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[dimb]

Diablo 3 ends. WoW and LoL don't.

That's not how Diablo is supposed to work. The retention rate is awful in these graphs for a game that is supposed to have the longevity Diablo 3 should.

Diablo 3 has such an incredibly unsatisfying late game, and with the major patch overhauls in such a short time span it is clear to me that Blizzard released an unfinished project far before it was ready to ship.

Edit: Nevermind, just realized that the charts are extrapolated from extremely small player pools.

 

[Boombloxer]

Lots of people have done it, not just me. I beat it with a DH pre-nerf (but after Smokescreen nerf) without ever farming and I only used the AH to buy some cheap + move speed boots because they made kiting a lot easier. I had 16k DPS through Act 1 and most of Act 2, 22k DPS for Belial and Act 3, and 26k for Act 4. It was certainly challenging just like Inferno should be.

Not exactly.

Something like 1% of the player was at Inferno a month ago. Even being generous, and say 5%, still not a lot of people.

I have a Level 60 Wizard with 29k DPS, and honestly, Inferno is just boring. I stopped playing.

 

[marrec]

A graph showing an expected drop off of players after the release of a highly anticipated game?

Nintendo to buy Blizzard for sure.

 

[The Hermit]

I miss imune enemies and when element damage and resistence meant something.
Also DPS is the oversimplification of gameplay. What weapon is stronger? Just look at the big number!

You know something is very wrong when you character carries a weapon in his hand yet he never uses it.

DIII is the worst game I've bought on launch and the most dissapointing I've ever bought.
Patches can improve items and balance, but the very core is rotten.

I wonder if DIII will remain relevant as D2 after 10 years. 2 years from now I doubt a fraction of D2 long time players will still be playing this.

 

[rCIZZLE]

There's no doubt numbers are dropping. Look at people in public games and posts in threads... it's all going down. The game is definitely good just not as good as D2 or really even close. I guess that's what Blizzard gets for assigning it to a B team that's having trouble capturing what made the 2nd one the best in the genre.

 

[Kong Fisso]

All gamepad (or wsad movement) controlled Diablo clones sucked.

That control scheme is not universal and fast enough to mantain teleporting Wizard(D3)/Sorceress(D2) gameplay and attacks like Blizzard or most of DH skills.

Dark Alliance / Champions of Norrath worked great.

War in the North owns Diablo 3 gameplaywise. But it's more hack and slash and less click click click.

 

[marrec]

There's no doubt numbers are dropping. Look at people in public games and posts in threads... it's all going down. The game is definitely good just not as good as D2 or really even close. I guess that's what Blizzard gets for assigning it to a B team that's having trouble capturing what made the 2nd one the best in the genre.

Did you expect all 6 million people to be playing exclusively D3 for the next 10 years?

 

[Riggs]

I play on and off and should hit 60 soon (currently 57) and, to echo others in this thread, I'm pretty disappointed in the loot system so far. Since I've finished normal, I don't think I've found one piece of gear myself that my Wiz is currently using - everything has been purchased off the AH. I get that they want to keep good loot rare at 60 since gear turns into the treadmill at that point... but why would it hurt the game to get level appropriate gear as you level? Nothing annoyed me more than getting Act 4 Normal appropriate drops over and over as I progressed through Nightmare (and through Hell thus far). I'm not sure how long I'll be playing once I hit 60 if all my upgrades, or even a solid majority of them, keep coming from the AH. I play to get gear drops, not gold drops to spend on the AH - I don't find that very addicting.

You just summarized my biggest complaint with this game. Thank you.

 

[Perkel]

So much hyperbole in this thread

What ? I paid full price for game that has many problems from server side and gameplay.

Yes, game is good but it isn't anymore pure crack as D2 was.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

I've put about 110 hours into the game at this point but nowadays I mostly just sign on to check auctions every now and again. I still have the long term goal of beating inferno but I'm pretty much done with playing the game for more than a few hours a week. The endless farming aspect doesn't appeal to me much unless I'm playing with friends and most of my friends don't play D3 very often anymore.

 

[Maedhros]

People are leaving D3 to go to WoW? LOL.

What's good in WoW? I really can't understand, it's the most boring MMO I've played.

 

[Basileus777]

I wonder if DIII will remain relevant as D2 after 10 years.

We'll probably see a Diablo 4 before 10 years, D2's longevity isn't something likely to be matched.

 

[Cipherr]

What's Xfire and how accurate are these stats? Do they really represent reality? I don't doubt some people are leaving because they're fed up, but do we actually have conclusive facts to back it up?

It may not be as drastic as those charts indicate, but those of us playing have definitely noticed a drop. The in game player counter shows WAY less people playing public games these days even in prime time on the weekends.

There's a lot of people insisting the counter is 'wrong' or 'not accurate', but back when that counter was showing 20k+ noone was saying that..... now that its showing 2k though the excuses are rolling out. Truth is the game is losing a lot of its early players. The player count for public games and everyones day 1 accrued friends lists tells the story.

I feel like a lot of people expected the best loot handed to them on a plate and realized quickly that's not how Diablo and less specifically loot games work.

Im sure this was a part of it. You can see it in a lot of the discussions about the game. People had really unrealistic expectations for loot drops. "What!? I cleared Act 2 and didnt get an iLvL 63 drop thats an upgrade! OMGFIXTHEGAME"

But theres also other reasons, they have sort of mishandled a lot of stuff. Theres been a single positive change to the game, (Inferno smoothing of difficulty) compared to a billion massive nerfs and unpopular changes like 8x repair bill costs out of nowhere.

 

[rCIZZLE]

Did you expect all 6 million people to be playing exclusively D3 for the next 10 years?

Never said that or anything close to that. All I said is the population is dropping pretty damn fast. Faster than it should for a game like this had it lived up to the franchises full potential.

 

[Iadien]

Not surprising, the game is extremely easy until act 2 inferno, where a lot of people hit a wall. I've been stuck in act 2 for 3 weeks, and I can't get anywhere because of my gear. I beat act 1 inferno with 30k hp, 6k dps, 2.2k armor, and 200-300 resists. In act 2 inferno, I have 31k hp, 13k dps, 5.5k armor, and 600+ all resists. I'm stuck on a boss that I cannot kill fast enough because of my low DPS, but if I switch out items for better DPS I die quickly. I have done around 40 Butcher runs and have yet to find any item worth a damn to sell in the AH.

The game is no longer fun for me at this point, so I have been playing a lot less.

 

[glaurung]

We'll probably see a Diablo 4 before 10 years, D2's longevity isn't something likely to be matched.

Diablo III can be retooled a lot within the scope of an expansion.

Two new character classes and a new chapter would really benefit them.

Unfortunately, by the time they get the expansion out the door, the average player has forgotten D3 ever existed.

 

[marrec]

It may not be as drastic as those charts indicate, but those of us playing have definitely noticed a drop. The in game player counter shows WAY less people playing public games these days even in prime time on the weekends.

There's a lot of people insisting the counter is 'wrong' or 'not accurate', but back when that counter was showing 20k+ noone was saying that..... now that its showing 2k though the excuses are rolling out. Truth is the game is losing a lot of its early players. The player count for public games and everyones day 1 accrued friends lists tells the story.

The story it tells is pretty expected though, I'm not sure why anyone is shocked that a non-MMO has had a massive drop off in players.

Is there some number out there that would be an acceptable drop?

 

[Interfectum]

The auction house killed the game for me. Turned the game into a glorified shopping mall instead of the addictive casino D2 was.

 

[Jaxter09]

I'm already looking forward to Torchlight 2, only reason I keep playing D3 is so I might get a chance at a high value item I can sell on RMAH.

After I realised this, I stopped playing. D3 is like an elaborate slot machine.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Repair costs and crappy loot broke the camel's back for me.

Doing a mid section act 3 run (fields to siege breaker) resulted in even gold (I even had to sell instead of dismantling items). No upgrades nor ah-able items neither.

 

[Riggs]

The auction house killed the game for me. Turned the game into a glorified shopping mall instead of the addictive casino D2 was.

And another post that fully explains my problem w/ this game. There is no addictiveness to D3. And you really need that for a loot game. Farming for gold / other items to sell, so I can buy the items I need from the AH is just not fun for me. I want to get shit myself.

 

[commish]

The auction house killed the game for me. Turned the game into a glorified shopping mall instead of the addictive casino D2 was.

Yup, AH ruined the game. The thrill of finding items is pretty much taken away.

 

[Lord Phol]

Dark Alliance / Champions of Norrath worked great.

War in the North owns Diablo 3 gameplaywise. But it's more hack and slash and less click click click.

This. Never expected War in the North to last longer than Diablo 3, but I find myself going back to it quite often, while I can't even bother logging into Diablo 3 anymore.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Getting new loot was one of the big draws for the game. I haven't actually found an upgrade drop in weeks, all upgrades I've had to buy from the AH. The game is nothing more than farming gold. They fucked up one of the major carrots on a stick, doing the content and getting garbage I can't use? I got gear that is 20 levels below my current lvl, and yet that old piece of gear is better than what is dropping and is supposed to be 20 levels higher?

In D2 almost every time I played I would have a good chance of finding an up or at least something that I would hold onto for possibly using

 

[glaurung]

This. Never expected War in the North to last longer than Diablo 3, but I find myself going back to it quite often, while I can't even bother logging into Diablo 3 anymore.

Hey man we should get some co-op time in War in the North.

 

[taku]

As I just recently bought the game and am currently playing through it on normal with my brother, I just want to give my perspective on this whole circus..
The game is very atmospheric. I guess the story is so-so but the mood of the game is great and game play wise, it is very fun and has been a pleasant experience so far.

I am one of the people who think that Diablo III sans the Auction House would have been a much greater experience for everyone. That's why I try to survive on the loot that I find (rather than just buying everything, rendering loot moot), which makes the whole experience much more satisfying for me.

However, the game is not without it's faults. I can see the game getting very repetitive after a while and I'm sure this is a tough puzzle for Blizzard to solve. People tend to forget that this game is not a MMORPG though, and that getting "only" 20-40h of play out of a game is actually very good value.

I'm sure also as V_Arnold wrote in this thread, that Blizzard is looking at all of the response they are getting. I'm sure that they as well as you want people to keep playing the game and will therefore most likely work to improve the product.

 

[Neki]

Getting new loot was one of the big draws for the game. I haven't actually found an upgrade drop in weeks, all upgrades I've had to buy from the AH. The game is nothing more than farming gold. They fucked up one of the major carrots on a stick, doing the content and getting garbage I can't use? I got gear that is 20 levels below my current lvl, and yet that old piece of gear is better than what is dropping and is supposed to be 20 levels higher?

Assuming the AH didn't exist, what would change?

Nothing. The AH provides you the means to upgrade your equipment. If you lived in a world without the AH, any minor upgrade you found would be considered a good drop. Simply, the ignorance of you thinking good items did not exist outside of your game is the only reason you'd consider a crappy drop a good drop. Isn't that how it worked in Diablo 2?

 

[Iadien]

I haven't actually found an upgrade drop in weeks, all upgrades I've had to buy from the AH.

This is another huge issue. I was trying to avoid the AH, but at level 55 I had not found replacements for the majority of my gear, and some of my pieces were as low as level 20. They are definitely forcing people to use the AH.

 

[V_Arnold]

I have found several upgrades for myself, half of my gear is lv61-62 rares with good rolls that I have found for myself, and just a day ago, I have found a weapon that is worth 20+mills easily from a non-elite in Act2 - and it is a straight upgrade for me, as I am using it now.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Assuming the AH didn't exist, what would change?

Nothing. The AH provides you the means to upgrade your equipment. If you lived in a world without the AH, any minor upgrade you found would be considered a good drop. Simply, the ignorance of you thinking good items did not exist outside of your game is the only reason you'd consider a crappy drop a good drop. Isn't that how it worked in Diablo 2?

Not at all, the loot drop balance is completely off. The gear that drops for the content you are doing is pretty much useless against the level of content you do. You have to buy off the AH gear from higher levels to do your current content. Loot balance is off

 

[Cipherr]

Assuming the AH didn't exist, what would change?

Nothing. The AH provides you the means to upgrade your equipment. If you lived in a world without the AH, any minor upgrade you found would be considered a good drop. Simply, the ignorance of you thinking good items did not exist outside of your game is the only reason you'd consider a crappy drop a good drop. Isn't that how it worked in Diablo 2?

This is sort of proven by going to the older OT's for Diablo right around the time we all started to hit 60. Before all those awesome 200 mainstat items and whatnot were dropping. The items now that are considered mediocre to bad, were being screenshot and posted in the thread for how awesome they were.

But nowadays, you get your 70 dex 70 vit item and go to the AH and see some 200 dex 130 vit item and you are suddenly less satisfied with your item lol.

Not at all, the loot drop balance is completely off. The gear that drops for the content you are doing is pretty much useless against the level of content you do. You have to buy off the AH gear from higher levels to do your current content. Loot balance is off

This issue was fixed a week ago. Content appropriate gear now drops from the proper content you are farming.

Is it handed to you on a platter after 30 minutes? No. But you can and do find appropiate ilvl items now. You are talking about the system before they fixed it.

 

[LemonGremlin]

Yeah the Auction House killed it for me. They've balanced the loot drop rates around it which as a solo player has transformed a gambling game into a merchant or farming game. Beyond the secret level there's no new content to strive for either.

I'm 30, have a job and for short play sessions it just isn't tickling the reptilian brain like Diablo 2 did.

 

[Riggs]

Assuming the AH didn't exist, what would change?

Nothing. The AH provides you the means to upgrade your equipment. If you lived in a world without the AH, any minor upgrade you found would be considered a good drop. Simply, the ignorance of you thinking good items did not exist outside of your game is the only reason you'd consider a crappy drop a good drop. Isn't that how it worked in Diablo 2?

Did you even play Diablo 2? If the AH did not exist, drop rates would not have to suck like they do now. No one is asking to get legendary's every 5 minutes, but people like me have been farming for 2-3 weeks and literally getting nothing. There is some inherently fucked up about that.

I have over 200 hrs in this game, and mostly everything I have that is good has had to be bought from the AH. I do not like the AH, I do not enjoy selling, and I certainly would rather be earning my loot through the game then resorting to the AH. But it's 100% necessary, there is no doubt about it.

So to simply answer your question, without the AH obviously drop rates would be marginally or significantly increased to some degree on blizzards end. But whatever AH is not going away, nor is the RMAH. I already am finding new games to play. I just find it ironic and sad that a game based on loot, forces you to buy stuff from the AH instead of earning it yourself. It's the best feeling seeing shit drop and realizing it's an upgrade. I get no joy from buying uber shit out of the AH, there is nothing fun about that for me.

 

[Interfectum]

Assuming the AH didn't exist, what would change?

Nothing. The AH provides you the means to upgrade your equipment. If you lived in a world without the AH, any minor upgrade you found would be considered a good drop. Simply, the ignorance of you thinking good items did not exist outside of your game is the only reason you'd consider a crappy drop a good drop. Isn't that how it worked in Diablo 2?

No. D3 is tuned around you getting gear off the AH. You can't really play as if the AH doesn't exist... you would be doing yourself a major disservice and would honestly be "playing the game wrong."

Blizzard wants to get everyone to use the AH so there is a greater chance some of those people will dip into the RMAH.

 

[Danielsan]

I stopped playing at Hell. It's a loot game with shitty loot. I'd go for hours without finding something new for my character that was actually better than what I had.
And I know, AH this and AH that, but that wasn't the draw to game for me. I want to find cool loot myself, not bid on other people's drops on some makeshift Ebay.

 

[Label]

But theres also other reasons, they have sort of mishandled a lot of stuff. Theres been a single positive change to the game, (Inferno smoothing of difficulty) compared to a billion massive nerfs and unpopular changes like 8x repair bill costs out of nowhere.

This is what killed the game for me. Overnight my Monk went from 15k DPS to 9k DPS and then repair bills around 20k. I was using the DPS to keep me alive and with that drop in DPS I could barley survive most fights in act 2. Hell the flies still killed me with a full stream of stings.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

Shit drops, and rmah, really do not care anymore.

+++

 

[Cipherr]

Did you even play Diablo 2?

Did you? There were even longer droughts in Diablo 2. And people mainly got their loot by trading. Find a good item thats not for your class? Join the trade channel in D3 and sell it that way, or use the (very active) trade forum on the official message boards. Post 1.03 and the change to drop rates, you can play this game without the AH and still advance assuming you play the way most people played D2. Use the trade chat channel and the message boards and you can absolutely beat the game without using the AH. Especially with how easy Inferno is these days.

 

[Zia]

"Consumers are fed up." That's quite a leap. I think most of those that've moved on from Diablo have done just that -- you have the "hardcore" that've burnt themselves out, the more casual players that reached a progress wall and those that came from WoW and have already seen what they perceive as comparably very little content, and have since moved back to their main game.

So much manufactured outrage surrounding this game...

 

[Tacitus_]

Did you even play Diablo 2? If the AH did not exist, drop rates would not have to suck like they do now. No one is asking to get legendary's every 5 minutes, but people like me have been farming for 2-3 weeks and literally getting nothing. There is some inherently fucked up about that.

You must have either zero mf from gear or extremely shitty luck. I'm rolling around with 190mf (w/ NV at 5 stacks) and I 4-5 inventories worth of stuff per my ~1h loot run. I get at least one good-ish item per and loads of items that would've been good if the RNG had been a bit kinder.
With my MF, I get 2-3 rares off of almost every pack.

 

[marrec]

The loot will be tweaked, thankfully Blizzard is good at providing support for their games based on customer feedback. The AH didn't ruin the game for anyone, just the loot table.

Luckily my gameplay has been pretty narrow sighted in that I only play with my SO. We have been having a blast with it and will continue until 60 because we've built the expectations around the game we want to play. Still my GotY so far.

 

[glaurung]

My lv55 demon hunter barely keeps the gold reserves level with the repair costs now. With crap team mates, the repair costs far outweigh the gold earned.

But there is something fundamentally broken with item crafting too. The random attributes mean I rarely craft anything myself. Crafting is a pointless money sink if the gear I get is unusable or simply a poor downgrade from my lower-level equipment.

 

[Iadien]

Did you? There were even longer droughts in Diablo 2. And people got their loot by trading. Find a good item thats not for your class? Join the trade channel in D3 and sell it that way, or use the trade forum on the official message boards. Post 1.03 and the change to drop rates, you can play this game without the AH and still advance assuming you play the way most people played D2. Use the trade chat channel and the message boards and you can absolutely beat the game without using the AH. Especially with how easy Inferno is these days.

I only played D2 single player, and I was able to finish the game just fine. I didn't have to have the most amazing gear to advance in the game. I don't know how long I have been stuck in act 2 inferno, but I bet I've been stuck here more than twice as long as it took me to complete normal through act 1 inferno combined.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

The loot will be tweaked, thankfully Blizzard is good at providing support for their games based on customer feedback. The AH didn't ruin the game for anyone, just the loot table.

Luckily my gameplay has been pretty narrow sighted in that I only play with my SO. We have been having a blast with it and will continue until 60 because we've built the expectations around the game we want to play. Still my GotY so far.

The game pre-level 60 is a lot more fun than the end-game, I think. On Normal, Nightmare, and Hell you can still get some good drops for yourself and it's fun sharing loot with the people you're playing with. There is a much more genuine sense of progression. Once you hit 60 the entire game just becomes farm for gold in the same areas over and over to buy better gear on the AH.

To be clear, I still think hunting elites with friends can be fun, I just don't find it to be very addictive or compelling compared to what came before it.

 

[Riggs]

Did you? There were even longer droughts in Diablo 2. And people mainly got their loot by trading. Find a good item thats not for your class? Join the trade channel in D3 and sell it that way, or use the (very active) trade forum on the official message boards. Post 1.03 and the change to drop rates, you can play this game without the AH and still advance assuming you play the way most people played D2. Use the trade chat channel and the message boards and you can absolutely beat the game without using the AH. Especially with how easy Inferno is these days.

Yes I played D2, for an unhealthy amount of time. I never traded once, never used the forums. That is just how I liked the game, I enjoyed getting things myself. Zero desire to trade. Obviously Kripp was not known back then, but I did not care about being the best or trying to get item levels that someone like Kripp gets.

There is a very big difference between D2 and D3 in regards to trade. Trading in D2 was necessary if you wanted to get top tier runes, and items before runes became main currency. But you could still do the content if you played as I did, which was solo and no trades. It was 100% possible, I know because I did it for years ...

You must have either zero mf from gear or extremely shitty luck. I'm rolling around with 190mf (w/ NV at 5 stacks) and I 4-5 inventories worth of stuff per my ~1h loot run. I get at least one good-ish item per and loads of items that would've been good if the RNG had been a bit kinder.
With my MF, I get 2-3 rares off of almost every pack.

No my MF was 200% + at one time, yes I can farm goblins all day and chests but to me that is boring. I like playing the acts over and over, finding my own loot. I can't roll around with MF gear in Inferno obviously. I was for a time equipping all MF gear right before a boss dies, and sometimes that proved useful. Sometimes it did not, just depends.

Obviously I am not the only one seeing poor drops over long lengths of time man, read the 4 OT's. We are not bitching just for the sake of bitching. And if your running around with 190 MF is that with MF gear or main gear?

 

[Eiolon]

I am not surprised by these results. I played the open beta that one weekend and it immediately made me cancel my pre-order. Add the RMAH to the mix and there is no way I would touch the thing. The only thing I regret was not getting the game just so I could resell it on eBay (collector's edition).

 

[Cipherr]

I only played D2 single player, and I was able to finish the game just fine. I didn't have to have the most amazing gear to advance in the game. I don't know how long I have been stuck in act 2 inferno, but I bet I've been stuck here more than twice as long as it took me to complete normal through act 1 inferno combined.

Well. I mean you dont need the most amazing gear to beat Inferno anymore either. But assuming you want to play solo and not trade at all, the "Did you play D2" sort of loses its impact, because the vast vast vast vast vast vast vast vast majority of people who played D2 did so using trading of some sort. And that style of trading through D2jSP, Official forums and the Trade chat is just as viable in D3 as it was then.

In the case of Act 2 Inferno, youll definitely need to farm a lot of Act 1 before you can move past it if you are trying to play it as a 'no contact with the outside world' game. D3 is flat out not built around that the way the previous games were.

 

[Neki]

Did you even play Diablo 2? If the AH did not exist, drop rates would not have to suck like they do now. No one is asking to get legendary's every 5 minutes, but people like me have been farming for 2-3 weeks and literally getting nothing. There is some inherently fucked up about that.

I have over 200 hrs in this game, and mostly everything I have that is good has had to be bought from the AH. I do not like the AH, I do not enjoy selling, and I certainly would rather be earning my loot through the game then resorting to the AH. But it's 100% necessary, there is no doubt about it.

So to simply answer your question, without the AH obviously drop rates would be marginally or significantly increased to some degree on blizzards end. But whatever AH is not going away, nor is the RMAH. I already am finding new games to play. I just find it ironic and sad that a game based on loot, forces you to buy stuff from the AH instead of earning it yourself. It's the best feeling seeing shit drop and realizing it's an upgrade. I get no joy from buying uber shit out of the AH, there is nothing fun about that for me.

I hate this argument everyone brings up. People somehow think that because the AH exists, droprates must be shit to compensate. Where did Blizzard even state that? Blizzard explicitly stated that they had created drop rates ignoring the AH, because the AH would be impossible to test on a wide scale basis in beta. Blizzard just guessestimated that 6 million would play and put all their items on the AH, and adjusted accordingly? If only it were that simple. If you played without the AH, how would you determine that your droprate is shit? You only think it's shit because you go onto the AH and you see all this shit better than yours.

I'm sorry that your luck is bad, but if everyone had good luck, then all items would be worthless, and no such economy would exist. That is the nature of the game, sometimes you get hosed, and sometimes you get rich.

No. D3 is tuned around you getting gear off the AH. You can't really play as if the AH doesn't exist... you would be doing yourself a major disservice and would honestly be "playing the game wrong."

Blizzard wants to get everyone to use the AH so there is a greater chance some of those people will dip into the RMAH.

Can I please get a developer or a blue post telling me that the game was balanced around the AH?

anyone? If you tell me that I can't believe what a developer says, then why am I supposed to believe the consumer?

 

[Bisnic]

They should have never put a AH in this game. Real money or not. You dont play the game to hope for a drop from an elite or a boss, you play the game to farm enough gold to buy something on the AH. Then you have the ridiculous price of repairs. All the gold i picked up during my Inferno Act I run is wasted on repairs.

I'll probably start playing WoW again and just lvl a new character instead of continuing with D3.

 

[Riggs]

Well. I mean you dont need the most amazing gear to beat Inferno anymore either. But assuming you want to play solo and not trade at all, the "Did you play D2" sort of loses its impact, because the vast vast vast vast vast vast vast vast majority of people who played D2 did so using trading of some sort. And that style of trading through D2jSP, Official forums and the Trade chat is just as viable in D3 as it was then.

In the case of Act 2 Inferno, youll definitely need to farm a lot of Act 1 before you can move past it if you are trying to play it as a 'no contact with the outside world' game. D3 is flat out not built around that the way the previous games were.

Exactly the problem a lot of people are coming to terms with, one person being me. I expected an enhanced D2. Obviously this game is very different.