A friend of mine is making a competing game, Path of Exile.
According to some, it's more of a D2 sequel in spirit than D3 is. Darker setting, more emphasis on skill and action play, etc.
The goal when making PoE was to create a game where the item economy was really strong. There is no gold in PoE. Instead you have currency items (see http://www.pathofexile.com/news/dev-diary/).
All of the shops are horrible for trade, offering tiny amounts for even great items. If you really want something good, you have to trade for it directly with other players or find it yourself.
It is a far more addictive game than either D2 or D3 because a greater range of interesting, random things happen.
PoE also has some great mechanics, for instance flasks (health / mana) are items that last for a long time - they use charges when you drink them and recharge as you fight. They can be magical and unique.
Also, the skill tree offers a far greater range of choice.
I noticed - awesome. Definitely plan to pick up a copy next week. After reading through the site and the forums, it really does sound like a great game and the graphics are beautiful too. I especially like how they replaced gold with currency items that actually have value and the dev diary post[1] about the logic behind doing so shows that they've carefully thought it through. I think this game has a real chance to being what Diablo 2 fans (myself included) have been waiting for! Now to finish a ton of work so I have time to play...
According to some, it's more of a D2 sequel in spirit than D3 is. Darker setting, more emphasis on skill and action play, etc.
The goal when making PoE was to create a game where the item economy was really strong. There is no gold in PoE. Instead you have currency items (see http://www.pathofexile.com/news/dev-diary/).
All of the shops are horrible for trade, offering tiny amounts for even great items. If you really want something good, you have to trade for it directly with other players or find it yourself.
It is a far more addictive game than either D2 or D3 because a greater range of interesting, random things happen.
PoE also has some great mechanics, for instance flasks (health / mana) are items that last for a long time - they use charges when you drink them and recharge as you fight. They can be magical and unique.
Also, the skill tree offers a far greater range of choice.
Definitely worth checking out.