Torchlight 1 was somewhat lackluster and repetitive, and had a plot as strong as, "Hey two people I don't know. Oh no, one of you turned bad! The other one and I should pal around now. That Alric guy's a dick! And so is that giant monster I've only heard of!" for how utterly long that game is, that is the utmost of story development that occurs, and I hope the same writers aren't on for Torchlight 2. The gameplay for is was really sluggish and clunky I thought, and from what I've seen of Torchlight 2, not much has changed in that aspect. It had a few new innovations, but it was Diablo II, with a ridiculous interface and a dumb pet that was constantly dying and a man with a strange accent constantly letting me know so. Torchlight 2 should have more money to fulfill a bit more of their true potential, so I'll probably end up trying it, but there's not a single question in my mind that I'm going to play the crap out of Diablo 3.
People always try to speculate about Blizzard games, and put up all these arguments against game mechanics that, at first, seem sketchy. And every time, Blizzard shows they actually know what they're doing in game design far better than those who play it. The AH with real money system: who cares? If somebody wants to spend money, let them. Battle.net isn't cheap to maintain, and if you want updates, you need some sort of revenue coming in. Killing of the gear pirating online where people who hack into accounts and whatnot and making profit from it seems like a damn good idea to me. It's going to occur either way. It may as well pay for the server costs. Besides, I'm not playing with those dildos online. I have a group of buddies I'm going to play pretty exclusively with, so while Blizzard's getting paid by farmers, I'll be enjoying the smooth servers. Private games will be allowed, you don't have to go to the RMAH at all. You don't have to deal with people who've spent hundreds of dollars on RMAH at all. And frankly, even without all that, I absolutely despise other Blizzard gamers, so I wouldn't associate with them anyway.
And skill trees aren't a flawless system. I have no problems whatsoever with them finding alternate avenues of approach. Every game has them now as though it's expected of them, even if they're completely sloppy in execution. Runes, gear, craftable items, companions that don't suck, equipment for them, etc. etc. etc... there's plenty of customization. I will not miss the skill tree.
I look at gameplay trailers for Torchlight 2, and I'm wondering when something's going to happen. I look at gameplay trailers for D3, and I pop a nerd boner. Blizzard hasn't failed me once ever since I can remember; I won't bail on them now. Pre-purchased limited edition and all.
