I think it's more difficulty versus rewards. There's really only 4 distinct ways to look at this.
1) Easy game that yields no direct rewards
2) Very difficult game that yields no direct rewards
3) Easy game that yields direct rewards
4) Very difficult game that yields direct rewards
1 being the least rewarding experience, 4 being the most rewarding. Unforunately, as I explained in my earlier post, loot just doesn't exist or have any chance of existing aside from the AH for the majority of players. Diablo 2 was a 3, Diablo 3 started off as a 2 and has progressed to a 1. This is a terrible state of the game.
It looks like they are implementing changes to put it back to a 3. The problem is that most of us want a 4.