Improving the efficiency of co-op play in Diablo 3 is to be “a big focus” of the upcoming 1.08 patch. According to senior technical game designer Wyatt Cheng they’re looking at improving the raw efficiency of working as a team as well as including features which will save time and make the experience of playing in a group less of a chore.
Taking to the forums, Cheng wrote “Co-op is already more efficient for some players, but this is the exception rather than the norm. The degree of co-op efficiency depends heavily on the co-ordination of the party, skill builds, and the relative gear level of the teammates.” Blizzard have tried to encourage players to team up but he admits that “there’s still room to go farther”.
He pointed to “a number of hurdles to co-op play beyond raw efficiency”, things which slow the game down or make the experience of playing a team less enjoyable. An example of a fix coming in the new patch that Cheng pointed to was the new “identify all” feature, “Sometimes the trip back to town to sort through a bag of gear is enough of a hurdle to make somebody feel playing co-op isn’t worth it. Nobody wants to be in the dungeon fighting monsters while your teammate is off in town identifying a full inventory.”
Blizzard have yet to publish a full changelog for patch 1.08 but yesterday we covered how there are plans to reduce the number of rare loot drops while also increasing their potency.