Diablo II again

[Xanthippe]

I finally found my old D2 cd that I lost a few years ago.  Installed it and played it too.

A few questions.  Why the "M" rating?  It seems no more violent than Destroy All Humans (which has a T).  I don't see any, or remember any, reason why a ten year old couldn't play it.

Is there a way to play without using the mouse to move?  ADSW would be neat.  I hate mouseclick to move.

Is there a difference in loot or mob difficulty between single-player and online games?

Whatever happened to that rumor floating around a year or so ago about Diablo III?

I played the Titan Quest demo - wasn't at all impressed.  But D2 is still awesome 

[Tebonas]

Maybe the M rating is a sign that we all get desensitized over the years, even the people giving out ratings. Diablo 2 is 6 years old after all. But then I also remember corpses on crosses, signs of satanic rituals, and an overal hopeless and downcast setting, whereas Destroy all Humans has cute looking Aliens blasting humans with disintegrating rays, its over the top in tone and not easily be taken serious.

Not that I will ever understand ratings and how they come up with them.

[WindupAtheist]

M is for Motherfucking Awesome.  I need to pick up where I left off with D2, next time I have another lull in my UOness.  It's killkillkill, lootlootloot, ding, repeat in it's purest form, without any of that shitty MMO crap attached.

[Azazel]

It is rather good in that sense. Can you LAN it without having to go online? I can't remember and am too lazy to search.

[ahoythematey]

Pretty certain you can.  All the pre-WoW games had LAN as an option.

WUA's assessment is quite accurate, except that D2 does have some unsightly MMO trappings.  Pindleskin runs and the like are camping the spawn.

Oh, and the M is a fairly reasonable rating for the game.

[Azazel]

Something I always enjoyed about D2 was that every session of an hour or so you played, you'd always get an upgrade for something. I also quite enjoyed farming the bosses and such, though I never actually finished the expansion. Gaming ADD I guess...

[schild]

When you can save at pindleskin, reload and run to him in 6 minutes, it's very hard to compare to a raid spawn camp. I can do Pindleskin about 5 times in 30 minutes. How many times can you do a raid in say, a week?

[ahoythematey]

Fair point.  How many runs does it take to get a windfury, though?

[WindupAtheist]

I don't even know what Windfury is, and I've been playing D2 forever.  (Albeit offline.)  I just kill everything in front of me and seem to get good shit.  There are enough good items per level range that I'm always finding things I've never seen before.

[ahoythematey]

It's a different environment if you are trying to keep up with the PvP joneses like I tried.  During the bowazon days the "holy grail" weapon was windforce, although the buriza was debatedly better because of it's freezing ability.

edited: It seems WoW has infected my thinking in more ways than I'd like...supposed to be Windforce.

[Xanthippe]

Oh, and the M is a fairly reasonable rating for the game.

I don't know, it seems pretty tame to me compared to sucking out people's brains.  Plus, it's not a FPS.  And the toons are tiny.

[ahoythematey]

I suppose so, but if that M rating was followed more closely, battlenet wouldn't be such a toilet.

I'm guessing the M has more to do with the demonic imagery present throughout the whole game.  Good old puritanical bias FTW.

[WindupAtheist]

Why would you want to PVP in D2?  That's almost as crazy as those assholes who try to RP in it.  It's Diablo 2, and I use it for what it's good for:  kill/loot/ding/kill/loot/ding/kill/loot/ding/kill/loot/ding/okay enough of that for this month.

[Yegolev]

I think the M is for the Satan, also the blood.  Maybe the nipples.  Satan-nipples are right out.

Mmmm... Satan-nipples.

[murdoc]

Weird, I just reinstalled this the other day too. The wife was watching TV so I couldn't get on the 360 and decided that playing Diablo 2 over again would scratch that gaming itch I had.

[geldonyetich]

Could try something new and score a copy of Divine Divinity.  Sure, it's not the robot jesus Diablo 2 was/is, but it would broaden your tastes a bit.

[schild]

Divine Divinity kinda sucked. Kinda, as in, might as well play Diablo 2.

[ahoythematey]

PvP in D2 was genuinely fun for those that actually like pvp, or, I guess in other words, not you.

[Sky]

Divine Divinity was a good action rpg. Diablo 2 is spastic mouse-clicking for retards.

Just to, you know, balance schild and whatnot.

[El Gallo]

About once or twice a year, my brother and I get the urge to play D2.  We have fun a while, then think of wacky builds.  Wacky builds that need gear.  Which lures us to the pindle[/shenk/countess/meph]bots and d2jsp.  Which leads to game-destroyingly overpowered characters, which leads to boredom and account expiration.  Without fail.

Still, the game has an undeniable allure.  The cutscenes are also awesome.  Diablo v Tyreal as Marius frees Baal is the best passive 30 seconds in gaming.

[Xanthippe]

About once or twice a year, my brother and I get the urge to play D2.  We have fun a while, then think of wacky builds.  Wacky builds that need gear.  Which lures us to the pindle[/shenk/countess/meph]bots and d2jsp.  Which leads to game-destroyingly overpowered characters, which leads to boredom and account expiration.  Without fail.

See, I never played it that way.  I just played it straight, more or less.  I get annoyed when people want to run me thru levels just to level.  I don't want to just level.  I want to play the game.  I don't research builds or even really understand them that well, I just pick what looks fun.  Maybe that's why I can still play it without getting bored fast.

[Shrike]

I still break out D2: LoD about every couple of months. However, I do keep my 1.10 account active, so I have a number of toons always patiently waiting for another demonic beatdown. I do toy with the ladder from time to time and that means new characters.

I don't farm that much for stuff. I don't go into a new account or character looking to do anything specific. I have a generic do-everything-with-anything amazon build I usually start up with (classic big bow bowazon type). As she levels up and finds stuff, then I start to think about other builds. Titans equals a new javazon of some sort. A Witchwild String means a Witchyzon is on the menu, etc.

The best way to play is with a few friends either on realms or a locked open game. Just pick a night or two a week and have at it on a regular basis. As your characters develop, you tune them to work with each other. Keeps thing interesting and makes you think more about team tactics. This beats making just another speedazon variant designed to solo in 8 player hell games, since your average pickup battle.net group couldn't find its collective ass with both hands and a flashlight.

[El Gallo]

I/we played legitimately for a long time after launch.  And when we go back, we play through once untwinked.  Then we get the "how about a melee sorceress" bug and it's off to the races.

[Dren]

I've been playing D2 (+expansion) on my basement computer while working out.  Play a bit in between sets.  The game works with that approach.  Stop and start when I want, no fuss.  Good clicky get loot action that satisfies my base gaming needs.

I'm playing through again with a fully elemental druid.  I always went with the lycanthrop tree and didn't do well.  Man, this new toon wipes the MOB's up with raw power.  Fun.

Also, rune words for the win.

My next approach will be with a rogue using almost nothing but traps.  Gonna see how far I can get.

[Yegolev]

I think that's going to depend on what version you are running.  Memory hazy.

[Dren]

I'm running the latest that autopatches when you logon to the net.

The game is a lot more interesting and fun when it isn't taken very seriously.  I get about 20 minutes of playtime in an hour workout session, so it is really just making the time go quicker for me.  I try different things and get my random loot for an occasional, "Oh, that one's cool."

They should really make a good portable game like D2.  That would be a great platform for it.  It would be a nice diversion while waiting on other things.  The DS would be nice for having stats, inventory, etc. on one screen and the combat on the other.  The multiplayer portion would be a nobrainer too.

[Yegolev]

Maybe you should try one of the Castlevania games for DS?

[schild]

Good answer. Particularly the latest one. Loot. City. Good stuff.

[Nonentity]

Hm. How is the latest one, by the way (comparatively speaking)? I might pick it up today if it's a shining endorsement.

I liked the previous one on the DS (Dawn of Sorrow), but it was weird how I was making Handguns out of Demon Femurs and stuff.