What to do if MOTIVATION fades?

Hi to all of you brave Sanctuary inhabitants,

since the RotW release, which soaked me up into D2R once again after its release almost 4 years ago, I came to the point where I don't really know what to anymore.

I play a Lightning Sorc in softcore/non-ladder, I am Lvl. 90, almost maxed. out (not GG Gear but very close to) and slicing through hordes of mops like its nothing, farming keys, essences, TZ's, doing Boss and Uber runs and all that kind of stuff, but recently every of those activities seem to motivate me less and less the more i continue playing the game.

I started making a new char, a Javazon, but barely played Act 1 normal, and allready lost motivation.

I dont wanna cry about how incapable I am to motivate myself to play a video game, its more like I realy really WANT to keep on playing because I love the game so much, so I desperatly want to find a reason/inspiration that ignites my motivation of playing the game again.

Is it because of non-ladder softcore is, at some point, not realy a challange anymore?

And may switchin' over to ladder or even hardcore be an option?

Did anyone of you aslo came to this point and if yes what did you do?



Thank you very much!

That has happened to all of us.

Me and my good friend, fellow Diablo 2 player, decided to kidnap each others families. Then we both decide number between 1 and 1000.

Now everytime one of us gets a item worth high rune or more we get to make a guess. If we guess correct number we get to have our family back unharmed.

Been working like a charm!

So far i have guessed correctly three times but rather than demanding a safe return for My family ive requested My mate to pick another number.

Think about your motivation for playing d2r.
Here's a video that might help you: youtube.com/watch?v=aLl0-_KDJ5g

I lost my intrinsic motivation for d2r a long time ago, and it only rarely pops up, like recently with the new Warlock class.

My long-term extrinsic motivation is to complete the chronicle

Flipchart wrote: 8 hours ago

Hi to all of you brave Sanctuary inhabitants,

since the RotW release, which soaked me up into D2R once again after its release almost 4 years ago, I came to the point where I don't really know what to anymore.

I play a Lightning Sorc in softcore/non-ladder, I am Lvl. 90, almost maxed. out (not GG Gear but very close to) and slicing through hordes of mops like its nothing, farming keys, essences, TZ's, doing Boss and Uber runs and all that kind of stuff, but recently every of those activities seem to motivate me less and less the more i continue playing the game.

I started making a new char, a Javazon, but barely played Act 1 normal, and allready lost motivation.

I dont wanna cry about how incapable I am to motivate myself to play a video game, its more like I realy really WANT to keep on playing because I love the game so much, so I desperatly want to find a reason/inspiration that ignites my motivation of playing the game again.

Is it because of non-ladder softcore is, at some point, not realy a challange anymore?

And may switchin' over to ladder or even hardcore be an option?

Did anyone of you aslo came to this point and if yes what did you do?



Thank you very much!

Maybe you can try to play some different light sorc or hybird light+cold...

find some different build, it may not stronger than light sorc. but it can be fun. i.e.

Frost Nova as side skill, different lightning as main?

I play only during ladders and in online. Why? every time ladder begins, its a fresh start with new dreams to crush. Once ive geared up my character, what ever it may be, to somewhat good situation: I begin to help others, as in giving free items, rushing and helping xp etc.
Got to remember its pixels and enjoy the little things.

Keep in mind that D2 is still a game. So first and foremost, it should be fun and entertaining and as a result implicitly "self-motivating". If you're not playing because you want to but because you feel you should or have to, something's definitely wrong there.

So with that, there are generally two main options:
(1) Take a break. Could be a short break. Could be a medium length break. Could also be an extended, indefinite break. I've done that repeatedly over the decades for varying amounts of time. There most certainly is such a thing as too much (even of a good thing) and the best fix to that is simply to have less for a while. And sometimes a lot less or even none for a (long) while.

(2) Find things within the game that are more fun to you and restore your enjoyment and by extension your motivation. What that is for you, noone but you can answer but some ideas..
- Start a different class/different build for more variety
- Move to ladder to have a fresh start
- Start playing hardcore for more of a challenge
- Find goals to shoot for (get full BIS, cap all stackables to 99, finish the chronicle, ...)
- Find some new self-imposed challenges and activities to pursue in the game (speed-running, naked clears, ...)
- Spend (more of) your time helping others with rushes and the like
- Find builds that should not work and figure out a way to make them
And so on...
The options are quite varied. Which, if any, work as motivation and fun for you though, only you can say.

Flipchart wrote: 8 hours ago

more like I realy really WANT to keep on playing because I love the game so much, so I desperatly want to find a reason/inspiration that ignites my motivation of playing the game again.

I, too, love the game, but it didn't stopped me from taking a 2 year long break, during which I only came back for 22 Nights of

Terror event. I'll admit that there was a bit of a FOMO - what about all the high runes and items that I could've got if I kept playing? Maybe by now I would've leveled my sorc to 99, finished the Grail and got that damn

Zod rune?

However in the end, because of all of these thoughts, playing felt more like a chore. Like the guys above said, you shouldn't feel like you have to play.

The straw that broke the camel's back was dying in hardcore with my lvl 77 pally So I quit - but after I came back, it was like I never left, even though it took me a while.

sewcioj wrote: 7 hours ago

[..] but after I came back, it was like I never left [..]

I honestly think that's a huge part of why D2 still has such a loyal following after all this time, beyond just the quality of the game itself.

Tons of people end up taking an extended break at some point. And for countless games, that means that by the time you come back, you have 1, 2, 3 or more expansions to catch up on and are looking at a completely different game from the one you left, along with all of your prior gear (and in some cases leveling) having been turned into essentially useless trash. In many cases, that just makes a return quite "overwhelming" and ultimately unappealing, extending the initial break to infinity. That's how WoW and GW died for me for example.

D2 on the other hand, yes, we got some more items added since D2:R launched and TZs and even a new class and such now but even with that, the core game hasn't really changed, the old gear is just as valid as ever, your level is no less than it was in the past and so on so you can be gone for however long you want and when you do feel like coming back, you can pick up right where you left off and feel right at home again.
That's a massive bonus and one I truly hope they preserve if Blizz really does plan on adding more things still.

Well, tbh I allready took a long break, almost 4 years, I last played Diablo 2 shortly after the Resurrection release, played a

Lightning Fury Javazon and a Tesladin, now, almost 4 years later with the RotW dlc, I played the lightning Sorc, and, yeah, I'm done, I made it through, smashed everything (not the chronicles but I dont give much attention to it), and I somehow refuse to admit that's it for now allready.

Have Griffon, Rainbow Facet, Enigma, War Travelers,

Arachnid Mesh, Spirit

Monarch (good roll), Skillers, HOTO, 2 SoJ's, good Torch, good Anni, you name it.

Such a short but intense ride, and now I put it aside for another 2 - 3 years, man, that kinda sucks.

But yeah, maybe I try ladder or hardcore, and yes I am with you, playing should be self motivated, not something I feel I "must" do because I love the game so much.

At the same time, i do not want to end it so quickly. Game is to good for that.



But thanks so much for all the input so far <3

Flipchart wrote: 8 hours ago

Did anyone of you aslo came to this point and if yes what did you do?

Read a book instead:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four

It is now over 70 years old but is highly relevant again.

ceving wrote: 5 hours ago

Flipchart wrote: 8 hours ago

Did anyone of you aslo came to this point and if yes what did you do?

Read a book instead:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four

It is now over 70 years old but is highly relevant again.

Well, believe it or not, but my sister gave the Dark Tower Series by Stephen King to me as a present for Christmas, and man, I am completely lost into that since then, allready at part VI and half way through. It's brilliant!

Honestly, when you're feeling burnt out or frustrated with something you're doing for fun, the best advice is to just take a break. There really is no reason to push yourself into continuing to do something that's supposed to give you satisfaction and relaxation. At some point, you'll just quit/take a forced break out of frustration. Worst thing you can do if you want to keep enjoying something is to put pressure on yourself.

I take breaks. If I don't feel like playing then I don't. Burnout is no joke. Play other games or do other hobbies and come back when you feel like it and absence makes the heart grow fonder as the old saying goes.

I've taken many breaks from D2 over the years, but it always draws me back. Not many games can do that.

Try out some challenge runs of various types. That can bring renewed interest.

like gamble only gear
crafted only gear
uniques only
pirate run (only gear looted from chests)
punch only run (if you're a masochist)
and so on.

Curiosity has been my main driver for D2. I've been trading away recently in order to put together a build that nobody seems to be talking about, just to find out why nobody is talking about it. I achieved what I was looking for - brought the alt to endgame and 90%ish in terms of optimization. It's very solidly in between B and A tiers... I was so happy to find out that the build I was imagining up was aggressively average!

Now that that particular fit of curiosity has been fulfilled, I'm at a point where my brain is very "eh" about D2. I think I'd like to try other unusual builds with the Warlock, though. The RotW expansion has been blessed for me in that there are so many new things to be curious about.

Sit outside in the sun

To OP, sounds like u need a therapy session

We all have this feeling. My advice, take a break from d2r, do something else. Life isnt all about d2r and videogames…