Homecoming - Return to D2?
It has been awhile since I last played this game (5 yrs). Recently I got around to playing Torchlight and enjoyed it thoroughly. The Schaefer brothers really put a great game together in just 11 months of development.
The only problem: It is not D2.
The general lack of ARPG games led me to playing Torchlight. Ironically this actually rekindled my desire to pick up my old D2:LOD. I installed it to try out SP builds. I must say, that even after 10 yrs of playing this game, the moment I saw Akara, the memories started to flood back; and it felt good.
I played D2 since classic (back then you could gamble SoJs with a Manald and Nagal in your stash. Act 2 was the best to gamble since merchants did not refresh by simply exiting the trade screen), and Battlenet not long after. I have seen builds evolved along with the patches and was always amazed at how innovative some players can be in developing their characters.
When LoD came out, I started playing this game with a vengeance. You could say I was a power player of sorts (my record was lvl 1 - 95 in 1 day. This I believe was post v.1.08). I mf'ed all the best items and could run Baal in under 5 minutes consistently with a FO/Nova sorc. I played in a clan called Dueler's Circle (irony is that I absolutely suck at dueling) back then with KnownAsWolf, Strikex, Timkoo amongst many others. This was the Golden Age of Diablo for me.
So what made me quit? I left the game around the end of v1.10 / v1.11 due to reasons like studies / work commitment (blah blah..). But the biggest reason for me leaving this game was the level of hacking/duping/botting going on in these games. What is the point of legitly finding a Jah/Ber when the trading screen was spamming "40HRs++ for +1 Cold 45 Life skiller"? Unwilling to go down that route, I found myself trailing behind (literally) the Baal Bots and hackers. This was discouraging and soon the interest died a slow and painful death.
However I do not believe in "My Deeds of Valour Shall be Remembered" as my interest have been rekindled (or you can say resurrected) since Torchlight and I aim to start playing LoD again once Patch v1.13 comes out (God knows when that would be given that it was supposedly able to launch in April 2009).
Out of interest, I created a USWest account to see the action (Chat screens tells you alot). What I saw was somewhat disappointing. The opening screen shows that 30,000 players playing LoD (The figures in the heyday was easily 500,000 - 1,000,000). The Ladder Trading Screen in room 1 had 23 people only. Trading Screens 2 & 3 was a solitary and lonely existence for a lvl 1 sorc. To make things worse, I saw a "120 HRs for $15" on a website that has been spamming since I was playing. Bots still seem to be in full force. I have not played a game online yet, but from what I read on these forums, it seems like botting is still alive and strong. Still my faith remains foolishly strong that Blizzard would be able to fix this.
Is there anyone here on these forums like myself that is looking to start a fresh challenge when v1.13 comes out (if it comes out before D3)? Does the ladder become "Hot" again upon a launch of the new ladder with more players piling into a game that is over 10 yrs old? What has changed (or lack of) in this game that I should take note of?
Many thanks in advance from an old forumer. *Ends Rant*
It has been awhile since I last played this game (5 yrs). Recently I got around to playing Torchlight and enjoyed it thoroughly. The Schaefer brothers really put a great game together in just 11 months of development.
The only problem: It is not D2.
The general lack of ARPG games led me to playing Torchlight. Ironically this actually rekindled my desire to pick up my old D2:LOD. I installed it to try out SP builds. I must say, that even after 10 yrs of playing this game, the moment I saw Akara, the memories started to flood back; and it felt good.
I played D2 since classic (back then you could gamble SoJs with a Manald and Nagal in your stash. Act 2 was the best to gamble since merchants did not refresh by simply exiting the trade screen), and Battlenet not long after. I have seen builds evolved along with the patches and was always amazed at how innovative some players can be in developing their characters.
When LoD came out, I started playing this game with a vengeance. You could say I was a power player of sorts (my record was lvl 1 - 95 in 1 day. This I believe was post v.1.08). I mf'ed all the best items and could run Baal in under 5 minutes consistently with a FO/Nova sorc. I played in a clan called Dueler's Circle (irony is that I absolutely suck at dueling) back then with KnownAsWolf, Strikex, Timkoo amongst many others. This was the Golden Age of Diablo for me.
So what made me quit? I left the game around the end of v1.10 / v1.11 due to reasons like studies / work commitment (blah blah..). But the biggest reason for me leaving this game was the level of hacking/duping/botting going on in these games. What is the point of legitly finding a Jah/Ber when the trading screen was spamming "40HRs++ for +1 Cold 45 Life skiller"? Unwilling to go down that route, I found myself trailing behind (literally) the Baal Bots and hackers. This was discouraging and soon the interest died a slow and painful death.
However I do not believe in "My Deeds of Valour Shall be Remembered" as my interest have been rekindled (or you can say resurrected) since Torchlight and I aim to start playing LoD again once Patch v1.13 comes out (God knows when that would be given that it was supposedly able to launch in April 2009).
Out of interest, I created a USWest account to see the action (Chat screens tells you alot). What I saw was somewhat disappointing. The opening screen shows that 30,000 players playing LoD (The figures in the heyday was easily 500,000 - 1,000,000). The Ladder Trading Screen in room 1 had 23 people only. Trading Screens 2 & 3 was a solitary and lonely existence for a lvl 1 sorc. To make things worse, I saw a "120 HRs for $15" on a website that has been spamming since I was playing. Bots still seem to be in full force. I have not played a game online yet, but from what I read on these forums, it seems like botting is still alive and strong. Still my faith remains foolishly strong that Blizzard would be able to fix this.
Is there anyone here on these forums like myself that is looking to start a fresh challenge when v1.13 comes out (if it comes out before D3)? Does the ladder become "Hot" again upon a launch of the new ladder with more players piling into a game that is over 10 yrs old? What has changed (or lack of) in this game that I should take note of?
Many thanks in advance from an old forumer. *Ends Rant*
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