Diablo 3 - The Road to Hell @ GameBanshee

GameBanshee's Eric Schwarz has penned an article titled Diablo III and The Road to Hell, questioning a number of the design and implementation decisions. The value proposition, online-only and changes since Diablo 1 are discussed:

From a gamer's perspective, especially in this tougher economic time, in terms of its raw value proposition... the simple fact is that Diablo III begins to look like a classic case of paying a premium price for a name brand, when the competition is bringing just as much if not more to the table, all for a much more reasonable price. I don't presume to speak for all gamers, but when I look at both games and then weigh the asking prices of each, it's hard not to feel Diablo III simply doesn't provide the same level of value - even were Torchlight II twice as much money, it'd still likely look like a better deal. In the end, you're paying for that Diablo image and entrance to its user community, but not necessarily much else.