Well said and I believe your opinion is more than simply an opinion, but rather a factual analysis. I describe D2 as offering a lack of incentive to play beyond a certain point. For example, you get a Merciless, after which there's no incentive to keep playing hoping to get a better version of it. That is, with better perks as was the case in D1. A point you clearly stated and a fundamental flaw in the games design. An that's not really an opinion. It's a simple fact. A design choice. In this way our characters will eventually become virtual clones of one another with every weapon being identical to another of the same name. And the same goes for armor pieces. Why is that? In my opinion it's for PvP reasons. In which case I agree it's a good idea to have the only variable being ones individual skill, not what weapon and armor rolls one has. However, for PvE, it's not a good thing. You want the best roll possible on a given weapon or armor piece since it gives you an advantage which benefits both oneself and the Fireteam. It's for this reason that I have long been an advocate of PvP having its own weapons and armor with static perks. In that way, once again, the only variable is individual skill. It's been that way with many competitive FPS games. So it leads me to believe that may be what their goal is. However, it isn't working currently and is never going to work as long as they continue to combine the two game types as far as weapon and armor rolls is concerned.