[mention]Manny[/mention] Lol @ \"D2 Vagabond\". You’re funny.
So basically over my past 20 years of playing, my highest level was probably around 87-92. So I definitely have played and experienced end game, but it hasn’t really been the main thing I’ve chased. \"Home\" would probably be 1.10 since that was my childhood version, although over the past 10 years of experiencing 1.09b, I kinda considered 1.09b my home, but since I’ve been playing 1.05b for a few years now (although not end game), I’ve been really loving it even though it has its faults. In many ways I kinda been considering 1.05b my home now and kinda like it even more than 1.09b. Primarily because:
1. Item Scarcity
2. Low Drop Rates
3. All stats and skills are significant.
4. Mana is extremely valuable (low drop rates on mana - in addition to mana not being purchasable (same as in 1.09b in that sense).
5. No immunities
6. No level reqs on Uniques (like Diablo 1).
Even with all of the issues 1.05b has (leveling is slow, not just about the lack of players command - which Singling provides), it’s just slow to level. You can feel it even in your mid 20s. Leveling between 20-50 takes a good amount of work. My highest char was my level 64 IM/BG necro (
level 49 in this video), but you can see even with p8 and heavy exploitation of IM/BG, it takes a while lol. It’s kinda cool that it’s that hard and a simple/minimal design of the game - similar to d1, but sometimes it gets boring as well. It’s a mixed bag but I like it in a weird way. Although it’s a fact that the Blizzard North devs ran out of time when developing D2, which is why the 5th/4th act were swap, and why the 4th act is only 3 quests.. But with all of that said, they ended up with a beautiful balance where I call it a nice Diablo 1.5 <3. But anyways, these are some of the reasons that I recommended 1.05b / 1.09b / and 1.10 in Singling (let alone them being the most stable points of those eras). Maybe 1.05b is (or will be) my home and 1.09b/1.10 will be me going to the resort? There’s more goodies in 1.09b and 1.10 after all haha.
Regardless of stability, the knowledge and possibilities that exist in 1.00, 1.07, and 1.08 were also things that I’ve been interested in exploring (although I’ve eliminated 1.00 now since 1.05b covers all the things I cared about). Multiply the Classic vs Lod, Softcore vs Hardcore, and all of that, and things multiply. You can imagine me as having a home, but setting out into the world to learn the wonders that exist in the unknown, and either come back home having that knowledge and enjoy my time at home, or perhaps I would find a new home somewhere else. I’ve known for a while that ultimately 1.09b (Classic and Lod) is probably where I’ve landed, and I haven’t seriously returned to my childhood home of 1.10 since 2003 (there was a small period of time I shortly played with Succulent back when it was on 1.10). I’m definitely excited to settle down and enjoy the game on a few set of characters to the very late game, I think that time is very close, and it may be now as a matter of fact, only time will tell. I don’t think I would have been able to have the perspective I have on time traveling, Cactus, Singling, Succulent, the structure of this very forum as you mentioned, is all about experiencing the game at different stages in time from back when Blizzard North existed and was developing it. But I’m very happy to have gone on this journey for sure, it’s almost an experience that sits above playing Diablo II (or Diablo 1) itself. Diablo 1 & 2 are the vehicles used to achieve a higher level of enlightenment
.
