In May of 2012, Blizzard Entertainment released the third installment to the Diablo series. The hype for this game from both players and advertisers was overwhelming; finally gamers could revisit the dungeon crawling gear grinding experience that Diablo II so masterfully presented, but now with superior graphics and a better game engine. Blizzard even went so far as to innovate the classic auction house system to include real money, enabling players to turn their play time into dollars. Unfortunately, to the surprise of the majority of the fan and player base, the initial release of Diablo III was an epic failure.

However, I am here to tell you that not all hope is lost! If you were one of the millions who purchased a copy of Diablo III at launch and were deterred from playing because of its poor content and design, or if you are part of the other millions who decided to pass on grabbing a copy because social media exploded with horrendous reviews, I am pleased to inform you that now is the time to return to Sanctuary and fall in love with the game that Diablo III should have been two years ago.

Diablo III, upon reaching patch version 2.0, has been revitalized in every facet of gameplay. One of the biggest problems with the original release of Diablo III was the lack of play style diversity. From the selection of attacks and skills, there was no reason to choose your preferred skill over the best skill because the best skill was significantly better. Every player was running around with the same skill builds since every other combination was inferior. This glaring flaw has been fixed in the current state of the game, allowing players to finally tailor their builds with attention to synergy and detail that was promised in the original release. Every ability is just as useful as its counterpart which promotes indefinite replay value through diverse build options.

One of Diablo III’s biggest selling points was the promise of brutally difficult endgame content. The trouble that followed was that while the challenge enticed hardcore gamers, there was little to no reward for throwing yourself endlessly at the ridiculously empowered enemies. This has been changed with not only a revamped difficulty system, but an appropriate level of reward for taking on the hardest bosses.

But you may be thinking, “How do fair rewards matter if the treasures I get are still useless for my play style?” Fortunately, this frequent problem has also been remedied. Players will now be significantly more likely to encounter loot that would benefit the character you are currently playing on. The odds of finding upgrades to your current equipment are astronomically higher than they were back during the original release which makes playing the game the only way to become better at it.

Some of you might remember the stir that the real-money auction house (RMAH) caused when Diablo III came out. Lucky players sold their rare finds for hundreds of dollars, while the unlucky and impatient put cash into the game to advance the strength of their character sooner. Unfortunately, this developed a “pay for power” mentality where players with real wealth could easily invest a few hundred dollars and tailor their character with the best gear possible.

Not only did the RMAH provide incentive to players to pay attention to the auction house more than actually play the game, but it killed the multiplayer aspect of the game. The point to playing with others is that you effectively get more chances at good treasure by having other players with you who are willing to trade their finds. With the RMAH active, there was no reason to play with others when you could get indefinite chances at good treasure by browsing the equipment posted by every player in the game at any time.

So did Blizzard fix the significant problem that is the RMAH? They did not fix it, but they have a set date for its entire removal! On March 18, both the RMAH and the gold auction house will be removed from the game which will spark a tremendous growth in online community when finally the only way to get the best gear is by playing the game.

There are countless other quality of life improvements in the current phase of Diablo III, such as increased legendary equipment drop rates, increased map random generation, more mini-dungeons, more side quests, new battle mechanics and refined equipment models. Legendary items can now be dyed, all chests are worth opening, gold has intrinsic value and the post-level cap leveling system “Paragon” has been completely overhauled, allowing players to even further customize their character’s stats.

Diablo III fell victim to something I call “Blizzard Syndrome,” where the initial game was more of a foundation for a good game than actually being a good game on its own. The original World of Warcraft and Diablo II shared the same fate, which is not to say the games were not innovative, but that they were not quality games until their first expansions came out. Diablo III is no exception, and with its expansion “Reaper of Souls” slated for March 25, it has finally matured into a game worth playing and will absolutely become the addictive dungeon crawler we looked to Blizzard Entertainment to deliver.