The Sigma MXL version was my first playing this mod. As such i am a newbie at this itteration of D2.
I simply love it. Classic D2lod and PoD lost my attention due to having been played “vanilla” for over 10 years. This felt and still feels fresh, different yet familiar.
For me, some mechanics are weird, but enjoyable:
1) the walk/run mechanic doesnt bother me at all. D2 runspeed is walkspeed here, so thats fine imho.
2) grinding: i dont mind at this point. This is a bias, as i am new, and still enjoy picking up Uniques/sets and trying stuff out. I find gear for a different class, giving me the inscentive to go play and mess around with that class. Now for the veterans here, i can believe this gets boring, as “you have seen it all”.
3) uber level design: having to do one uber to get to the next is enjoyable on one side (zomg im making progress POG) and frustrating on the other (lol corpseruns!!!!)
But in general, i like the design of most Pre-125 ubers and Some 125’s. I also like the uldy path build-up, some of the void bosses and the maze for the visjery set. That being said: i agree that purify sucks. The uldy fight, laz, void, zorun tsin, witch, and the visjery set itself can all go suck it. Also, hard hitting mobs that you cant hit back (im talking about you, freaking zombie scum) are just bad design imho.
4) crafting/ssu sssu farming: again, im new, so im not biased towards previous mechanics. I like the way it is now. Ok, builds tend to be evolve to specific BIS items, but what aRPG doesnt have this? D3 is trying to move away from this, but people Will ALLWAYS find BIS builds and gear. I think this is inherent to these type of games. Can improvements still be Made? Yes of course, time Will tell and i have full faith in the dev team.
5) build diversity, skill use and tweaking: i like to mess around. I try out most things, so diversity is no problem for me. I starter to min/max my 3 endgame builds just recently, and then i can agree that a lot of skills become pointless. But this is more of a veteran-pet peeve, as more experienced players Will automatically go minmax and never use the “non-effitient” skills. Same point as with gear.
Conclusion, its hard to keep a game refreshing and innovative in all stages and for all people. But i think a good job is being done!!!
My two cents! Newbie out
Ps: Edit: for those bitching about P8 on SP being removed: there have been multiple threads about TCP-IP co-op for SP, and i have been doing this for the past few weeks now. I get a half lvl Or more of exp per dunc run on 120 -125 with 6 players in a game on SP. Same goes for fautz/bremm runs at 130-140! This is without exp gear on. I currently dont see any inscentive to grind to 150, but hopefully that Will change in the near future