And that is one of the 'misconceptions' I was talking about. It sounds that way, but it isn't. Your mana pool was limited - you could only cast so much, but you could sacrifice health and put points into your mana pool if you wanted to. Or even buff your mana regen at the expense of buffing a damage skill.
You could not cast forever without cooldowns.
My little search of D2 explains all you had to do was be well stocked in Mana/Health potions. Hotkey the item, and just spam away. Is that what you'd prefer? It sounds like would make this game even easier than it already has been for the first 3 difficulties and Inferno wouldn't even be a challenge if you can just quick tap a potion and restore all your health/resources.
Yea, the AH in WoW wasn't required at all, but highly usefull, especially for crafting. I only bought one weapon ever, for an alt, but I did buy materials often for Engineering. I'm only saying the D3 AH is a direct result of WoW; not that it's something bad.
I don't think it is a direct result of WoW. I think it's a direct result from the stories I've read of the kind of market Diablo 2 had. If it were a direct result of WoW (like the Chat function) it would be much more robust. The AH in Diablo 3 is so cumbersome I'd rather not even use it, personally. Price checking items is a chore, and trying to find items worth using in a mountain of prince ranges from billions to hundreds is so tiresome.
Please. I played a priest main, and have so on multiple servers. I prefer DPS as Shadow, but I mainly heal because it's needed. I've been in 3 guilds that require certain talent builds (and gear) if you want to get in. Sucks? Yes. But how else can you run the entire Black Temple @ 70 pre-nerf? I'm a hardcore gamer and enjoyed it, even if I didn't like having to run a specific build.
You have to admit, for end game WoW, most builds are very similar.
As a hardcore player what did you expect? The freedom of choice? I'm a casual player, and a GM, and a raid leader. My guild is clearing Heroic Dragon Soul and no one is required to have anything. We play as we wish. I joined a hardcore guild on my alt and was told to buy x-item and have y-skill. That got tiring fast. Sure they cleared raid content faster than my guild but I don't play games as a second job. I play them for fun.
And again the circle we ran in are different. The players in my guild don't use cookie-cutter builds because we don't use cookie-cutter strats. Can you imagine a restro druid WITHOUT the glyph for full-life BRs? We got two of em.
Yes, D2 was a time sink, but you could run Act 1 Normal in D2 and find a Stone of Jordan (+1 all skills; extremely good item). Gotta go to work in 15 minutes? You could run Pindle 15 times. Got a half hour before your show starts? Run Meph a few times.
D3. Want to do a run? Got an hour or two to make sure you are doing the most efficient run?
I run Butcher runs in under 30 minutes. I don't see the need to full clear an act, sure it increases my chance of loot and money, but I don't play the game to maximize all my stats. I did enough of that in WoW and frankly it is remarkably boring. I'm enjoying Diablo 3 as it is, and gearing up as I go and progressing at my pace. I've soloed everything and half way through Act 3. The recent nerf made things more tolerable - which I'm happy for.
Quick question in Diablo 2 were you able to do everything you just listed within two months after the game launched? Just curious. They might implement these missed features, who knows.
D3's loot is very similar to WoW. I said nothing about drop rates, just the loot itself - With RNG. WoW loot was static; kill Brutalus in the Sunwell and if the item you want drops, it will have the exact stats as every other drop of the same item.
D3 loot is like WoW loot, but the mods are random. Uniques and set items, which used to drop in D2 starting in the first few acts of Normal, were useful and a nice change. Legendarys and set items are far and few between in D3, and universally suck except for a few sought after items.
Your but is a huge but. WoW bosses have a loot table. D3 doesn't. That is a big difference already. In WoW once you get that item(s) you wanted, you're essentially done. You can't get better from that boss anymore. In Diablo 3 I've got upgrades to my upgrades from Butcher runs. How is that remotely the same? I got upgrades from a random pack of elites.
If your comparison is "In WOW you kill a mob and it drops loot you may or may not use" that is a rather weak comparison. Due to all the RNG issues, Blizzard would do themselves a favor to set a fixed loot table so that you don't get a 1handed mace with 750 DPS, a socket, then Int and strength.
I don't hate D3. I more then got my money's worth comparing the hours spent vs most other games, but I miss the sequel that never was. Diablo 3 is a reinvention of the IP, when it didn't need to be reinvented.
You still have Diablo 2, it is clearly the better game. The changes to Diablo 3 haven't ruined the IP. Of course not all stoic fans approve, but the game is successful. Again, I don't get this ideology people hold that they are owed something.
And, I've nearly 4x your playtime in Diablo 3, and 1000x your Diablo 2 playtime now, yet you seem to know more then me. Rude, yes, but isn't that a question that should be asked? D2's longevity came from hardcore players like me; do I not have a right to rant?
I never said I knew anything more than you, and you're being rude for assuming. As someone who is enjoying Diablo 3 alot and who plays WoW alot, I don't see the comparison - outside of a few UI elements.
The chatbox? Really? I wish they'd copied the WoW chat box. The one in Diablo 3 is atrocious. Outside of looking the same the functions aren't even the same.
I personally wouldn't be playing Diablo 3 if it were like WoW. I've already played enough WoW clones. This game is far more refreshing because it doesn't adhere you to strict gameplay mechanics. I've been enjoying playing my toons in my own fashion, learning and failing, and often meeting up with other players who play so differently that it is refreshing. In WoW, see one rogue, you've seen pretty much all of them because no one wants to even try anymore.