What is really new?

[Gandalf Parker]

I agree with others. I dont think it was meant to be somekind of an etirely NEW game. Its Dominions 2 with enough improvements to be Dominions 3.

I think that mainly we are entering a new era (oops, a pun since Dom3 introduces eras) in the games development. When Dom1 and Dom2 came out there were many player suggested improvements. And they got put in on a regular basis. Then each of them started developing a wishlist full of items which couldnt be put in without large rewrites to the way the game did things. When Johan got frustrated at getting more "cant do" than "can do" suggestions, he seems to start a new version So even though there might not be a visible difference to you, I see it as a step that was needed so we could go forward. And I have no problem paying full-game price for that work.

On the other hand, Im thrilled with additions for solo play. Better AIs, more AI settings, larger maps, more random events, randomly generated maps.

[Esben Mose Hansen]

Better solo game might just make it worth my while. Anyone tried it yet?

[Nerfix]

Esben Mose Hansen said:
Better solo game might just make it worth my while. Anyone tried it yet?

Betas have.

[Graeme Dice]

Nerfix said:
Why the Blizzard dislike? They've made quality games if you ask me.

They've made many quality games. They've also entered the Dikumud style MMO market, which is guaranteed to leave a large proportion of their customers who quit playing WoW hating them.

[Morkilus]

Of course Blizzard makes great games. I still have Diablo 2 installed for when my brain is too fried to play anything else. However, they wouldn't touch something like Dominions with a 10-foot Ethereal Pike, and if they did, it would... well... not be Dominions. What do you mean by DikuMUD? I thought that's what WoW was; is something new coming up?

@EMH: Have you checked out the AAR's yet?

[Nerfix]

True true.

Also, 10-foot Ethereal Pike, haha, shouldn't that be 10-foot Robopike?

[okiN]

Morkilus said:
Of course Blizzard makes great games. I still have Diablo 2 installed for when my brain is too fried to play anything else. However, they wouldn't touch something like Dominions with a 10-foot Ethereal Pike, and if they did, it would... well... not be Dominions.

That pretty much sums it up. Also, they cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/Envy.gif[/img]

[Graeme Dice]

Morkilus said:
What do you mean by DikuMUD? I thought that's what WoW was; is something new coming up?

No, WoW is what I'm referring to.

[Boron]

Morkilus said:
Improved AI is a huge deal for me. The graphics were improved, by the way. If you were looking for something like Warcraft 2 -> Warcraft 3, well, you're not dealing with Blizzard here.

So OP: I'm curious, besides graphics, what were you looking for in improvements?

Between warcraft 2 and 3 are at least 5 years.
And imho blizzard was never famous for their graphics .
The graphics of all their games were only average.

[PhilD]

Let's face it - more units, more spells, more whatever, is NOT what makes me await Dom3. I mean, obviously Dom2 already had many more than I ever used.

Dom2 was a great game that I played for almost 2 years - one year almost to the exclusion of all other games. That was excellent value for what I (OK, not I, my girlfriend) paid for it, and Dom3 will freshen it a bit, renew my interest, and maybe bring in some new players more likely to be close to my own (bad) level. IMHO, that's well worth the price that I (OK, not I, my girlfriend again - it's not my fault if they release close to my birthday!) paid for the new game.

Plus, it means supporting an independent publisher and developer, and that's also a good thing in my book (but then, I can perfectly understand if some people want value for their money - which I think they will with Dom3, but if you're only a solo player, are happy with Dom2, and tight on the money, then maybe you should stick to Dom2).