[Classic] What is D2 Classic?

Hi Diablo lovers,

I am a bit concerned about the talk of Blizzard making D2 Classic the “purist” mode of D2 gameplay. The fact of the matter is, classic players are typically NOT purists, though we of course have a few purists among us. A great deal of players (and perhaps Blizzard) do not really understand what makes classic play unique. The point of this post is to highlight why D2 Classic and D2 LoD are fundamentally different games. I hope that by clarifying this, Blizzard will understand why a majority of classic players want to see the same QoL updates as LoD players.

Quick notes: First and foremost, “Classic” does NOT refer to the 2001 Diablo II title or legacy mode. It refers to NON-EXPANSION play. D2R will have both Classic and LoD. Second, this is not an argument about which is better (Classic or LoD).

A casual player would have no reason to pick Classic over its expansion. They appear to be the same game, except LoD has more items, levels, and classes. When zooming out and examining the games in their entirety, however, Classic and LoD are very different. Put simply, Classic is a game of specialization, while LoD is a game of generalization. This difference is why there is a significant player base for both.

In Classic, there are five classes. They each have very distinct skills/strengths, which gives them distinct roles as well. This carries into every aspect of the game. Let’s take a sorceress as an example… as the only class that can teleport, the sorceress is a vital for ferrying other players around the Chaos Sanctuary (CS) in the Classic PvM endgame. On a PvP team, the sorceress is often the quick strike, kiting, forward player. The sorceress fills speed roles. The paladin has a niche as well. In a CS run, the paladin is the seal boss killer and provides strategic auras for the team. In PvP, the paladin can play both defensive and offensive roles, and is responsible for supplying a team with auras. Each class has similarly specialized roles that make them an integral part of a team.

LoD has all of the same classes and skills, but the introduction of runes blurs the lines and makes characters less specialized. Enigma gives any character teleport, and therefore makes a sorceress less unique. Call to Arms gives any character BO, and therefore makes a barbarian less unique. Pride grants the Concentration aura, making a paladin less unique. You get the idea. This is not a bad thing, it’s just different.

This difference also impacts the value of items. In LoD, runewords create most of the important items, and uniques fill in many of the gaps. This emphasizes uniques and runes as the most valuable drops. In Classic, since players need to fill particular roles, the ideal gear specs depend heavily on the purpose of the character. This means that rares are the most valuable types of drops, and a larger variety of rares can be valuable and fulfil a purpose.

This brings me to the key point: most Classic players play because they prefer the specialization it emphasizes and would therefore benefit from and appreciate QoL updates. Let’s break down specifics:

  • Since Classic builds try to fulfil highly specialized roles, the display panel that shows advanced stats (such as MF or FCR) would be extremely helpful

  • Because Classic players have to collect a huge variety of rares (and some uniques/sets), they need a lot of storage space. This is why Classic players typically have more mules than LoD players. Increased stash space and shared stashes? So helpful!!

  • Classic players level up by doing thousands of CS runs. It requires a team of players, each with a specific role. Toggleable auto-PP would be amazing. Everyone hacked back in the day to get auto-PP anyways.

Blizzard… Classic matters. The way we play the game is not defined by “purist.” We play classic because it is a game of teamwork and specialization. QoL upgrades should be considered through that lens, NOT the “purist” assumption. If you want to sell the game to Classic players, they need a reason to pick D2R over the original game, so please do not exclude us.

Best,
Will

TLDR: For anyone who read my essay, I appreciate your time. If you feel that Classic matters too, whether you play Classic or LoD, please reply and voice your support!

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Absolutely agree. Feel exactly this way about specialization. TvT is golden in classic, can’t wait to CS with you, Kieran, and everyone else that still has a passion for Classic. (Providing you all play soft core, I ain’t letting my kids kill any of my lvl 90s when I go afk lol)

Great post, thanks!

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[Classic] The Shared Stash

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This is 100% spot on!!! I’m so glad someone took the time to really explain in detail, this is exactly how MOST classic players feel. I’m glad this guy is much nicer than I am lol… again all I can say is… I don’t plan on playing any form of LOD ever again. with that said I’m not hating on LOD I played for 10 years or more… Once I was introduced to classic I never looked back… I paid money to come support the classic playerbase here… lets get this right blizzard!!!

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Can we remove level requirements on gear level stat requirements though as god intended! D2 classic is for ever in my heart I’ll prob play classic! Does my spear barb with iceblink still work lol

I agree i hope classic gets the QoL features as I’ll be playing both.

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Pardon my ignorance, but as a LoD player I’m ignorant to what the OP is referring to in relation to D2 Resurrected. Can someone please clarify what LoD Resurrected is getting that D2 Classic Resurrected isn’t?

Is it the differences between the original D2 and LoD, like stash space etc?

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Well nothing is confirmed yet, but it’s looking like Blizzard is not going to be extending any quality of life updates to Classic players under the assumption that Classic players are “purists” (which means people in favor of zero changes).

The biggest QoL update that Classic players need is the shared stash, which so far is only implemented for LoD players. Implementing things like a larger stash would also make a lot of sense with new bnet, since we cannot have unlimited mule accounts anymore, limiting our space.

Smaller QoL updates, like auto-PP and auto-gold may also be taken from Classic players due to that “Classic players are purists” misconception.

The objective of the post is to make sure people (Blizzard in particular) know that the purist idea is a misconception and they should not base their decisions on that assumption.

Blizzard might implement stuff for Classic and we could be wrong, but I wanna be loud just in case :stuck_out_tongue:

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I’m a bit confused. Why would Blizzard implement confirmed QoL changes for LoD and not Classic? Have they explicitly mentioned anything?

Good question.

MrLlamasc has stated that classic will not be getting the shared, larger stash.

On top of this, Kieran, who is a very reliable source and been involved in the Classic scene for years, has posted screenshots of what appears to be the new, Classic stash, which is lacking an area for stash tabs.

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Only alternative is essentially unlimited characters per account, since we can’t have separate mule accounts anymore I assume…

That would look really messy.

Full support, the only reason I moved on from classic D2 to LOD. Was druid is one of my favorite classes. Even though I like the fact Classic doesn’t have a single charm in it, no charms replacing other drops etc.

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I agree. Classic need the QOL improvements.

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I played a druid a few times for kicks. Was super fun :slight_smile:

Thanks for the support!

My guess is because they assume Classic players have an even more purist mindset than LoD players.

Which is mostly true - but that doesn´t mean that a vast majority of Classic players are against non-gameplay-changing QoL features - in this case it´s definitely the opposite.

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In my experience Classic players arent too purist at all…we mostly just find the itemization aspect of Classic to be better…even with BiS rares, if you get careless in CS you’ll die. My din in xpac…I just watched tv while randomly teleporting up to sealbosses, no care in the world.

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I think it’s an interesting and valid point, well taken.

I don’t see myself as a classic or purist in any regards, though I prefer “when in doubt, leave it alone” which sounds purist in essence, but is simply the safer route.

I totally understand what you mean about the difference. Though to be fair, LoD had it’s own variation of specialization in the trees, but yes, skill sets started to blur lines a bit with the introduction of runewords.

From my perspective, I am an LoD lover. Mostly due to my favorite classes being the As sasin and druid, but also I loved the Barb lore, and the newer areas. I enjoyed the runewords because even though they blurred the lines and reduced class uniqueness, they also opened up many more options and a greater variety of build types. though I honestly hate the teleporting hammerdin, I think the build simply needs to die. My preferred older build was the WW Barb for my own speed runs. Leap across the map and tear into stuff.

This does open up a big question though. What could they do with the future of D2R? What would benefit them more? doing a classic league? in the reverse direction, what about a D2:Evolution with all the changes people are talking about? I wonder how these would impact the game. I think that no matter what they did, leaving the players with a choice would be critical, and it would greatly risk lowering populations in specific leagues.

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A reason I would play classic would be to avoid runeword and charms. That also means to avoid the game being balanced on the fact they exist. I don’t like the charms or the 1.10 runewords and think they ruin the game overall.

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Yeah, definitely some specialization still in LoD. When I say LoD is about generalization, I more mean in a relative sense.

Honestly, I think Blizzard would lose a lot of business on the game if they made large changes as time goes by. They have D4 coming up, where they can really change around the feel based on feedback.

I feel they should stick with these simple QoL changes and just make sure everyone gets them, rather than just LoD players. A purist can always switch the features off.

If you dont know the difference from classic D2 to LODD2 you should read this thread. its a good one.

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