@ Yeesh
1) You don't know who is dismissing what "out of hand"; perhaps, just perhaps, we have given these issues some thought (you know, and read up on them), and have some experience with previous games in this franchise as well.
Yes, it's that previous experience I was directly questioning when I explained in what I thought were simple enough terms how the changes seem to be responsive to the way those of us who were really into Diablo played the game. But leaving that aside, all your experience with other games (??) and all your thinking about stuff really doesn't equate an informed opinion on whether the new game is fun. Experience in the beta, now that counts. Myself, I'm uninformed for now.
2) Talking about the "serious community" is BS. It's a game. People play it the way they want, and get from it what they will. And, no, the vast hours you spent accruing "massive trade wealth" doesn't make you a better, or more knowledgeable, player than someone who, to use your example, spent that same time to build alts. We don’t like the new system: opinions that are valid in their own right; however, if it’s needed, I will state that I have “played the last game for hundreds of hours” too, as well as every other game Blizzard has released (OK, Lost Vikings did not warrant hundreds of hours), and games (Hellfire) that weren’t even released by Blizz, but related. I know their franchises as well as anyone, and, obviously, I am disappointed by these changes, which are a heavy-handed way of correcting perceived D2 problems.
You're diappointed by a game you haven't played yet? I'm disappointed by some movie coming out in two years. I just know it's going to let me down. I don't even need to see it.
No, I do not agree that all opinions are equally valid. For example, someone who says NOT HAVING an auction house is better than HAVING an auction house is really going to have to work hard to make that argument resonate with me. Because it sounds kind of dumb on its face, especially considering that in game trading in Diablo II either consisted of reading bots in the many, many trade channels, or cycling through game names and hoping to see one that suggested someone was selling an item you needed. Of course, anyone who didn't want to waste their time took trading offline to sites like the delightful d2jsp, which offered a vastly improved trade experience.
I'm not sure what I didn't make clear, but of course I made scads of alts. That's whom all the equipment was for, which drives the trading, which drives the farming, which drives the alts for killing mo and mo stuff. Your notion that everyone can play their own way is all fine and well, but the fact is that YOU COULD NOT MAKE A SINGLE ENDGAME RUNEWORD in Diablo II without trading, now could you? Or have you forgotten that? The game was multiplayer focused from the very beginning. They didn't PREVENT you from playing by yourself in Diablo II, and if I understand correctly they don't do so in the new game either. But I don't see the big focus change, especially considering what direction the world has taken lo these past 11 years.
3) A cash auction, with fees, is a microtransaction- period. And Blizzard cutting out the skill points, and tying skill power to items, will cause more of them (and, surprise, more transaction fees for Blizzard). Microtransactions are a big part of why I hate modern MMOs. You like em, fine, great; however, that does not invalidate the concerns of people who don't. I too want drugs legalized and taxed, until my surgeon botches my operation because he’s on coke, then I might reconsider. Other people using a system I don't like/want can indeed effect me.
Your brain surgery analogy doesn't make sense on so many levels, but just to speak to the most practical one: Your surgeon is already on very high quality coke if he wants to be. Which of course is my point.
I really haven't read too much on this, but Blizzard seems to be making an in-game eBay, adopting the latter's model completely. Run the auctions, charge fees. Is eBay technically microtransactions? I don't know, I don't care, you're the one who despises microtransactions, although I question your linking them with modern MMOs when WoW got to be the gigantic alpha dog charging nothing but a flat fee. Still, not my area of expertise. The point is Blizzard isn't selling items. I don't care if they do, but what we're talking about is player to player selling, which once again was happening anyway. Once again, not a "paradigm shift".
Your assumption that taking out the skill trees means gear matters more makes no sense at all. I question the extent to which you've thought this all through. Gear always mattered. There was always a huge market for it, even when Blizzard wasn't making a single cent on the transactions. You're pretending that suddenly there's going to be trading in Diablo so Blizz can cash in, but again you're complaining about a change that isn't a change at all.
And again, no one's forcing you to trade. No one ever did.
Seem like a false equivalency? I agree, just like your mod argument. People will always find ways to cheat, always, but killing the ability to mod the game (for that stated reason) cuts down on community enthusiasm and the longevity of the game. I don’t play with mods a lot. I have friends, however, who doubled their D2 playtime as a result of them. You seem to think that all the mods just did minor GUI tweaks, however, many mods changed the entire skill system, drop rates, and play styles.
Oh, I was only playing online, so obviously mods couldn't change the game like that. Listen, there's no offline playing anymore, right? So of course the mods you're talking about were not going to happen anyway.
I'm glad that you like the new systems. Many of us don't. Jay's motto has always been, "It's your money, so play the way you want to play." That sets up an expectation, one that doesn't involve, "we don't want people point hoarding; we don't want them using only 2 skills, or looking up specs on the net, etc.".
And as for the dumbing down issue- it’s not even worth arguing about. Jay has said that the systems, as they existed last year, were too complex for casual players, and confused and overwhelmed them. (leading many to wonder where he got the shaved orangutangs they used for play testing, and why PETA didn't step in sooner) Thus, they (the game systems) have been dumbed down as a result.
I don't actually like or dislike the new systems because I haven't played the frigging game. I don't know, maybe it will suck. I can however see why the new systems make sense, and I take issue with the idea that only new players could appreaciate them. I take issue with the idea that the changes are worth complaining about in advance of actually seeing the game. I take issue with the idea that the changes are such a big shift from what the core of what made Diablo fun, and I take issue with the implied accusation that Blizzard has sold out.
If the game comes out and experienced players are immediately bored, if the ability system they've put in place means there are no variety in playstyles, if the game no longer feels like Diablo, if it's impossible to enjoy yourself without spending extra money on items, and of course, if the game's just no fun, well then I'll say "Damn, that sucks. Don't buy Diablo III, it's a waste of your money."
But yes, if someone has skipped ahead to that game-damning step already, without even playing the beta at least, they are dismissing the game out of hand. No matter how many other games they've played and no matter how much thinking they've done. Not to be pedantic, but this really is a whole new game.
All of this hooplah about an already mediocre hack n slash series. Staggering stuff.
If the Diablo series is your benchmark for mediocrity, I'm curious as to which hack and slash games you consider successful.
The fact that we even have the concept of a Diablo clone is quite telling. It's certainly not the path I'd have preferred the genre went in, but each to their own as they say.
