I played the free trial up until the Skeleton King, like the subgenre...

[Ferocity]

Oh, blah, yes, I even meant to point out that you can only undo the last 3 points you put into skills in TL2. AND it costs money to do so. So yeah, that kinda sucks.

And yes, noting the new paragon levels is a good idea, too, I haven't played much since they added that, and completely forgot about it.

Skill and stat points are make and break it in TL II. D3 has enormous amount of hand-holding here: stats are allocated automatically, and skill system is pretty dull. You can slightly improve skills with runes (which slightly improve effect of skill), by choosing one of 4-6 runes per skill, but most of those are boring and unimaginative. In example, Wizard's Magic Missile has only 1 cool rune choice - Seeking. And if rune happens to be interesting and drastically changing gameplay, it becomes subject to nerf in hotfix or patch.

In TL II, each skill has 15 levels and 3 tiers. Each skill level is "quantity" upgrade (skill's effect is increased), each skill tier is "quality" upgrade (skill gets additional effect/bonus). Respeccing in TL2 is tricky part, you will be able to easily reallocate only 3 last skill points, but it makes choice even moreso important and requires careful preplanning of character's build if want to do all high level challenges.

About D3. When you reach lv60, the only somewhat efficient way to move anywhere, is to get 5 Nephalem Valor stacks. It is special buff you get after killing 5 elite packs of mobs, and each time you relog/switch act, dc or whatever - you lose stacks. Those stacks give big bonuses to gold find, magic find and paragon exp, it is pointless to farm anything without those 5 stacks. It means you need minimum time to invest in gaming session, and you must grind those 5 stacks each time. It is fun only the first time, then it turns into tedium, with feeling of wasting time when you are running around without 5 stacks, and then locking you into grinding entire act in a single session for maximum output. You need to grind each time only to be able to start grinding, and if you go to make dinner or something like that - server will kick you for inactivity and you will have to start grind all over again.

Torchlight II - single player mode: your progress is saved each time you exit game. Each time you resume game, you will start from exactly same point where you were last time. Multiplayer mode: adds option to reroll world (applicable to single player too) or join game in progress of someone else. In comparison to D3, in D3 each time you relog or dc - all your exploration progress is lost forever and maps reset, even in single player mode. However, people have problems with Steam version of TL II due to Steam's notorious cloud-saving, if you will buy TL2 directly from Runic, you won't have any problems with that.

[Kelimbror]

I'm very happy this thread didn't delve into the horrible territory it could have. People have a lot of valid points about why Diablo is a good game, but the advice has been very fair.

In regards to the amount of content each game has, Torchlight 2 will be supported by the steam workshop. This means that if you can dream it, you can build it in the game. This means new classes, potions for respec(which are already on the way), and just about anything. My main selling point was the initial price, regardless of content or differences of each game, but I will go further and say that the content available for TL2 is potentially endless for no extra cost.

That means it is a much better choice as an intro into the genre, hands down. If that style of game is appealing, then like I said...check out Diablo 3 at that time. It has a darker tone and different aesthetic, and the gameplay has a slightly different feel to it.

[Zogarth]

I would try out Torchlight 2 first, and if you enjoy this, also get D3. They are both good games, but i personally prefer TL2 (No AH) and you can play it offline (I like to play this kind of game when i am off on holiday or stuff like that without proper internet).

[Daverid]

All i can say is, I loved the beta but hated the actual game.

It just got extremely repetitive (Which is odd I didn't like that because I can raid the same wow raid for months straight), the classes never got any more interesting then they were in Beta, Talents were boring, and the story was just generally 'Meh' all round.

Everyone is different and I have nothing against people that enjoy D3, my personal opinion is just that is was a terribly designed and poor game in general. The only real Positives I give it is the; Art Style, Voice Overs, Music and those Classic INCREDIBLE Blizzard quality Cinematics.

[timtim89]

I played it got my guy to 60 then stoped after I couldnt do anything in inferno, Really is no endgame and way to easy to hit the level cap and also no PvP which has pretty much turned me off the game. But just my 2 cents

[slime]

Definitly worth the $60. I played through Inferno mode - I think I got stuck on act3 or 4, because i didn't make it there intime to abuse the DH spam healing tether shot - whatever the fuck that was and had to do it normally. I have logged in since then only to download the major patch where they copied rif... I mean added a new leveling system after you are done leveling - but i didn't play it after that. But, even stopping where I stopped I found the game quite enjoyable and well worth the $60. Just don't see this as some sort of mmo - something you will get 1 million hours of gametime from. Then again, I am sure there are people out there that will get 1 million game time hours in because this is their kind of game.

tldr: most won't play forever, but w/o a doubt worth $60 bucks.

[Deleted]

Is it worth the $60?

No.

$10 or $20, sure, but definitely not worth $60

[Deleted]

I didn't even make it to 60 before I got bored. It's all fun whacking your way through mobs when they die in 2-3 hits, you feel really powerful but as soon as you ramp up the difficulty it takes longer and longer to kill things. I don't know, not a big fan.

I loved D2 but D3 is somehow not as fun for me.

[DeadpoolRisen]

Since you're asking for opinions...here's mine.

I've been playing since release, and I still play daily. I don't touch the AH, except to sell, and I haven't even set up anything for the RMAH, so anyone who tells you that it's "required" is up in the night. I may not have incredible gear, but I'm farming Act 3 Inferno, so I'm in pretty decent shape.

It's not a game for everyone, but it provides an appropriate carrot for me to chase. My wife has a similar opinion...she doesn't play quite as much as I do, since she doesn't have as much free time, and I make the mistake of continuing to introduce her to new games, which then distracts her for a bit (Magic on the iPad was a HUGE mistake to show her...) but she keeps coming back.

Is it worth the sticker price? I'd say if you like the hack and slash, ARPG style game...absolutely. I'd be happy to go more into depth if you want, but I'll try to avoid wall of texting you right off the bat here.

[Locruid]

The DRM for D3 killed it for me. I dont mind being online (Wow player for 7+ yrs) but I shouldnt be required to be online just to play single player.

TL2 is amazing and everything the Diablo series used to be

[Maester]

If you're looking for a cheaper game that is of the same genre and that some people say is better than Diablo 3, try Torchlight 2. There's a free demo you can download on their website, and the full game is only $19.99.

As for whether or not Diablo 3 is worth the $60, I would say yes because I like the fact that it's an online, persistent world, has an auction house, and I really like the graphics.

[skycaptain]

you can always buy it online in a site like g2play. you don't get the box, but you can buy it cheaper

[expectwar]

I just bought Diablo 3 on Friday and i'm having a blast! Witch Doctor for the win!

[Draknalor186]

i think its worth it, was that kind of game i had been looking for for a while, played it for a 300 hours then went back too wow =P

[melodramocracy]

Tough call... the long and short of it is... does acquiring new gear drive you to wade through rather repetitive gameplay? If the answer is yes, this is the game for you.

[PBitt]

Looking back....I feel I got my 60 dollars worth (even excluding the money I made from RMAH). As others have pointed out, if you are mainly interested in story and the like...don't, it won't take that long to beat it and you'll be seeing the same story many times. Granted I didn't really play the first two installments and I've never played the genre before so it was kind of a new experience for me. The game kept my interest for well over 100 hours and I was able to work my way up to defeating Diablo Inferno before I pretty much grew tired of the same old thing. Still, that's a lot of hours and I personally don't regret them. It's not the best game ever, still probably my least favorite of the Blizzard franchises, but it's really not a bad game at all.

It seems like a love it or hate it thing. Really hard to tell if you are going to like it before you try it. I stopped playing months ago now but I played the shit out of it and will probably pick it up again in the future.

[Gsara]

You will be much happier going with TL2. While D3 is ok and it is getting a little better in some aspects, TL2 is just a much better game overall. This is all my opinion of course.

[Yrrildur]

The OP says he only played 2 games of this genre and a lot of you are going into details like RMAH, which OP probably does not give a rats ass about. The most important thing to realize is that Diablo 3 is hack and slash. Leveling from 1 to 60 is mostly rampaging through demons and other filth that flood the world. Once you hit 60, you can do inferno difficulty which is a lot harder than Hell act 4. This is something a lot of people do not like. I suggest that once you get there, you should get a few defensive items and you should be able to move on, though on a slower pace.

Some say you get dull and boring skill, which I think is not true. The problem is that the 'leet' guys always find an 'optimal spec' and everyone else copies that, because they think it's best. My advice to the OP and everyone else is, don't pick the spec that works best, but choose skills you like. Maybe you will kill stuff less effectively, but especially if you play with other people it does not matter that much. Ofcourse you have to create a balance between offense and defense.

Blizzards goal is to make all skills equally appealing, so each class will not have 2 or 3 specs, but more like 10. So if you enjoyed the beta, I think you will definately enjoy the full game as well. Whether it's worth 60 bucks depends on the money you currently have to spend on games. As others have said before, you'll easily get >30 hours from it.

[Cairhiin]

I got D3 with WoW's promotion, thus I could experience it all myself (and I have best provider in my country). I would never spend money to buy D3. And now when Torchlight II is out, most people found it pretty obvious that D3 can't be compared to TL2 in what concerns ARPG. I already got way more from TL2 for 20$, than I got from D3 for 60$ (and I finished D3 Inferno).

No offense and while TL2 is an excellent game, the fluidity of combat of D3 is miles ahead of TL2 which at times is really rather clunky. The pot spamming is also a really outdated concept, and there are thing in TL2 missing that were even in D2: like right click moving and automatically using your skill when in range of an enemy which makes playing a melee class very very clunky. Having said that I play both games, and both for different reasons. The OP should do the same.

[Orangetai420]

I know this isn't the greatest place to say this, and it is not meant to start a flame war (since I play Diablo 3), but I would check out Torchlight 2 on steam instead. If you are trying to get into the genre, it's only $20 which is a much safer investment.

Just give it a look. If you like it, then maybe you can shell out some more money for Diablo in the future.

Agreed, and this will give Diablo some time to sort their shit out.