Power leveling and acquiring good loot are the core functions of Diablo. On reddit, a user compares the grind for loot in Diablo 4 to a full-time job, which a predecessor in the series did better.
On Reddit, user ameekpalsingh writes on February 10 in his post about his experiences with loot in Diablo 2 and Diablo 4. In it, he expresses his frustration that the older Diablo and its Resurrected version are so much more fun than the latest installment.
Basically, ameekpalsingh compares the loot output of Diablo to slot machines from casinos: To get the loot, you have to pull the lever of the machine. It then dispenses a random amount of rewards.
Ameekpalsingh’s annoyance: Diablo 4 forces its players to go through unnecessarily many additional steps before they can get loot. In Diablo 2, this would happen much faster and easier – here, the desired dopamine hit would come quicker.
“Diablo 4 is a full-time job – but not one that is fun”
Why does he compare Diablo 4 to a full-time job? Ameekpalsingh has played Diablo 2 Resurrected a lot. Accordingly, he understands the system behind it very well: You fight, defeat bosses, and are promptly and reliably rewarded with exciting loot.
In contrast, Diablo 4 reminds him of the same mechanics but as a full-time job, “but not the kind of job that is fun” – because of the many additional steps. The reason for this, he suspects, is that Blizzard’s main target group is content creators who see Diablo 4 as work.
Anyone who wants more than just the better items really has to invest substantial time because: Loot does not drop automatically in the best possible version and has to be thoroughly checked.
For more on this and how the system works, you can read here:
People are too nostalgic
How does the community react? The top comment on the thread picks up the high praise for Diablo 2. In fact, most commentators believe that the loot system in that game wasn’t so great after all:
- MonsutaReipu:
I played Diablo 2 as a kid and teenager for over 5000 hours and I think people are too nostalgic and romanticize too much. It had no endgame, it was very poorly balanced, and there were only a handful of viable builds you could use if you really wanted to engage with the endgame. And in the end, that was just, “farm as efficiently as possible” […].
- westcoastcanes:
Yes, sometimes I read these posts and feel that the authors have never truly played Diablo 2. Or at least they’ve forgotten the reality from 15 years ago. […]
- lantiir:
[…] I spent thousands of hours in Diablo 2 as a kid and now as an older kid thousands of hours in Diablo 2 Resurrected and think Diablo 2/Diablo 2 Resurrected provides much more gameplay time than Diablo 4 at the moment. […]
The user made a text adjustment to his post and added:
I largely agree with everything that has been said. However, it still takes more work to clean the floor and do 10 jumping jacks before you can even spin the slot machine. Before you had easy/quick access to the slot machine. […]
I have played D2R very often. I have upgraded all my characters. The game is simply much better when it comes to getting that “dopamine” hit from an exciting drop.
The timing of the text adjustment is unfortunately not known, but presumably ameekpalsingh adjusted his post due to the feedback from the community.
Commentator 9dius, on the other hand, points out that Blizzard is not after player fun, but their time. Many agree with him. User Heatinmyharbl recalls the days of Diablo 3: I have seen so many posts like this in the Diablo 3 sub 12 years ago. Time is a flat circle.
How do you feel about the loot system in Diablo 4? Do you think it’s good or are you more disappointed? Feel free to leave your opinion in the comments.
While many players seem not particularly happy about the current state of the game, at least one player still does not feel bored after 1,000 hours: “Not boring after 1,000 hours” – player explains why he is still enjoying Diablo 4 and others are not
