Diablo II claimed hundreds of hours of my life. I'll never get them back, but I had a great time losing them. Enjoy the oral history of one of the most enduring and popular action RPGs of all time.
Designer Erich Schaefer:
No regrets. It ruined a lot of lives, but it was worth it.
I'm wedded to the belief that a lot of Diablo II's magic is in its "aesthetic completeness." Every element—design, art, music, pace, tone—are polished to perfection and add up to a perfectly gloomy gothic world. Even its self-seriousness and irony levels are dialed-in just right, avoiding the inherent Hot Topic-ness that afflicts many similar things.
