Hey

i had few years break should i start d2r or d4?
which game have more players, better community and so on? ill be new to both

what about trading in both games? is trading more d2jsp focused in d2r? how is the ingame trading in both games? do you guys still trade for ists and hrs or its just in game gold nowadays?

This post was edited by selfrep on Apr 26 2026 04:25am

no

Not a single real actual human being plays diablo 4. Maybe they tried it when it first came out, but quit within the first month.

D2r >

You could do both, they’re different games to the point of not really being sequels as far as mechanics are concerned

Trading and grouping

d4 used to be igg no idea if that changed, for d2r it’s fg on jsp and hrs + 32020s on that other site that doesn’t use fg. If you enjoy the rush of trading id go with d2, d4 is an unimaginable slog unless you’re doing mats

If you play solo play d2, if you have a gang of chucklefucks with you do d4, d4 always has some bullshit mechanic that’s better exploited by groups, we have one of those mechanics now with heralds in d2 but it’s getting patched to go back to solo viable and surprisingly pissing off the sweaty unemployed Diablo boomers because they can load 8 accounts at the same time while the Diablo dads have to farm on their own. If anyone reads this comment watch this be the part they latch onto.

If you want to be competitive with something don’t bother on either, unless you have 7 other sweaty autists with you there’s no point racing for the ladder firsts in d2. Anything competitive in d4 is similarly a joke

Gameplay

If you like killing screens of stuff in the exact same places and farming currency play d4, if you like killing groups of stuff in randomly generated versions of the same place and farming items play d2.

If you like the idea of bricking your 1 in 1k drop because you rolled it badly play d4, if you like the idea of just being able to use or sell your drop but never seeing that drop to begin with play d2r

If you get bored doing the same things over and over play d4, it has a greater variety of end game activities that at least feel different from each other. If you are touched by the tism and enjoy doing the same things over and over again play d2. Your endgame activities in d2 are to kill the same bosses you’ve been killing for the past 2 decades. That new herald mechanic i mentioned earlier has slightly shaken it up by giving you reasons to go farm other areas but that’s it.

If you wanna play offline or if you travel a lot I’d recommend 2, offline single player is great. You’re SOL if you want to play d4 with slow internet let alone no internet.

Story

If you like a shit ass waste of time cringe campaign story play d4, if you like a shit ass forgettable uninspired but not in your face campaign story play d2. Actually if you’re looking for story don’t touch this franchise at all go somewhere far away.

Itemization

If you like complex itemization play d2, it can be overwhelming to remember everything but it’s quite rewarding once you get the hang of it. If you just want to turn your brain off after work, relax, and only have a few things to remember as far as what items you need play d4. There’s nothing wrong with either approach just more what you’d prefer.

If you want your account/time to have value, play d2. A jah is a jah is a jah is a jah people will always need one, in d4 your items are worthless after the season ends. Like you couldn’t even pay people to take them from you worthless. In d2 you can sell your stuff in non ladder where losers like me still play, even years later.

Community

D2 feels more rewarding to play over time, d4 gets you on the dopamine train really quick but will eventually fall off due to the player base being Diablo dads who still believe they’re hardcore gamers and demand the same rewards and items streamers get while only putting in 30 minutes of time a night. They buy cosmetic packs to make themselves look totally badass bro and then circlejerk on Reddit about it while complaining that they haven’t gotten a 1 in 1000 drop after clearing content a handful of times. Because they buy the cosmetics they’re who blizzard caters to wholeheartedly. in d2 it’s exceedingly clear that it’s largely cynical over 30 year old autismal losers playing and that kicking the proverbial hornets nest isn’t a great idea so changes are glacial in pace, if they happen at all.

In closing

Neither of them are bad games, they’re just related in name only. I’m more biased towards 2 due to the longevity but I have nothing against 4 and got a few hundred hours out of it before getting bored. I’d say try d2r first, if you get hooked on it you’ll get way more than you’d get out of getting hooked on d4.

This post was edited by dubstepmammoth on Apr 26 2026 06:39am

I'm latching onto this part of the comment to agree with you. The same crowd that runs 8 accounts is the same crowd that thinks they're "hardcore gamers" because they play hardcore with bo barb and enchantress and 5 extra loaders.

And they're badass for this imo. Diablo dads could never dream of this being this hardcore and this efficient.

This post was edited by Emiliaaa on Apr 26 2026 06:39am

If the Diablo dads had enough time away from their 7 kids 2 wives and 13 jobs they’d multi load too, it’s diablo dad coded behavior imo since they’re wanting to be badass and have the prestige but can’t or won’t actually engage with the game mode as it was designed, like just cheat instead it makes no difference at that point

By the time Diablo dads get all their 8 accounts in the same game, their weekly 10 minutes of game time is over. That's why they'll never be badass like the loaders. Only softcore loaders though. Hardcore loaders aren't as badass.

This post was edited by Emiliaaa on Apr 26 2026 07:08am

First thing, blizzard bots now are majority of d2jsp responses in this forum. Every now and then you get real player responses.

ROTW was a Blizzard bait cash grab fake update. The blizzard bots will continue to praise it, but there are zero bug fixes in it.

Outside of no bug fixes and some AI slop POE inspired class, more repeated reskins and only ONE quality of life feature the item stacking. Item filter receives varied feedback.

I for one do not encourage buying ROTW, however the community and blizzard punish you severely if you do not buy it.

We are called Expansion players if we dont buy it. We are victims of market sharing, since bots still exist on expansion and convert to ROTW after finding. This has increased the market price of everything on nonladder, taking away community and increasing our market value as our punishment for not buying.

Nevertheless, once I get new builds up to hell farming. I am still regularly able to get full hell baal games during the day.

Normal and nightmare on the other hand are dead on expansion nonladder. You will be mostly solo player here.

Regardless if you buy ROTW or not, expect the following issures still not fixed.
Stats window is still not completed, you will be counting stats still.
You still must know hidden info since blizzard does not include half of the game into tooltips and incomplete stats window.
You still cant see what your item bases are after socketing them.
Hydra damage is still bugged, slaughtering mercs everywhere.
Chat stops working still.
Channels in the lobby were removed, there is no lobby now.
Often times if chat is working, you see their account instead of character name and dont know who is talking.
Drops are still shit, bots finding most of the market items still.
No Act 6.
The trade channels are still dead. Even more dead for nonladder so making lvl 40 bumpers is no longer a thing. You should expect to walk to hell yourself now.
Although I make games called rushing and sometimes people come to help.
Baals mana drain attack is still half its total length further from its actual visual animation. So u still have to position for the invisible extension.
Stash tabs are still severely limited. Making characters purely for muling is still needed.
Poorly rolled items are still trash since there is no system to roll them higher with currency like in POE.
Various skills are still very undertuned and not playable. I just tested summon necro and everyone swears you need Corpse Explosion even though its a summon necro because of their shit damage. They are correct, but also this makes summon necro irrelavent.
Elemental 1/5 rule is still in effect and blizzard punished cold sorc's with the new sunder charms. Before cold mastery would break immunity, but now blizzard removed that and forced use of the sunder charm.

I cant really think of more at the moment but I would just play another game outside diablo, blizzard has totally killed the franchise. Also outside blizzard games in general, they do this behavior to all their games. I am merely just playing because of nostalgia and I still remember how to do everything. I am currently just playing builds that I never made before. My last 3 builds I made was throw barb, summon druid, summon necro. Both pass except summon necro, is very stupid your summons do no damage.

This post was edited by Josiah on Apr 26 2026 10:38am

"AI slop" guy has spoken. Figured you'd enjoy reading this great post.