Quote:Look at the list of changes, and count how many of them required that someone make changes in the underlying program code. There are quite a few, but most of them are at a system level (video changes etc). Compare that to the list of changes that are simply adjustments in the mpq files. Those are changes that any experienced modder could make.
Adjusting balance and adding new content requires a different skill set than trying to plug exploits. I think if it was easy to fix such exploits, they would do it. But a game this old... I'm glad they are still doing anything for it.
I love the removal of Iron Maiden. If I play again, that is enough to finally move me into hardcore beyond dabbling.
While I do agree with what your saying in regards to it being a 10-year old game, you'd think Blizzards continued maintenance of Battle.net, not to mention their TOS about using hacks on their restricted realms, kind of go hand-in-hand with fixing game-breaking exploits. What kind of message are they [Blizzard] sending by not fixing an exploit that allows you to kill any player anywhere any time [TPPK]? Where you aware that there are roughly 3-5 Nightmare and Hell games up at any time in hardcore, and if you join any of these games, you will most likely be killed by a TPPK'er within minutes? You simply cannot advance past Normal difficulty in public games in Diablo 2 anymore! If you ask me, you can't get much more game-breaking than this.
By neglecting to address game-breaking issues directly relating to play on Battle.net, this speaks volumes about Blizzards stance on the Battle.net service. If they continue to offer Battle.net free of charge, they inherit the responsibility to make sure their games are playable on Battle.net, else they might as well cancel battle.net and discontinue support for a game completely when it has aged past it's prime (to be determined by sales). By keeping Battle.net free for all players as part of Diablo, Star Craft, and War Craft, I expect Blizzard to maintain the game to standards that are playable - i.e. fix game-breaking exploits. They recently made a patch for War Craft 3 (a 7-year old game) to fix a game-breaking exploit, and I applaud them for that.
[RANT]
On a personal note, I could care less about any new "content", skill changes, or anything else they have planned for Diablo because I just enjoy playing the game, however I want to be able to play the game... The fact that I cannot advance past Normal difficulty in public games without being TPPK'd or drop-hacked on Battle.net is... negligent. Fixing these types of exploits should have and always should be their top priority![/RANT]
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin