There has been some talk about Diablo 3’s Hardcore Mode and how it does not give mercy to its players when they die. For some, in Diablo 2, Hardcore Mode was the only way to play. Death was permanent, but you were able to pick up your items or have a companion who could recover your goods.
It will not be the same within Diablo 3, for when your character has died, the items you had equipped to yourself would be gone for good. This sparked some conversation among the Battle.net Official Forums. Blizzard’s Micah Whipple, known as Bashiok on the forums, states his perspective on the matter:
“Honestly if your character dropping all of your items when you die in Hardcore is something a lot of people want, we’d very seriously consider it. So far in my experience feedback on it has been mixed at best, but it’s tough to tell the actual Hardcore players from the riffraff. It’s important to keep in mind through that without any kind of ladder resets to zero out the economy it could mean a completely different item landscape for Hardcore years down the road. For us, items being removed from the game when a Hardcore character dies is kind of exciting.
“Our approach at this point is to see how this works out, because we think being a bit harsher on Hardcore is ok. Absolutely people may be scared to keep items on them, but maybe that becomes part of the fun and the strategy of it. We’re taking a wait and see, but definitely after release we’ll be interested to hear thoughts from Hardcore players and see how it’s working out.”
Here is what you will be faced with when entering hardcore mode:
