tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34834473.post1180900546037265620..comments2023-08-28T08:23:06.845-04:00Comments on Scrolls of the PlatinumWarlock: In Which The Warlock Mulls Analysis Paralysis...A.P. Kloskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09719352533858966154noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34834473.post-23417706857604369322012-02-27T20:43:14.927-05:002012-02-27T20:43:14.927-05:00Wow...or should I say WoW?!
I've been keeping...Wow...or should I say WoW?!<br /><br />I've been keeping track of how the skill system of Diablo III has been evolving, and I'm seeing a greater trend away from "committed" choices. <br /><br />Whereas in D2, you were locked into a certain set of skills, with no opportunity to change whatsoever, D3 will likely be much more flexible, with skill changes being allowed on an almost at-will basis.<br /><br />I'm hoping that this results in more variety--people willing to try out more things, eventually settling on their "favorites". It seems really solid, but....I don't have a D3 beta key like SOME people do! ;)<br /><br />Thanks for the comment!A.P. Kloskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09719352533858966154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34834473.post-11032666153349889832012-02-25T07:31:40.481-05:002012-02-25T07:31:40.481-05:00Even WoW discovered that too many choices causes d...Even WoW discovered that too many choices causes distress and unhappiness in it's players. In the original incarnation of the game, a player had a talent tree where it required a minimum of 31 talent points spent in a given tree in order to reach the final talent. Now that wasn't mandatory, one could spend their point in any combination of the 3 trees available. Made for some odd, inefficient and just downright stupid builds. <br /><br />Over the next two expansions, Blizzard increased the total size of these trees by 20 points, 10 points per expansion. It still wasn't mandatory to place your points in one tree up to 51, you could do some weird half-assed tri-spec. Blizz found that players were not really even looking at the talents themselves, but going to outside sources to determine the best build for any given tree. Hell, I was guilty of that. I didn't really know or take the time to know what talent worked well in conjunction with any other talent or what talents were pure shit for what I was doing.<br /><br />Fast forward to the current expansion, Cataclysm. Blizz shrunk the talent trees back down to 31 points, and made it mandatory that you spend that minimum amount of points before you could place points in another tree. They also simplified the talents, took out a lot of just straight buff talents, and just made them better overall. This turned out to be a lot easier on the player base, and a lot more people were able to make they're own spec without having to rely on an outside source, such as ElitistJerks.com (website full of theorycrafters and math geniuses). My dad still plays WoW, though I've moved on to SW:TOR, and he's capable of making his own spec where he'd rely on me to make his spec in the previous expansion due to being overwhelmed.<br /><br />Now, in the upcoming expansion. Blizzard has completely removed the talent trees in their current incarnation in favor of a completely new system. They state that due to the way the current, simplified talent trees are built, there's no actual choice just the illusion of choice. So now the player gets one "point" at certain level milestones, and with that "point" they get to choose 1 new ability out of 3 presented. It gives the player a genuine choice, as opposed to going with a cookie-cutter build.<br /><br />Too many choices, and the player gets bogged down and overwhelmed. In my case, I can't decide for fear of making the wrong choice, so I seek outside help. Less choices, and I can make my choice with less stress and worry. Generally, I'm happier with less choice, as long as my choice is genuinely that...a choice. The illusion of choice is a trap to watch out for, making 1 or multiple options obviously better than the others is no choice at all.<br /><br />Happy gaming!WoWSonyanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34834473.post-59236731810902160952012-02-24T13:00:53.332-05:002012-02-24T13:00:53.332-05:00Another consequence of this is that people with lo...Another consequence of this is that people with lots of choices tend to be less happy with their end result. Psychologist Barry Schwartz did a lot of studies with this and in one particular study, including with real life stuff like mutual funds<br /><br />Check out a video about him explaining his findings at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM" rel="nofollow">here</a>. He's got a lot of great stuff in that video and I recommend starting from the beginning, but he speaks pretty much about what you're saying starting at 8:00 and specifically about analysis paralysis at 9:20 or so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com