The No Lobbies, PC Controller, and Loot System Experience

When a new tweet from the response of a major game developer stated that no new features will be added to D2R at launch, I knew that trying to advocate for an optional system like personal loot is now a lost caused due to Blizzard’s history of promising features that they never ended up adding post-launch (like in their other games such as WoW). Blizzard is known to bank on pre-orders to determine success and when the developer states that a post with thousands of votes on Reddit didn’t even matter about a core feature on consoles like D2R, I knew that advocating for a personal loot option for D2R is now a lost cause. If these non-features in D2R matter to you, then the only way you are now going to be able to get Blizzard to listen is by voting with your wallet by refunding your pre-order and stating why in the feedback portion of your refund.

Here is my two weekend full beta experience that I played for 40+ hours to see if I wanted to keep this game or not, that is regarding the most important feature to me, the loot system in public multiplayer games:

During my beta gameplay, I was only able to pick up around >10% of any good drops from playing. Trying to grab loot from my kills by other players when I played range classes felt like a full time job due to the distance I was from the loot between the melee player and myself. I feel, one of the most toxic systems in D2R is the loot system, and unfortunately the bots, the players who cheat using the pickit scripts and purists who don’t want any changes to their game is going to ruin the multiplayer experience for the majority of the games players, who also make up for the biggest part of Blizzard’s revenue. Blizzard if the only thing that needs to be added as an option that would simply prevent the cheaters (bots and players using the pickit scripts) from stealing loot in public multiplayer games from legitimate players is an option for personal loot, then why wouldn’t you add it and finally fix this ongoing issue in D2 for over the last decade+ to make public multiplayer games enjoyable so players can play with others and make new friends without worrying about cheaters stealing loot? I know that people hate when others bring up D3, but one of the main reason why they added personal loot was to fix these cheaters from stealing other players loot, and it worked.

When I tried using a controller, the functionality made me lose every time since I had to position my character close enough to an item in order for it to be highlighted so I could pick it up. It was totally useless since there are multiple items bunched up close together, so it was extremely difficult trying to position myself close to the item I wanted to loot, by the time I had done that a player with a simple mouse click was already able to take the loot, and once the bots and pickit scripts are added into D2R post-launch it will be impossible. People who play with controllers (i.e. those with disabilities) are going to be forced to buy a console if they want a fair advantage on picking up loot, since it’s impossible to keep up with mouse and keyboard players on PC or those using cheats and now they will be forced to buy an inferior product since it was announced that lobbies won’t be added to consoles at launch, and wasn’t confirmed to be after post-launch.

I can see this being the biggest deterrent from casuals (the biggest majority of your customers) from buying the game since lobbies in D2 was a key aspect of the game that was used for important and social aspects of the game like trading and doing cow lvl runs. Additionally, by not adding in an option to make personal loot games, players will now be spending more time fighting over loot by seeing who can get their mouse to click fastest than the contribution and killing of the mobs and bosses in the game or those who just want to sit back and relax in multiplayer and focus on killing enemies while making friends instead of playing mouse clicking simulator 9000. By Blizzard allowing toxic systems in the game, this only further promotes players being toxic to abuse these features like those who will be stealing loot from other players with the pickit script (Google it, it’s the first link on the search results with the source code and program available to download and use off GitHub) Playing range classes/builds and playing with a controller on PC was one of the most toxic looting experience that I have ever experienced and will only get worse post-launch when valuable loot will be dropping. Now, I can see why the original developer of D2 wanted to have a personal loot system. FFA is pulling the community apart, rather than making it a better atmosphere for team work in multiplayer. The only thing that is stopping this game from being a good multiplayer experience when farming for items is the FFA system. Blizzard please now make the multiplayer experience in D2R about team work by the participation in killing the enemies of hell instead of whoever can click their mouse the fastest for loot.

Blizzard the so called “purists” never even played D2 in recent years because they are not the ones who have kept this game alive, it has been the modding community with their QoL improvements. These so called “purists” are actually doing more harm than good for the future of D2R since D2 is actually being kept alive by the modding community and not them and casuals such as those from D3 are going to be expecting QoL improvements to the game like personal loot when they initially purchase the game. I fear for the longevity of this game if more QoL improvements like the toxic loot system are not fixed by simply adding an option. Additionally, this feature wouldn’t even affect them since it’s an option, so they can just simply choose not to use it and many that stated they were against it also stated in other posts that they only farm for loot solo.

There are many ways that the loot system can be fixed in public multiplayer games. One simple a proof of concept on this system has already been made D2:R Loot Roll Demo - YouTube and again, this feature would only be optional, since pursists could choose just not to use it. The most important thing about personal loot is that it would stop the bots and the toxic players using the automated pickit scripts to steal loot from legitimate players from being used. Just like how it was fixed in D3 and since it’s only an option, you can simply choose if you want this better experience in public multiplayer games when farming for loot or not by choosing to use it. Blizzard I feel that the three most important issues currently with the game that is going to determine game success for the masses and for the company is a personal loot option, lobbies on console, and fixing the current functionality for controllers on PC.

When a new tweet from the response of a major game developer stated that no new features will be added to D2R at launch, I knew that trying to advocate for an optional system like personal loot is now a lost caused due to Blizzard’s history of promising features that they never ended up adding post-launch (like in their other games such as WoW). Blizzard is known to bank on pre-orders to determine success and when the developer states that a post with thousands of votes on Reddit didn’t even matter about a core feature on consoles like D2R, I knew that advocating for a personal loot option for D2R is now a lost cause. If these non-features in D2R matter to you, then the only way you are now going to be able to get Blizzard to listen is by voting with your wallet by refunding your pre-order and stating why in the feedback portion of your refund.

Here is my two weekend full beta experience that I played for 40+ hours to see if I wanted to keep this game or not, that is regarding the most important feature to me, the loot system in public multiplayer games:

During my beta gameplay, I was only able to pick up around >10% of any good drops from playing. Trying to grab loot from my kills by other players when I played range classes felt like a full time job due to the distance I was from the loot between the melee player and myself. I feel, one of the most toxic systems in D2R is the loot system, and unfortunately the bots, the players who cheat using the pickit scripts and purists who don’t want any changes to their game is going to ruin the multiplayer experience for the majority of the games players, who also make up for the biggest part of Blizzard’s revenue. Blizzard if the only thing that needs to be added as an option that would simply prevent the cheaters (bots and players using the pickit scripts) from stealing loot in public multiplayer games from legitimate players is an option for personal loot, then why wouldn’t you add it and finally fix this ongoing issue in D2 for over the last decade+ to make public multiplayer games enjoyable so players can play with others and make new friends without worrying about cheaters stealing loot? I know that people hate when others bring up D3, but one of the main reason why they added personal loot was to fix these cheaters from stealing other players loot, and it worked.

When I tried using a controller, the functionality made me lose every time since I had to position my character close enough to an item in order for it to be highlighted so I could pick it up. It was totally useless since there are multiple items bunched up close together, so it was extremely difficult trying to position myself close to the item I wanted to loot, by the time I had done that a player with a simple mouse click was already able to take the loot, and once the bots and pickit scripts are added into D2R post-launch it will be impossible. People who play with controllers (i.e. those with disabilities) are going to be forced to buy a console if they want a fair advantage on picking up loot, since it’s impossible to keep up with mouse and keyboard players on PC or those using cheats and now they will be forced to buy an inferior product since it was announced that lobbies won’t be added to consoles at launch, and wasn’t confirmed to be after post-launch.

I can see this being the biggest deterrent from casuals (the biggest majority of your customers) from buying the game since lobbies in D2 was a key aspect of the game that was used for important and social aspects of the game like trading and doing cow lvl runs. Additionally, by not adding in an option to make personal loot games, players will now be spending more time fighting over loot by seeing who can get their mouse to click fastest than the contribution and killing of the mobs and bosses in the game or those who just want to sit back and relax in multiplayer and focus on killing enemies while making friends instead of playing mouse clicking simulator 9000. By Blizzard allowing toxic systems in the game, this only further promotes players being toxic to abuse these features like those who will be stealing loot from other players with the pickit script (Google it, it’s the first link on the search results with the source code and program available to download and use off GitHub) Playing range classes/builds and playing with a controller on PC was one of the most toxic looting experience that I have ever experienced and will only get worse post-launch when valuable loot will be dropping. Now, I can see why the original developer of D2 wanted to have a personal loot system. FFA is pulling the community apart, rather than making it a better atmosphere for team work in multiplayer. The only thing that is stopping this game from being a good multiplayer experience when farming for items is the FFA system. Blizzard please now make the multiplayer experience in D2R about team work by the participation in killing the enemies of hell instead of whoever can click their mouse the fastest for loot.

Blizzard the so called “purists” never even played D2 in recent years because they are not the ones who have kept this game alive, it has been the modding community with their QoL improvements. These so called “purists” are actually doing more harm than good for the future of D2R since D2 is actually being kept alive by the modding community and not them and casuals such as those from D3 are going to be expecting QoL improvements to the game like personal loot when they initially purchase the game. I fear for the longevity of this game if more QoL improvements like the toxic loot system are not fixed by simply adding an option. Additionally, this feature wouldn’t even affect them since it’s an option, so they can just simply choose not to use it and many that stated they were against it also stated in other posts that they only farm for loot solo.

There are many ways that the loot system can be fixed in public multiplayer games. One simple a proof of concept on this system has already been made D2:R Loot Roll Demo - YouTube and again, this feature would only be optional, since pursists could choose just not to use it. The most important thing about personal loot is that it would stop the bots and the toxic players using the automated pickit scripts to steal loot from legitimate players from being used. Just like how it was fixed in D3 and since it’s only an option, you can simply choose if you want this better experience in public multiplayer games when farming for loot or not by choosing to use it. Blizzard I feel that the three most important issues currently with the game that is going to determine game success for the masses and for the company is a personal loot option, lobbies on console, and fixing the current functionality for controllers on PC.

Update: The Reason Why We Still Fight. :fist:

https://twitter.com/Portal_Ingress/status/1438626059553968128?s=20

42 Likes

yes, you are right. In theory, in a well educated group of friends, it works. But if you wanna join public games, it’s just DoA. And you are right, distance casters are not favored with this…I can’t imagine with a controller.
To me, this loot system should go (and I’ve been playing since 2002). I remember back in the days when we had bots doing the baalruns, we all stopped attacking right before the loot, to be able to get it faster. But the bot was always the fastest lol :slight_smile:

10 Likes

FFA is how the game was advertised. I’m sorry you don’t like the mechanic on which the entirety of life itself is based. Maybe you’ll spend your 40 dollars on something you did more research about.

47 Likes

FFA makes the drops mean more if you can grab them. It keeps the values of items up in the economy and gets your heart pumping when when boss dies. That feeling of “did I get the unique?!” before you open your inventory window is one of the greatest features of the game in my humble opinion

44 Likes

Dont let the door hit you on the way out

43 Likes

Personal loot imo has and has always been such a bore.
I like the idea of trading, my friend found a rare bow and I needed it, he needed a sword I found, we traded and it felt good again to do this.

Finding rare loot actually means something in diablo 2. It doesn’t rain from the sky like pinyatas in diablo 3.

Get over it.

43 Likes

dude welcome to diablo 2, hate it or love it…

33 Likes

It’s unfortunate, that people with disabilities that have to use a controller are now going to be forced to buy a console if they want a fair advantage on picking up loot, since the current controller functionality makes it impossible to keep up with mouse and keyboard players.

8 Likes

They can’t change this OP. The overwhelming minority of players - the purists - want this mechanic to stay in the game, so that’s the way it’s got to be. Potion Management, Stamina - all of these features are critical to the fun of the overwhelming minority that we all have to suffer as a result.

9 Likes

Thats ok. Maybe this isn´t the right game for you. In my opinion D2 isn´t even a real multiplyer game like todays new games anyways.

4 Likes

You don’t play public games to find items, you play it to either exp or progress through the game. If you want to find items you make a private game you can invite friends to that you can share the loot with.

15 Likes

This doesn’t make sense to me. So the only thing that is stopping from turning this single player game into multiplayer is a loot filter toggle?

4 Likes

Of course that’s what people use to do… but wouldn’t the game be better if you got more bang for your buck? I think so. The loot system just feels pretty bad - always has. There’s a reason no future games in this genre went for that loot system again.

8 Likes

It’s good as it is, otherwise people would leech loot same as they already do with exp in original Diablo 2 by just standing AFK on Baalruns, or running after team on Trist/Tomb/Cs runs doing nothing.

4 Likes

Free for all loots is toxic??
The toxic players are the whiners who can’t handle FFA /Global Loot. I have seen a lot of whiners on this forum "Please personal Loot,FFA is bad"

Really dude,Diablo II is a FFA game. This is a Remaster of our beloved game that was released in 2001. This is not a new game!

If you can’t handle competitions then you can go play something else. Not our fault you can’t click on your mouse. This is Diablo II.

26 Likes

This doesn’t make sense to me, the only thing that is stopping from turning this single player game into multiplayer (by adding a loot filter toggle) are gatekeepers. You can still play with your nostalgia by toggling FFA on when you play multiplayer.

6 Likes

I don’t get why the holy purist gatekeepers think their opinion should carry so much weight for. Polls have consistently shown that they are in the minority - somewhere between 10-40% on any given topic, and most topics tend to lean closer to 10%.

6 Likes

The loot system is toxic due to the auto pick up hack and it’s simply a dated system…. The purist all 500ish want to ruin this game for the millions around the world our voice needs to be heard we need qol of doa

7 Likes

Ok, Getting way to tired of all this crying for personal loot.

  1. If you do not like FFA drops PLAY OFF LINE or in a PRIVATE GAME.

2.If you want to play with others then A. Deal with FFA loot in Public games or B. Get more friends that will trade or share with you concerning loot drops .

  1. Personal loot is the participation trophy of todays gaming world…

Everyone these days thinks they deserve loot or a drop . There are plenty of games out there D3 included that have plenty of personal loot seriously go play one of those if you get all B-Hurt over not getting a drop or your own special item .

I played WITHOUT ever using a hack of any kind for 15+ years and Never had issues at the end of the day with not getting my fair share of loot. This includes endless public Baal runs against people with picket .You can in fact beat a person with picket to a drop you just have to have a little skill and knowledge about the game .

20 Likes

These plooters will massacre D2 with their shortsighted asinine requests that will be earmarked with other ridiculous easy mode mechanics. Afterwards when it’s a burning heap resemblant of D3, they’ll jump ship to D4 for their pets, cosmetics, transmogs, microtransactions and “modern gameplay”.

They need to go play something else. It’s like watching a FIFA player get annoyed that the opponent in an online match wants the ball. This is clearly not the game for them.

12 Likes