We have been here before, or somewhere like it. When Diablo 4 Gold came out in 2012 it came with an auction house with real money in which players could purchase and sell their drops. In theory, it was there in order to stop fraud and cheating that plagued the trading of items on Diablo 2. In order to steer players to that auctionhouse Blizzard cut down on loot rates within the game to the extent that equipping your characters with loot became a monotonous chore, and the game as generally felt boring to play. After the auction house was unpopular, it was removed and drop rate have been increased since 2014 Diablo 3 instantly became more entertaining, even before the improvements of The Reaper of Souls expansion elevated it to legendary status.

Lesson: It could seem reasonable to try to monetize Diablo's treasures, however the moment you start, you drain all the fun from the game. This is the same for Diablo Immortal, and it's apparent before you reach the final game because it's embedded into the game's design. The drop of loot is less effective the character's progression is artificially throttled and thinly dispersed across too many different systems and are too sluggish and granular. It has been more artfully disguised than it was at the launch of Diablo 3, but it's also a tedious grind. The purchase of a battle pass or investing a lot of money in legendary crests won't do much since paying for a great item drop won't be as exciting like just getting one.

I'm unsure if there is a way to isolate the essence of what makes Diablo fun from the mechanics of free-to play commercialization. If there are, Blizzard and NetEase have not yet found it. They've developed a mobile version of Diablo game that's fast fun, entertaining, and even generous at first. But if you spend enough cheap Diablo IV Gold time playing it, there's no doubt that the heart of the game has been cut out to pieces, then chopped up and is being sold to you piecemeal.