@razorsharp: it's included because it's what the post is asking for. true that it's not a deep rpg like baldur's gate or fallout, etc. d2 was never advertised to be such a game iirc. it's an action rpg in its barest form. you get to choose what character to play, right? you get to level up and distribute attribute pts.& pick skills, right?
it doesn't mean that if we say like d2 we don't play other games anymore. it's all about the choices we make. we are consumers and we can choose what to play. if i want to play a deep rpg, maybe i'll load the cd of bg or nwn. if i want to play a mix of both rpg depth & combat, i'll play <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />. if i want to play an rts w/ rpg elements, i'll play warcraft iii. if i feel like whirling or frenzying or zealing myself through hordes of enemies, i'll play d2. it just so happens that d2 has tremendous replay value. what build should i play today? ww barb, frenzy barb, iron barb, throwing barb, berserker barb, werewolf druid, werebear, fire sorc, nova sorc, weatherwoman, overlord necro, poison necro, bowazon, javazon, strafezon, multi-zon, fanatic zealot, thornadin, frost zealot, smiter, MA assy, cc assy, cs assy, trapper assy, etc. etc. etc. you get the idea.
the end result: over 13 million copies of d2 sold (last time i checked). multiply that by about $20-$30 and you get an idea of how much revenue d2 has generated for blizzard. it's hard to argue w/ success.
