Not D3, its D2 vs PoE

"

D2 is still better. Sorry, GGG.

I really do hate it when people make blanket statements with no justification. If that's the way you convey your thoughts in real life I really don't envy the people that spend time with you.

In regards to comparing PoE to Diablo it gets put in a pretty nasty place. Mechanically and in terms of art direction people will compare it to D2 because that's really what made D2 such an experience. In regards to animations and general polish PoE is going to be compared to D3 because that's literally all it's worth remembering for. This results in people having pretty damn high expectations because they really want a game that pushes boundaries in all directions.

However with unique systems like endgame maps GGG are definitely carving a place for themselves in ARPG history. What we have with PoE is the summation of all the things we have learnt in the past decade and beyond that make a truly immersive and long lasting ARPG. It's almost like this is a "best of" game, picking and choosing all the things that gives the genre flair without the silly or poor choices (gold as a currency for instance).

PoE need to be compared to all ARPGs, not just Diablo games. That's the most immediate way to point out deficiencies in the game (which there aren't too many of at any rate). Along with user feedback from actually playing the game it's the best way to help out developers.