For the rest of us this makes Diablo IV Gold more difficult to play.

There was a time when we were here, or somewhere like it. When Diablo 3 launched in 2012, it had a real-money auction house where players could purchase and sell their item drops. In theory, this existed to head off the fraud and cheating that plagued trade during Diablo 2. However, in order to direct players toward the auction house, Blizzard decreased the rate at which loot drops were made in the game to an level that the process of equipping your character's character turned into a boring grind, and the game as a whole felt unrewarding to play. The auction house that was a snobbery was eliminated and drop rates were increased in 2014 Diablo 3 instantly became more fun, even before the innovations of The Reaper of Souls expansion elevated the game to legendary status.

A lesson to learn: While it may appear sensible to try to monetize Diablo's loot. However when you do you're taking all the fun out of the game. This is the same for Diablo Immortal, and it's obvious before you hit the endgame, because it's baked deep into the game design. Loot drops aren't as impactful while character progression is artificially limited and dispersed across multiple systemsthat are hard and difficult to play. It's been more cleverly concealed than it was during the time of the release of Diablo 3, but it's also a tedious grind. Buying a battle pass or spending big on legendary crests barely helps in the sense that paying for an awesome item drop will never be as thrilling as simply getting one.

I'm not sure if there is a way to separate the fundamental elements that make Diablo fun from the mechanics of free-to play commercialization. If there such a thing, Blizzard and NetEase have not yet found the answer. They've created a mobile version of Diablo that is slick fun, entertaining, and even very generous initially. If you're able to spend enough time with it there's no doubt that the heart of the game has been ripped out, chopped up, and then sold to you in pieces.

Diablo Immortal isn't nearly as bad as a free-to-play Diablo could have been. The game is constantly slamming you in the moment with a multitude of microtransactions that come in all kinds of difficult to understand currencies. It is necessary to grind to achieve victory especially if you decide to not spend money on the game. And your reward for all this is a flabbier replicating cheap Diablo 4 Gold II's plot.