The Love-Hate Relationships Between Looter Shooters and their Playerbase

mmorpg.com:

Looter Shooters is a genre that is in a weird spot right now. While there are experiences like Borderlands 3 and Outriders that get you about 50-100 hours of playtime, it is the live-service games that tend to be the most successful in the current era. The big three in the genre are Destiny 2,The Division 2, and Warframe. Warframe and Destiny 2 in particular stand out in the genre thanks to the power fantasy that they offer, combined with unique gameplay mechanics that haven’t been successfully replicated in the genre.

Diablo is quite possibly the pioneer of the “looter” genre. It had fast-paced combat, tons of loot to collect, and a progression system that keeps you hooked for countless hours. Diablo II refined the mechanics even further and the loot system has been replicated by many throughout the years.

The original Borderlands was a pioneer in bringing the looter genre to an FPS format and it was an instant hit. Borderlands games have random rolls on gear and you could get the same weapon several times while having different perks on them. But Borderlands is a limited experience and once you complete everything there is to do in the game, your only option is to go over the same content all over again or reset your progress and start afresh.

This is where games like Destiny and Warframe come in and offer a live-service solution that excels at keeping players hooked. Year one of Destiny and Warframe were both subpar experiences but some quality updates strengthened the grip on the genre for both Digital Extremes and Bungie. The Division entered the mix and completed the trifecta of the looter shooter genre and almost no other game has managed to break into the genre. 

All three games continue to be played to this day