Diablo® III

Why I play Hardcore

Agree. Even though I almost hit plvl 100 in SC last year when I tried hardcore I could not go back to SC to finish that. Everything in SC seemed pointless because there is nothing on the line and there is nothing you can achieve in SC that could not have been done quicker and better with some $ and RMAH.

Just having a lvl 60 hardcore character to play another day is an achievement, but its not for everybody. I've seen several players who after trying HC and dying quit for good. A character death can be traumatic so it offers something that SC cannot, an end point where you can quit the game satisfied that you have reached the pinnacle of gaming intensity, the best that D3 has to offer.

SC has no such end point and players talk about lack of end game content. There is an end game, its HC, it is the end of the game.
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01/27/2013 10:50 AMPosted by Avion
Ah, screw it if I die I just pay a little bit of a repair bill.

That's your problem.
Change your mindset and softcore can be just as tense and meaningful as hardcore.
Make it a point of pride to stay alive as long as possible.
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Why I stopped playing hardcore.

Lvl 51 barb taking on diablo in NM.

Fight fight fight, shadow realm, fight fight, back to heaven, fight........wait why isn't diablo moving? Why doesn't my barb cast anything im hitting? Suddenly game moves 1,000 miles and hours to catch up for epic Blizzard lag and......WTF I'm dead?!


Honeslty love hardcore....not going to play because of crap servers.
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till the lag comes
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01/28/2013 05:07 AMPosted by KainDraven

Servers seem fine to me. I've died, not because of lag, though lag is a real issue for some players, I know.

So what's the point of playing SC? Your connection is the same and if you died in HC then I assume you're also dying in SC, why continue to play? I've asked myself that question and I could not come up with a justifiable reason to continue playing SC, frankly I regret all the time I've put into SC, what a waste.

Better to play HC and quit playing the game if you keep dying due to lag than to continue playing SC.
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Because through no fault of my own if I die I can continue playing with my friends once the connection is back. I never solo unless I am bored. Who am I supposed to be competing against here?

I play because I enjoy it, not because I'm trying to compare pee pee sizes with someone.
Edited by KainDraven#1803 on 1/28/2013 6:21 AM PST
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I got bored with the paragon level grind, and hadn't found anything of note in weeks. So I gave HC a shot.

It's definitely more exciting. Having a good chance to find an upgrade from a drop is welcomed and the challenge is something you can be proud of. A couple of friends have recently joined me in my quests and it is comforting knowing that we are looking out for each other.

So, drops, social and challenging.

Oh and the auction house isn't stupid expensive.
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There's, simply, things you can't avoid with a bad connection. My HC friend lost his WD due to a disconnect (and it was one of his favorite characters).

"I'll create another one as soon as I stop my mourning, because that guy was awesome" he said to me, later.

I, myself, lost a WD due to a real bad latency and lack of "holy crap" skills (the ones you use when you're in a bad situation and you need to escape).

Comes with the territory. Gives you the perspective of "you can't control everything on a real battle." My advice? If you have bad latency, stand in place and wait for it to be green (if it hits you during a bad fight, get out of there, just focus on getting out of there). You get the rubber band effect (you move and the game snaps you to your original position)? Stand in place and wait for the turbulence to go.

You can minimize the risk, but it will never be completely gone unless Blizzard does something (uhm, auto-pause for disconnects?) to help us out. Hardcore is definitely worth it.
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Hardcore is not as hardcore as most people think. People tend to overgear content so that they are always safe and most of the time farming is quite relaxing just like softcore unless you go out of your way looking for a challenge and try your hand at higher mp.
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So, you are saying you play hardcore because it gives you unnecessary stress?
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01/27/2013 10:56 AMPosted by Darkhosis
Or that one Fallen Maniac whose cook timer already started

Hate those bastards! Even on softcore, I find myself cursing them out!
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Honestly, I hate dying in Softcore too often, as since I mainly subsist on found and made gear, if I die more than a few times, per trip back to town, in an MP2 or 3 farming run with my Monk, I could end up LOSING gold. I make occasional lowballed sales on the AH, mostly legendaries that don't salvage to brimstone (though, I did sell a rare dagger with good LOH, Attack Speed and a socket for around 600k the other day), but really, most of my gold income is from vended yellows and blues.

And since I need that gold for gemcrafting, at the very least, I can't afford to be dying a ton.

However, I do agree with you that playing Hardcore is exceptionally thrilling. When I make a critical error and find myself pincered between bad guys in some narrow passage, all the effort I put into that character could vanish in the blink of an eye. And Diablo 3 not being exceptionally hard, I figured it a good place to dip my toe in the hardcore waters. Already lost two characters, one I deleted and chose to not move to my archive section because it was so utterly careless.

I really kinda hope my friends get on board and are willing to play hardcore with me sometime. My one buddy's already lost a couple characters himself, and my other buddy I don't think is even trying it, at least not right now.

Though, every time I hardcore characters level up, I do feel a sense of pride. I made it another step forward. It's pretty cool. :-)
Edited by CardinalMDM#1269 on 1/28/2013 8:17 AM PST
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I play hardcore because it is more fun. Items are sellable, it's easier to make gold, sometimes you get an "oh !@#$ moment" to wake you up, it's all part of the experience.

Currently Paragon 67 on my WD on my way to 100. :)
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01/28/2013 07:29 AMPosted by SVRKNKR

Yeah, I was just saying this to someone else. My one buddy who's lost two hardcore Barbs already...pretty sure he was using the Auction House to gear them.

My newest hardcore Wizard is at level 14, she's mostly got on MF gear...


It's hard, but once I start getting great items, things will get easier. But that's the fun of it.

Overgearing in Hardcore may be more accepted, as you want to protect yourself the best, and apparently the HC AH is more user friendly than softcore...however, while overgearing via the AH is slightly more understood in hardcore, because of the consequence, it's still taking an easy way out. Thus, making overgearing in softcore just makes you look like a freaking chickenwuss (FF8 shoutout).

I saw a profile once that had, like, eight or nine high level paragon characters, all hardcore...yet, all of them were ridiculously geared up, it was nuts.

I've had people in this forum actually flame me because I choose to make characters that wear only self-found and self-made gear...but honestly...that's the best way to play. It means you actually look at gear you find and put it to good use, and you don't just see everything that drops as having a gold value.

Doing it in hardcore? Makes you feel like a real scavenger...even going so far as to...don't tell anyone...::whispers:: see what the vendors are selling, ;-)
Edited by CardinalMDM#1269 on 1/28/2013 8:24 AM PST
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Well, HC can definitely be more thrilling, or more intense, whatever. But all it takes is one lag spike, one frenzied fallen guy you didn't see run up to you, one really really unlucky affix pack of elites. For me, it's fun for an occasional change, but generally I don't like having to be on alert at all times or risk having wasted all the hours I've put in. People are always in a rush in the game, they want power leveling, BiS gear after being 60 for an hour, MP10 uber carries, etc. Personally I find farming somewhat relaxing. HC mode is not relaxing :)
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01/28/2013 05:06 AMPosted by babinro

That's your problem.

lol no not even close. Its the difference between having a gun to your head while you perform an action and pretending you have a gun to your head while you perform the same action. They arent even in the same solar system of intensity.
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Why i Play Softcore Short and Sweet! = PvP!!

Why i Play Hardcore Short And Sweet = Fun!!

Edited by NeLLy#1854 on 1/28/2013 8:52 AM PST
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I log in and play. I get a lag spike (which happen periodically).

Said lag spike causes me to die.

I will never play harcore as long as D3 remains online play only.
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Hardcore is most definitely fun but it is also not for everyone. Part of it is you have to be willing to put up with the potential of losing it all due to no fault of your own. If that possibility makes the mode un-fun or stressful, then it's not recommended.

This aspect of enjoying the journey of seeing how far I can get, offers a different kind of reward which is missing while playing softcore for me personally. Drops are definitely more valuable/usable and I constantly stash my old gear while leveling. And most of the gold I made was from finding certain lower level items (like armor) where they sell almost immediately.

True, many play hardcore and attempt to overgear the content in order to increase the chances of survivability in the event of a loss of character control. But it's also not guaranteed as the monster AI occasionally does toss some winners out when you least expect it (like your face rolling content and getting complacent in the process).

My first monk died because of my own fault.... basically rolling through Act 2 on nightmare and close to unlocking the last shadow lock. I basically wake up 4 smoldering constructs who start besieging me in a blaze of damage over time fire. Serenity + health pots not enough to save me before I could fully run away from them. Lesson learned.

My first wizard died however when I experienced a client side video freeze (which had been occurring since 1.0.5) during my fight with the Act 4 keywarden. I ended up playing blindly (hitting diamond skin and then teleport a few seconds later) but once the video came out of the freeze, saw my life near zero. I'd already lost character control at that point since popping a health potion didn't register.... at least the client now automatically takes a snapshot at the exact moment you are killed.


Even here, there were lessons to take away. Nekarat even on normal shouldn't be underestimated. Had I not been playing this part at MP10, I probably wouldn't have died. Secondly, I could've hit escape at that point to pause the game until the video resumed again (it just would've just looked disconcerting since the menu wouldn't have popped up during the time the video was frozen; tested this when I had this occur while playing softcore).

Finally, playing hardcore really made me understand the limits of my character and the skills I selected (or ended up switching to for certain encounters). I also utilize the environment a whole lot more with certain affix combinations. So even though I'm doing the same content again, the experience is rarely boring.
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Hardcore isn't much of a rush. If anything, it is upsetting when you die to some stupid game quirk. I was 2 bars from 60 on a DH when I saw some exploders in hell difficulty. Of course, they were behind a see-thru door and they started running toward me. I shot at them, but they took no damage. There was a door between me and them. Naturally, that meant no damage could pass through that door.

I pondered that for a moment when my character was suddenly dead.

There was no rush. There was only the following /uninstall and /done.

I have since reinstalled. I have a level 30-something dh, but the one thing I can say is that I'll never go back to SC. People are selling crappy gear for $100+ and useful gear for an amount of gold that I'll never see in my lifetime.

It's not a game unless it's HC and since I currently don't have any other games installed for the moment, this'll do.
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