Diablo 4 beta leaks spark smart loot and trading discussions

pcgamesn.com:

It appears that the promised internal Diablo 4 beta test is underway, and several purported leaks have already surfaced online which appear to show off glimpses at the upcoming RPG game. While there are plenty of reasons to be wary about leaks from early internal testing – things are quite likely to change, after all – reports that the fantasy game will feature a smart loot system and prevent trading of high-end gear have sparked several discussions.

The video footage which appeared on Reddit showing the game’s character creation menus was quickly taken down again, presumably as it appeared to show a unique version code which could be easily traced back to the person responsible. However, another source reported that unique, set, and legendary equipment as well as gold cannot be traded, with limited trading available on lower-tier items.

Furthermore, the source says that Diablo 3 style smart loot is set to return. This places a heavy emphasis on gear dropping with the appropriate stats and affixes for the class you are currently playing, rather than pulling equally from the entire pool of options. These leaks line up with past Blizzard interviews, where they suggested that the most powerful items should be ones players should have to earn for themselves, rather than being able to trade for them.

These two topics have sparked up discussions among the community on both the Blizzard forums and the Diablo IV subreddit around the topics. Defenders of smart loot say they appreciate the way it streamlines progression, ensuring that the majority of gear has the potential to be useful to their current character. This is obviously especially noteworthy for players who prefer to stick to just one class. Other players say that they