Originally Posted by
Kezaren
Slaying demons and getting better gear was D2's endgame, but that isn't how you get upgrades in D3: The problem is that you don't kill monsters, you go to the AH. It's too efficient. You can quickly upgrade every slot every visit, and it takes all the fun out of the game because when you use it, you're not playing the game. What's worse is that you can't just ignore it. Ignoring the AH won't make its effect on the drop rates go away; that's the biggest problem. The item hunt is far less rewarding than D2 was. Each farming run takes longer now, and on top of that, the chance you'll get something good is relatively abysmal. That's why there's no endgame; there's no reward--no strong incentive to keep playing. I know there are tons of people who do, and you're probably one of them if you're on this forum, but obviously there's a lot of people out there who didn't find it compelling enough to keep going, or threads like these wouldn't exist.
Thankfully, the first thing they talked about when announcing Reaper of Souls is that they're going to make playing the game the most efficient and rewarding way to earn loot, not the AH (if that's even still going to be something you can use with expansion characters). They're also going to put in loot runs that are shorter, more randomized, and more rewarding. It sounds like they've figured out why D3 had no endgame, and they might actually give it one in the expansion. Things are really looking up, and I'm excited to get back into the game with the expansion and have it last me a long time this time.