Diablo was still enjoyable without the best stuff. And they never forced you to pay for anything to progress. Diablo III made it even easier to get all the set

Diablo was still enjoyable without the best stuff. And they never forced you to pay for anything to progress. Diablo III made it even easier to get all the set gear (I have several sets on Switch and I only play casually) and it became about designing builds around gear that could survive the highest torment difficulties. Other games like Borderlands with similar item systems also don't rely on the player getting the absolute best gear to progress either. These pay-to-play games on the other hand, force you to hand over cash to progress and the fun often stops if you try to play for free.