No, but I think the original Diablo is better than both 2 and 3. Truly. 2 and 3 are more ‘game’ in terms of content and length, but 1 is an absolute experience, a true masterclass of gaming.
I mean of base D3 copies sold (including copies where both D3 and ROS are combined). Which would mostly be the same as unique customers of course. Not entirely, as some have bought multiple copies, seems totally fair to count those as individual sales though. Someone still made a conscious decision to buy multiple copies of the game then.
When talking copies sold of a game, only the base-game should count. D3 + ROS is still just one sale of the game called Diablo 3.
Well it would be much lower than 20 million “base copies” as you say. The amount of unique customers that bought the game should be about half of the 30 million. If 12-15 million people bought D3 vanilla before ROS came out, it only makes sense many of them would buy the expansion and therefore roughly double the total sales number close to 30 million. Not sure what sales numbers are for consoles though so the numbers are just rough estimates to make a point.
If someone bought D3/ROS for both PC and their console or 4 copies from 1 customer, that would still only be 1 customer total that bought 4 copies.
Well no. A company should absolutely count all copies sold whether its vanilla/expansion on multiple platforms. The whole point of this is not to redefine what counts as what like you’re trying to do. That wouldn’t be accurate reporting for the sake of reporting sales and revenue and to analyze their sales data. The point is to just understand that the total sales number of 30 million is not from 30 million unique customers.
That would assume everyone also bought RoS, which seems very unlikely. Especially considering D3s bad reception from lots of people.
Sure. Still seems completely reasonable to count it as 4 sales though. Really no way to know how many actual unique players a game got, nor does it seem relevant. If a developer can keep reselling a game to the same people over and over, they should be quite happy about it 
No I am not trying to redefine how you count sales. Quite the opposite. This is exactly how nearly everyone count sales. Except for Blizzard in D3, and some others.
Obviously doesn’t mean you cant count RoS sales separately. You just cant lump them together with base-D3 sales, without being very dishonest.
Just because some game got 1000 DLCs, it doesnt mean the game sold 1 billion copies, when in reality it sold 1 million of the base game, and each of its DLCs. Then the game company is just trying to obfuscate their actual sales.
Obviously, exact numbers are not available so assumptions were made to illustrate a point. You’re arguing for the sake of arguing.
These two quotes from you in your same post, shows you’re being contradictory because now you’re saying 2 copies of vanilla and 2 copies of ROS on different gaming platforms should count as 4 sales total to that 30 million in the first quote but in the second quote that it should count as 2 sales towards D3 vanilla and 2 sales toward ROS separating their sales numbers because otherwise it would be “dishonest” and b/c other company’s do it that way.
I’ve never said it shouldn’t count as 4 sales with the way Blizzard does it or any other way lmao.
Again, this is showing you just like to argue for the sake of arguing because you’re contradicting yourself.
It is relevant because people use the 30 million sales number on these forums, particularly to bash D2’s sales numbers and tout D3’s, not knowing it does not count as 30 million unique customers. Understanding this is very relevant.
Also when taking sales into consideration, how many were
because of the Auction Houses, and the lure of making money.
One thing I can say from playing D3 a lot, and that I never, ever, played
a game before, that had me switching to auto pilot as often as D3.
I have literally been falling asleep hundreds of times.
Part of it is the sound and ambiance, part of it is the gameplay, which gets
a lot of praises, is really boring.
When the game was released, it was slower, more engaging, and much,
much harder.
On release there were plenty of problems, but since then, the devs have
literally trivialized most of the game, besides Grifts.
From running bounties, rifts, gem upgrades, ubers, all that content
can be done with eyes closed.
It’s also the only game that I play music and turn off the sound,
cause of the dialogue and bad atmosphere, be it music or
effects.
So I am not here to praise how great D2 was, but how D3 was way better
in general gameplay.
People say the action is great, and at one time I agreed, but not it’s just
Gauntlet on steroids.
Items are another thing that was added later, 2.0, and was good at first.
Then the devs, just like with difficulty went way overboard.
Ridiculous sets were introduced, and huge multipliers, which killed
most other items, and turned others to be broken down for crafting.
I really wish they would of left the game alone, a long time ago, but no,
they keep on meddling and wrecking fun builds.
Why are they changing stuff in this old game, when some things aren’t broken?
Also, why are we getting follower changes now, almost nine years after
release?
Didn’t anyone know ahead of time, that they could of made them useful
from the get go.
After all this time playing, this game has more questions to be asked,
then it has answers.
So the only thing I will say about D2 is, the original devs left it alone for
a bit, and the many of the original systems are still running, like leveling to
99, etc.
And later different devs added to D2 as well, and frankly, made it worse,
but at least they didn’t make it easy mode where you could watch You Tube
at the same time.
No. 2 copies of vanilla and 2 copies of RoS on two different platforms should count as 2 copies of D3 in the 30 million count. RoS should simply not count, since it is an expansion.
But if you buy 4 copies of D3 itself, sure, that is 4 copies sold of D3.
Nor does D2s sales numbers count unique customers. Nobody counts that way.
If you, for some reason, would want to compare D2 and D3 sales, at least you need to count the same way for both.
Sigh. Merely trying to point out that those 30 million copies sold is not an accurate way for Blizzard to count, and it can not be compared to usual sales numbers from others games. Not even to Blizzards own. Like Overwatch etc.
Lets reiterate on the discussion here.
This is the quote I said.
My quote here is saying if one person bought D3V/ROS for their PC and also bought D3V/ROS for their console, Blizzard counted that as 4 copies towards 30 million. This is a true statement.
This was your response to that quote.
This quote from you in response to my example, appears to be saying that all 4 of those copies bought by that 1 person should count toward that 30 million. So, if you want to retract or clarify that statement go ahead.
I’ve never said how any company should count one way or another way. You’re making a strawman argument against me. It’s really you who has been telling Blizzard how they should count their sales, calling them “dishonest”, not me. I’m just clarifying for those unaware that 30 million sales does not mean 30 million unique customers and using examples to help people understand how Blizzard tallied that 30 million that it was not all unique customers.
None really. I find many good. None are can’t miss games IMO. But the list is small of the games I liked more than D2 if that makes you feel better. D1, D3, and GD.
4 copies of “D3/ROS” (no matter of bought as 4 packages, or 4 D3 + 4 ROS) should count as 4 sold copies of D3. 2 copies of D3 + 2 copies of ROS should count as 2 copies sold of D3.
Yes.
Its an unfair comparsion then. D3 is a different game now than in vanilla. If you only base on D3 vanilla, then sure, but I do not think you give D3 a fair shake before making the statement.
Played D2/LoD for just under 2 years, like you have 1000s of hours in D3. D3 was just a blast to play compared to D2. But they ate really two different games withing the same genre.
If D2s combat flowed like D3s, I may have thought it was a better game.
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Their internal data most likely does make a distinction between the two and every platform it was bought on because it has to for analytics. They have to see exactly how many copies sold for ROS only on PC and ROS only on different consoles and the same for D3 vanilla. But for marketing and general flexing, they’re going to tout the 30 million. As far as the way they did count it, my point still stands as far as clarifying how that 30 million number was tallied and it not being equivalent to 30 million unique customers that many people likely assume.
Haedrigs and high legendary drop rates mean I can finish the entire journey in four days. After that there is little incentive to keep playing do to four man meta being so much better for paragons and loot.
The system is just a mess for keep players around or even bothering in many cases. Hunting for items you already have but in ancient/primal form isn’t compelling. It’s a bandaid.
I played D2 for the first time this weekend after maybe 10 years of not touching it.
I dropped it after half an hour. It’s an antique by modern standards.
Don’t get me wrong, nostalgia was through the roof. I had a bunch of fun messing around in act 1 and stuff and going through things. But then I went right back to D3 and had more fun because it just plain feels better to play.
D2R may be a different story with the updated graphics. I’m not convinced it’s enough to sell me on an experience I already played the crap out of, but I guess we’ll see.
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Yes. Miles ahead.
Yes. D3 in its current state is a lot more addictive than D2.
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Yes, I think it has a far superior end game, and in terms of story its on par.
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I asked Chat GPT for a fair unbiased purely objective answer which game is better POE or D2 or D3 and this happened
(Chat GPT on D2 vs D3)
Many players would argue that Diablo 2 has more complex itemization than Diablo 3.
In Diablo 2, items can have a large number of stats and affixes, with some items having the potential for a nearly limitless number of combinations. Additionally, the game’s runeword system allows players to craft powerful items by combining specific runes in certain item sockets. These factors, combined with the rarity and uniqueness of certain items, make Diablo 2’s itemization system very complex and deep.
In contrast, Diablo 3’s itemization system is generally more streamlined and simplified, with fewer stats and affixes to consider. The game’s focus on legendary and set items can also make the itemization system feel less complex, as players are often encouraged to focus on specific item sets to achieve powerful builds.
However, it’s worth noting that Diablo 3’s itemization system has evolved significantly since the game’s initial release, with updates and expansions adding more variety and complexity to the game’s item pool. Additionally, Diablo 3’s emphasis on the randomized nature of item drops and the potential for ancient and primal items to drop with additional bonuses can create a lot of variability and depth in the game’s itemization system.
Ultimately, whether you prefer the more complex itemization of Diablo 2 or the streamlined approach of Diablo 3 will depend on your personal preferences and playstyle.*
(Chat GPT on D2 vs POE)
Both Diablo 2 and Path of Exile (POE) have very complex itemization systems, and it’s difficult to say definitively which one is more complex.
In Diablo 2, items can have a large number of stats and affixes, with some items having the potential for a nearly limitless number of combinations. The game’s runeword system allows players to craft powerful items by combining specific runes in certain item sockets, adding another layer of complexity to the itemization system.
In Path of Exile, items can have a wide variety of stats, affixes, and unique properties that can drastically affect a player’s character build and playstyle. The game’s massive skill tree, which allows players to customize their character in a seemingly endless number of ways, also adds to the complexity of the itemization system. Additionally, Path of Exile has a crafting system that allows players to create their own powerful items by combining various crafting materials and orbs.
Ultimately, whether you find Diablo 2 or Path of Exile’s itemization system to be more complex will depend on personal preference. Both games have highly complex and rewarding itemization systems, with a lot of depth and potential for customization.
Out of curiosity I asked which game will have more complex itemization between D2 and D4 and while chat GPT says its not really possible to tell right now as D4 is still in development and can change, it did give a hint on what is to come
It states D4 itemization will be more complex than D2 and closer to POE so I guess all the D3 players who are refusing to play D4 if it’s anything like POE can just quit now
It is difficult to say definitively which game has more complex itemization between Diablo 2 and Diablo 4, as Diablo 4 has not been officially released yet and details about its itemization system are still being revealed.
However, based on the information that has been released so far, it appears that Diablo 4’s itemization system will be more complex than Diablo 2’s, but perhaps not as complex as some other ARPGs like Path of Exile.
According to the developers, Diablo 4’s itemization system will feature a greater emphasis on item affixes and properties, with a goal of making each item feel more unique and valuable. The game will also feature an expanded crafting system, allowing players to create more powerful and customized items.
That being said, it’s worth noting that Diablo 2’s itemization system is widely regarded as one of the most complex and deep in the ARPG genre. The game’s wide variety of affixes, rune words, and unique items allow for a lot of customization and experimentation in character builds.
Ultimately, the complexity of itemization in Diablo 4 versus Diablo 2 will depend on how the final game is implemented, and how players engage with its systems.