> Diablo 3 has no real reward loop – there is only a frustration loop, which can be temporarily alleviated by using the Auction House.
This is completely wrong, there is a very powerful reward loop. Whenever you find an item that you can sell at the auction house - that's a reward. It's arguably as good as it is in Diablo 2.
I think the real reason why Diablo 3 is less addictive than Diablo 2 is simply because the folks who played Diablo 2 are now 12 years older. There's something about getting older that makes you less prone to being addicted to games.
I disagree with the reward loop you perceive, as #1 Finding loot that you sell doesn't directly increase your avatar strength. Case in point? Find an axe, equip it and now you're plowing through enemies with greater ease. Feels good. Find an axe, POST it on the AH and walk away. The loop doesn't include detached events.
Someone's mentioned 12 years old or 12 years older now several times. I'm sorry but this simply does not apply. Diablo 2 is so incredibly popular NOT because people played it back then and are returning now, but because of the SHEER mass of people that continued to play it for 5+ years. So even by the norm of sales you're looking at people merely 5-6 years away, not including that some of the most vocal people STILL PLAY IT.
I was playing through the last two ladder resets, one of them just a few weeks prior to D3 launch.
The biggest problems aren't caught by people who have nostalgia goggles on, they're caught by the people who still played it regularly (off and on over the years.
plus you gotta go price matching on AH before selling, all this takes 5-10min which is utterly annoying, specially that the item browser ain't the best.
Finding drops for the AH isn't as powerful a reward loop (at least pre-inferno) because whether you get a reward or not is at the whim of other players, and because your reward (or failure) is delayed by up to 48 hours. This may be different in the end-game (I didn't get addicted enough to get there) but during levelling it is quite weak.
I think there's definitely something to your second point though. Are we less prone to addiction, or more likely to recognise it and choose to break the loop?
This is completely wrong, there is a very powerful reward loop. Whenever you find an item that you can sell at the auction house - that's a reward. It's arguably as good as it is in Diablo 2.
I think the real reason why Diablo 3 is less addictive than Diablo 2 is simply because the folks who played Diablo 2 are now 12 years older. There's something about getting older that makes you less prone to being addicted to games.