3,382
edits
Changes
m
→The Leveling Curve: oopsies
The number (60 vs 99) isn't the real issue, of course. It's just a number. What matters is how the content is balanced to the level progression, and that's where D3 makes a huge change. The design goal is that the levels match the amount of content; a character who finishes all three difficulty levels should be around level 60. Thus the end game becomes about finding items, PvP, reaching achievements, and creating new characters to do it all over again. This was first explained by [[Bashiok]] in September 2010. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/more-on-d3s-end-game-and-achievements/]
<blue>The experience curve to 60 isn’t going to be a perfect three playthroughs of the game on each difficulty. It’s of course expected you’ll be exiting and then starting up new games, but it isn’t intended to be a grind to level. The number of levels is intended to match the amount of content. Meaning when you beat the game on Hell, yes we expect you to be around level 60. Maybe you’re a level or two shy, or maybe you’ve been 60 for a while, depending on how you played.</quoteblue>
Additional posts made clear that the projected level up rate is something like 30/50/60 when finishing the Normal/Nightmare/Hell difficulties. This point was once again expounded upon in greater depth by Bashiok in August of 2011[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-explains-inferno-and-end-game]:
Again, personal play habits will influence leveling curves but we’ll do our best to make it smooth.</blue>
===Fan Reactions===