hell is hard=at first but after gg gear its super easy
we need another difficulty to push our builds to the very max
Some people still don’t seem to understand that the GG gear is what makes the game easy. That’s the whole point of this gear in the first place. If you don’t want the game to be easy, then don’t collect and equip that overpowered gear.
Make sense?
Powercreep cycle:
Step 1: Add increased difficulty level, which automatically becomes the defacto end-game challenge.
Step 2: Newbs whine that it’s too hard.
Step 3: Add more powerful items to help make the hardest difficulty easier for the newbs.
Step 4: The seasoned veterans/elite challenge seekers complain it’s too easy.
(Powercreep cycle complete, repeat again for more.)
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I mean most of the valid items have been here for some time…
And the game difficulty has been pretty standard…
And the only everlasting end game is item improvement.
Like I don’t think your powercreep cycle exactly existed like that.
Diablo 3 is a shining example of it happening… Which I think it’s a safe assumption that the majority of the Diablo 2 player base doesn’t want the same thing happening to D2:R.
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Okay I fully don’t understand D3/D4 and the cycles they have gone through. I thought you were referencing D2 and D2R. Which for the most part stayed static.
I think there could be room for D2R to grow into a harder mode, but to what extent? Are we changing when/where you can find certain items? Are we changing how fast you level after 90 in that new mode? If it is faster than TZ then the already lame 99 grind becomes easy AF, which really isn’t that big of a deal IMO. But the item adjustment makes it weird. Because if they exist in the same areas, you’re better off just farming in hell. If you stretch them further into the game, then why not just make the current modes harder?
I think there is a way to do it without the cycle you mentioned happening.
The overpowered 1.10 runewords are the main source of the powercreep experience in Diablo 2. They were originally gated behind excruciatingly low rune drop rates, preventing the average joe players from obtaining them legitimately, even after years of playing, effectively rendering these overpowered runewords unobtainable.
That’s where the botters and dupers stepped in, capitalizing on the opportunity to make money, selling botted and duped runes to all of the legitimate credit card holders that oh so yearned for the unobtainable.
After years of combatting (and largely failing) to control the botting problem, Blizzard released patch 1.13, which significantly increased the rune drop rates, making the 1.10 runewords more easily obtainable by legitimate players. (and also bots)
All the while, the power of these originally meant to be unobtanium runewords remained the same.
So, the answer should be clear at this point… The power of the runewords should be the target… Reducing the power of these overpowered 1.10 runewords that way they don’t make the majority of sets and uniques completely useless in comparison.
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I see your point to some degree. Though a lot of everything being so easy to get came off the backs of the dupes/bots more so than the rune drop rate. And while I wish the runewords were in line with perhaps where they should be or at least sets/uniques holding more value in consideration. I also don’t think having things that aren’t obtainable in game to be good for gameplay. They clearly should be more of an accomplishment than they currently are, but I also think that is largely due to bots moreso than the drop rate. I think the last D2R reset I played I could have made most of everything off my finds alone but it would have taken months without trading, but HRs were dropping pretty steady.
Keeping it as is, but making the monsters more difficult could perhaps mess up bots and delay progress.
I really don’t think many people would play this torment difficulty, if all it did was make the endgame grind slower. That is, if increased difficulty IS the only thing being asked for.
I could somewhat understand XP buff as an incentive, but as soon as you introduce something like better drops or new items, it would just become the new hell difficulty.
Well, it’s already +4 skill points, +5 stat points, +20 hp and +10% all res. Plus possibly very high runes from act IV. Depending on the Rite of Passage XP, maybe the very few players capable of completing it would use it to accelerate the grind to level 99.
In all cases, that’s already significant power creep for content that only a handful of endgame builds would be able to complete.
That’s not what OP was asking for though, not even an XP boost, just the difficulty increase. I don’t think an XP buff by itself, could be considered power creep, merely speed the last few levels along for builds that can survive the difficulty.
What the OP, and others who have solely asked for a “difficulty increase” fail to realize is they have the ability right now to increase the difficulty themselves by simply dropping most if not all of the overpowered 1.10 runewords. Bam, instant difficulty increase without any added power creep to the game for everyone else.
The great thing about having overpowered items is that you have the option of controlling the difficulty, whereas when you only have crapola gear, you don’t have the option.
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Well yes, that should be quite obvious. I doubt the people asking for a higher difficulty fail to realize anything. Rather I suspect what most of them really want, is faster power, better drops, more XP etc…
As I said before, I doubt many people would be interested in the difficulty for it’s own sake, or just slower grind.
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Yeah, and they don’t realize that those now easily obtainable overpowered 1.10 runewords they are wearing are giving them just that in comparison to pre 1.10.
They’re pushing for another step up in power creep.
“What do all men with power want? More power.” -The Oracle, Matrix Reloaded.
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Awesome movie series 
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Good news, OP.
Season 30 starts Friday for Diablo 3.
DO IT THERE.
Do we, though?
Even in Diablo 1, I don’t see the game as extremely hard.
The game is more about repeatedly running something in an attempt to get loot.
With Bis gear, the game is meant to become easy.
You do realize, that there are several builds out there, that are not all that gear dependent, that would destroy whatever new difficulty it’s added just the same as they are destroying Hell without all that much min maxing, right?
And I’m not saying it’s a bad thing either. It’s good that some builds are not that much gear dependent.
imagine all the new builds that would come out
and what items would be left in the dust that are working just fine in hell
pretty much none. It’s not like the game isn’t figured out for more than 20 years…
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I find this post relevant & I disagree.
I prefer “nerf the super gear”.
And likewise, the people that don’t want another difficulty can just play it.
And the D4 expansion can just be scrapped, because players can just equip worse gear and do old areas again and just pretend they’re being challenged by a new expansion.
D3’s failure was that it added more content that creeped your power.
If there is no 4th item tier, no super-unique Torment items except possibly cosmetic versions of existing items, no additional experience…
Like;
…no permanent quest rewards, they last for that game only. Experience and fount items persists.
-Other players can’t use their waypoints – waypoints are locked to game creator’s.
-Players can only use their own portals, and portals only works one way.
-Drops are seriously reduced: Only elite items drop, and only when they actually rolled normally. Potions drop far more rarely
-Monsters don’t respawn
-After killing Baal, the world ends, and your progress resets.