Are we all clinically insane?

I mean, how is this game so special that we are all still this vested in a game that flag-shipped in 1996? I would bet that the majority of us are in our 40s and 50s and are still playing the game like we're in our 20s. Either way, I've been called worse lol

I'll have to say though, this community on d2io has a lot to do with how much fun the game is now. It's drivel in the grand scheme of things, yes, but I really enjoy escaping here with the rest of you lunatics lol

i still enjoy warcraft 2 tides of darkness
just what i grew up on, diablo and warcraft along with all the elite console titles of the 90s

wouldnt have it any other way

I play Starcraft 2 too

I think D2 came out late in '99, but either way, it's just a timeless game and we're lucky to be alive at the same time as it!

justinman114 wrote: 4 hours ago

I think D2 came out late in '99, but either way, it's just a timeless game and we're lucky to be alive at the same time as it!

OG D1 was released in 96 because it almost got me ejected from college in 97 lol

Rhaegar86 wrote: 4 hours ago

justinman114 wrote: 4 hours ago

I think D2 came out late in '99, but either way, it's just a timeless game and we're lucky to be alive at the same time as it!

OG D1 was released in 96 because it almost got me ejected from college in 97 lol

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Oh yeah for sure D1 was 96-97, I was such a youngin'. D1 started it all and I still hold that game dear, but it didn't age nearly as well IMO. That said I will still fire it up from time to time for the nostalgia. Blizzard really made some sick games back then.

One word: nostalgia (and hell of game mechanics). It is like going back to the 90s/2000s - the best years of my "youth"

I definitely have delusions about the game - I suspect everyone here is similar...

There are lucky runs, where drop rate is higher - youll get drop after drop... but that only happens when you dont have time.

The game knows what youre farming for, and deliberately does not drop it. When you change objectives, ta-daaa! That thing you were farming last week? Here, have one - its on the house.

You have an irrational fear of missing out the drop as monsters die off-screen, so sometimes you backtrack just to make sure.

You have fun little rituals, you have a favorite kind of environmental object that you always go and click - either its an old log, the hung

Skeleton, or its the jars from act 2 or whatever - you do this because 10 or 20 years ago youve got a good rune from one, or a good ring. Now you cant stop, and shill it to people online.


Totally normal behavior.

more like colloquially insane...

the staying power of d2 is remarkable.
the only other franchise lasting 10+ years was halo.

Haha, I'm sure there is some medical explanation as well. What the game does really well is create that feeling of expectation and reward.
That the next run is going to be "the" run. And the incomparable feeling when an unexpected item drops before your feet or when a roll turns out to be in your favor. My guess is dopamines in your brain are kinda peaking when playing D2R, which is the reason we're still playing it.
If you look at it objectively, this would be one hell of a boring game without those brain-chemicals working.

NomadMoon wrote: 3 hours ago

Haha, I'm sure there is some medical explanation as well. What the game does really well is create that feeling of expectation and reward.
That the next run is going to be "the" run. And the incomparable feeling when an unexpected item drops before your feet or when a roll turns out to be in your favor. My guess is dopamines in your brain are kinda peaking when playing D2R, which is the reason we're still playing it.
If you look at it objectively, this would be one hell of a boring game without those brain-chemicals working.

Exactly this. For example, last night I was shutting it down and was like "just one more run at Andy to see if I can grab one of the 2 missing statues to complete one of my sets" and this happens....she drops both statues that I needed to complete another full set. It's down right creepy sometimes

We're old gambling addicts. Doing countess runs over and over with a fast tp sorc for an hour is just a slot machine with some added skill.

According to Chris Wilson (PoE founder) it is the player needing to optimise around fixed frame limits/breakpoints that make Diablo 2's progression mechanics so engaging.

krathkor wrote: 3 hours ago

the only other franchise lasting 10+ years was halo.

And WoW.

Rhaegar86 wrote: 4 hours ago

justinman114 wrote: 4 hours ago

I think D2 came out late in '99, but either way, it's just a timeless game and we're lucky to be alive at the same time as it!

OG D1 was released in 96 because it almost got me ejected from college in 97 lol

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I’m intrigued at how D1 almost got you ejected. Do tell please.

Atomicharmony24 wrote: 1 hour ago

Rhaegar86 wrote: 4 hours ago

justinman114 wrote: 4 hours ago

I think D2 came out late in '99, but either way, it's just a timeless game and we're lucky to be alive at the same time as it!

OG D1 was released in 96 because it almost got me ejected from college in 97 lol

image.png

I’m intrigued at how D1 almost got you ejected. Do tell please.

I was more interested in playing D1 than going to class which made my GPA suffer. I got a warning through being put on academic probation for a quarter. Back then, 2 consecutive quarters below the GPA threshold resulted in suspension

Hot take:
If you took every game developed before ~2005, made them run reliably on today's hardware and updated nothing but sound and graphics quality to meet modern standards, the number of games released post-2005 that would still be played and considered worth a damn would drop to so few that you could probably count them on one hand.

Sure, the "back then" games (and their remakes where there is one) have some bugs. And sure, they've got some "inconveniences" to them. But in terms of raw game design and actual entertainment factor, the vast majority of them blew most things you get today out of the water.

Literally the only reason I don't play significantly more olden games than just D2 and ditch nigh all of this new stuff is that I can't handle going back to those graphics. Well or because they simply don't work on a modern PC.

Schnorki wrote: 1 hour ago

Hot take:
If you took every game developed before ~2005, made them run reliably on today's hardware and updated nothing but sound and graphics quality to meet modern standards, the number of games released post-2005 that would still be played and considered worth a damn would drop to so few that you could probably count them on one hand.

For me the only games which come close to this era are "Skyrim" (with a "few" modifications ) and "Horizon Zero Dawn"

LOL I remember Beta testing D1 after getting a hard disk of the 3 level demo from a gaming magazine I had subscribe to... was in my late 20s then. Have played every series including IV pretty hard - hate to even estimate the number of hours spent... maybe insane