For unaware people : the PC version and the console one have not the same gameplay at all.

I don't know if it is still like that but here's a gamespot video I watched the other day. It made me hate that game even more. I should have stuck to D-II.

Got a good amount of fun out of it the first time 'round. Loved the graphical style (although D2's was equal here if not better), and absolutely adored act 1 in general. Act 2 felt like horrible bullshit for the most part, but the good parts were oh-so-good. Act 3 was good for the first half, the second half was boring. Act 4 was okay.

Writing was just horrible in parts. Gameplay was okay, but too streamlined to captivate me for a longer while.

In essence, what seems to have ruined Diablo 3 is the fact that Diablo 2 was so good. They tried to hand everything they thought the players liked in '2 on a platter, which ruined a part of the experience. Diablo 2 had you working for the stuff amongst the plot and other things, Diablo 3 was mechanics mechanics mechanics thinly veiled into a story and gorgeous visuals.

I still don't hate it, I just never even expected it to do as well as 2. I expect to get back to it at least when the expansion is out.

Wasting time? That's what I have always enjoyed about aRPGs the most, as the hack'n'slash-ing itself always felt kind of boring :-P
As far as I'm concerned, instead of trying to balance out the availible options, Blizzard has just taken them away from the player altogether and replaced them with something completely different. I don't really think I like that approach - Path of Exile is much more of Diablo 3 than Diablo 3 itself will ever be.

I'm also not entirely sure where did you get the notion of most people building characters 'just as the guides told you to do it b/c it was the best you could have.' Perhaps you did, but most people that I do know of and most people who are gaming in general just don't use guides at all. Now I could see how would this lead to frustration, as most people will not build a character capable of surviving on higher difficulties - but as far as I'm concerned, the planning was the meat of that game.

The problem with Diablo III is that Diablo II was made by a completely different team (Blizzard North), that was much more competent on the arpg genre than the entire load of crap contained in the W.C. currently known as Blizzard Corp. I fucking hate WoW, and Diablo III is born out of WoW. It's not Diablo, it's "Facebook WoW Auction House Game-as-a-service Diablo". I won't buy a Diablo 4 shit, that's for sure.

I got the notion from an interview I read a while back with one of the lead designers. I think he had some statics to back it up from the Battlenet accounts, too, but I can't find it.

They took a big calculated risk, which is what gamers have been asking for. And although the game isn't the best game ever made, it's still a pretty good game. I think people just wanted more of it. I rarely have heard "I played a few hours of it and it sucked." I usually hear "I played it for 100 hours and it was just wretched." To which I say "Wow you have a high pain tolerance and/or a ton of time to waste."

Now, there are those who just despise the game and I completely understand that. It's a radically different game and, as I stated in the last Diablo thread, it lacks a soul. I'd much prefer that they handled things differently. But I've never played a game like D3 and I enjoyed it for quite a while. Act I was really, really good. And the gameplay was varied enough to keep me entertained for quite a long time. And the multiplayer functions were super-easy to access without tinkering around with VPNs or the like.

This is just great. Thank you :)

As a huge fan of the Diablo series and ARPGs in general, I personally love Diablo 3 quite a bit. Yes, Diablo 2 and 3 are quite different, but they are both fun in their own ways. Disregarding the always online requirement, which obviously sucks, I still cannot really grasp the amount of hate the game has received. I understand a lot of people just aren't fond of it and that is reasonable, but the outright hatred for it seems a bit odd.

Although it has received a lot of complaints, I actually prefer the current method when it comes to unlocking skills. I enjoy unlocking all the options available to me, and not getting halfway through the game and realizing I made a mistake and have no real way to fix it without starting over again. I enjoy being able to constantly experiment and find good synergies with friends who play different characters. I enjoy not being locked into any one specific build. I almost always play a monk, which is incredibly versatile, and it is fun adjusting my role between high dps, healer, tank, or whatever the group needs based on their builds and experience level.

Another complaint I have seen a lot of is similar to the above, but regarding attribute points rather than skill points. This problem is pretty tricky, as I see a lot of people talking about how you only ever focus on one attribute and nothing else for your characters. Yes, all the characters are usually driven by one attribute when it comes to damage, but if you play on hardcore mode where this game truly shines, you will see the need to focus on all attributes accordingly. It is one of the reasons I actually enjoy changing my character through gear instead of a permanent point system. I can constantly experiment, and I am not stuck putting hours into a character that will eventually be gimped and useless in later difficulties, forcing me to start over.

Although it doesn't help the current situation, at least they are bringing attribute points back in their next major update through the paragon system, so hopefully that will provide the best of both worlds and make both parties a bit more happy.

As for other things, such as the story and all, I agree that is less than entertaining. After the first playthrough though, that is honestly something I just tune out and skip through completely, as my only focus is the enjoyment of smashing demons and hoping for fun loot while blasting whatever music I enjoy through my headphones. This pretty much goes for how I play all ARPGs.

The auction house aspect also sucks, but I never found it quite as detrimental as people made it out to be. As I previously mentioned, I only play the game on hardcore mode, and there the RMAH doesn't exist. A basic gold AH exists, and I have only occasionally made use of it. I do wish more fun things dropped on their own (and surely it will when Loot 2.0 comes into play), but the game is still manageable by avoiding the AH entirely.

And finally, as a suggestion to those that are willing to give the game a try, I thoroughly suggest hardcore mode. This isn't for bragging rights or feeling like a badass, but simply because it is a lot more exciting. I have yet to finish the game on inferno mode this way (only 1.5 acts away though!), but it really forces you to learn the game, pay attention, and find what works for your character. What works in softcore mode does not always work in hardcore. I often see people just throwing themselves at enemies with the most DPS possible and randomly dying, rinse and repeat. In hardcore though, you need to build a balanced character and focus on multiple aspects. I do have a softcore character I poke around with on lower levels occasionally, but it really feels lacking in terms of excitement now.

Anyway, in summary, the game is far from perfect. If you go into it with an open mind though, I think it can be fun in its own way. It does a lot of things differently, some of which I have found fairly enjoyable. I find both D2 and D3 fun in very different ways, and I plan on continuing to play both depending on the mood I'm in.

The Cinematics team did their jobs well, as usual. Too bad, that's about it.

I don't!

What do I win?

Aw, that's a shame, I was gonna give you a copy of D3, but seeing as you don't like it, I guess I'd better hold onto it :P
Thanks for taking the time to explain all that, I'll try a harder difficulty next weekend see how it goes, cheers :)

Because I loved Diablo 2 so much I stayed away from too much information about D3 as I could once I knew the basics.
I knew it would require online activation (which I could have lived with), but had not noticed I would have to be online to play the single-player too - my stupidity.
Anyway I gave it a few hours of trying but it constantly crashed out, so I went online and saw my problem was quite normal. Then when I did get on for a short time I just found the game play too annoying, especially the loss of connection and ability to play after about 30 minuets.
So I uninstalled it and have not put it back on my machine yet.
I was excited when I saw they were ending the Auction House and I stupidly expected with the console versions being able to play off-line that they may release a patch with the new add-on, but alas it states that it will also require "always online". So in short I am going to pretend that Blizzard no longer exists after having now ruined all three of their franchises for me.

The problem is that if you don't use the auction house drop rates are so low, you don't get good enough gear to progress unless you grind for an absurd amount of time.

This was the newest D3 thread I could find. The new loot system and other changes to the game make it feel much more "Diablo"-like. I would test it out if you, like me, got bored before.

My brother lent me his Xbox 360 copy. Played all the way through in a weekend and was quite unimpressed. Gone were the roguelike roots, and what replaced them was indistinguishable from the (better) D&D co-op crawls on the original Xbox. That is really good! I know you've heard the Cain Rap then. And yes, the first game remains the best in series to me as well. Hellfire makes it a smidge better yet, though not everyone shares that opinion.

I like it because the amount of security Blizzard puts on it is relatively low....compared to you know, Fort Knox or Buckingham Palace.