Diablo III has been out for a week, and a week is a century in gaming terms. Players have had that much time to discovery its many ins and outs, playing it more or less non-stop and sharing their discoveries with each other.
A few issues regarding Diablo III's game balance have surfaced, notably the perceived "problem" with elites and champions being more difficult for players to fight compared to act bosses like Belial and Azmodan. Blizzard community manager Nik "Daxxarri" Gionazakos provided answers containing the developers' reasoning for those difficult battles.
"Because those fights are where you'll generally score the best loot, they are also intended to be some of the most challenging experiences in the game," said Gionazakos.
"We didn't want 'boss farming' to become the goal of Diablo III the way it was in DII. We like that getting the best items is more of a treasure hunt, where finding and slaying those champion packs is what drives players to adventure through the levels. It's also a good thing that those are thrilling and difficult fights once you find them. Sometimes they're brutal, but this is Diablo III on a difficulty titled 'Hell'. Sometimes brutal is okay."
He further explained that the heart of the design decision is to encourage players to explore a level in search of elites instead of camping the act bosses.
"If you've ever done boss speed runs in DII for hours on end, then you might get a glimpse of why this was preferable."
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