In no specific order:
- The new version of Masterworking is a huge step back. All that it needed were checkpoints at levels 4 and 8 and adjusted prices for resetting (e.g. level 4 - 1 million; level 8 - 2 million; level 12 - 3 million)
- Dropping the second Tempering affix and moving it back to the random stat generator logic is also very bad. Exponentially less control in the hands of the players, the stat pool is once again overbloated and useless items are raining. This will turn away players. It doesn’t matter if we can pick the sole remaining Tempering affix with certainty because it is too hard to find a good base item to temper
- Bringing back the old concept for resistances is boggling. It’s probably in direct correlation with all of the other system changes, an inevitability rather than a conscious improvement and evolution, and that’s what makes it even worse. Not only is it no intuitive. It is yet another one of a dozen changes in the upcoming season that will tip the scales towards extremely defensive play styles. We are going from a situation where there are a lot of glass cannons to a situation where there will be a lot of turtles. Players are forced to accumulate defensive stats on gear, as skills and as paragon nodes otherwise they’re dying left and right. This goes hand in hand with my next point…
- …Torment difficulties lost their meaning once again. Well, maybe not for gigablasters like wudijo-masochistijo. However, for normal people, especially those who are not meta sheep / build copy-pasters, but rather try to play their own builds, whereas previously T2 was hard but achievable, T3 a challenge and T4 either excruciating or completely out of reach, the “aspirational” content now start in Penitent. Under different circumstances none of that would be a problem. After all, it’s just a label, right? You pick a label that makes you feel good about yourself and stay there. Well, no. With how loot generation works, playing on any difficulty below T2 is a waste of time. But you can’t reach T2 comfortably and painlessly if you don’t get good drops. But good drops start in T2. The problem is obvious
- The changes to Fortify - horrendous. It was such a good balancer to Barrier, an equal partner. Players could lean into either of the two and not regret it. Now Fortify is a bland, impotent and nigh-useless mechanic that we can’t allow ourselves the luxury of investing into because, remember, we have resistances and armour to stack. There’s only that many stat slots and skills and paragon nodes to go around. And most of them HAVE to go to defences, or else…
- Capstone dungeons - awesome! The layouts are great, the challenges are varied enough. We used to love them before. Don’t know why you took them away. Good thing that you’re bringing them back. Better late than never
- Tower & leaderboards - not a pusher myself and I don’t think I’ll ever become one in Diablo IV with obtaining good gear being impossible. But those reminded me of the leaderboards in Diablo III. Even more importantly - they reminded me of how players could inspect each others’ profiles, how they could inspect their own profile. Why can’t we open up our own profiles and see the gear and the skills of our characters while being logged in with one of them? Why do we have to log out, then log back in with another character just to compare the aspect on a pair of boots?
- Last, but not least - something that is not related to seasons directly but is affected by them indirectly. It’s the other part of the game. You know, the one that you forgot existed - the Eternal Realm. It is a graveyard. Diablo IV does not exist there. Without seasonal powers, characters are weak and useless in the Eternal realm. Drop rates are lower so it doesn’t matter if one plays for 5000 hours. They won’t get anything to even begin crafting. So what happens if someone does not like how the latest season is shaping up? What if they still want to play Diablo IV just on the Eternal Realm? Well, nothing. Only misery awaits there. Broken builds, stash tabs with “Legacy” items (which, by the way, are better than the new ones but we can’t modify them) and glyphs that are never going to be levelled up because the highest pit level we can reach gets lower and lower with each “balancing” pass…
Look, guys. we get it. No, we really do. Some of us are not gullible. All these changes that are being presented as desperate attempts to make the game better, the seemingly attentive listening to feedback, the total reset every N months - we know what’s really going on. You’re just following the “10+ years” agenda. The thing is, all of this is going to backfire and terribly so. More and more players are getting fed up with having to restart everything from scratch. Sooner rather than later the constant bleeding of players is going to kill the game and, possibly, the franchise. It’s not worth it. This is a great game series. The lore alone is worth billions. You have to step up your game and show some dignity. Here I’m talking to my fellow developers. Not to those who are trembling with fear that the corporate suits up above are going to fire them if they don’t follow the agenda at 100%. No. I’m talking to the ones who have a sliver of self-respect left. Man, I hope there’s some of you left out there. I’m talking to the people who have all the best ideas on how to make Diablo IV the greatest ARPG of the modern age but their creativity is being stifled by the aforementioned agenda. You have 2 options:
- Continue to follow orders blindly, keeping your job spot but only until the next round of layoffs. The game will be mediocre, the community will be sour, you will feel guilty and dirty. Nobody will be happy
- Defend your ideas. Learn to either say “No” to the accountants, or, at least learn how to present your arguments in such a way that you appease those greedy lizards AND get a green light to implement some of the things you dream about. The game will get better and better, player retention will be excellent, KPIs will be met, the community will be satisfied and, lo and behold, happy players will buy more from the shop so, ultimately, the accountants will be happy too and maybe, just maybe, they won’t cancel the franchise
You don’t want to be the last generation of developers to ever work on any Diablo game and go down in infamy and shame, right? Good. Now bring back the old version of Masterworking with the tweaks listed above. Thanks in advance!