Faster Leveling/Progression

[Renevent]

So I have went back and started playing D2 MP after many years of not touching it, and one of the really nice things is how the leveling progresses. In TQ gaining levels and moving forward can sometimes feel like a sludge...even if you know how to build characters and blow through monsters. It's very linear and even if you are in a great group blowing through the content, the pacing feels slow. In D2, you can still take your time and go through the game, but if you have the right group (or a great build) you can really progress very quickly.

I think TQ's pacing was great the first few times through, but as a player who's played through the game many times, going through the beginning game and difficulties became a bit painful. Veteran players should be able to level fairly quickly and progress their characters faster.

I actually played some TQ online the other night, and even with the UL mod (more enemies, faster leveling) it still felt very slow in comparison.

[andreyy]

No, you're just lazy ;p

[Renevent]

I've beaten TQ (all 3 difficulties) with like 5-6 characters, and have countless others that have made it to various points in the game (mostly somewhere in Epic) :p

[Starkrun]

My only issue is with the limited dev time and the "much" shorter game that is Grim Dawn. If you speed up the game to much then it'll feel rushed and you'll have another "spacesiege" that felt like a huge chunk of content is missing.

[Renevent]

I get what you are saying...but if we look at D2 it was actually much shorter than TQ as well. There's a lot of great content there when you first go through the game, but it doesn't punish the folks who are trying to get past the early game on their 15th times through.

[Kluga]

It's just a matter of balance. It's a fine line between excessive content/linearity and a game that feels to short I think. Theres a sweet spot that the devs will of course try to hit, and as you mentioned D2 did.

TQ did drag on a bit after a few run throughs and the motivation to take a character through legendary was usually sparse. However, I think TQ was not too far off

[Renevent]

Yeah, exactly. I'm not talking about drastic changes...just tweaks :p

*edit*

Thanks lol...

[Malpheas]

Yeah, exactly. I'm talking not about drastic changes...just tweaks :p


Fixed for yeh Rene.

[ASYLUM101]

If you recall, GD is supposedly gonna play differently. Guaranteed to be shorter than TQ, less drawn out periods(medierra said he'd try to prevent another Greece-long act), as well as "dynamic" in terms of playability. So, I'm not so sure the length of the game will be a problem, and the level progression I'm will be fine if properly balanced to the game-length, which would be the most obvious choice.

[Coridan]

Renevent,

I'm curious what you think the underlying difference is between the pacing of D2 and TQ. Is it that you can level quicker in D2 or skip certain quests to make it go faster? I definitely agree that the pacing is a lot different, I just can't put my finger on what the difference is.

[Renevent]

If you recall, GD is supposedly gonna play differently. Guaranteed to be shorter than TQ, less drawn out periods(medierra said he'd try to prevent another Greece-long act), as well as "dynamic" in terms of playability. So, I'm not so sure the length of the game will be a problem, and the level progression I'm will be fine if properly balanced to the game-length, which would be the most obvious choice.

I'm hoping, I guess we'll just have to wait and see though.

Renevent,

I'm curious what you think the underlying difference is between the pacing of D2 and TQ. Is it that you can level quicker in D2 or skip certain quests to make it go faster? I definitely agree that the pacing is a lot different, I just can't put my finger on what the difference is.

Funny you should ask, because when I created this thread I was trying to figure out the same thing...and couldn't really put it into words which is why I kept it general :p

It's probably a combination of things...maybe the leveling is slightly faster, and the fact with a good group skipping around is easier. Maybe it's nothing more than D2 is more conducive to a good group, and when you have one, you can blow through content quickly and level very quickly. I never got that impression with TQ. Yes, in TQ with a full group you do level faster and progess slightly faster, but it didn't seem quite the same.

I guess it's all a matter of perception...but something tells me the design (whether implicit or accidental) contributed to this.

[Starkrun]

In D2 there was very little in the way of Map opening, EG lets clear the fog of war. in TQ all you had was massive outdoors environments and tons of Fog of War. That alone compelled me to clear the map in each stage 100% which took hours upon hours, i was never able to just blow though. In fact you couldn't you nearly had to to get the XP needed to complete the stage fights with bosses mini-bosses.

In D2 i could fly from check to check and pretty much ignore the surrounding area because the pacing was designed to keep me leveled to where i needed to be without to much side activity. If there was a side venture it was removed by the environment EG: cave hidden in tree's or an off shoot that took you to the side quest very miss-able without a way point so you always felt like you were progressing without the same scenery.

In TQ it was so massive and the side quests were always right in your face. You were telegraphed where to go EG: the cyclops and the brothers. random massive temple, means there is defiantly a quest in there, go find it. in D2 side quests were very easy to miss.