Can’t take that away from MrLlamaSc, he is passionate about the game as most of us are.
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mrllamasc is the true embodiment of a hardcore D2 fan. He’s played D1 since release and has played over 30,000 hours of D2 in the last 20 years. He’s also literal friends with the D2R devs and he said he has the utmost confidence in the devs NOT to ruin the game or change it too much so i feel confident about it as well.
Anyone who actually watched the D2R deep dive knows the D2R devs are also hardcore fans and their main focus is preserving D2 and NOT changing it. Why it needs to be re-explained over and over that this is a remaster and not a remake is truly bizarre.
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I don’t know if MrLlama is literally “friends” with the D2R devs, but they do listen to him at least, and they appear to be showing respect to people that have been playing D2 and love D2 for over 21 years, such as MrLlama.
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Andre Abrahamiam
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Rob Gallerani
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Chris Amaral
Those three guys give me hope for D2R to be a very good Remaster of D2, which will give us another 20++ years of pure D2 Magic, as long as nothing goes to crap with last-minute changes that would ruin the Remaster.
I really feel these guys have played D2 more than the whole D3 team combined, and that gives me hope. They gave me the impression they really have a passion for Diablo 2 specifically.
With some luck, these guys could also be a blessing for Diablo 4, with all their D2 Knowledge about what makes a good ARPG. Currently, D4 is a no-buy for me, but that could really change. I just won’t make the same mistake twice like purchasing a Diablo III type “Successor” to the D2 Masterpiece, Jesus… what a let down that was and is.
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Such great insight in this video. He really expresses the subtleties of what has made D2 so special - I think he proves himself as an ideal choice for the deep dive panel host amongst the other D2 youtubers.
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He does make a lot of great points. D2: R is a remaster of D2 with minor QoL that doesn’t change the core gameplay. If D2: R was changed with everything that other people have suggested then the game becomes too easy, and the D2 magic is gone. It would be a remake, and not a remaster. Therefore if all these major changes were to be implemented then it would not be called, “Diablo II: Resurrected”. It would be called, “Diablo 5”.
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There is no magic of D2, 80% of players were unhappy with diablo 2, thats why they left. It got old, outdated, and outclassed by other games, giving it a paint job isnt going to bring it back to life. I challenge you to just go look at forums from 2002…2005…2008 and see what the playing population had to say about diablo 2, it wasnt pretty, far worse than what you will see on a diablo 3 forum at this very moment. Is this remaster being made for the very few people who stuck with the game for 20 years, or the millions that made it successful in the first place. If they take door number one this game wont see any real popularity. Ill play it for a nice stroll down memory lane, but thats about it.
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This is a pretty decent point. When you think about it how many people are going to grind endless bruns like the old days. Probably only the same guys that where doing it on D2 for the last 20 years.
Even if they keep it robot free and there is no grabbit…
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Well, to be honest i dont agree with some things he said.
Edit: nvm i though it was his different older video. I guess this is new one.
Yeah i saw this one too. He is explaining well why its do good.
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You’re not completely wrong, this isn’t going to be a blockbuster release, it’s a remake of an old game. It’s not a new, AAA title. What are you expecting, exactly? I still think it will actually sell pretty well though, it is Diablo.
I don’t think D2 was ever “outclassed”. Is this your attempt at making a point? D3 sold more under the Diablo name, probably because of the success of D2 and the fact that there are just more people and more people with computers than back in 2000. More people playing games, in general. Diablo 3 has a 4.1 user review by 10,000 people on metacritic. Every game fades away over time. Once D4 comes out D3 will be mostly forgotten regardless of how good D4 is. Does that surprise you?
But I actually agree with you. The game may have initially decent sales then die down. But making some of the changes people are proposing on here wont change that. It would have to be marketed as something completely different than it is right now, with tons of added content and expansions, and even then… is Diablo 2 in any form going to be able to compete with a brand new game? I really doubt it, it’ll always be D2 at it’s heart and a lot of people want something totally new, which is D4.
Enjoy your stroll
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The magic of D2 is keeping it shared loot like it’s always been, drop rates the same so that way you don’t find every item on day 1, inventory management to make decisions on keeping full charms, or half charms, or no charms to pick up items, runes and gems should stay the same for taking up 1 square space and not be stackable, quivers have a quantity limit for a reason so if you run out or get close to running out you gotta pick up/buy more, etc. The list goes on. Diablo 2 is meant to be a hard game with decision making, and with low drop rates that makes you want to farm more, and come back over and over to play again and again. There are reasons why a lot of people might have left at least Closed Bnet, and it’s not because D2 didn’t have a magic flare. They left because D2 got infected with cheaters(bots/hacks/dupes/maphacks/spam bots/etc., but a lot probably just went to play Single Player/Open Bnet), other games were being made and they changed games but I bet you most of them still came back to D2 at some point later on, etc. Between 2002 to 2008 there were also several patches released including 1.10. The millions that made it successful have probably at some point came back to play D2. Once D3 was announced almost all D2 players were hoping it to be a better upgrade to D2(better graphics, few QoL changes, enhanced security to combat cheaters, new acts, new content, etc.), but D3 went a total different route. With D2: R announced this is what the D2 community back then wanted in D3 at the time. So, with that said, D2: R is a remaster of the old D2 that everyone wanted with updated graphics, updated sound, updated cinematics, upgraded UI, upgraded security and features of Bnet 2.0, the same gameplay preserved, few minor QoL that doesn’t change core gameplay mechanics, and not a remake into a totally new Diablo game.
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I found every single item in the game, but still, that knowledge that some items are indeed super rare, is (among other things) what makes D2 magical to me. Knowing that some uber rare item could drop is exciting, especially because it doesnt drop for a very long time.
The rarest items in the game are actually not really sought after (since rune words were introduced in LOD), but still, these items feel like trophies. That being said, there was a time when those items were indeed sought after because the item dynamic was different. I personally absolutely love Runewords, but a friend of mine prefers to play D2-Classic without the expansion, and the fact that he can do so is very satisfying to know. This is why D2R is compatible both with D2LOD and Classic-D2 without the expansion.
D2 Item Rarity and how the whole system works, is in my opinion better than in POE, and I actually love POE on par with D2LOD.
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Maybe they killed Baal and finished the game? Not everyone desires to make many characters and gather all loot.
D2 = lightning in a bottle
And thats ok. You complete game and you delete it afterwards, coming back to it once in 2-4 years just to refresh your memory.
Games-as-a-services are really strange macabre zombies of the game industry.
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Diablo 2 is a game that is designed in a way that requires a strong playerbase to facilitate a healthy economy, it needs to hold its population or a mass exit will happen lol.
Its perfectly fine to play the game andariel to baal in normal difficulty, pat yourself on the back, and uninstall.
I will play Andariel to Baal and then repeat in Nightmare and Hell difficulty in the first 4 hours of the ladder. Then the real journey begins for the items I want. Absolutely love Magic Find Grinding. Its so addicting 
What? Economy for what? Grinding loot on baal? Thats really something that people online came up with themselves, D2 ment to be completed and finished. This stuff was just a bonus.
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I think it usially takes me 4 hours to complete 1st act of normal usially) Maybe some part of 2nd act.
People want to build characters end game, do ubers, etc…if gearing becomes sitting in a trade game everyday for hours trying to find items you need people will quit. Bots and dupes made up for the low player count of the original.
What? No…
D2 was never meant to be “ending”. That’s why countless items are so rare. The story is done quickly, and the difficulty increases norm to nightmare to hell. Hell is the endgame, and the game isn’t as easy as some of you remember. Its rather hard without gear or beginner gear. You will die lots.
The true Endgame of D2 is the item hunt for the best items, and then trade and roll new characters, as well as PVP for some.
4 Hours to complete Act 1?
What do you do for 4 hours in act 1?