This! Exactly this. People asking for expansion/Diablo 4 are mostly asking for a "different game". I don't fully understand the agenda behind this. An expansion usually adds 1-2 new classes, one new act, a few new models and that kind of thing. Nothing of substance that necessarily changes the game. Let's look at the changes that improved D3 over time (some of them can be argued, but let's not get into that - there are always changes that some people like and others dislike):Quote from Kushisensei»
Well, I don't mind the way the game is now. Take a look at diablo 2: the game has been around for nearly 20 years and people are still playing it. Would i like new content? Sure. Do i demand new content? No. Everything that blizzard do is for a reason. So yeah, they shifted some of the D3 team to work on other projects in the company. Doesnt mean that the game is dead or what not...
- Loot 2.0 (patch 2.0.1)
- Removal of AH (shortly before RoS release)
- Greater Rifts, legendary gems, seasons (patch 2.1.0)
- Ancient items (2.1.2)
- Kanai's Cube, season journey (patch 2.3)
- Complete overhaul of all class sets to bring a lot of more balance; set dungeons (patch 2.4)
Almost none of the things that made Reaper of Souls great were actually part of the base package of RoS. The expansion brought us act 5 (an act that everyone stays the hell away from unless they need it for bounties), Malthael (a story line many players spent 2 hours on before never going back to campaign), a new class (balancing 5 classes is just more difficult than 6 classes, and besides Mannercookie there was never a streamer or famous player who "championed" the class as we see for other classes). The two things that RoS introduced that were definitely great were adventure mode and the Mystic, though the rather was just revived from early beta tests and not really "new". But all I'm saying is - good content patches can bring as much, if not more, to the game as a new expansion. However, a new expansion will also completely mess up all existing balancing - and with patch 2.4.1 Blizzard made huge steps towards a better balance in many aspects (solo vs. group, many class sets got closer together, XP doesn't seem to allow for people to reach 4k paragon at the end of the season, and so on).
I'm really looking forward to patch 2.5 and whatever is to follow. I think they might just alternate bigger patches (like 2.1 and 2.3) and smaller balancing patches (like 2.4.1, though obviously they were a bit too conservative with the wizard nerfs). The cube, all the new items in 2.4, set dungeons, and new areas like Greyhollow Island indicate (at least to me) that they've given up on expansion plans and are slowly releasing that stuff as small patches over the next 2-3 years. Because that's the time span until we hear about the new "unannounced Diablo project" for which they have jobs out - whatever it is, the jobs they're hiring are very basic (lead concept artists and stuff), so don't expect that game to be released before 2020. Diablo 3 was in development for 11 YEARS!
I agree with what OP said: the future of D3 is looking bright. The foundation for this game is awesome, and they're slowly, very slowly, addressing the problems. Michael just got world rank #1 for monks - with relatively low augments (77ish), solo play since paragon 900 or so, no clan, non-meta build (U6 instead of Inna's), and comparatively super low gems (3x ~90 IIRC). Just for everyone who's crying about "I need to play group and meta and 24/7 to be successful" - no, you don't, he proved it :-) Also, the XP changes on 71+ really seemed to have slowed down paragon gain as it's unlikely at this point that anyone will get to 3000+ as many people did last season, so when Wudijo reached rank 4 on the leaderboards with paragon 1200 or so last season you might even be able to get to the top with that with a bit of luck. So my main complaint for a long time (paragon) might finally be slowly be addressed more and more, due to XP nerfs, Caldessan's, and whatever there is to come. We'll see how they overhaul class sets for the next patch to turn things around one more time, and if there's a new feature waiting for us. And at the very least, I have a reason to play at least a little bit each season (journey, conquests, stash tab). Good enough for me! If I had the time, I'd probably also engage in the leaderboard race - from the looks of it it seems as if in S6 once again "semi-casuals" have a real chance, after the S5 banwaves.
If you compare the timeline of Diablo 3 now to Diablo 2 (summer of 2003) it certainly looks great. Remember, back then we had totally broken builds and overpowered skills, crazy amount of cheating and botting even in closed B.Net that was way ahead of anything we've seen even in the worst times of D3, and no endgame besides killing Baal 1300 times to advance from level 98 to 99. I think hunting another leaderboard record sounds better to me ;-)
My #1 item on the wishlist now is to bring back the "item hunt". Something to actively incentivize people to hunt for gear, and stop those silly no-boss runs. I'm not sure what that could be, it would also suck to have crazy RNG back like people not getting a Kridershot the entire season and therefore not being able to play their favorite build. I'm thinking of something like the high runes in D2, or super high-level rares or uniques which essentially would provide +1 skill level more or something like that. Not as game breaking as having (or not having) a Kridershot, but like a 10%-20% boost if you get that super rare thing. It'd be about one tier of GRs, not enough to stop casual players from playing, but enough for top level players to engage in the long-term hunt.
2
THUD got hacked and is now disabled? Source: i have read it on their forums - there is only 1 thread available there at the moment.
It will be interesting to see how the LB competitions progress now till the end of the season :).
Or if the players find a new "pizza"
.
EDIT: Actually it's their forums that got hacked and were completely deleted (no threads, manuals, tips, nothing, empty forum), but apparentely the owner and creator of the program decided to shut down the whole project and set the program to an impossible high version number, thus disabling it remotely.
1
Garfm made an YT videos, about the situation on the US solo leaderboards after the 2nd and the 3rd ban waves. If you didn't see them already, make sure to check them out, because they give us a rough number about how many top10 and top1000 players were actually banned.
Here are the links: 2nd Ban Wave and 3rd Ban Wave
.
Way to go Blizzard, keep it up!
1
That's why I said in the beginning of my post that this is my opinion and nothing more. I don't see a reason to try being objective, since I just want to express my, and only my, opinion
.
. If it's removed/reworked/capped or if it stays the same - I will still play and enjoy the game the way I feel like it 
. I hope everyone can do the same thing. If not - there is plenty of other games to choose from 
.
I don't mind the paragon system, it's not a problem for me
4
I understand the problem of paragon grind and why a lot of people hate the system and say it should be removed/reworked, but here I just want to give my opinion on the "problem". And yes, I voted the 2nd option, but before you judge me - please read my entire post and know - that's my opinion and that's all.
I consider myself a somewhat balanced player - I like balance in everything :).
I play the game about 2-3 hours/day on the weekdays (evenings) and that not every day. On the weekends some time I do like 12+ hours marathons, sometimes I play only 2-3 hours - so, I think I play more than a casual, but less than a hardcore player. Somewhere in the middle :D.
When I play - I don't always try to be as efficient as possible - I do whatever I feel like it and I don't care about my paragon level. On my support barb I was able to get in to 4player groups to farm Grifts 75, then 80 and so on and so on around para 700. And the para experience exploded. But even now - I don't log in and just spam the communities trying to find group for high GRifts (2 days ago I did GRift 100 in 4player and I am just para1k). When I login i just try to have fun and do whatever I want - and I must say - 50+% of the time that is NOT para grinding.
My point is: I really don't see the problem with the paragon system. If you don't wanna grind levels - then don't. Noone is forcing you.
If you are casual player playing 5hours per week - why would you ever need those para levels anyway - there is no chance to get on the LBs at the end of the season anyway. Just find a community/clan/irl friends to play with in GRifts 50-60 and have fun. Farm gear, try new stuff, try extraordinary builds, do achievements, just enjoy the game.
If you want to get on the LBs then you need to invest a bit more time than 5hours per week - but even then - I have seen plenty of ppl on the solo barb lbs with less than 1000 para levels and if you know your class and the current meta - para1k is almost nothing, achievable in about 100 play hours (or even less if you play with a bit of efficiency in mind).
If you want to get on the top of the leaderboards - then yes - you have to play as efficient as humanly possible, play 12+ hours per day, every day, and suddenly D3 becomes a job for you. But you want to get in the top shelf, right? Notice I said "play" and not "grind para levels", because you can also fish 12hours per day for this GG Rift and that will get you in top50 of the LB with para 1000 or even 1500 without problems at the end of the season.
But again: Noone is forcing you to grind para levels.
And people like Bluddshed and Rhykker (streamers, make sure to check them out and there have a lot of useful videos in Youtube as well, just search) are just another proof that paragon does not matter - you can be low paragon, but still release useful content and explore the depths of builds, playstyles and experiment with the new stuff.
I think people are just being greedy - they want everything and they don't want to sacrifice anything. That's not how it works. Blizzard are trying to satisfy the casuals, cuz they are the majority, right? That's why gearing is so easy nowadays, that's why you can start fresh and in 2-3-10 hours you are already TX capable. But then people whine about another end-game feature - the paragon system. "Remove it, rework it, I don't wanna grind those para levels, soooo boring, omg ggnore". Why? Just enjoy the journey, don't look at the end, don't be greedy trying to get it all with "just 5hours per week playtime".
Again, my point: There are different levels of playing and enjoying the game - just find your own level, stay, play and have fun there.
The paragon system is just 1 of those levels - you can choose to ignore it and just farm rifts, do achievements, chat with people, have fun with a new build, play some hardcore maybe. I don't see a reason why we can't exist in piece with the paragon system
- you grind if you want, you don't if you don't want to.
And @omfgkittens - if you want to play with your irl friends and they are 1500 para levels lower than you - than you should play on lower GRift, something suitable for their para level. And they should do the same for you if they are 1500 levels higher than you. The point is playing together, right? You are friends, right? The difficulty of the GRift shouldn't matter and same can be said for guess what - oh yes - the para levels.
And if they cap it at 1000 - but increase the experience you need for each level, like you suggested, then it will be exactly the same - casuals will stay around para100-150, ppl that play more than 5hours per week will get to 250 maybe, leaderboards will be consisted of players with para500+ and the top shelf will be consisted of players with para 700+. The difference between you and your friends will be again +/- 150 levels (instead of 1500).