D2 was designed to be played hardcore. Softcore was added last minute after the fact. That's one of the fundamental reasons everything is so balanced.
And come to think of it, D1 was also straight up hardcore. Both games were vastly superior to D3.
People wanted to talk about the RMAH or some other jank, nah this most fundamental reason.
In D3's case softcore was baseline, and hardcore was added in after the fact.
And this is why I fear for D4.

p.s. hardcore in d2 is the deez nutz
p.p.s i played softcore for 20 years

This post was edited by mitchflow on Aug 4 2022 03:53pm

Noted

dear diary if i've ever seen one

Everything is so balanced?

Ait

hazy memory, but werent you able to save any time in d1? Id hardly call that hardcore, just load up a save from b4 u ripped

D1 was brutally difficult, even with max level and perfect gear. Relied tons on strategy, specific weapons and knowing the environment and mob types. Death resulted in losing all gear on the floor. Same can't be said about D3.

This post was edited by Returner on Aug 4 2022 04:38pm

:popcorn:

D3 lost me when they eliminated trading almost entirely.

D3 sucked cause u get max gear in under a week. And leveling is not a thing

It had a bunch of flaws. Game pace and trading was the biggest factors.