Diablo III is for real

[the Langolier]

Much of the game design in Diablo I that people are speaking so highly about was based on the limited technology of the time. The claustrophobic atmosphere, grid dungeon layout, etc. were all choices made to maximize the limits of the tech of that day. As technology advances you have two choices, either you evolve your game design to maximize the new technology or you keep using the old game design and just layer it over new tech. One of these choices will lead to failure in time.

The first thing that comes to my mind when thinking about limited of technology are items. D1 has far fewer items than D2. Quite honestly though I think this is unintentionally one of it's strengths over D2. The ratio of useful items to total possible items is much greater than it is in D2 and so it feels as if there is a larger item pool. Because of the fewer item types and affix combinations available, it was easier in D1 to actually improve your items. Yet somehow the really good items still took some effort and time to collect and the best of items remained sufficiently rare. How far do you get in D2 before you stop bothering to even pick up blue items? How often to you actually find a specific item (say... gloves) that are actually better than what you have, or if technically better, actually makes a difference? How many items from Act 5 in normal mode do you still wear in Act 5 nightmare?

A gird-like layout is definitely a thing of the past, but it did allow for clear cut distinctions between element dimensions. That information really helped players to judge what was in melee range, exactly how effective a choke point was (since they know how many monsters can fit around them), and just where to stand so incoming missiles will be blocked. With some experience, there was no guessing. Those are all important things to know when trying to play strategically. Unfortunately "more advanced" graphics including the 3D stuff really muddles it all. I can't think of all the times I've played D2 and been amazed at how some of the things were hitting me from their position, or exactly why spells weren't shooting through the doorway, hitting the wall ("I'm aiming straight at the door wtf"). I don't know how to compromise between the two.