======
New Post
=======
(EDIT: WTfff It keeps doing this to me..?)

Hey, your post is kindof big too, so there. It was three posts, I don't know why it merged. So there.:grunt

Yeah, I wasn't sure what you meant as far as layers or a different map or what. I was pretty much just spewing brain juice at that point, trying to guess what you were meaning, but glad to see we were mostly on the same page there. Makes discussing it a little easier.

Now, while I like the idea of layer-specific scenery, you have to be careful how you do it, mainly because of how much it would suck to switch sides right inside of a tree or something like that, which is why I was thinking the exact same decor and layout and all. Maybe it's just me but I hate getting stuck in random objects.

I like the idea of double damage for ethereal. It makes a little more sense, because technically it is spiritual and physical at the same time. Personally I don't like having non-repairable equipment, but it would work nonetheless. Honestly, though, I'm a little worried about the equipment being only usuable on one layer, unless you bumped up the inventory size a little. I mean, you'll need two completely independent (Obviously bomb as well) sets of equipment, don't you think that'll cause a little bit of a problem with inventory space?

With gear being spectral/physical/ethereal, would charms and such things work on both layers, or just one?


As far as jump factor, you do have a point. However, usually there are some warning as far as where monsters are and such - Many have a light radius you can see through walls, and I think it'd be a little too unfair to have the single-plane monsters completely invisible when you're in the other plane, though I do agree with my 'glowey-orb-thing' comment as far as being a little overboard on warning (As far as an orb, I was thinking about the looks and size of the little dots of lights that warn of the monsters appearing in Act 4 when you break the seals), but having absolutely no way for the attentative player to notice the MOBs seems a little unfair to me. Perhaps simply show their bodily shadows, and only their shadows. Those aren't very obvious, and most people don't go around saying "OMG you guys look at that shadow!" so I think it'd provide a way for the people who like to pay close attention to everything to gain advantage to... have a way to gain advantage, with still keeping a jump factor for people who don't watch for those sort of little warnings. Perhaps not the best sentence I've ever written there but I think you'll get what I mean. Personally I never experience this 'Jump Factor' except when I go down a set of stairs or the like.


As far as the Health/Mana switch, it was just some crazy idea that popped out, I have to admit I've probably had much better ideas. I mean you have a huge point about the spell-spamming, hell I do that, what was I thinking? However, this is how I saw it working (if I can explain it);
True, when you switch, you'll kindof screw over any spell caster or melee fighter. However, lately I've noticed that not many spell casters have that low of health anyway, and besides it'd actually help any spell caster with high mana regen, because now they have huge health (if they're the kind that beefs energy really high) and fast health regen. Of course, it'd also mess them up as far as casting spells, but in order to compensate you could have the MOBs rather weaker than the physical monsters. After all, this is a spectral plane, right?, and therefore it probably might not take much to dissipate them.

Then of course you could do it a couple other ways;
Have lots of class-specific spectral equipment, that more-or-less convert on type of class into another when you switch. I don't know many people who dislike the idea of a fighter-mage, I mean comeon they're fun, and it'd also provide an interesting element I think - In one plane, the guy with the big hammer is running in beating things to bits, where the caster is hanging back laying down blizzards. Switch planes, and now the caster is the one with the hammer beating stuff up..... Alright, so that idea was retarded. I'll give you that battle.

Have a second set of orbs tied directly to your attributes, but affected (attribute bonuses from equipment) only by spectral items/monsters. Perhaps have them small and right next to the larger Physical-Plane orbs, that way you have a life in physical and a life in spectral. When you switch, the values in the orbs switch (SO in the spectral the spectral life/mana is the big orbs, and in physical the physical life/mana is the big orbs). It'd be a challenge because it'd give you a little more to pay attention to, and I'm not sure how to handle death with this idea. Perhaps have it when you die in one realm you die in both...?

Yeah, you did mention that about the villagers. I just thought it'd be interesting to talk with a ghost and stuff, but if you interact with the same NPCs, where are you going to buy/repair your spectral equipment?

Yeah, I've not beaten act five. I need to find my cash moneys that I left somewhere in this room and head down to the store to get LoD, I've only played it a few times at various friends houses. So, obviously, I didn't know that part of the story. Sorry for being stupid about it. :hxc

That jump sounds like a good idea, but I don't think it'd work very well. It's a cool idea, don't get me wrong, to do the past and present at the same time, I mean I've seen it work beautifully in other games, its just because of the system D2 runs on I don't think it'll work. I mean, would both characters get experience at the same time, or would they level independently? How about inventory, stash, and equipment? Switching between acts after you've long gone and beaten the quests and acts?

 

[Shadow_Drifter]

ENVIRONMENT:

I was thinking where a dirty big rock is in one plane a similar sized pile of human heads is in at the other.

EQUIPMENT:

I was thinking, whe you swap planes, your other gear is stored "inbetween" the planes (IE you dont carry real armour or weapons over and vie versa (UNLESS its ethereal)) Items say like the horadric cube (if its there) would carry over as well as certain gems (Or maybe have an entire gem set only on the spiritual plane (holy dmg, light dmg just stuff ghosts and crap cant stand.... maybe even GARLIC DMG (LOL))

MANA HEALTH SWAPPING:

The main reason i said this before was because, it would suck to have to swap planes mid fight with a boss and then have to reslot your gear and stuff accordingly (if ya follow) Some people could do it quick but others might be a bit slow at it and could cause party wipes

VILLAGERS:

Talk to the dead blacksmith in the graveyard =)

TIMELINES:

Yeah this one was kinda hard to explain...

Basicly D2 Timeline char or there abouts. only does act 1,3 and 5 equipment between these acts dont change an awful lot OR (JUST thought this up then)

You have 2 storage boxes, in act one the 2nd box is locked. Act two reveals that this is the past heros storage box. When he opens the box, you learn the secret to open the box.

This box will hold all the gear that this character puts in the box and is thus accessable in the future (d2 future). Also anything marked "Timeshift" or some junk could be send back in time to the box (and would make for a little comedy in act 4... past character opens box and sees some new gear and goes !?! (as in what the hell)) (this would also contradict something i said in a previous post)

Since your watching these events you are "learning" from the past and gain exp.

After you finish Act 3 and move to act 4, the character in the past has fought in more battles (say the timeframe from acts 2 and 4 have changed a few months (thus the character is more experienced))

thats how i would handle exp at any rate. As for items, there is some work to be done there. Basically i wanted the 2 chars to be kind of independant (the past character wouldnt for example need to go cross planar because that knowledge is still long lost)

POSTING:

It is more then likely merging your posts because your posts happen straight after each other. As to prevent a whole single page of just Jack posts, it puts it in one post if you follow =)

 

[Tiznit]

Also the towns grave yard will be host to the spirits of the townsfolk and you may be able to buy spectral armour and weapons. in the Corporeal world you wont be able to interact with ghosts at all

(this would make tristram a very interesting place =) )

This gave me an idea, so tell me what you guys think:
Since you'd be able to talk to the dead, perhaps there would be events triggered by arriving at various locations in which you would be instructed to save the townspeople from attacking demons, etc. Each one that dies would then have his/her spirit be able to be found somewhere throughout the spirit realm(not just right there in town). Maybe depending on whether you saved them or not, you'd get a different sidequest or reward or w/e
Also, maybe this could apply to other characters that die like in Act V in D2 how all those Barbarians get killed in the Siege and stuff, maybe you could find the souls of npcs like them in DIII or something

Anyways, any comments would be much welcomed

 

[Shadow_Drifter]

Actually Tiznit thats a pretty cool idea... say have the first quest in an act is to defend a town (more or less a den of evil quest) but depending on how long it takes the more villagers that die (there will be some that live regardless).

Depending on how long it takes means different quests would be available.

That idea has a heap o potential. i must dwell on this one

 

[Jacks]

Yes, indeed, that was a good idea contribution there, Tiznit. I like the sound of that.

Looking at what you put it makes sense, Shadow_Drifter, but (not to repeatedly dwell on the same thing, though it seems I'm doing it) I was thinking with that health/mana switch thing that it'd be automatic, just like you seem to want done with the equipment. That way, it'd take a little time to get used to it happening, but once you're used to it, it'd be just as fluid as the plane-switch.

And now I understand your enviroment idea. See, I was thinking you'd add or subtract things in different locations, but you're just talking changing the design, so that works. Plus it'd keep with the creepy effect of Diablo.

Bit short on words this time, hooray for you all, don't have to read as much this time. Munching away on food.

Also, going along with that quest thing and talking to the dead, I just had an idea of using Tristram as a town again? Wouldn't that bring back good fond memories of D1? Since you obviously had to kill griswald in D2, he can be back again as your spectral host-smith-thing, or something like that. Ah, so it was crack-brained idea, but I think you'll get what I was thinking about there, either a town or some hub for a quest.

Right well I think I get what you mean about the merging... Still it's minorly annoying to me, I like to use different posts to address different people.

Anyway I think that's it for this post. Sorry it's so short this time, hah!

 

[McGorilla]

In some ways I like Tiznit's idea, but in other ways it could complicate the game to hell. I think that having to save all those souls would take a long time (if you did it) and unless there is a good reward, I'm not sure how many people would do it. But still, some very nice idea here