Loot drops are frequently far more useful than they ever were in experience of the PC version.” The big change now, then, is that with the release of Reaper of Souls, Blizzard have backtracked and removed the auction house from the PC version, implementing ‘Loot 2.0′ in a free patch, fundamentally changing the game for all players – in my opinion, for the better.

Taken from our review at the time, we noted that “ the controversial auction house is nowhere to be seen here, and as a result the loot metagame feels a lot fairer – much more like it did in Diablo 2, in fact. The release of the console versions in Sepetember last year saw the introduction of a system dubbed ‘Loot 2.0′. This led to an extremely unsatisfying end-game, and players left the game in droves.

It became clear that Blizzard wanted players to be ushered in to the auction house for their gear – leading to a nice tasty profit on each transaction for Acti-Blizzard. From personal experience, the amount of awesome loot drops that fell for me in my first 100-150 hours of playing the base game could be counted on one hand. As time went on though, the community became vociferous in its criticism of the auction house for one simple reason – it broke the core experience of the Diablo series – the bashing of beasties and gathering of mighty loot (which honestly sounds like a brilliant name for a band). The introduction of both the virtual currency and real money auction houses also left plenty perturbed, although I personally approached this as a nice idea and way for me to sell on any loot that wasn’t useful to me. From the initial launch problems, to the (still-present) always-online requirement, players had plenty to complain about. Fortunately, in the case of Reaper of Souls, this appears to be exactly what Blizzard have done.Īnyone with even a passing interest in Diablo 3‘s history will be aware that this is a game that has already built up a significant bundle of ill-will from players. Of course, every now and then, if the majority of people are screaming from the rooftops that your stubbon adherence to your plan is naff, it may be wise to peek your head above the parapet and take a sense check. Remaining true to your original vision may lose the support of some, but will inevitably lead to admiration and accolade from those that recognised your pure, unadulterated intentions. In the majority of cases, it’s best to forge your own path, make your own decisions and live with the consequences for better or for worse. There are many times in life where it’s best not to listen to the opinion of the crowd.

Diablo 2 reaper of souls