Diablo II could probably be called my first foray into the MMO experience if you want to consider it one. A good number of years were spent playing Blizzard's incarnation, and even participating in the mod community. Part of that power of manipulation is what fuels my FFXI persona here, and general criticisms toward SE.
That said, it has the potential to be my personal FFXI-killer, especially if SE sticks to their same old spots. While what the video showed as decent and a nice teaser, I'm still not entirely sold it could do for me what D2 has.
From a multiplayer standpoint, hacking was abysmal in D2. People would go hostile on you, decked out in glitchy gear they hacked that gave 'em 8 million HP and other various super buffs. Sometimes it got so bad you just couldn't play in public games. Presumably Blizz has learned their lesson with D2, and now WoW, and most stuff will be stomped out before it can even begin.
From a gameplay standpoint, there's no doubt it could get repetitive, a grind even. People wanted rushed through the difficulties because doing things "the right way" didn't really equate to wisely invested time. Drops were always random, though some things obviously had skewed odds (select chests and boss mobs, for example), but even that couldn't guarantee the fact you wouldn't find something for a level 5 character on your level 99.
Furthering this, skills really weren't balanced too well. The synergy system was an attempt to fix this with the 1.10 patch, but when ultimately they just made the same old hat skills stronger, nothing changed. The video promised players would have to be more tactical about skill use, so all we have to go on is their word for now. I'd played quirky builds now and then, but the power comparison between more mainstream stuff was pretty obvious.
If I had some personal wishlists on the development, they'd be simple based on what I know of D2, and what little we've seen here.
1) Allow some degree of character customization in terms of stature, build, face, and hair.
2) Let things be a bit more open-ended in terms of quests and progress.
3) No cracked sashes or ethereal BS. Useless item types translate to a higher chance of useless drops.
4) Make good on the promise of skill variety.
5) Let gold be useful beyond repairs or tossing at gambling for things you never get.
6) Patch/Update regularly.
7) Follow D2's example and remain free to play online.
8) Be friendly to the mod community right out of the box. Not talking about WoW mods, but the player ability to create dungeons, modify skills, and set up quests for solo or direct connection ventures.
9) Don't make defense and shield blocks go to **** if you're running.
10) Don't build difficulty around just making a mob immune to 3+ different methods of attack and jacked stats.
Should they do the above, there's a good chance it'll steal myself and others away from what we play now. Maybe not forever, but for a nice chunk of time.
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Violence good. Sexy bad. Yay America.