Diablo III is an action role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. The player will choose one of the few classes of characters, and proceed with the limited skillset to ultimately slay the final boss, which is Diablo himself. This game is only available to play online, however single player or party play option makes the game all the more fun and rewarding to play.
Website: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/?-
Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geuAc8F7Gt0
Self Realization
Watching myself play the game is very interesting. I become self-conscious, but nonetheless, I never thought I would actually see myself having those attributes. Below are a few lenses that I felt relevant to my playing experience.
- Lens of Elemental Tetrad
The game covers all elements of the types aesthetics, technology, mechanics and story. The beautiful artwork that took the game developers over 10 years to design is simply amazing and surreal. It is also available on multiple platforms such as Windows, OS X, PlayStation, and Xbox. I played on my Desktop running Windows. The mechanics of the game makes it very challenging, with the limited skillset, the player has to pick and choose the fewer number of spells to breeze through the levels. The story of the game is a very familiar background since it’s progression from Diablo, the first installment.
- Lens of Fun
The game is immensely fun! I see myself playing the game, not knowing the time and just going with the flow of the story. Before I know it, few hours passed. As the game is all about killing monsters, I constantly seek out monsters on the map to slay, and look out for better gears such as legendries that drops from the monsters after I kill them. I am constantly on the edge of my seat as I face more difficult monsters, and as my level goes up, carefully selecting my skills that will assist further in my combat.
- Lens of Flow
Playing the game constantly has objectives. There is a direction, which I need to go. Certain quests must be completed before I can proceed further. To make our lives simpler, the game lists the quest and objectives by the side, and arrows and markers on the map to let us know when we are near our next objective. The flow of the game is very smooth, so is the storyline.
- Lens of Chance
The game has many powerful artifacts and items that will help me complete my game in a shorter time, kill the bosses in a quicker way. When a legendary item drops by chance, I know the type of the item, but I don’t know the roll and stats of the item. The process of identifying the item makes it more intriguing, because there can be many different rolls and stats of the same type of item. The game often teases us, sometimes giving me what I want, sometimes just to tempt me and give me something else that is of lesser use. Ultimately, the game may start of seemingly easy. But to conquer the higher levels, I will need luck by my side to get the better if not the best weapons in the game.
- Lens of Endogenous Value
The game includes many items, with random stats. Getting the best ideal stats is based entirely on luck. There is an option to raise the value of your item by permanently changing 1 attribute. Even that change is random, it may change into another attribute that I don’t like. There are also artifacts that allow me to add a socket for instance, into an item that has a very good stat. Coupled with achievements and leaderboards, I always strive to get a better item. Hunt more by killing more monsters, even when I have to replay the level over and over again, and with rising difficulty, it’s never too easy.
Friendly Observation
Watching my friend play is another totally different experience. My friend is on a much higher level than me, and he has better items and gear than me. He also uses a totally different class to play the game. Below are the lenses that I observed from him playing.
- Lens of Fun
Looking at him play doesn’t seem like he is having fun with the game. His facial expression seems like he is studying actually. He has a gaming mouse that has a few more buttons than the normal mouse, and he hot keyed those buttons to shortcuts in the game. Hence he plays with just 1 hand, without even touching the keyboard much. He slouches and rests his head on his other free hand.
- Lens of Flow
An observer actually doesn’t know if the game has any flow. At least, when I watch him play, I was more intrigued by the way he kills the monsters. I didn’t notice the objectives listed beside the screen. It feels as though he is just hacking and slashing the monsters. It does not appear to have any flow as he teleported out of the dungeons and back in just to put down some items and kill more monsters. A quick question yields the reply “I’m just rifting”, which means he is actually doing a quest, which involves going into the ‘rift’ and killing monsters to lure the boss out and kill it.
- Lens of Chance
There are times where he would sit up, and stop click his mouse. That’s the time when he is identifying the legendries he picked up during his battles. As he is identifying the items, there is a loading bar that lasts for about 4 seconds. During which, he seems to be eager and hoping for a better item than his current gear.
- Lens of Endogenous Value
There is a part where he begins to craft an item’s attribute. Depending on the attribute that surfaced, he would either continue to craft, or he will stop crafting. I guess for this lens, he held the item he is crafting in comparison to his current gear. He would very often spend millions (which is quite a lot in the game) until he is not able to continue crafting.
Simply Analysis
A quick analysis through the lens that I have used, the game could be really fun, but the expression of the players can really be deceiving. For me, I felt that the game is really fun, but my friend might feel it and still look quite bored.
The flow of the game actually stops for my friend at very high levels. It becomes a stop of flow, as he can simply breeze through the levels. He simply keeps playing the same highest level.
Because he is at a higher level, he can fight higher-level monsters; he gets a better chance to get better items with better roll. Lens of Chance is adjusted according to your level, and how tough are you based on your gear.
The game may present itself to be fair, but the chance of getting an item that is more valued is more favorable to players with higher levels. Hence, it can be frustrating when he is playing because I see that clearly he gets more legendries than me in an hour.
