The Hellfire Method

Here we are with another another day another Friday. Friday in Gauss land mean nothing other than the Reader Post. I got quite a few good ones this week, but as you all know Diablo III is big into the news this week with the revelation of the Auction House coming down. I even wrote a post yesterday to what my thoughts were on the whole ordeal and Coolhandluke sent in this great post explaining what he thinks. It is on the longer side of Reader Posts but it is a good read.

Hey Gauss based on your post and I came up with this. Kind of builds on what you already said and how I think the crafting and the hellfire ring in general for Diablo is a good place for the game to head.

The iLvl 63 crafts succeeded in some aspects, wherein playing the game was the only way to get DEs, but it had some drawbacks. Poor players could barely to afford it, and rich players with 500k DPS could rack up massive amounts of DE and craft 1000 pairs of gloves until they got it right. As an added consequence, certain market segments took a huge dive as crafted components replaced them, further impacting poor players with little means to acquire wealth. Of course, the Auction House plays a part in all of this, since market segments and wage disparity would be of little consequence if the AH were absent.

The HF ring system actually had a lot going for it, and for a number of reasons:

1) It was completely optional. You didn't need one to complete the game, or to do MP10, or anything. In fact, you only have 2 ring slots, it makes for a difficult choice as to whether to use it or not.

2) It was difficult. Yes, you could attempt Key/Uber runs on MP0, but it may have taken you 1000 years to craft even a single HF ring. Keys/Ubers on High MP set a benchmark for players to reach, and provided an actual challenge with their extreme difficulty. While some see this as a deterrent, it is actually a goalpost that many players were meant to meet. It was something to work towards.

3) It was complex. Some players to this day I meet in pub games do not know what a HF ring is or have any idea whatsoever how to craft them. It is a long series of steps that for some players could take up a lot of time. This is great for keeping players occupied, but it also served a purpose as one of the only examples in D3 of End Game Content. 

4) It was rewarding. Current crafting with DE is actually overly simplistic, and the reagents are too easily acquired. HF Ring's complexity contributes to its uniqueness and the "Special" feeling of accomplishment that comes with making one. The benefits of the HF are tangible, since the XP bonus is not matched by any other item in-game.

It would be a welcome addition to the game to have more special crafting recipes which create "Unique" items that are difficult to acquire, complex to assemble, and rewarding to create.

Coolhandluke

As always thank  you for all the submissions! Don't forget to check out Safiree's Post tomorrow as I know most of you do, but just a reminder.