Hellgate sorta had that problem as well. It wasn't as bad as it is now in Global/Resurrection, but it was still kinda lame in the original version. IIRC, it was all about +AA, +TAV%, +armor, critical hit bonuses and novas. I think there were a couple other affixes that everyone seemed to go out of their way to get, but I can't remember what they were now off the top of my head.
Hanbit ruined it by making the game completely obsessed with critical hits. So obsessed that even the elemental debuffs are viewed as as "negligible" versus having a constant stream of crits pouring out of the two most used classes (Marksmen and Evokers).
It seemed like in retrospect, that Diablo 2 had some of the best variety of affixes and build combinations. Just a shame that the novas in Diablo 2, IIRC, became laughable after a certain patch... but maybe my memory is foggy and jaded, and they're not as bad as I am remembering them?