Like most reviews, my Diablo 3 review covered the core parts of the game everyone will see at some point in their trek to slay Diablo. I have a level 53 Hardcore Monk in Act 1 Hell and a level 60 Softcore Barbarian in Act 2 Inferno. I’ve easily put 200+ hours into this game and at this point I think I can give an updated opinion on the “end-game” of Diablo 3.

It doesn’t exist.

There is no end-game in Diablo 3. Inferno is supposed to be the end-game, but only the super rich (Who got rich via exploits) or pansies who ignore champion and elite packs, abuse game exploits, etc can complete the game. I wasn’t one of the people who got in on some of the exploits and amassed millions upon millions of gold in wealth to buy whatever I wanted without denting the wallet. I commend Blizzard for holing up the actual “exploits” in farming gold, but to repeatedly nerf things is a knee-jerk reaction to botters.

Smashing pots no longer yields gold, effectively making them worthless in game, why keep them? Magic Find no longer effects opening treasure chests, reducing the value of keeping strict MF gear. All to stop the “botters”. What about the legitimate people who were using these methods or WANTED to use them? The effect on the economy is staggering. Top end items cost tens of millions of gold and with the increased repair costs now, if you actually want to FARM gear for gold or HOPE you get a good roll, you’re eating into what you earn. So you can play it safe in Hell A3 and A4, hope you don’t die and pray you get decent item rolls and item levels.

Speaking of item levels. Why is Inferno Level 60 to start, but items as low as ilvl51 drop in Act 1? How does that help or encourage people to farm when 95% of the time you’re not getting ilvl60+, gear that has the potential to help you or be sold for some gold so you can further gear your character? “Get Good, Farm A2/A3/A4” I can already see a response like that. You CAN’T get good though. You need gear to do that and it’s an endless sink. I can farm A1 Inferno solo. I can run Sarkoth with 240% Gold Find. I shouldn’t have to struggle to progress to the so-called “end-game” or spend hours and hours just to have a chance to find a good item that can sell, or earn enough gold sans repair costs to spend 2-3 million gold on a marginal upgrade.

Blizzard has lost sight of what made Diablo 2 great. They took away the great things of Diablo 2 in favour of simplistic design. There’s nothing left to do at Level 60 but grind and grind and grind to MAYBE progress and beat Inferno and even if you do accomplish that, all that’s left is farming gear for marginal improvements. They don’t want you farming bosses over and over again, they want you to explore and fight everything you see, yet there’s no real reward for doing it. Make events worth something if you want us to explore. Nephalem Valor’s are essential for farming and you didn’t want to pigeon-hole yourselves with Diablo 2’s skill system, yet here we are sticking with the same build to farm gear because we’re penalized for swapping skills. (You lose your ENTIRE valor stack if you do).

There’s a new patch being rolled out as I write this. A reduction in “wear and tear” on items is helpful, but the repair costs are out of control, especially if you get caught in an elite pack that has a nasty affix combination. “Fixed several gold and levelling exploits”. JOY! Others were still earning insane amounts of gold further destroying the in game economy.

I’m done. I can no longer play a game that is this poorly developed, that’s this focused on real money monetization, that doesn’t listen to the players who played Diablo 2 for a decade, even up until the release of Diablo 3. You got my $60, but you’ll need to get your head out of your asses if you ever want to win me back. I’m going to install Diablo 2 and play a Diablo game that was done right. My beta test is over.