What Is Wrong With Keeping Diablo 2 Close To The Original?

Diablo II: Resurrected General Discussion
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So many people are wanting diablo 2 to be different in many different ways. This is supposed to be a remaster of the original game, the developers have worked hard and have expressed that they want this to be like the original and clearly have done so through many examples. Many people have wanted this, a lot of people want it to be as close to the original as possible. How does that hurt anyone? Maybe it isn’t everything some people like, but is that not the better option? Why should diablo 2 be changed for people who like other ARPGs more than Diablo 2? This is for the fans, what other reason would they remaster it?

They only changed things that made a lot of sense that nobody would mind being changed

Can anyone really say that the ideas being proposed by D3 or PoE fans wouldn’t drastically change the experience for fans who want to relive one of the best games?

Diablo 2 inspires team work, strategy, important choices, synergy, drawbacks, and hard work.

Some of the people wanting the most radical changes are not primarily Diablo 2 fans, they may enjoy diablo 2 but don’t even want the game to be the same in many ways. Why can’t we have Diablo 2 remastered the way it was meant to be?

What are the drawbacks of having a remastered game be like the beloved original that has lasted 20 years?

Let the fans who appreciated Diablo 2 and still play it to this day have the remaster they have always wanted. There is still Diablo 4 and other games coming

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   Edit

Since I can’t respond to everyone and address issues people are having with what I said let me clarify a few points that new readers and people who have already posted may see to clear up some points made.

*I wasn’t only talking about 1.14 or any specific version of the game. I still play it but I am talking about the original game as a whole.

*I am okay with adjustments as I have said, theres a lot of things that can be done to make this game better, a polished version of the original. But I am against radical changes that change and detract from the original experience.

*I know people have seen me comment on other posts and if I seem frustrated it is because people who like D3 or PoE or WoW more than diablo 2 are trying to propose changes that I think would ruin the game and a lot of the times I can’t have a meaningful or productive conversation with these people because they want to argue and go around in circles without giving me valid reasons for their opinions. Meanwhile my grammar, punctuation, spelling, or word choice is constantly criticized and my original point is often ignored.

*Diablo 2 resurrected was primarily made for the fans who played the original and have helped carry the diablo franchise to what it is today. A remastered game is usually for fans who loved the first. Clips of the original were shown and turned into a remastered version. The trailer was literally to impress and show the fans who played the first game what was coming out. If they were targeting a new audience they wouldn’t have done that.

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first 1.14 is not the original
1.14 is only the retail version of today , with a lot of change already and 1,14 are not the strongest time or era of diablo 2 having the most player playing the game

1.14 is a different version
i hope this answer your question

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The developers have also said and implemented many changes that are selectable. You want the original experience, toggle off auto-gold pickup. You want the original graphics, toggle off the 3D graphics. So on and so forth. There are many things where Blizzard can provide a player a choice where it still lets players play D2 like they remember but also give the option for others to take advantage of modern updates that they prefer.

Yes. Any option that would be selectable that allows you to have a D2 “pure” experience or alternatively select a modern update. You do not like autogold pickup, toggle it off. Other players want auto-gold pickup. I kindly suggest that anyone should not define for others that they cannot choose auto pickup gold or the like.

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To touch on just a few points…

As strange as it may sound? Not everyone has played Diablo 2. So a remaster has a chance at a classic game garnering new players. So while I and many others want it to be more in line with the classic game we love? There are benefits to introducing some changes.

Games evolve over time. Even a remaster presents an opportunity to address some pain points of the original. Look at some other remasters that have come out on console. Windwaker HD added the swift sail to remove some of the tedium in sailing for the triforce shard quest.

Skyward Sword HD coming out for Switch is adding more traditional controls which stands to allow the game to reach people that were turned off by motion controls. (Which are still an option).

Yes Diablo 4 is coming and I feel it’s there where more sweeping changes will be seen. I think that Ressurected can walk and chew gum at the same time. The updated resolution, Cross progression, and expanded statsh are all positive changes. I don’t think they should go mucking about with talents or anything naturally and I don’t think they will. But I feel there are areas where they could opt for some small tweaks here or there.

Things like Micro says above for instance. Toggles for various things are usually a positive.

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I am not against change Shayis, and you present the argument in a logical manner.

I think I am not understanding why at release we not have a game that functions very closely to how the original game works?

Despite how they are presented, some of the suggestions here are overhauling game design concepts (for better or worse). That doesn’t sound in spirt of what the philosophy the Dev team has stated with the remaster.

Improvements after launch I am fine with or as long as they keep a separate mode with no changes. Again, a lot of what I have seen suggested here wants the game to ship with these changes and leave players who do not want them no option within the re-master, or offer a situation where someone who didn’t want to play with the new changes would be severely gimping their character in relation to others.

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I have seen a bunch of your posts on here Jackyl and you seem like a pretty unhappy gamer. I hope you find happiness. I grew up on D2, and I think they should modernize the parts that are too archaic as options.

The reality is if this game is popular, it is going to be maintained. They will make balance changes, hell if it is profitable enough they may start extending D2R. It’s 2021 and it is a new crowd.

I would much rather see D2R evolve and take the place of PoE to be honest with you. I would love for D2R to eventually get a full end-game system, while not touching the base game.

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The original D2 will still be available for you to play if you find D2R unbearable.

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The original is not easily playable on today’s hardware. You have to download third party software just to get the aspect ratio correct. The 3D sound is no longer supported, and I had a host of error messages and glithces just to get it to install. There is a reason they chose to call it “Resurrected”.

The remaster for most of us is a chance to play THIS game with graphics that match today’s standards, sound that can take advantage of today’s technology, and better management of the duping that literally destroyed this game.

The changes they have chosen (shared stash, auto gold option, cross platform saves, better stat info) do not affect the original game play.

What is being suggested in these forums (charm stash, personal loot, etc.) are things you do in a sequel. That was D3. How did those changes for a new audience turn out? They spent years trying to make the game playable.

Leave D2 alone. I could care less about a new player base, unless they are coming to enjoy a classic game as it was intended to be played. Games should not cater to the lowest common denominator. If you want easy and convenient, go play WoW. That game practically plays itself for you.

This should be about celebrating the harsh realities of rare drops, monster affix and suffix combos that make you scream, and the struggle of marching through hell difficulty knowing you are not prepared.

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I think it all goes back to options. Take for instance the debate about difficulties. Things like a journalist mode have been proposed for other games. I don’t mind things like an “Easy” or “Story” mode if they are options. They don’t affect my enjoyment of the game if I want to play a more difficult offering.

I look at a game like Fire Emblem. The addition of Phoenix and Casual modes didn’t mean I couldn’t play with permadeath on.

That’s just an example of course. But I think such options should never come at the expense of the fan base that already exists.

As for things others are proposing? I’m not really in favor of things like personal loot. The primary reason Personal loot was implemented in something like World of Warcraft is because some players could end up being shafted especially if you were in a PUG. The way loot worked in Diablo 2 was to encourage players to cooperate and trade for items/pieces they didn’t have or were looking for.

Agreed that the game is not easily playable on today’s hardware. Part of the reason D1 and WC1 and II were released on GOG Galaxy with support for more modern OS’es.

I would also agree with much of what you said. I don’t want them messing with talents or the like. And I don’t support the idea of personal loot either for the reason I outlined above. Personal loot was something WoW introduced because you had raid leaders more or less shafting people. Good raid leaders would distribute loot to raid members. If you got one piece you needed? Another piece would go to someone else that got nothing and so on.

With Diablo 2 I think personal loot would detract from the cooperation/trading of gear that was so intrinsic to the experience.

And for the record to my knowledge at least? WoW Classic does not have personal loot. People play classic for that classic experience.

As for D3? It wasn’t so much about making the game playable? It was that they introduced a Real Money Auction house that I feel did more damage to that iteration of Diablo than any gameplay changes. They thankfully removed it, but how long did it take?

To go back to WoW? I would agree that WoW has been diluted over years. The streamlining of talents for instance. Something that made it’s way to D3 which I didn’t like either.

In general I would agree as well that games shouldn’t cater to the lowest common denominator as you put it…but there are cases where it can be beneficial. I am not saying that Dark Souls, or something like that should suddenly be made easier because a journo/gamer can’t handle it. Look at that infamous Cuphead video as well. CDPR reduced the time to complete Cyberpunk because people complained how long it took to finish Witcher 3 and because of that? People like me that enjoyed the 200+ hours that were put into Witcher 3, ended up with a lesser game than Cyberpunk could have been (granted it was plagued with issues especially on console).

With that said? I feel there is a distinction to be made in terms of accessibility. If a studio can implement broader difficulty options? It can mean that a game can find a wider audience. Fire Emblem was in danger of being shelved. It’s phoneix and casual modes I think helped the series reach beyond it’s core audience but it never came at the expense of things like Permadeath.

The one thing I would like to see added? Is Crossplay. I don’t think Crossplay would ultimately detract from the core experience. Cross Progression and Crossplay are two “QoL” Changes that would leverage the tech available today to enhance the experience rather than diluting it. For me I’ll still play D2 with a keyboard and mouse of course :slight_smile:

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It’s the small quirks/“faults” of the game that make it fun sometimes. I would like it as is pretty much.

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Because the original game was great, was it perfect? Definately not. There are some places the game needs to be adjusted and keep getting adjusted over time. Not radical changes, but the original game did get patches that changed a lot of things for the better, so should the remaster.

People are so scared that it will turn into D3 and lose its essense but thats very unlikely. QoL is not what made D3 bad it was the core of the game.

Please purists just relax and embrace change you will probably even like it

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I mean original like as in the Diablo 2 where 95% of the game has the same elements, same game, as 1.13 and 1.12 everything before. What Diablo 2 is now and what it has been. I think you know what i meant but you may just want to argue

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idk maybe you need to understand what is the definition of original
and look how many are agree with what i`m saying vs you

not so sure i`m the one that argue , but np i guess i have to me agree with you or i will argue :thinking:

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you want to get caught up on the definition of the word original?

Why is this so important to you?

It doesn’t matter if it is 1.14 or 1.13 or 1.12 etc.

I am talking about the game called “diablo 2” (including the DLC)

you are getting so caught up on one word and ignoring everything else that has to be said. I don’t see it to be very productive to have these types of conversations. Hopefully you stop and ask yourself what you are achieving by having a pissing battle about the definition of one word

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you ask me (Why is this so important to you?) i will answer you

for me ( 1.14 or 1.13 or 1.12 etc) all this version have nothing to do with the original , all these version are down the hill diablo 2
and are not the prime time where the most player playing the game 1.09 are the original rune word , sure i expect you dont understand because you dont play this game from day 1 , , so i answer you any need to argue and become toxic because he are not agree , google [Original Rune Words](http ://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/runewords-original.shtml)

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A few things are different from 1.09 and 1.14

These are pretty irrelevant because they aren’t going to go back on the patches they made to try and better Diablo 2 even if you don’t agree with them. But they did already state they would have the classic game in its vanilla stage available to players as well

lt will have the most classic version of the game as an option to play and they will also have the DLC and changes available as well

overall there was no point in you saying anything because it isnt relevant to the original post

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What is wrong with having selectable options where players can play a D2R version that almost identically resembles D2 while others choose an option with updated D2R features? You can still choose the D2 clone option.

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have a good day :+1: peace

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Continuing the discussion from Stop Asking For Personal Loot

watch from 3:22-9:10

some of what they guy in the video says gets a bit off track but for the most part about how the players interact is a really good point I have been trying to make

I am not totally against having options but I also don’t see a reason for it. I think shared loot is more realistic, competitive, engaging, rewarding, and the most classic

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That is great. You choose the option you want. Just do not advocate to take away options from others since you do not want them. I do not tell Burger King to stop selling the impossible burger simply because I like the original whopper more.

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