I'm happy more people are able to enjoy the game. I'm unhappy that I will have to find something new to play sooner than I had anticipated. God I hope WoD is out before then.
I think this really points to the core of the issue with the game. For better or worse, it has the same issue WoW has had for a while: The game has a massive and diverse audience, to the point where nothing is going to please everyone.
There are people who have almost every waking hour to play games, and the only game they play is Diablo 3. There are people who have maybe an hour or two a night, and play many different games. Those are extremes, of course, and most people are somewhere in the middle.
In a game where loot is so central to progress and having fun, one game model can never please both sides of the spectrum. If it takes a week or more of continuous play to get an upgrade, the "casuals", not surprisingly, feel like they're not making any progress in the time they do get to play. They feel like yeah, all those awesome, game-changing set bonuses they've seen people show off are awesome, and look really fun to play with, but they've never seen a single piece.
On the other hand, if the system is tweaked so the "casuals" are actually seeing upgrades on a regular basis, the "no-lifers" get frustrated, again understandably. With the sheer amount of time they spend playing, they get everything they want fairly quickly, and feel like there's nothing for them to do.
There's never going to be a magic drop rate that pleases both ends of the spectrum, or even large chunks of the middle. I fall toward the latter end of the spectrum (less time to game, more games in waiting). I definitely like these changes. If I "beat" the game in a month, I've got plenty of other things to play until the next patch comes out. If things were on the other end of the spectrum, though, and I spent a few nights without getting any upgrades, I'd probably stop right there. I'm not "entitled" to upgrades, no, but getting new gear's what makes the game fun, and if I'm not having fun, I'll play something else. I can't speak for the other end of the spectrum, but from mine, these tweaks keep me playing longer.
2
There are people who have almost every waking hour to play games, and the only game they play is Diablo 3. There are people who have maybe an hour or two a night, and play many different games. Those are extremes, of course, and most people are somewhere in the middle.
In a game where loot is so central to progress and having fun, one game model can never please both sides of the spectrum. If it takes a week or more of continuous play to get an upgrade, the "casuals", not surprisingly, feel like they're not making any progress in the time they do get to play. They feel like yeah, all those awesome, game-changing set bonuses they've seen people show off are awesome, and look really fun to play with, but they've never seen a single piece.
On the other hand, if the system is tweaked so the "casuals" are actually seeing upgrades on a regular basis, the "no-lifers" get frustrated, again understandably. With the sheer amount of time they spend playing, they get everything they want fairly quickly, and feel like there's nothing for them to do.
There's never going to be a magic drop rate that pleases both ends of the spectrum, or even large chunks of the middle. I fall toward the latter end of the spectrum (less time to game, more games in waiting). I definitely like these changes. If I "beat" the game in a month, I've got plenty of other things to play until the next patch comes out. If things were on the other end of the spectrum, though, and I spent a few nights without getting any upgrades, I'd probably stop right there. I'm not "entitled" to upgrades, no, but getting new gear's what makes the game fun, and if I'm not having fun, I'll play something else. I can't speak for the other end of the spectrum, but from mine, these tweaks keep me playing longer.