Quality of Play
 

I've been playing DII again for a few months. The last time I played, it wasn't just a simple little stint, I was fully addicted for a good 4 years or so. It was actually ridiculous, as I'm sure a lot of people can relate to. However, this time, I'm finding it similar, but very different. Similar in the fact that once I started, I felt like I was addicted again, however, only a few months later, I'm already starting to get bored... Maybe I'm just older now and have more important things to do in life, but whatever the reason, I'm already getting bored.

The only thing that is keeping me going is making new character builds. I've already made the following:

1. Zealot - Level 89
2. Lightning Sorc - Level 89
3. Smiter - Level 91
4. Strafe / Multi-zon - Level 88
5. WW Barb - Level 84
6. BS/CE Necro - Level 85

And now I'm making a Frenzy Barb, which should be fun. I've done the leveling thing, just doing constant Chaos and Baal runs, but that gets old, fast. Then I did the MF thing, which I'm still doing, and isn't that bad. Next I went on the Uber Trist kick (hence the Smiter). I'm still having fun with that, but it's just not very difficult anymore, so finding the keys is becoming annoying. I've only done 5 Uber runs so far, and I've found a Pally, Druid x 2, Barb, and Zon torch. I still want to get a Necro, another Pally, another Barb, and a bunch of Sorc torch's, so I have plenty to do on this aspect.

I haven't delved into the Dueling aspect yet, which will be my next kick. I'm holding off on that as long as I can, because once that gets old, the game is basically finished in my mind.

Anyone else seeing what I'm seeing? That the game just isn't as great as it appeared to be in the past? What else are you doing to keep having fun and not feel like you're constantly doing the same shit all the time?

When I got back into it a friend and I worked on created the ultimate PvE'r. My past seasons of Diablo 2 were built around dueling, another friend and I would create characters just to try and beat the others toon. We loves going into runs hostiling the entire game and running rabid on them. Dueling on Diablo 2 was very fun, and always exciting. PvE also got rather enjoyable my second time around, building up character's to hell rush, hell cow, and uber trist. The thing is that, I have seen that game WAY to much for it to really grab me in again.

Old game is old. That's really all that is going on here. It isn't Diablo itself because you know when Diablo 3 comes around everyone is going to go coo-coo for it. It's just an old game, thats all.

The only way I can play Diablo 2 and have fun now is by NOT doing this. This is exactly what got me bored of the game. Doing nothing but running Baal isn't playing the game. Glitch rushes aren't playing the game.

Here's what I do. Start a character, don't give it any gear, don't give it any help, and play through Normal, Nightmare, and Hell completely solo. Normal and Nightmare are pretty easy, but Hell is a challenge that will seriously challenge you no matter how good you are.

The beauty of this way of playing is that you actually enjoy the game itself. You HAVE to learn all of the little tricks that your character can perform, like using certain curses on the necro in certain ways, or killing immunes with a sorceress. You HAVE to do all of the quests that everyone thinks of as "tedious" (in comparison to running Baal 3652346 times, the quests are fun, really.) And the biggest beauty of playing this way is, when you DON'T have the best gear ever, even mediocre gear can get you excited. If you're looking for a way to make the game not boring again, try this, you'll agree I'm sure.


EDIT: Also, if you're looking for something "new", Hardcore can actually be pretty fun. I don't care for it much now, but I used to have a lot of fun playing Hardcore. You have to adjust how you play, otherwise you'll die. I've never had as many "oh shit" moments as I have when playing Hardcore. Hardcore can seriously get your adrenaline pumping. It's hard NOT to get excited when playing Hardcore.

EDIT2: Another thing I do sometimes for something "new" is go for something older. Try playing classic Diablo 2. You won't believe how much different it is. I don't really care for doing this now either, but it's pretty much a completely different game. Also, from time to time, I like to go back to Diablo 1, though I don't play that online (due to the fact that most of the quests are disabled on battle.net and only about 5 people play online anyway.) As with Diablo 2, I play this game completely solo without any help, getting through Normal, Nightmare, and Hell. It's quite a challenge as well, and a lot of fun. I'm actually doing it right now.

Well, that was how I had to start out. I made a Zealot, and just slowly but surely went through all the quests on my own. You're right, because when I finally found a Bloodletter, I was FUCKING PUMPED about it. Getting through Hell is next to impossible without decent gear though, which also sucked. That is when I made the Lightning Sorc, so I could do some MF and get the gear I needed to beat Hell with my Zealot. Now, I just have a bunch of good gear, and going through the monotony of playing the quests over and over, and slowly going through the game lost it's appeal. After doing it twice, by the third time around, I was annoyed with it and didn't feel like doing it anymore.

I like just joining random games, helping people with quests, giving some mid-level items away and bounce.

I still remember the first time I saw a Bloodletter. I was beside myself, it might as well of been the Thunderfury from World of Warcraft. I couldn't believe how godly that item was lol.