[robbinsr]

instead of gearing up through farming, they eliminate the "slot machine" appeal of the game by making the only way to gear up through the auction house.

Really? Just don't use the auction house, and farm for fun if that's your thing... This is a major complaint I see all the time about D3, but it doesn't make any sense.

[dominicmauro]

Yeah. People seem to mistake "Auction House exists" with "Must cash out kids' college savings to buy new sword."

[smarsh]

Due to the higher friction of trading items in Diablo 2 as compared to that of D3 (auction house) there's an assumption that the drop rate of quality items in Diablo 2 was higher than in D3. Further, in D3 the items are a lot more liquid due to the ease of exchanging on the auction house and so there's a feeling of instead focusing solely on collecting gold and then choosing an item on the auction house rather than enjoying "slot machine" mechanics.

http://www.alexc.me/a-scientific-explanation-why-diablo-3-is...