Top 10 Most Wanted Features in Diablo III

Were Diablo II a pair of shoes, it would be showing its age after almost a decade of constant wear and tear. With no contenders to the Action RPG throne, and like a bad mixed metaphor, Diablo III has huge shoes to fill as the successor to what has been dubbed the best Action RPG of all time.

Blizzard holds us in awe with the spectacular gameplay videos they release from time to time, and all that's left for them is to ensure that the game lives up to our expectations. With that in mind, there's a number of things Blizzard could take note of as they polish the game to glimmering perfection:

1. Make all skills worthwhile.  Diablo II benefited as much as it suffered from its abundant amount of skills, half of which were poorly balanced or given little thought. While I'm not expecting every skill and skill combination to be useful in every given circumstance, I'm hoping that Blizzard to puts some major thought into the design of these skills that will make each them worthwhile additions to a character's repertoire of talents.

2. A unique playstyle for every class.  Most of us have played each of Diablo II's seven classes to death, and then some, so it is with little doubt that we want to experience something new with the character classes that the new game has to offer. So far, the Wizard's temporal spells and the Witch Doctor's ability to combine his or her abilities to produce fearsome monstrosities manage to give these characters prime, standout qualities. However, as much as I like seeing new things, it goes without saying that most of us will still enjoy the traditional hack and slash experience that the Barbarian has to offer.

3. Player Killing: Do it right or take it out.  As a veteran of the series, I'll be the first to say that there was never any real fun in killing other players. It was maybe fun for the first few times, but the lack of proper player versus player mechanics made it an exercise in damage versus rejuvination potions. While I'd be happy to see the implementation of proper PVP mechanics, I'd prefer it if Blizzard focused on developing the game's strengths in cooperative gameplay instead of poorly mimicking a competitive game.

4. Drench us in blood and gore.  With zombies losing their heads and spurting blood to form pools beneath their frozen bodies to exploding magma golems, and demons that turned to ash, the original Diablo contained just about the right amount of graphic violence. Not too much, and not too little. The less violence sequel took a lot of the visceral experience away, featuring far less blood and fewer sinful visual delights. It goes without saying that we'd like for Diablo III to be just as bloody as the original, if not more so. A bit of ragdoll physics here and there could certainly help to spruce up the display of flying, dismembered limbs.

5. Don't skimp on the single player.  Single player felt quite a bit like an afterthought in the Blizzard North-developed Diablo II, and even more so in Hellgate: London. With consideration to the many roguelike enthusiasts who view the Diablo series as a culmination of the dungeon crawling genre and those who have a strong preference for offline gaming, it's hoped that these players are able to enjoy playing the game by themselves as much as the rest of us will in co-op online.

6. Build on the cooperative aspect.  Here's hoping that Diablo III produces the same close knit, cooperative feeling for Action RPGs as Left 4 Dead did for first person shooters. Cooperating with other players should consist of more than rushing towards the final boss in five minute games. I think that it should live up to the term 'cooperative' and be about full participation and teamwork. Counting on someone to watch your back should mean something more than having them give you their spare piece of armor.

7. Give us a challenge.  At the appropriate difficulty, the game should be a proper challenge, and in other words, a game. Unlike its direct predecessor, Diablo III should be about more than just grinding for loot, levels and rushing to kill Diablo or Baal. It's a tough, dangerous world out there, and it should feel appropriately threatening. While survival shouldn't be impossible, neither should it be a complete cakewalk.

8. Have an economy that carries weight.  Having gold should mean something more than just having more money to gamble for random items. Gold should feel like a well earned reward for battles well fought. In other words, it should have value.

9. Tell a powerful story.  The story should serve as more than just a basic plot device. Give us a story to remember that carries the Blizzard tradition of great storytelling.

10. Respecs!  There's nothing more frustrating than having to abandon a character with dozens of hours put into it over a tiny issue. Give us the ability to remake our characters (at whatever in-game cost) so we don't have to abandon them at the slightest mistake.

Bonus Round: LAN Support  It's recently been revealed that the game would be lacking LAN support, leading to cries of outrage from gamers everywhere. Here's a shoutout to them.  

What would you like to see?