My Background:
When I was 15, played D2 heavily for around 2 years (2002 - 2004, patch 1.09D mostly) but quit altogether at the start of 2004 when University life took over. Played it quite heavily, highest level chars were a 94 traps sin and a farmer sorc. Outside of playing CS competitively at local LAN events or online scrims, D2 was my go-to chill out game.
Similarly with D3’s launch almost a decade later, I have played the game to the same level of enthusiasm despite all the changes from: eg. Arena matchmaking pvp mode -> Brawl // RMAH -> no RMAH -> Trading only in party -> Soulbound loot. Despite all the changes, I’ve stuck with the game even having the occasional blast on the PS4 console.
Outside of the type of isometric ARPG style of both games and their titles, I acknowledge D2 and D3 are inherently very different styles of games made from developers with different views, and that’s okay.
The issue I have is that recently, a vocal majority of the playerbase have come to define what the Diablo franchise should be. Whenever someone brings up PVP or trade, I read an overwhelming responses say “That is not what Diablo is about, Diablo is all about slaying monsters and getting loot.” I believe what has actually happened is that the people who loved Diablo for it’s PVP and/or for it’s trade have been outcasted and have all but left the playerbase and the franchise - leaving only those with the same collective thoughts to discuss details on loot and other gameplay aspects they find enticing. It’s almost as though the parameters for the game has been set for all future iterations - and it’s a bit disappointing that these fields will no longer be explored.
From a recent post last week by D1 and D2’s lead designer - David Brevik, he said:
“We wanted to make a legitimate online version of Diablo, where there’s a real economy and you can trade items and it means something,” Brevik said. “That was one of the biggest motivations; seeing how people loved Diablo, but being very critical – and rightly so – about how things had been going with the online part of the game.” (source: gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-08-21-diablo-2-the-human-cost-of-making-a-classic)
At the very least we can acknowledge there are very different views as to what the Diablo franchise can be and we shouldn’t try so hard to define what Diablo is or isn’t.
My personal view is that the Diablo team has recently taken many aspects from WoW’s system and vice versa - collectively known as the Blizzard MMO system (talent system, mythic dungeons/greater rifts, soulbound items, 2 hour trade with party limitations, etc.). With D4 being more of an MMO, there’s even more incentive to take daily/weekly quests and put them into D4 which I am personally against as that is what has discouraged me from playing WoW (although it is my most played game for over 15 years).
I’m sure the Blizzard MMO system will be great for the longevity of the game as there will always be people grinding and the combat mechanics always feel fluid and fun BUT I don’t think it will be fun for many players past the first few months.
I hope the Diablo team really takes D4 and innovates with it rather than just borrowing systems of the past/present. The RMAH was a great example of innovation, albeit with a set of negative impacts. But take risks please and think less about how do we create endless repetitive playtime for the grinders out there but more how do we create meaningful, diverse, fun and engaging playability.