Vanilla D2 vet here who always stuck with D2 when my friends all jumped ship to WoW vanilla but my PC couldn’t handle it.
Perhaps my biggest takeway from Diablo 2’s golden years was the sense of community. All the random player made clans and channels. Leveling together, dueling together, giving each other deals on gear. (Shout-out to Barbarian Alliance from USEast, hope to see you all again next month). And just chatting in channel 1 or 2, or randomly in game.
I understand being on console, controller is native so there needs to be accessibility adjustments, so things are more simplified. --and I’m not asking that we take any of that away.
However, as the game stands, our only option is an “emote wheel” and selecting someone’s profile and inviting them into a party. I was helping in a A1 game where they needed the scroll for Tristram, I sat at Darkwood cleared for 5 whole minutes helpless to inform my team the scroll was ready to grab. I ended up just leaving the game. Same goes for Tomb runs, it’s a guessing game at which portal to take because you literally can’t communicate freely.
I don’t think this is a simple solution of just adding in game microphone chat either. If you’re joining random games it could get noisy, hectic, etc. Especially trade games…and a microphone won’t work for large trade channels etc.
And let’s face it, Diablo 2 is built around the community. Before we needed ruststorm to clear out dupes, all your trading was done by game names and trade channels. We need to encourage a healthy, organic economy. This cannot be done readily without a keyboard to type.
This greatly concerns me and many others from what I’ve seen. If we aren’t given the accessibility we need from KB+M, Blizzard/VV may as well endorse third party sites like D2JSP, d2legit and other RWT sites because you will not have a healthy, ease-of-access, ergonomic trade environment. Especially with how rare some items are, how difficult it is to get the HRs you need for an end game build. (Without trading, especially during a ladder season)
There are other reasons why I think we need KB+M, such as keybinds for serious PvP (although controller mapping may prove more efficient over time), item management like how you can’t pick up items with a full inventory with a cube, because your inventory is full screen so you cannot see the ground. (This could prove to be a very crippling issue for MFers, etc who run full charm inventories with only cube for picking items up). And many other reasons, which only makes sense as this game was designed for PC.
However as stated and I cannot stress enough, the main reason it is NEEDED, is for the community. Trading, communicating, camaraderie, etc.
I think we should have either options available in settings. To just randomly matchmaking find a lobby with your controller and mind your own business; and to use a keyboard and mouse to create games with titles, like PC. Create and join channels, to trade and converse easily. Maybe add some nuances when creating a game with KB+M so that controller layout matchmaking will join in.
If we do not see this implemented, then I’d have to acknowledge that the only reason it came to console was to boost sales for a larger audience. As much as I am enjoying seeing the beautiful work VV has done, without the accessibility to the community, this is not anywhere near the true experience.
I’ll be honest, there would probably be some late nights after work where I just wanna sit back in the recliner and slowly MF with a controller in a private game. But for the majority when I’m leveling, dueling, looking for a mid rune, etc I would surely have a lapboard on me, engaging the community the way it was meant to be. The only way it was truly meant to be.
Diablo 2 is a beautifully social game, built and thriving off player interaction and you have a lot of 30+ year old vets on console who want to reminisce with like strangers over something that played a huge part in their teens or later. Please don’t rob us of that opportunity.
In closing I just want to say, maybe this is already being discussed internally, I truly hope it is. If so, (and even if it is far off from being implemented) please, Blizzard/VV at least give us a black or what answer that it is being considered or that it is not.
TLDR; keyboard and mouse is required for readily communicating towards goals in game, for leisure talk in game/channels, and for trading easily in game/channels. You cannot have a game based on player economy and teamwork to rely on an “emote wheel”.