Why did Grim Dawn change the usual item rarity colors?
Most ARPG games taught us that green means set items, yellow means rare items, and blue means magic items. I don’t understand why the game had to “reinvent the wheel” and change something that was already working.
For players coming from other ARPG games, these colors feel confusing. We are already used to this system, so changing it makes it harder to quickly understand items.
Was there a reason for this decision?
It feels really annoying…
Because they didn’t, simple as that. GD has always been white - yellow - green - blue - purple and that goes back to its Titan Quest roots where it’s exactly the same. If anything it’s the newer games changing stuff.
My point is not that Grim Dawn copied this from nowhere. I understand that it follows the Titan Quest system and its own roots.
Titan Quest was not the only ARPG that existed. Many players come from games like Diablo II, which was released years before Grim Dawn and helped create the color associations that are familiar to many players today: blue = magic, yellow = rare, green = set.
So even if this system makes sense from a Titan Quest perspective, it can still feel confusing for players who are used to the more common ARPG color scheme.
And I felt exactly the same way when TQ2 changed what I was used to for this “new” colour system that other ARPG’s use. Thankfully they added an option to use the legacy one too. I never played much of D2 - came to it after some time on TQ - and don’t even remember what it had.
I only play TQ and GD so the change that TQ2 bought was a shock and not welcome.
Do you know which game basically defined the ARPG genre for many players?
It seems like you might be missing my point. This discussion is not about set items, it’s about the color associations players have learned over the years in ARPG games
You know there are people who basically never played Diablo games but instead went the Titan Quest route? Grim Dawn did not change it, they just continued the titan quest convetion.
Sure, Grim Dawn follows the Titan Quest tradition. That’s fine.
But it doesn’t change the fact that Grim Dawn should have an option to use different item colors. Titan Quest was not the first ARPG, and many players come from other games with different color conventions.
Giving players a choice would satisfy both groups ;>
You are missing the point completely.
Diablo II defined ARPGs for a huge number of players. Titan Quest is important, but it was not the game that shaped the expectations of the entire genre.
You keep defending why Grim Dawn has these colors, but that does not answer why there should not be an option for players who prefer the more common system.
If there is clearly a conflict between different player expectations, why not simply give players a choice? Simple as that.
Becuse no other ARPG has it? People who have played titan quest and grim dawn and wanna play a diablo game have to learn diablo conventions. You keep defending that diablo games should not need that option. Yeah people who did not play diablo 2 since 2001 does not deserve to be treated with options because diablo 2 defined the entire genre
Torchlight also have a completely different color system.
What is next, the actual wodings of the mechanics of the game “in diablo 2 it is just called damage not physical damage there should be an option for players to have that changed” “in diablo 2 it is called life and mana not health and energy”
At least now there is option for “globes” in Grim Dawn instead of titan quest bars
Diablo 2 might be defining in the genre but 90% of the Grim Dawn player base never touch it , I mean not every Arpg fan is fan of Diablo 2 . Grim Dawn can’t add all the systems from other Arpgs because some generic players
There’s no such thing. And it is entirely a player decision whether they want to allow themselves to be influenced by the color of magic items to the point of becoming worth of any debate.
I for instance never considered that until today. And I have been playing this genre since Diablo I. Heck, since the 80-90s MUDs and roguelikes that influenced the genre. There are numerous other ARPGS out there that make their own decisions on the color schema. These are the ones on my Steam account:
Chronicon
Hero Siege
Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing
Last Epoch
Path of Exile 1 and 2
Slormancer
Titan Quest 1 and 2
Torchlight 1 and 2
Victor Vran
Warhammer 40.000 Inquisitor
Some of these games deviate completely, others marginally. There’s no unspoken standard on what item rarity colors should be. Don’t insist on a bad argument.
