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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Diablo 3

I like the way the Diablo angels look with wings made of white ribbons.
I've always played Blizzard games, and Diablo 3 is no exception. When I played World of Warcraft, I would spend an hour a day combing the forums for strategies and/or reading patch notes. Diablo 3 is no exception. I wanted to show you a list of interesting facts that I found.  But to understand them, you might need some information first.
My favorite class to play thus far is the demon hunter. I like how lean
he looks, and the dual wielding crossbows that shoot out like machine guns
is kind of awesome-looking. It makes me feel powerful.
The game has several layers of difficulty of which "Inferno" is the hardest.  Hardcore is a kind of character that you make that when it dies, there is no resurrection.  The object here is to be so confident and skilled that you play a flawless game. So here's the list:
  • On average players have created 3 characters each. I thought this was interesting. I have exactly three characters. Hmmmm.
  • 80% of characters are between levels 1 and 30. This is also me. I haven't had time to play because of writing and/or editing commitments I made with friends online that I wanted to get done, and because the drama with my dad is unending (since mom went into the nursing home in April he's lapsed into a terrible depression--a thing I did not expect).
  • 1.9% of characters have unlocked Inferno difficulty. The only person I know personally that is doing this right now is my really smart friend Kevin, who goes by Modhne in-game, and runs the most successful guild on Ravencrest-US and has done so for the last four years. It's called Requiem--I always liked the name.
  • 54% of Hardcore players chose a female character. I wonder why this is? Two of my characters are females--my barbarian (I love smashing things to bits) and my sorceress (I love smashing things to bits)...hmmm maybe I'm using Diablo 3 as therapy... I must say that smashing things to bits does help alleviate the stress that I feel whenever I get another phone call telling me that dad is headed to the emergency room or that mom has missed yet another dentist appointment because she threw a fit (mom has severe dementia). In case you don't know, I live in a different state and am unable to render much assistance right now because I dropped two weeks of vacation in the last two months to rush to their aid. I have a job where the only time off you take is done with vacation or sick leave. We do have a care provider hired to help dad every day though and that's been a big help.
Fan art. This is a witch doctor. Pretty cool huh?
Do the ladies of Diablo have all the style? Is that why
so many men are playing female characters? I guess I'm
assuming more men are playing than women...
  • The majority of Hardcore deaths (35%) occur in Act I Normal. I'm surprised by this. I thought that people would be more prone to die in Act II or further on. Maybe they just underestimate things.
  • The most common level 60 build in the game is only used by 0.7% of level 60 characters of that class.
Below, you will find a 7 minute animated sequence called "Wrath" in which the angels go up against the demons and specifically Diablo. It was made by Blizzard. And who doesn't like epic battles between angels and demons (here's looking at you, Ciara)? But I'm guilty of this too. My own book SLIPSTREAM is ultimately the first installment in a story/slugfest between angels and demons. If you have the time, click play, sit back, and watch the tale unfold. If anything, the storyline of Wrath is good writing (and we all like good writing tied with strong paranormal images of kickass-ness, right?).
I know Alex C. is playing Diablo 3. I have yet to make it out of Act II yet. I kind of like group play so if the people I play with are busy doing their level 60 characters, I kind of find something else to do.

So do any of the above statistics surprise you? Do you think it's okay for a person to use video games as therapy for real life? Have you ever tried a video game personally, or do you shun them and shun those who play them?

33 comments:

  1. I've not yet played anything Diablo, but I've heard a lot about D3's addictive qualities. Alas, I'm more of an Xbox gamer so I doubt I'll get chance to play this one (yet). Looks incredible though.

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  2. The images are beautiful. I don't play Diablo, but I've watched lots of gameplay. The original game came out a long time ago, didn't it? As for the female characters, I've read stats about increasing number of female players. Maybe they account for a portion of the female characters as well. I need to look this up online!

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  3. My first character was a guy, second a woman. About to win it for the third time. (Hey, we have to get our money's worth out of it, don't we?)

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  4. Surprised you have time to blog. I know this because I am a Diablo 3 widow...LOL! Lost all the men in my family. Kind of sad, really....

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  5. This game looks really cool! Love the artwork you shared, both the game and fan art.

    I think video games are a great way to escape life and deal with issues. As long as you come back to reality :)

    Sorry to hear things aren't going well with your folks. Hope things turn the corner and get better soon!

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  6. I'm not a gamer myself but my husband is loving Diablo 3 at the moment (actually playing it right this minute). The best thing about that is I get uninterrupted writing (or researching, or blogging) time. I definitely don't shun playing games as therapy - better to go ape in a game than in real life. I'm sure some of us use our writing in the same way!

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  7. I refuse to play any action game that doesn't have a god code or infinite continues.

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  8. Whatever works is therapuetic and good for the soul. As long as its not hurting you or hurting someone else. Enjoy Diablo III!

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  9. I'm right with you there on using video games as a sort of therapy. I tend to like video games with an immersive narrative--all the better to get lost in another world, another life (at least for a little while). I had a similar situation recently with my father having surgery several states away from where I live. Gaming eased the tension of constant travel and worry over the last few weeks.

    I haven't picked up Diablo III yet, partially on account of not having played Diablo II (and also because I've soaked all my gaming time into Mass Effect...for work...yeah...).

    The real question about Diablo III is if it has a secret cow level like the previous game. ;)

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  10. I've never been a gamer, but I certainly don't shun them! Though I've recently become addicted to the jetpack joyride app. Sooooooo fun. And those pictures are beautiful!!!

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  11. I love video games, but I'm such a wuss that when I get attacked I tend to jump and then get killed. Cool video though. :)

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  12. well, you know i'm a gamer, though almost completely a console gamer, so i have very little experience with Diablo or WOW for that matter. It looks awesome though. And i always felt a little bummed any time i saw a trailer for it on TV.
    I'm sorry to hear about your Mom and Dad. I hope things get back to a level of stability soon for all three of you

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  13. I miss gaming...>sniff sniff<

    When MechWarrior Online comes out, I may try that out for a bit since it will be FTP, but I doubt I will really have a chance to get into it.

    I don't even have any games installed on my PC at the moment! bah!

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  14. I was completely unaware about your situation with your parents, Mike. I'm so sorry you're going through this.

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  15. As soon as work is done I'm back to playing Diablo again. I too love the Demon Hunter but mine is a girl. Why? I like female characters because they're nice to look at, but perhaps the biggest draw to the female (for me) is the fact that real guys give me free stuff and help me out ALL THE TIME. LOL. The same with WOW. The male population tend to be kinder to a female character and who can pass up free stuff? ;)

    I'm on Act III right now and I'm kicking ass! I'm a pro, afterall, so it's no sweat for me.

    I do want to offer my condolonces to your family predicament. I had no idea, and I want you to know that you and your family will be in my prayers.

    Have a great day Michael!

    (Oh, and what's your in-game name? Maybe we can grind together sometime.)

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  16. I need to get a better graphics card for my computer. I bet the graphics are INSANE on a gaming computer.

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  17. Some cool graphics there! I used to play PC games back in the day like Allied Assault and Deus Ex -- but now I entertain myself (and others?) through writing. It's therapy enough for my real life -- most of the time...

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  18. I don't have time for video games, but I do like the pictures. You always have good pictures. :)

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  19. I'm loving the visuals, but, sadly, me has never played a game in my life :(

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  20. Sorry to hear about your Dad. It's difficult when the roles get reversed and dealing with someone who is suffering from depression is very difficult. Sending you positive vibes.

    I'm not a gamer unless playing tetris on my old game boy counts. The art work is awesome though. (:

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  21. Good thing you gave me some information cause I have no idea what this is! I know - I'm lame! Don't tell. I love that picture of the witch doctor though. Really great fan art!

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  22. I've never tried a video game myself, but I can see why it would be therapeutic. I guess I sort of do the same thing with fiction books.

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  23. Oh, and that was an interesting video. I didn't know the concept behind Diablo before.

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  24. I love smashing things to bits. Perhaps I should finally get into video games. Plus, you know, there's all that skimpy warrior armor that the characters wear. :P

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  25. Even though I'm not a gamer (is that the right word?), I love looking at the artwork these games have -- so impressive.

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  26. Imagery looks pretty awesome... I don't play this game but my hubby does, and he loves it.

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  27. Isn't that the point of video games? As a way to release your frustrations?

    I'm not much of a gamer, but I have an appreciation for games. Back in my retail days, I worked with them (selling them). (I go for puzzle games, not so much the shoot-em-ups.)

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  28. I like video games, but I'm embarrassingly bad at them. I think they're great therapy because you can kill lots of people and monsters without any real repercussions.

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  29. I've heard so much about this game. I'm scared to check it out because I might disappear from the blogging world if I do.

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  30. I like the Witch Doctor, and I especially look forward to seeing that nerdy guy try to replicate her spine-crushing pose on his blog! :-)

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  31. I like to play video games but don't really play them on my computer. It feels too much like work if I'm in front of a computer screen.

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  32. I like to play video games but don't really play them on my computer. It feels too much like work if I'm in front of a computer screen.

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  33. I will try this again. My comment got lost before.

    I don't know much about this game other than my husband and his buddies like to play it every chance they get. It's really starting to piss me off :)

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