Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Isn’t Enough to Bring Me Back

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Crave Online writer Jonathan Leack has a new article were he writes Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls isn’t enough to bring him back.

After over a year of patches, Diablo 3 still feels like an anti-social experience. The chat rooms are full of spam and don't feel functional in the way that Diablo 2's did. The Auction House jeopardizes the thrill of finding loot, the very thing that the genre is based around. Every item is viewed for its value on the AH, and in most cases it's more important to find a rare item than it is to find one that's an upgrade for your character. Made even worse, if you want to progress you need to spend an inordinate amount of time staring at the AH menu sorting through hundreds of thousands of items. It's time consuming and feels like a job rather than a game.

The only thing I'm really excited about is the improvement of loot. Diablo 3's loot has been a huge disappointment since release. I've found three legendary items, all equally awful. I ended up selling them to a trash can vendor.

As someone who loves PC gaming, it pains me to say I'm more excited for Diablo 3 to release on consoles than the game's first expansion. It won't require an internet connection, encourages us to play with friends and socialize, and makes loot farming meaningful. I was hoping I wouldn't be able to say that once an expansion was coming around, but it looks like my worst fear has come true.
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More information.
 
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That guy and me have a lot in common ;) . Never been a huge fan of hack&slash in the first place but Diablo 3 was the proverbial nail in the coffin. And I have way too much of a backlog to care about this kind of mediocrity in the future.
 
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I just thought to post another perspective since most previews from the last two days only look at the positives of the game. Glad you enjoyed it:)
 
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I think I have outgrown these kinds of ARPG's - the endless mobs, grinding etc - just holds no appeal anymore. Even playing with friends. I used to enjoy this, but now I don't. I am fortunate in that I am very close to most of my game playing friends, so when we want to game we play PnP games and that is infinitely more fun and versatile. I still like 'action-y' RPG's - like the Witcher - but that is a different beast all together: story, mechanics and atmosphere are important for me. Endless mobs - especially re-spawning ones with associated mad clickfest, are not. Been playing Van Helsing recently…I think this will be the last hack'n'slash I play - simply not interesting any more.
 
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The Auction House jeopardizes the thrill of finding loot, the very thing that the genre is based around. Every item is viewed for its value on the AH, and in most cases it's more important to find a rare item than it is to find one that's an upgrade for your character. Made even worse, if you want to progress you need to spend an inordinate amount of time staring at the AH menu sorting through hundreds of thousands of items. It's time consuming and feels like a job rather than a game.
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Sorry, but he's just wrong. You can completely ignore the AH and guess what? The game's still fun! (probably more so). 100+ hours in and I still haven't touched either AH.

They do need to sort out the spammers though. Are they letting trial/free players send messages/friend requests or something?
 
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At the Games Com I joked with an employee at the booth : "The more darker and the more epic something becomes, the darker the voice of the speakers become …" She replied with an : "They wouldn't hire me !" to which I replied with an "me neither !" ;)

I think it was there where there was an constant low-end bass sounding billowing through the hall ... I joked to another employee : "It sounds to me as if the whole hall had digestion problems" ...
 
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kalniel said:
Sorry, but he's just wrong. You can completely ignore the AH and guess what? The game's still fun! (probably more so). 100+ hours in and I still haven't touched either AH.

They do need to sort out the spammers though. Are they letting trial/free players send messages/friend requests or something?
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The AH eliminates the trade-game which was part of why D2 had such longevity.
That's the issue.

Also, it's hard for a lot of people to "ignore a feature." Especially when it gimps their character.

Best would be to remove AH. I agree with the writer of the article.
 
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Zed said:
The AH eliminates the trade-game which was part of why D2 had such longevity.
That's the issue.

Also, it's hard for a lot of people to "ignore a feature." Especially when it gimps their character.

Best would be to remove AH. I agree with the writer of the article.
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Yes this. Especially when again part of the whole drive was getting better loot. Which sucks even more when you play with friends because they've bought this really awesome gear on the AH for pennies, while you're trying to work hard for it.

And less items dropping with better items when they do drop would be better.
 
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kalniel said:
Sorry, but he's just wrong. You can completely ignore the AH and guess what? The game's still fun! (probably more so). 100+ hours in and I still haven't touched either AH.

They do need to sort out the spammers though. Are they letting trial/free players send messages/friend requests or something?
Click to expand...
This was my thought also, can AH simply be ignored? Sounds like it can, though you may be at a disadvantage. Admittedly never paid much attention to D3, getting older and slowing down to play arpgs effectively; then the negative reviews came out. Always rp a paladin, with the crusader and loot 2.0 I may consider giving it a look.
 
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mugsyman said:
This was my thought also, can AH simply be ignored?
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Yes it can but, it's no different than choosing to solo in PoE rather than take advantage of the party system. You're essentially doing nothing but hamstringing yourself. If it doesn't bother you, then it's no big deal. But, I absolutely understand the complaints against it.
 
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mugsyman said:
This was my thought also, can AH simply be ignored? Sounds like it can, though you may be at a disadvantage. Admittedly never paid much attention to D3, getting older and slowing down to play arpgs effectively; then the negative reviews came out. Always rp a paladin, with the crusader and loot 2.0 I may consider giving it a look.
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Yes. I've never touched it. There's no such thing as a disadvantage because this is a purely PvE game, which if a non-skilled player like me can complete on all difficulties without touching the AH (or needing another player's help etc.) suggests there's no need for the AH at all. I certainly had fun beating the game as it was.

I guess the AH might give you a boost if you feel you need to shortcut things, but I don't think the game needs to be made any easier.
 
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Well I play the game solo and I've never used the AH or RM/cash shop AH.

I also have zero desire to PvP in the game.

That said, I've only completed the game once with my Monk on Normal. Though I have several other toons at varying lvls.

Was waiting for the itemization revamp/patch before playing more.

I played a lot of DII, made it to Hell Act 2 using only dropped items and then at some point simply ran out of time to farm for better/necessary needed to progress meaningfully.

The Paladin was (and is) my favorite Class.

I'm excited to try the Templar as it sounds quite similar.

I'll be happy to pick up Reaper of Souls and give it a play through…starting in Act 1 of Normal with a newly rolled Templar ;)

For the most part I think many like to jump on the hate wagon simply for the ride…

Rol

Btw - thought the expansion Trailer was amazingly dark and perfect in it's delivery, excited to play the new area (save Leah's soul?) and confront/defeat the Angel of Death/ Malthael !
 
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