PixlBit

Hardcore mode exists because Diablo is, at it's core, a Roguelike.  Roguelikes typically feature permadeath.  This is just a way for people to make it more of a true roguelike if they want. This is also why the default keybinding for using a potion is "Q."  That's what it was in Rogue.

I also totaly get the appearance thing.  I'll sacrifice stats in Xenoblade just to have my characters look good.  It helps with immersion.

I'm getting my copy in the mail this week, but the list of compatable games on Wikipedia said it would work.  I'll know for sure soon.  I wouldn't pick it up just yet, but yeah, Amazon has it for 5-10 bucks.  Seriously.

I thought Michelle Rodrigues was scary, but that might just be her...

This is also one of the reasons I recommended the Looking Glass Thief games to you a while ago.  Being highly vulnerable with limited resources combined with trying to survive is pretty intense.  I honestly don't think a game needs zombies, ghosts, or dinosaurs to be scary, you just need to be in a situation that's got you hanging by a thread.  Again, they are closer to entry level games as far as the fear factor goes, but I still think they can make your palms sweat.

I bought Thief 3 recently.  I didn't play it when it was released because I hated the fact that it was third person instead of first person.  I think that may break some of the tension, but I'll let you know if it's any good.  You can pick that one up for around 10 bucks used, and it's compatible with the Xbox 360.

Oh I've got no problem with online features, and I do believe there are heavy social elements on the horizon, but I'm against that feature being made a requirement.  I hope that in the future, designers will have the common sense to see that the ability to go online does not provide an excuse to have their games always connected. I think the future is social interaction and digital distribution, but it is not necessarily this "constant connection" DRM BS.  Were this any other game, I think it would suffer much more than it has.

That being said, there's more than just super-fan Diablo supporters out there, there's also people like me who have always been lukewarm to the franchise.  I own Diablo and Diablo 2, but I never really got obsessed with them. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone either. I know there's no concrete way to get numbers, but I wonder how many other lukewarm fans were turned off from a purchase because of all this? It had to have an impact on sales.  As it stands, I have plenty of games that I can play whenever I want that won't throw me an error and boot me whenever a server needs to fart, and I'm getting plenty of enjoyment from them, so I don't feel any loss.

Final thought; I saw that Jimquisition video too and thought it was perfectly handled by him. I just can't imagine playing a game as twitch as Diablo, especially with permadeath turned on, while dealing with lag. That's idiotic, and something that's always going to be an issue with any online game.  Internet connections get flaky whenever they want for whatever reason they want, and that shouldn't cause that significant of a loss to a gamer.  Getting fragged in Unreal Tournament because your dog kicked our router is one thing, permanently losing hours of work in an RPG is another.

Man, I hate to talk like this because it's making me seem all negative and trollish, but I don't think all the people who took time off from work, stayed up until midnight, or even made a weeks worth of meals in advance so they could spend all that time playing Diablo would say "It's not invasive."  These are people who made monetary and social sacrifices to play the game, and they got screwed hard. What really chafes, (and it should,) Is that the game they own is completely playable without any of the online components and is just sitting on their hard drive.  They can't play it because Activision/Blizzard won't let them.  That's not right at all, and there is no justification for making me rely on their servers to play a game that I just want to sit down and play.

Well, I can understand why people would think it's worth it. I really don't. We may just end up disagreeing on this.  The fact remains that it's something we should not have to deal with, and in my opinion, it breaks the game.  No matter how good, i'm not shelling out 60 clams for a broken game. I'm not a big hater like I said, but I am annoyed enough to withold a purchase.  Maybe once they clean it up, I'll jump in.

Oh, also, hackers are gonna hack this anyway.  I think this was mentioned in the 'cast. Preservation isn't my concern.  Eventually people will figure out how to host their own servers regardless of what Activision / Blizzard does. Heck, I expect torrents of this game will appear as early as next month, and all this DRM will do is encourage them. That's not me wishing doom on the IP owners, it's a just how things are.  

Amazon is offering it at, what I consider to be a very reasonable price for this hardware.  You might want to think about picking one up eventually.  http://www.amazon.com/Air-Flo-Controller-Xbox-360-Wired/dp/B005761E70/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337698538&sr=8-1

You know, this 'cast ended up getting into heavy stuff after all, but that's no big deal.

I'm glad to see a lot of discussion over the Diablo 3 required internet fiasco.  This is the only reason I haven't picked up a copy of the game, and I don't even know if I will.  I have never played any of the Diablo games online, and I have no intention to use the auction house functions.  This isn't a hater attack, some boycott, or other foolishness, it's just that the idea of jumping through all the multiplayer hoops for a single player experience destroys my motivation to play this game.  If I ever need a loot fix, I'll play Borderlands, Torchlight, or some game in my backlog.  It's just not worth the hassle to me.  Maybe if it comes out on consoles and ends up being more stable I'll consider it, but as of right now, I'm not at all interested.

Yeah.  I loved Mega Man 9 & 10, and it was a cool, fun throwback, but I do want something new.  I don't think Mega Man is dead exactly, but I don't really trust capcom to handle the franchise properly anymore.  I think they completely lost touch with what made the games great to begin with.