-The lore and mythology is rich and diverse, taking the cliche angels vs demons and making it much deeper than good vs evil.
-The environments blizzard have created continuously blow me away. I remember stopping in the Tamoe Highlands and just watching the river run by, rain pattering on the dirt, and the sound track carrying me away. I sat there for a few minutes until I realized that it wasn't real life, it happened again in Greyhollow, and more intensely. That zone is gorgeous. Same goes for the other way, in Westmarch, I truly felt the plight of the victims of Malthael.
-Many of the characters are just too damn charismatic to ignore. Haedrig, Lyndon, Covetous Shen.. love them all.
-Build diversity. Yes of course there are the best builds for people who want to do as much progression as possible, but there remains options for both styles of play. Casual players have the freedom to progress at a gentle pace with builds they find fun, while the hardcore players have the tools they need to push as hard and fast as they can through grifts.
-The Nephalem short stories. Have you read any? If you haven't, go read the story for your favorite class. My personal favorites were Barb, Demon Hunter, and Crusader. Emotionally gripping stories.
-Lastly, "infinite progression" assures me I'll never run out of Diablo 3. I can go check out other games and finish them in a week or two, but Diablo will always be waiting for me with just as much to do as when I left it.
in all honesty? familiarity. i tend to play (good) games for long periods of time.
i'll start with dota because anything before that is ANCIENT history. i played dota throughout college because, even though warcraft 3 was dated, it was a good multiplayer game with constant updates.
i switched to heroes of newerth when it came out because it was basically dota with better graphics and some new heroes. i quit HoN when the company failed repeatedly with stats deletions and server problems left and right. pathetic.
sold my soul to league of legends. played a long while. got fed up with the player base's blind devotion to current pro-level strategies. turns out dual mid, dual top, trilane, no jungle all sometimes work. turns out sometimes "support" champs like blitz can sometimes turn into tank/carries. turns out the general public doesnt have the communication and, lets face it, skill to execute the strategies they see on streams.
i dabbled in dota2, but that was just a slow, clunky version of HoN. they even introduced artificial turn lag into the game (something HoN and LoL did away with). it just felt wrong and dated even though it was "new."
sold my soul again to diablo 3. rmah hooked me. i could get paid for playing a game i wouldve grinded for hours on end anyway? i wish it was 8 player parties and had pvp though. got burnt out doing endless alk runs. played hearthstone for a bit in the beta.
Reaper of Souls dropped and, boom, back to diablo. got a little boring, but seasons fixed that (leaderboards and conquests baby).
played a little heroes of the storm here and there and still keep up with hearthstone.
tried Devilian at end of last season. that game is truly TRULY horrible. no support. quests all identical. game mechanics broken. no support from company. it feels like an early beta.
so until the next truly great game comes along, ill play diablo 3.
It was the first game I could play hours upon hours on end. To this day, I still think back of our old D2 times and wish Diablo 3 was more like it. Even so, Diablo 3 has a good action rhythm going for it which makes me play it for about 1.5-2 month every season.
1. Lore, Blizzard does lore very well. I don't read much game lore books but, with Diablo I read all of the books in a course of a few weeks because of how amazing the story is.
2. Diablo is nostalgic
3. My fun doesn't depend on anyone else. I can play whenever I want, how much I want and with whoever I want.
4. I can drop insane amount of time into this game and never be finished with it. Currently sitting at my third most played game with a little over 3000 hours. (FFXI being my 1st.withabout17,000hrs)
5. Blizzards support for this game. The frequency of patches for this game this long after it was released is astonishing.
6. Slaughtering demons.
7. The thought that one day we might get to see Trag'oul or Inarius in a game.
The lore really solidified my liking of Diablo, I played diablo 1 and 2 back in the day and it was the very first video game I ever played.
But it wasn't until after I read the Sin War trilogy that my excitement of the Diablo universe came out. I've read almost all diablo books except one and will probably read any more they come out with down the road.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
www.myspace.com/mpotatoes for all your Trans Siberian Orchestra listening pleasure
If you want to arrange it
This world you can change it
If we could somehow make this
Christmas thing last
By helping a neighbor
Or even a stranger
And to know who needs help
You need only just ask
Like mentioned above, build diversity is the hugest thing for me. I think D3 has come into this in the best way in 2.4 (especially when it comes to DH). We now have 4 viable sets and with LoN I can make my own crazy build and it will be usable. I love some of the super original legendaries out there, especially when they go past an increase to a skill's damage. I love theorycrafting my own builds and I get so excited when I can post builds on here.
For me it has to be the lore and themes most strongly present in the first two games (and imo most strongly in the first). That isn't meant to suggest that three is bad or anything, but it doesn't get certain things about the diablo universe as far as I am concerned. I can still have fun with it but it doesn't have the same meaning.
For me it's definitely the number one reason: LOOT.
In Diablo 1, I kept playing and playing to get a King's Staff of Haste for my monk. I think only got a King's Staff of Speed; but I found a King's Sword of Haste, so got that going for my barb. Obviously, the soundtrack was also absolutely insane as well. I'm not even talking about Tristram; the music that comes to my mind is more that of the four different dungeon zones. Even though I haven't played Diablo 1 in over 15 years or so, I can immediately recall the soundtrack of those dungeons in my head, which perfectly fit to the dark atmosphere - creating an almost creepy game experience. Not rarely I walked around a corner only to be greeted by a horde of dark knights, letting my heart skip a beat.
I know people like to recall Diablo 1 for Lore and story and what not, but honestly, for me personally they were not better or worse than in Diablo 3. With one exception: the much debated final video after you beat Diablo. But yeah... Diablo 1 I'd say 1) loot, 2) music, 3) atmosphere - to which music, but also in part the cut scenes and of course some pieces of lore contribute.
In Diablo 2, the rune system was definitely what kept me going. I like sandbox/crafting games in general, and the fact that you could work your way towards new gear in pieces was even better than the hunt for the elusive King's Staff of Haste in D1. However, I always quickly got bored by late game in Diablo 2, and since I absolutely hated the idea of acquiring cheated/illegal items I never traded (because as we all know, 99% of the high level runes were results of dupes, even on ladder). So I only played solo or with my friends, acquired some of the lower level runewords, got to like mid-80s or so, before I stopped. What I liked was that there was much more diversity in terms of classes and builds compared to D1, definitely a plus as well. While the music and theme wasn't as creepy anymore (in my opinion the entire discussion about D3 being not dark enough is bullshit; Lut Gholein was the brightest and non-creepiest area in all of Diablo history). Yet, the story totally made up for it. Besides 1) loot, I'd say 2) story was the most amazing thing about D2; especially the cut scenes. Sometimes I just watch all the D2 videos which are so brilliant! 3) Music follows as well; there are so many memorable tunes in D2.
In Diablo 3, what's left of this is loot. The music isn't as memorable for me at all as D1/D2 (I can instantly hum any D1/D2 theme in my head, but although I've played D3 much more than those two games, I can't remember any of the soundtracks). There are no runewords and the crafting system is no replace for it (yet). The paragon grind was awesome when paragon 800 was a far, almost unreachable goal; but ever since it exploded in season 3 it's a dead system to me as well. And let's not talk about the lore - in most recent seasons, just as S5, probably almost no one will finish the story other than for the conquest. My biggest letdown though are the cutscenes; in my opinion many of the videos can't keep up with the epic feeling of D2. The only video that has about the same quality is the Azmodan one, in my opinion. So that leaves my ranking for D3 as 1) loot... and nothing else. I used to like leaderboards, but since those have been taken over by bots since S3, I quit that race a while ago, and since you finish loot (and other achievements) within a week, D3 turned into a short-term enjoyment for me. That being said, in all nostalgia I do not forget that the shortcoming of D2 also didn't keep me playing forever, so I'm not gonna say that D3 is worse than any of their predecessors; I think it's just different in many ways. It does some things better (the combat feeling and class/build diversity is absolutely unparalleled), and some things worse (story/lore, though no one plays for that more than a few times anyways).
One word in terms of lore/story/atmosphere though - I think in a dungeon crawler/ARPG game that Diablo is, story can only keep you engaged so far. If a story doesn't change on another playthrough, story is a one-time thing that doesn't yield replayability. Diablo is one of my favorite games - but because of the loot hunt and monster slaying playstyle. Story-wise, there are many other games that are a million times more epic, especially pure RPGs (Fallout 1+2 and Planescape Torment easily take the top 3 spots for me here).
Mainly because i love ARPGs, played D1 and D2 for years, and i like to have a game to play for a long time at my pace without being on a schedule.
Unless Blizzard changes stuff and makes the Season journey to be not doable in solo, i'm happy with the game. Plus more time passes more things get added.
The quest to get loot. I kind of wish there was a larger reason for blue and yellow items. Now you don't even really pick them up or look at them. But it has always been the loot system for me. I've looked for years, and never have found a game that compares to the excitement of finding new items.
For me - being around since WAY before the beginning (we are talking years of devouring every detail about the development of D3)..
The thing I love the most is the "redemption" process that the game has undergone. Really, starting with RoS
I have never been more excited for a video game than I was for Diablo 3. And after about 1 year of denial after the launch of Vanilla, I gave up on it.
But Blizzard proved to be up to the task and its the single thing about this game that makes me love it so much nowadays. Blizzard took what was an AMAZING shell of a game and has turned it into an amazing game. They FIXED Diablo 3. So proud of them for being willing to shut down the Auction house. The free updates since RoS launch with so much content each time - its amazing!
When I play Diablo 3 now, I get the same warm, fuzzy feeling that I had back in the day playing Lord of Destruction. Only its even better because we've seen the progress they've made since May 2012. 3 1/2 years and they've turned the game into something awesome - can't wait for more expansions!
I love the fast paced action and mob density brought over from diablo 1 and 2. I've got over 1400+ Hours into Diablo 3 and probably even more in D2. This game always brings back childhood memories and laughter. The epic bosses and loot system that Diablo 2 was re-known for has only been upgraded in 3 here. I agree that D2 was way better than D3 but it still holds my attention. I do get burnt out quite frequently on this game, maybe playing 1 week each new season and then play on and off. But over all this game has improved quite a bit since launch, ROS only made things better (although the new boss was a let down) with the addition of Rifts and basic replay-ability. Their new and redesigned sets are what keep me coming back each season, and I may not be the biggest fan of the Ladder system with Greater Rifts, it still has the same feel and design as D2.
I love the lore and the diversity and openness of builds. Most of all, I love the crunching noise that monsters make when you crush a huge pack of them. It's like crack...
The quest to get loot. I kind of wish there was a larger reason for blue and yellow items. Now you don't even really pick them up or look at them. But it has always been the loot system for me. I've looked for years, and never have found a game that compares to the excitement of finding new items.
I agree. Only game that game me similar loot craze was Borderlands... But, for me, the replayability of it just doesn't compare to the Diablo franchise. But it was a fun way to spend time while waiting for D3.
Been playing the franchise since Diablo. Beta tester for D2, and then D3. Game has come a long way on so many levels, but also hasn't changed on so many levels!
Oh absolutely. I forgot about Borderlands, and you're right. That is the only game that had gear/loot similar, console wise. I'm a console guy, unfortunately, because my PC motherboard melted. I did enjoy Path of Exile, because of it's difficulty. They however went a tad bit overboard with gear stats it seemed. I just love Diablo. It may not be as raw, terrifying and difficult as D1 but it is still Diablo. The only thing I miss is actually being afraid to go deeper in a dungeon. Sure, it could've been because I was just a young kid playing D1, but going down a level and slowly peering around corners out of fear? Give me that back! Running for your life when Leorics horde of archers rain at you or the Butcher comes whirlwind cleavering his arm at you... yeah. That's the good fear.
Hardcore mode keeps that alive for me to some extent, just not the same kind of fear.
For me it has a lot to do with family. when Diablo 1 was still new I was a teenager and I remember my dad picking up the game and me watching him play and as soon as I got a chance at the family pc i started playing it. It ended up becoming a point of discussion between my dad and I.He and I we would talk about new items we had found and it became kind of a competition on how far we had got in the game. By the time D2 came out I was living on my own and my dad and I played it together for countless hours especially after Lod came out. I know a lot of people would disagree with me but I still get the general feeling when I play D3 and finally get that legendary I have been searching for. The only other series I can say that I have been playing this long would be the final fantasy series. for me Diablo has become a family thing and now my 18 year old son is playing as well way more casually than I do but he still loves the game.
Here's why I do:
-The lore and mythology is rich and diverse, taking the cliche angels vs demons and making it much deeper than good vs evil.
-The environments blizzard have created continuously blow me away. I remember stopping in the Tamoe Highlands and just watching the river run by, rain pattering on the dirt, and the sound track carrying me away. I sat there for a few minutes until I realized that it wasn't real life, it happened again in Greyhollow, and more intensely. That zone is gorgeous. Same goes for the other way, in Westmarch, I truly felt the plight of the victims of Malthael.
-Many of the characters are just too damn charismatic to ignore. Haedrig, Lyndon, Covetous Shen.. love them all.
-Build diversity. Yes of course there are the best builds for people who want to do as much progression as possible, but there remains options for both styles of play. Casual players have the freedom to progress at a gentle pace with builds they find fun, while the hardcore players have the tools they need to push as hard and fast as they can through grifts.
-The Nephalem short stories. Have you read any? If you haven't, go read the story for your favorite class. My personal favorites were Barb, Demon Hunter, and Crusader. Emotionally gripping stories.
-Lastly, "infinite progression" assures me I'll never run out of Diablo 3. I can go check out other games and finish them in a week or two, but Diablo will always be waiting for me with just as much to do as when I left it.
So tell me, why do YOU love Diablo?
in all honesty? familiarity. i tend to play (good) games for long periods of time.
i'll start with dota because anything before that is ANCIENT history. i played dota throughout college because, even though warcraft 3 was dated, it was a good multiplayer game with constant updates.
i switched to heroes of newerth when it came out because it was basically dota with better graphics and some new heroes. i quit HoN when the company failed repeatedly with stats deletions and server problems left and right. pathetic.
sold my soul to league of legends. played a long while. got fed up with the player base's blind devotion to current pro-level strategies. turns out dual mid, dual top, trilane, no jungle all sometimes work. turns out sometimes "support" champs like blitz can sometimes turn into tank/carries. turns out the general public doesnt have the communication and, lets face it, skill to execute the strategies they see on streams.
i dabbled in dota2, but that was just a slow, clunky version of HoN. they even introduced artificial turn lag into the game (something HoN and LoL did away with). it just felt wrong and dated even though it was "new."
sold my soul again to diablo 3. rmah hooked me. i could get paid for playing a game i wouldve grinded for hours on end anyway? i wish it was 8 player parties and had pvp though. got burnt out doing endless alk runs. played hearthstone for a bit in the beta.
Reaper of Souls dropped and, boom, back to diablo. got a little boring, but seasons fixed that (leaderboards and conquests baby).
played a little heroes of the storm here and there and still keep up with hearthstone.
tried Devilian at end of last season. that game is truly TRULY horrible. no support. quests all identical. game mechanics broken. no support from company. it feels like an early beta.
so until the next truly great game comes along, ill play diablo 3.
It was the first game I could play hours upon hours on end. To this day, I still think back of our old D2 times and wish Diablo 3 was more like it. Even so, Diablo 3 has a good action rhythm going for it which makes me play it for about 1.5-2 month every season.
1. Lore, Blizzard does lore very well. I don't read much game lore books but, with Diablo I read all of the books in a course of a few weeks because of how amazing the story is.
2. Diablo is nostalgic
3. My fun doesn't depend on anyone else. I can play whenever I want, how much I want and with whoever I want.
4. I can drop insane amount of time into this game and never be finished with it. Currently sitting at my third most played game with a little over 3000 hours. (FFXI being my 1st.
withabout17,000hrs)5. Blizzards support for this game. The frequency of patches for this game this long after it was released is astonishing.
6. Slaughtering demons.
7. The thought that one day we might get to see Trag'oul or Inarius in a game.
d1, d2.
The lore really solidified my liking of Diablo, I played diablo 1 and 2 back in the day and it was the very first video game I ever played.
But it wasn't until after I read the Sin War trilogy that my excitement of the Diablo universe came out. I've read almost all diablo books except one and will probably read any more they come out with down the road.
If you want to arrange it
This world you can change it
If we could somehow make this
Christmas thing last
By helping a neighbor
Or even a stranger
And to know who needs help
You need only just ask
Like mentioned above, build diversity is the hugest thing for me. I think D3 has come into this in the best way in 2.4 (especially when it comes to DH). We now have 4 viable sets and with LoN I can make my own crazy build and it will be usable. I love some of the super original legendaries out there, especially when they go past an increase to a skill's damage. I love theorycrafting my own builds and I get so excited when I can post builds on here.
For me it has to be the lore and themes most strongly present in the first two games (and imo most strongly in the first). That isn't meant to suggest that three is bad or anything, but it doesn't get certain things about the diablo universe as far as I am concerned. I can still have fun with it but it doesn't have the same meaning.
For me it's definitely the number one reason: LOOT.
In Diablo 1, I kept playing and playing to get a King's Staff of Haste for my monk. I think only got a King's Staff of Speed; but I found a King's Sword of Haste, so got that going for my barb. Obviously, the soundtrack was also absolutely insane as well. I'm not even talking about Tristram; the music that comes to my mind is more that of the four different dungeon zones. Even though I haven't played Diablo 1 in over 15 years or so, I can immediately recall the soundtrack of those dungeons in my head, which perfectly fit to the dark atmosphere - creating an almost creepy game experience. Not rarely I walked around a corner only to be greeted by a horde of dark knights, letting my heart skip a beat.
I know people like to recall Diablo 1 for Lore and story and what not, but honestly, for me personally they were not better or worse than in Diablo 3. With one exception: the much debated final video after you beat Diablo. But yeah... Diablo 1 I'd say 1) loot, 2) music, 3) atmosphere - to which music, but also in part the cut scenes and of course some pieces of lore contribute.
In Diablo 2, the rune system was definitely what kept me going. I like sandbox/crafting games in general, and the fact that you could work your way towards new gear in pieces was even better than the hunt for the elusive King's Staff of Haste in D1. However, I always quickly got bored by late game in Diablo 2, and since I absolutely hated the idea of acquiring cheated/illegal items I never traded (because as we all know, 99% of the high level runes were results of dupes, even on ladder). So I only played solo or with my friends, acquired some of the lower level runewords, got to like mid-80s or so, before I stopped. What I liked was that there was much more diversity in terms of classes and builds compared to D1, definitely a plus as well. While the music and theme wasn't as creepy anymore (in my opinion the entire discussion about D3 being not dark enough is bullshit; Lut Gholein was the brightest and non-creepiest area in all of Diablo history). Yet, the story totally made up for it. Besides 1) loot, I'd say 2) story was the most amazing thing about D2; especially the cut scenes. Sometimes I just watch all the D2 videos which are so brilliant! 3) Music follows as well; there are so many memorable tunes in D2.
In Diablo 3, what's left of this is loot. The music isn't as memorable for me at all as D1/D2 (I can instantly hum any D1/D2 theme in my head, but although I've played D3 much more than those two games, I can't remember any of the soundtracks). There are no runewords and the crafting system is no replace for it (yet). The paragon grind was awesome when paragon 800 was a far, almost unreachable goal; but ever since it exploded in season 3 it's a dead system to me as well. And let's not talk about the lore - in most recent seasons, just as S5, probably almost no one will finish the story other than for the conquest. My biggest letdown though are the cutscenes; in my opinion many of the videos can't keep up with the epic feeling of D2. The only video that has about the same quality is the Azmodan one, in my opinion. So that leaves my ranking for D3 as 1) loot... and nothing else. I used to like leaderboards, but since those have been taken over by bots since S3, I quit that race a while ago, and since you finish loot (and other achievements) within a week, D3 turned into a short-term enjoyment for me. That being said, in all nostalgia I do not forget that the shortcoming of D2 also didn't keep me playing forever, so I'm not gonna say that D3 is worse than any of their predecessors; I think it's just different in many ways. It does some things better (the combat feeling and class/build diversity is absolutely unparalleled), and some things worse (story/lore, though no one plays for that more than a few times anyways).
One word in terms of lore/story/atmosphere though - I think in a dungeon crawler/ARPG game that Diablo is, story can only keep you engaged so far. If a story doesn't change on another playthrough, story is a one-time thing that doesn't yield replayability. Diablo is one of my favorite games - but because of the loot hunt and monster slaying playstyle. Story-wise, there are many other games that are a million times more epic, especially pure RPGs (Fallout 1+2 and Planescape Torment easily take the top 3 spots for me here).
Mainly because i love ARPGs, played D1 and D2 for years, and i like to have a game to play for a long time at my pace without being on a schedule.
Unless Blizzard changes stuff and makes the Season journey to be not doable in solo, i'm happy with the game. Plus more time passes more things get added.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsh7WDqjTrM&feature=youtu.be&t=225
This login-screen and Music... Endless hours spent in Auction House...
The quest to get loot. I kind of wish there was a larger reason for blue and yellow items. Now you don't even really pick them up or look at them. But it has always been the loot system for me. I've looked for years, and never have found a game that compares to the excitement of finding new items.
I love this game but now I'm burnout...i need to stay away from this game...just tired of the game.
For me - being around since WAY before the beginning (we are talking years of devouring every detail about the development of D3)..
The thing I love the most is the "redemption" process that the game has undergone. Really, starting with RoS
I have never been more excited for a video game than I was for Diablo 3. And after about 1 year of denial after the launch of Vanilla, I gave up on it.
But Blizzard proved to be up to the task and its the single thing about this game that makes me love it so much nowadays. Blizzard took what was an AMAZING shell of a game and has turned it into an amazing game. They FIXED Diablo 3. So proud of them for being willing to shut down the Auction house. The free updates since RoS launch with so much content each time - its amazing!
When I play Diablo 3 now, I get the same warm, fuzzy feeling that I had back in the day playing Lord of Destruction. Only its even better because we've seen the progress they've made since May 2012. 3 1/2 years and they've turned the game into something awesome - can't wait for more expansions!
I love the fast paced action and mob density brought over from diablo 1 and 2. I've got over 1400+ Hours into Diablo 3 and probably even more in D2. This game always brings back childhood memories and laughter. The epic bosses and loot system that Diablo 2 was re-known for has only been upgraded in 3 here. I agree that D2 was way better than D3 but it still holds my attention. I do get burnt out quite frequently on this game, maybe playing 1 week each new season and then play on and off. But over all this game has improved quite a bit since launch, ROS only made things better (although the new boss was a let down) with the addition of Rifts and basic replay-ability. Their new and redesigned sets are what keep me coming back each season, and I may not be the biggest fan of the Ladder system with Greater Rifts, it still has the same feel and design as D2.
I just enjoy the game
Been playing the series since diablo 1
I like finding loot, killing mass amounts of mobs, leveling, i just like the grind i suppose.
I love the lore and the diversity and openness of builds. Most of all, I love the crunching noise that monsters make when you crush a huge pack of them. It's like crack...
Been playing the franchise since Diablo. Beta tester for D2, and then D3. Game has come a long way on so many levels, but also hasn't changed on so many levels!
Oh absolutely. I forgot about Borderlands, and you're right. That is the only game that had gear/loot similar, console wise. I'm a console guy, unfortunately, because my PC motherboard melted. I did enjoy Path of Exile, because of it's difficulty. They however went a tad bit overboard with gear stats it seemed. I just love Diablo. It may not be as raw, terrifying and difficult as D1 but it is still Diablo. The only thing I miss is actually being afraid to go deeper in a dungeon. Sure, it could've been because I was just a young kid playing D1, but going down a level and slowly peering around corners out of fear? Give me that back! Running for your life when Leorics horde of archers rain at you or the Butcher comes whirlwind cleavering his arm at you... yeah. That's the good fear.
Hardcore mode keeps that alive for me to some extent, just not the same kind of fear.
For me it has a lot to do with family. when Diablo 1 was still new I was a teenager and I remember my dad picking up the game and me watching him play and as soon as I got a chance at the family pc i started playing it. It ended up becoming a point of discussion between my dad and I.He and I we would talk about new items we had found and it became kind of a competition on how far we had got in the game. By the time D2 came out I was living on my own and my dad and I played it together for countless hours especially after Lod came out. I know a lot of people would disagree with me but I still get the general feeling when I play D3 and finally get that legendary I have been searching for. The only other series I can say that I have been playing this long would be the final fantasy series. for me Diablo has become a family thing and now my 18 year old son is playing as well way more casually than I do but he still loves the game.
Not all those who wander are lost.