Remove the Party Experience Bonus!

[Occhidiangela]

1.  People are arguing that partying is good (which is an entirely subjective statement), and that partying was suppressed in classic, therefore, classic was not good.

2.  But who's to say whose preferred playing style is the best one?

3.  I think I've shown that there were several very clear advantages with the "egocentric" playing style that D2C favoured.

1. Classic had any number of strengths and problems that went well beyond partying, so the simple logic flow on point 1 is too limited in scope. In Diablo II, 1.06, Hell Diablo was quite defeatable with characters anywhere from 38-65 in clvl. Once into the 70's and 80's, there was no question that one was embarked on a ladder or XP chase, or the pursuit of a particular level, possibly for the purposes of duelling, or just "to have one of ____ level" Thus, once one entered into the leveling game, one was FORCED into being in game with ladder runners whose XP options were limited to Diablo in Hell in large games. LoD changed that, but then, it changed a great deal. Kill stealing is grief play.

2. We probably have to ask: best for what aim? If one's aim is ladder achievement, then to a certain extent, dog eat dog does fosters competition, and hunting ladder players in HC added something rather harsh to the game: a typical "I succeed by putting others down, not by my own achievement/progress." That is adding hate and discontent to the Realms.

3. The advantages were limited, IMHO, to the XP over time race. The problem with the way that Blizzard blended PvM and PvP in Diablo II is of course a subject that has been discussed ad nauseum.