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===The Leveling Curve===
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/]
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]: <blue>Our intent is to create a fairly smooth leveling curve between difficulties. When you finish Normal you should be around 30, and you’ll be ready for Nightmare, you should be around 50 when you finish Nightmare, and you’ll be ready for Hell, and when you finish Hell you should be around 60, and ready for Inferno.We don’t expect that people are going to play start to finish, Normal to Inferno, in one sitting. Because of that it implies replays of specific areas (as enemies/bosses respawn when you leave and start a new game) which adds in some guess work on XP gains. It may be that you need to stick around in Hell difficulty for a bit longer because you beat the game at level 58 or something, but it shouldn’t be a long drawn out XP farming situation just so you can advance – if we do it right. Again, personal play habits will influence leveling curves but we’ll do our best to make it smooth.</blue>
It's universally-speculated, thought not yet confirmed, that the maximum level of characters will rise in the expansion packs. This is done in many RPGs, most noticeably in World of Warcraft which began with a max level of 60, then saw it rise to 70, 80, and 85 in the first three expansions.
==Official CommentsEnd Game Goals and Philosophy== [[Blizzard]] has stated numerous times that their goal for the end game of Diablo III is to basically build on what worked in Diablo II, namely the [[item]]-hunting metagame (that could be argued as being the main game), and to fix what did not work in Diablo II's end game. The main perceived problems, as addressed by Blizzard, are what they call "path of least resistance" runs where a player would find the most efficient route to a monster or boss that is known to have a very desirable [[loot]] table. The player then performs these item runs over and over until they receive what it is they want, even though it is tedious, boring, and not exactly the most exciting thing a player could be doing. However it is, of course, the most efficient way for a player to find reward in Diablo II. So in lieu of this, Blizzard has implemented a fourth difficulty level named [[Inferno]] which makes ever monster one level about the [[clvl]] max, namely 61, across the entire difficulty. There are other tweaks, such as potential exclusive [[modifiers]] and also more aggressive and modified AI, to aid this. In addition, Bashiok spoke on great length on the subject on the [[battle.net]] forums[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-explains-inferno-and-end-game]: <blue>The general philosophy is that we want to make finding better loot at the end game more enjoyable, and attempt to address ‘path of least resistance’ style gameplay.There’s a couple ways we’re doing that, some of which we’re not talking about just yet. Primarily it’s focused around Inferno and creating a consistent difficulty across the entire act. By having a flat difficulty across the entire game in Inferno it evens things out so that no matter where you want to go you’re being challenged, and you have a good chance at getting good drops. That’s intended to open the game up so there’s simply more freedom for the player to go anywhere in the game and have an equal chance at good drops. There will probably still be a slight difficulty curve in Inferno, as enemies simply become more complex and have greater abilities later in the game, but we’re making an effort to make it as even across the board as possible. It’s something we’ll very likely have to keep tweaking after release. In addition we’re attempting to de-emphasize path of least resistance by creating a more equal value across monster types. We’re not going to get into specifics about who can drop what or how much, but our intent is that being out in the world exploring should be as lucrative (potentially more) as simply aiming for the quickest-to-reach boss and running that over and over. Getting people out into the world of the game and away from repetitive boss runs is essentially our goal. It’s going to be tough because people will find a path of least resistance, and they will make that the game. We’re going to have to keep on top of it, and truthfully it’s something we’re still working on. We’ll likely want to have some additional features to support these ideals, but just getting Inferno tuned right is our current end-game goal for ship.</blue> ===Plans Beyond Release=== The Inferno difficulty mode is not the development team's plan for end game, but it may very well serve as a sort of gateway to introduce other methods and styles of play.The development team has plans to possibly introduce more facets of end game through content patches or other means. However, these plans are being closely guarded by Blizzard, and information on what will be contained in this content is as yet unknown. ===PVP and Hardcore=== While [[hardcore]] mode isn't necessarily end game, it can be supplemental to players who exclusively play in [[softcore]] mode as a means of stretching out the game's longevity.
