I do agree with you but I would also like if there were more random encounters not the same enemies in exactly the same place. At least in DD Dark Arisen the cost of a teleport stone was much more reasonable. On the island, the first meeting with "The Reaper" was a shock to the system.

I definitely liked the battle system in DD, some of those creatures were huge and having the ability to climb on them made some of the battles great fun. The major downside DD (IMHO) were the quests, most of the quests were really boring also there were no guilds you could join (minor nit-pick).

An interesting feature of DD was the Day and Night changes and the different creatures that you could encounter since the creatures at night could be different than during the day and normally they were much more aggressive. Nothing gets the blood pumping when you know you still have a fair way to go and your party is really not up to par with night battles and night is rapidly approaching. Where's the oil when you need it? 😉

I don't really mind MMO's but there is one major turn off and that is you can also see all other players and they are pretty much doing the same thing you are. I don't object to forming a party providing everyone cooperates and not adopt the attitude of everyone for themselves.

If anyone has not tried it, try Neverwinter (it's free) although there is no need to make any in-game purchases (and there are plenty of those) since it is not overly difficult to level up and even to get a horse and a companion (both generic ones are actually free). Grinding is optional and IMHO not necessary since pretty much all quests (some are quite interesting) will level you up reasonably well. If you can't get to level 15 in about 3 to 6 hours then you are definitely doing something wrong.

Note: One of the major spoilers in MMO's and especially Shooters is your network latency. If your latency is greater than 0.1 of a second you may find some online games annoying or impossible to play.

That said, a DD2 in the same vein as Dark Arisen with more interesting quests, more random enemies and drops would be a welcome addition. I particularly do like the Day/Night cycle which IMHO is sorely missing from many RPG's. Games like Skyrim do have a Day/Night cycle but the night is just dimmer than the day. With DD when it gets dark it really gets dark and without a lamp or oil for your lamp you are literally wondering around in the dark and the creatures you can meet at night are particularly vicious. And let's not forget the ability to climb on those huge enemies. -- Hmm makes me want to try replaying DD Dark Arisen again.