Modding is infinitely easier (and cheaper) than creating a new arpg from scratch.
Just look at Crate Entertainment- they are working on Grim Dawn, and progress is moving at a snail's pace- and they're a team, AND they have the engine they're using already in place (game uses the same engine as Titan Quest)!
I think it's a stupid idea to tell Marco to "just make his own game", as it shows just how little you know about game design and development in any capacity.
Also, @marco, while freemium games are definitely against a player's best interest, the real issue here is that players continue to support this gaming model. If freemium models didn't work, development companies would abandon them in favor of something that did- survival of the fittest in economics. The problem is that there is no incentive from a financial perspective (which, let's face it, is the bottom line) to create games that use any sort of different development model. Hell, developers are purposely releasing buggy games- often claiming "early access"- just to have players do the bugtesting for them, for free... and what's absurd is players actually love it. In short, I don't think it's the industry, honestly- it's the players. We're supporting these types of unfair, stupid business models companies like EA have adopted, and it's only starting to become truly apparent how crazy it all is (recall the Skyrim "paid modding" fiasco from a while ago). Unfortunately it's only going to get worse before it gets any better.
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Also, to stay on topic, D3 is actually really great right now, for basically all the reasons iwansquall iterated. I love that I can play it with my girlfriend (Median is far too complex and unforgiving for her), I love that I can sit down for an hour and feel like I've made progress (be it with finishing a few rifts, gaining a few paragon levels, or getting some crafting recipes). While it's certainly too easy, there's a reason they added 10 Torment levels- I can farm reasonably well on Torment 4, I die somewhat regularly on Torment 5, and Torment 6 slooters my people. Kanai's Cube is super cool, and I love that D3 legendaries are finally at a place where many of them do feel unique (legendary affixes are really, really fun). Yes, it's imbalanced at high levels (twinking legendary gems to your level 1 guys, or eliminating the level requirement on your ancient legendaries), but it's FUN. Since there's no real multiplayer aspect anymore (no trading, no AH, instanced loot), it's okay to be a little imbalanced in the name of fun.
And that's what Blizzard has done exceedingly well recently- making games that are accessible and fun. Yes, HotS and D3 and WoW are simply "too easy", but it's hard to argue that they are fun to play (disclaimer: I don't play HotS or WoW). Anybody can jump into them immediately and feel rewarded without feeling penalized later for simply enjoying the game- a huge problem with D2. It's fine to fanboi over D2 (and moreso Median), but discrediting or dismissing games with "zzz too ez" just makes you appear immature and stupid.
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@rustmonster: while D3 doesn't let you "build your character however you want", what it does to is reward creativity. My girlfriend is using a few legendaries that synergize really well with the Wizard's Electrocute, along with a bunch of items that have CC modifiers (chance to stun, fear, freeze, etc on hit), and it's really awesome. Okay, you can't make a melee WD, or a melee Wizard, or a ranged Barbarian (and have any success with them, that is), because the game is set up mostly so you can't fuck things up. Sure, it limits player creativity in a somewhat serious way, I won't argue that, but Blizzard must've felt the benefit of not messing up characters outweighs the ability to have absurd, unique builds. To some extent, I agree with both you and Blizzard on this design aspect- I like "weird" builds (like many Median builds), but at the same time, it isn't fun to bork a character because you're unfamiliar with the game (something Median has largely solved with infinite respecs). Blizzard could've probably just implemented an infinite respec feature, but I think the whole idea of the game was simply to make it super accessible and console-friendly, so a lot of niche positive aspects were forgotten or removed (things like oskills, actual procs, skill levels, etc).