The difference in Diablo 2 was that the game wasn't purely based on gear. You could get specific gear that would make you stronger sure but with the distribution of skill points and stats you could make a character capable of clearing Hell without issue. When you did find gear it allowed you to optimize builds, it allowed you to forgo skill points in certain areas. You would find tons of items that would allow you to twink new alts or you could find items for other classes that made you want to try them out.
Having your characters stats/skills be permanent for ages meant that you had to make a choice/sacrifice for your character. You want to go pure cold sorc well awesome but you have difficulty with cold immune mobs. As much as some people didn't like this aspect of the game it did add a certain amount of longevity to the game.
They had Ladders from day 1 in Diablo 2 and it kept the game fresh. You also weren't limited to character slots and bank space, you wanted to create a 2nd b.net account and store gear you could do so. Every step forward they take they also take two steps back. Diablo 3 is only about the gear and the items in the game are fucked beyond repair. The exponential growth of stats like Crit Hit and Crit Hit Damage have caused problems since day one. Either you have a weak piece of shit character or you are lucky enough to get gear that allows you to 1 shot T6 bosses. Check out some of the Jade Set Witch Doctors. The disparity between characters should be more in line with each other.
The legendary drop rate isn't and never was the problem. Well maybe on initial release but the fact that it has always been RNG on top of RNG. In Diablo 2 you had items that could roll some stats slightly higher or lower but it wasn't every stat and it wasn't random. When a unique dropped in Diablo 2 you know it was going to be good, it might have higher defense or lower magic find but you knew what the main stats would be. When a legendary in Diablo 3 drops you better hope to the RNG gods it doesn't become a forgotten soul. What's that you found a Sunkeeper with 30% elite damage, oh but it is 1800dps and no socket. Well better delete that shit and hope for a better one, hell I have seen set items roll so bad nobody would use them even if they got the bonus from it.
The game needs another overhaul on the loot, it needs a ladder reset, it needs Blizzard to actively stop the fucking bots, it needs trading to be allowed back in the game, it needs some form of PvP, is the game pure shit? No it is fun for a short lived period of time. Was it worth $40 ehh thats debatable. The reason that so many of us bitch or get upset is because the potential has always been there for this game and this series. They have enough money behind it, they have a good enough team behind it. So it's fucking sad when they squander it away repeatedly, first on cocksuckers like Jay Wilson and now on this new team. Certain choices from suits such as making the entire game console friendly is why we can only have 6 skills at a time, the game could be fucking great. The graphics have always been top notch, the game has always been responsive and smooth, well when the servers aren't shit and you rubber band or items don't appear for a few seconds but mostly it is good. Loot 2.0 smartdrops fuck the game more than they help since it actively prevents you from wanting to play on other classes in my opinion. Still it's easier to just say the game is shit.
