Diablo 3 systems changes

Hey everyone, as my first Diablo 3 related post, I'd like to touch on the post made by Jay Wilson on January 19th about systems changes. Let's start right at the beginning:

"Let's start off small: Scrolls of Identification are no longer in the game."
Sounds like a great idea to me, you no longer need a physical item taking up inventory space to identify your item.  Some would say what's the point of having to identify your item at all? I personally think it's much better to be able to unwrap that nice gift left by the super-unique monster you just decapitated to see just how epic the drop is!

""We're also moving the fifth quick slot button, which is becoming a dedicated potion button."

Not much to say here, a dedicated potion button is definitely not a bad thing, this way you don't have to take stock of how long you'll be able to last before charging into battle. The info right there in front of your face, so jump right in the thick of it!

"We're removing the mystic artisan."

This seems like a good idea to me, as currently the mystic seems like a glorified horadric cube as an NPC. I think she needs more fine tuning and a bit more polish, although I can see Blizzard incorporating the mystic into the Diablo 3 expansion when it's released.

"We've decided to remove the Cauldron of Jordan and Nephalem Cube.  The Blacksmith artisan will now salvage items."

I understand the thought process behind the removal of these features and that Blizzard is trying to break up the combat, have people return to town more often, interact with the NPC's and get used to the town they currently call home.  Also with the addition of the Stone of Recall/Town Portal, there is not as much need for the removed items.  Conversely though, I don't think Blizzard needs to worry so much about people taking breaks and removing themselves from combat, in-game reasons for breaks in Diablo 3 include repairing, upgrading, crafting, selling and stashing items.  There are also enough other reasons for breaks outside of the regular in-game issues; bathroom breaks, smoking, phone calls, letting out your dog, etc. are all other reasons people will be stopping their massacre.  Basically, there are arguments both ways for the removal of the Cauldron and Cube.

"Common (white) items will no longer be salvageable."

Blizzard's philosophy on this change is basically that worthless items dropping makes the rare or legendary item drops that much more exciting.  I'm sorry to say that even a shiny, polished turd is still a turd.  In other words, even if people do think it's more exciting to dig through crap to pick up that one shiny rare, the crap is still just that - crap.  My belief is still if the white items are worthless, don't bother having them drop at all.  At least even in the world of Diablo 2, some white items would still be useful for runewords for example.  Make those whites useful somehow!

"We're changing core character attributes to Strength, Dexterity, Intellect, and Vitality."

Strength: +Barbarian damage, +Armor

Dexterity: +Demon Hunter damage, +Monk damage, +Dodge

Intellect: +Wizard damage, +Witch Doctor damage, +Health from globes

Vitality: +Health

So basically, we're looking at the same attribute customization as Diablo 2.  You're going to have the default character builds once again.  For example: Barbarians pumping strength and vitality.  All of your customization as far as builds go will once again all be based on skills and items.

"We're now displaying character stats directly on the Inventory UI (User Interface)."

Not too much to say here, though it might seem a little cluttered, this is a great improvement, no more toggling between your inventory and character screens!  Simply switch the item in your inventory with the item you currently have equipped to see the bonuses you'll be receiving instantly.

"We're also working on a number of other large systems changes -- specifically with the skill and runes systems.  We're not quite ready to share what those are just yet."

Well, looks like that's the last of the current system changes!  Hopefully we'll receive word of what exactly those changes are sooner rather than later, but I don't see these changes putting any major delays on the projected release as most, if not all of these changes have already been tested and implemented.  Hopefully we'll be seeing some more updates very shortly!