Diablo 3 - The Blog Initiative

So there's this new thing where Sweep gets people to participate more - blasphemous, I know. Well, I have not much to write about, apart from my avid love of Starcraft and my undying hunger to play Diablo 3. As I sit here watching Diablo 3 streams watching the same starting sequence start over and over again, I wonder to myself; is it really worth playing the beta?

I mean, seriously, if I watch people play the fucking campaign all day, won't I get bored? Won't they get bored, when the game gets released? What would happen if I got the beta tomorrow - would I chew through all and any content handed to me, and then replay it once I got the game? I know the game is all about repetition and gathering loot, but I kind of feel like I want my first experience to be polished and shiny, you know?

Diablo 2 was a game that I really, really enjoyed. I wasn't a hardcore ladder player or even someone that shifted into the modding scene once the game got stale - but I just played it a ton. I wasn't amazing at trading, or mf runs or PvP; I just enjoyed playing the game, doing cow runs over and over again. Is it weird now that I feel it's a ridiculous thing to do? To grind out repeated instances of a game just to get one item? It's a strange thing, my relationship with Diablo 3, and it only gets stranger.

When the Real Money Auction House (RMAH) got announced I immediately thought it was a great idea, I had the positive kneejerk reaction that thought that Diablo 2 was too rampant with it's item selling and uncensored trading system; it was anarchy! An initiative to take matters into their own hands, while not delving too deep into the system, was (and is) a brilliant move by Blizzard. However, it brought me back full circle when I started thinking about the loot I was grinding for while playing Diablo 2. What would the point even be if I could just pay 5.99 and get that item that I wanted? What would the point of even playing be if the achievement of grinding an instance over and over and over for a minuscule chance of getting a unique 6 socket Windforce Hydra Bow was immediately torn down by the cheap price of $2.99? Was my hours of hardwork only worth that much? Could I have 'eased' my pain and suffering by paying a fee and continuing on with the game?

It's all too confusing, and I sorely hope that I will enjoy the game for what it is - but right now I'm having a hard time figuring out what that actually is.