Diablo IV - Beta Impressions

CriticalGaming

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Mentioned it above, I really don't care much about systems, it's just the kind of stuff that goes over my head. If we're talking about systems, I'll certainly agree that DI and D3 have a better system with their rune/skill systems than D4 (in that you're not locking stuff in), but it's still much better than D1/D2 with its number nonsense. And if we're talking about moment to moment gameplay, I'd say D4 is probably the best in the series. I mean, we can probably all agree that the combat in DI/D3/D4 is better than its predecessors, but D4 is probably the best of the three.
Then we'll have to talk when you've finished the campaign and possibly played some endgame, I don't want to spoil things for you if you are having fun with it.
 

meiam

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I don't know if "rousing" is the correct word - a running theme I've seen with Lilith is that she has the ability to make people embrace their own desires. For the people of Nevesk, it was enticing them to act on their hatred for the priest. For Vhenard, it was having her act on her desire for knowledge, even at the cost of losing Neyrelle. For Ariadnah, while less clear cut, the implication (at least for me) is that Lilith led her to act on her dark thoughts (her social Darwinist view towards the glenfolk). As in, she genuinely believed that culling the weak would work in the long term, but moral inhibition prevented her from acting upon it.

As for the idea of structure vs. rebellion, well, if you're saying that the story would be better if it involved Lilith inciting rebellion against the Cathedral...well, okay, sure, I haven't completed the game, so I'm not in a position to speculate on that counterfactual, but I'd make the following points. First, that would already be a repeat of the Sin War in a sense, where Lilith, directly or otherwise, formed the Edyrem as a battering ram against the Triune and Cathedral (yes, her deception was revealed, but Uldyssian ultimately continued the crusade for his own reasons). Second, the dichotomy between order and control is already well established in the themes of the game. Inarius, true to his nature, is draconian, and so is the Cathedral of Light, but it's draconian control that has a function, considering the protection that the Knights Penitent offer against the horrors of the world. It's arguably telling that it's even hinted that the Cathedral has waged war on the Zakarum (if you're further in the game than me, maybe you can confirm if this is true or not). On the other hand, everything I've seen with Lilith allows for free will, even if that free will results in heinous things. It's part of why I don't agree with the notion of Lilith being no different than the Prime Evils in that:

1: The Prime Evils only ever saw humanity as a tool for their own ends, Lilith appears to have genuine affection for humanity, considering that they are, in a sense, her 'children.'

2: The Prime Evils have corrupted people directly, as in, forced them against their will. Even if we confine this to the games and nothing else, Diablo corrupted Leoric, and has possessed Albrecht, then Aidan, then Leah. Mephisto corrupted the whole Zakarum faith, and possessed Sankenkur. Baal possessed Tal Rasha. The TL, DR version is that the Prime Evils have outright forced people to act in service to their own goals. Lilith, at least of what I've seen, gives people the choice of acting on their impulses. Yes, Lilith has possessed people in the path (e.g. Serenthia), but in the specific context of D4, her M.O. is pretty different.

3: Lilith's grief over Rathma. Yes, I'm including this as its own entry, because there's no way, under any circumstances, a Prime Evil would ever feel grief over the death of a child. If you don't believe me, look at what Diablo did to Leah, or how it's well established that Lilith "felt her father's hatred."
The problem is Lilith is only doing things for herself and she really doesn't give a shit if a bunch of human get killed in the process, so she really just boil down to another big bad evil guy. She control people by using their desire, but even then its seem more magic mind control than convincing them, and when some resist her, she just ends up brutally killing them. Like if she was a prime evil, she's just be the evil of temptation and she would fit right in, she really has no affection for human, her plan involves killing millions purely for her own sake and she doesn't even offer some regret for that.

I guess she did kinda care about Rathma, though even there its questionable if she wouldn't have just killed him if he declined helping her.
 

Elijin

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I'm in post-campaign. Unfogged the whole map and got that last of the altars of Lilith this morning, and doing side quests as I coma across them. I'd like to max out all the region reknown as well before season 1.

A handful of side quests were a pleasant surprise, having you revisit locations and characters from the main campaign, or going on extended campaigns with local leaders.

Since I play alone and the leveling gets really slow, there is now way I'm gonna just grind for the sake of grinding, I don't really care what level my character is or whatever. I guess I'd like to get to level 70 to try out the highest world tier but I may get bored by then.

Basically I'm gonna play when I can over the next couple days to get that reknown, then I gotta leave town for a few days which means season 1 will start by the time I pick the game back up and I will try that. I have no idea how long a season of this game will actually take to play and what it really means other than you have to make a new character which means I'll get to try out a barbarian or druid of something.
Just fyi the map discovery and lilith statues are the only elements which will carry into season 1. Maxxing renown now won't benefit a S1 character.
 

FakeSympathy

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I wish the dungeons (at least the aspect dungeons) had their own subplot based on the class you are building. Because that would've added a bit of flavor to them. Like, how exactly does a certain dungeon relate to the class you are playing, enough to reward you with a class-specific aspect? The story doesn't have to be too deep, just add something interesting about the class

This is done once in the level 15 quest for all classes, but I wish that was expended via dungeons. And when you are re-visiting them with other classes, just have it like right now without any context or story
 
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Samtemdo8

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Actman on Diablo 4 part 2!

I must say, some of the comments that he responded to were indeed ridiculous, especially regarding not playing Diablo games for the story. I mean holy shit, why are people like this?

Both Act Man and I never made it to endgame or hardcore, but maybe both of us saw own way to enjoy the game until that "Breaking point". Have to agree with him here, just because I didn't reach level 100 doesn't mean I had fun. As much as I hated raising all those level 50s, I still enjoyed killing those hordes of demons.

I do think he was, and still is a bit misleading about everything matching up to the character level

I see videos like this and all the drama that this is causing and I have just come to this conclusion.

Guys.....its a fucking video game.
 
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FakeSympathy

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I see videos like this and all the drama that this is causing and I have just come to this conclusion.

Guys.....its a fucking video game.
Honestly, I applaud people like Act Man for making videos about what they think of popular games. Because no matter how insightful and thoughtful it is, there will always be people who disagree with you, and get at least some form of organized backlash.

I personally can't see myself do this. I am terrible at taking backlash or counterarguement.

But you are right, at the end of the day it is a fictional form of entertainment, and no one should receive backlash like this unless it physically affects someone
 
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FakeSympathy

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Also, I just checked out diablo 4 subreddit. Let's just say not everyone's too pleased with the new patch. They don't like it, and are using colorful words to describe how bad it is.
 

CriticalGaming

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Also, I just checked out diablo 4 subreddit. Let's just say not everyone's too pleased with the new patch. They don't like it, and are using colorful words to describe how bad it is.
It is pretty stupid tbh. Since launch all blizzard has done is nerf and done nothing to address player complaints. Theyve systematically made the game less and less fun and more and more of a grindy slog.
 
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BrawlMan

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It is pretty stupid tbh. Since launch all blizzard has done is nerf and done nothing to address player complaints. Theyve systematically made the game less and less fun and more and more of a grindy slog.
Given that this is Blizzard and their current state right now, it does not surprise me. OverWatch 2 has a bunch of updates nobody's liking either.
 

Old_Hunter_77

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I find myself at a funny place with the game at this moment because it's my first Diablo and the first ARPG I spent real time with. So I read some of the analysis and reviews and complaints and it's all about loot and grinding and levels and effects on enemies and I don't really understand it all. Then I have to constantly remind myself that this all about when you're at like level 70+.

This morning I kind of finished all the stuff on the things I knew I wanted to do to feel like I had "finished" the game for my character- this means all the area of the maps explored, alters of lilith found, and any quests in my quest log is complete, including any blue ! I saw on the map, the first capstone dungeon, and one nightmare dungeon, and trying at least one each of the world tier 3 activities.
In other words, I've gotten the vast majority of the story (I would at this point have to try to find more blue ! by roaming around the map randomly or looking up stuff online, which I might yet do who knows) and tried all the gameplay available to my class. As someone who normally just plays story campaign type games, I fee like I "beat" the game.

But that's not how ARPGs work- apparently, I should really just be getting started lol. But if that means just doing dungeons over and over with no story or character development, I ain't gonna do that.

Now the complaints I see include specific vitriol about how hard it is for the sorcerer class- of course the one I chose- especially to level up.
There are also complaints about season 1 though that seems like typical internet bitchery since the dern thing ain't come out yet.

Which leaves me in a funny position where I may be happy to play the seasons as they come out, only care about leveling/loot as need to progress campaigns and any interesting side activities, and watching the shit-show of patches and arguments from the sidelines.
 
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CriticalGaming

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I find myself at a funny place with the game at this moment because it's my first Diablo and the first ARPG I spent real time with. So I read some of the analysis and reviews and complaints and it's all about loot and grinding and levels and effects on enemies and I don't really understand it all. Then I have to constantly remind myself that this all about when you're at like level 70+.

This morning I kind of finished all the stuff on the things I knew I wanted to do to feel like I had "finished" the game for my character- this means all the area of the maps explored, alters of lilith found, and any quests in my quest log is complete, including any blue ! I saw on the map, the first capstone dungeon, and one nightmare dungeon, and trying at least one each of the world tier 3 activities.
In other words, I've gotten the vast majority of the story (I would at this point have to try to find more blue ! by roaming around the map randomly or looking up stuff online, which I might yet do who knows) and tried all the gameplay available to my class. As someone who normally just plays story campaign type games, I fee like I "beat" the game.

But that's not how ARPGs work- apparently, I should really just be getting started lol. But if that means just doing dungeons over and over with no story or character development, I ain't gonna do that.

Now the complaints I see include specific vitriol about how hard it is for the sorcerer class- of course the one I chose- especially to level up.
There are also complaints about season 1 though that seems like typical internet bitchery since the dern thing ain't come out yet.

Which leaves me in a funny position where I may be happy to play the seasons as they come out, only care about leveling/loot as need to progress campaigns and any interesting side activities, and watching the shit-show of patches and arguments from the sidelines.
ARPGs by their nature dont really shine for casual players. They are by their nature incremental grinding loot games. Meant to have essentially an "endless" endgame where you can push to higher and higher challenges each season. The meta then becomes who can reach the highest dungeon and crack the best builds during each season.

Casual players dont feel changes to the game the same way. Either because they play the story and move on, or because they dont invest enough time into the game to feel levels taking 50% longer, or feel their damage has been cut by half, or that they are dying to monsters that they never used to struggle with. Because these changes dont really have an effect outside of the endgame play where things are already dangerous.

Most Diablo 4 players never make it to level 60. Because they dont even bither trying to do the higher world tiers. Or because they make new characters or they just beat the story and move on.
 

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(For your viewing/listening pleasure.)
 

Samtemdo8

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One thing I'm hoping from the buyout is that Blizzard can finally make a game that isn't an always online multiplayer or co-op focused game that constantly updates the mechanics of it every week if what you say is true @CriticalGaming
 

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I wish the dungeons (at least the aspect dungeons) had their own subplot based on the class you are building. Because that would've added a bit of flavor to them. Like, how exactly does a certain dungeon relate to the class you are playing, enough to reward you with a class-specific aspect? The story doesn't have to be too deep, just add something interesting about the class

This is done once in the level 15 quest for all classes, but I wish that was expended via dungeons. And when you are re-visiting them with other classes, just have it like right now without any context or story
Eh, sort of? I don't think tying dungeon lore to classes would really work, since not all classes are equal in a lore sense (e.g. all Necromancers are of the Priests of Rathma, while Rogues can come from anywhere), but it's irritating to me how little lore so many dungeons have. I can certainly make inferences in certain cases, but that's it - inferences. I know there's a strain of thought that less is more when it comes to this kind of fantasy, where too much information can spoil the mystique, but this is just nothing.
 

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Comments I found here:

User 1: Hobson is just a symptom of what actually was the starting point of these issues. Gaming getting big, breaking into the mainstream more and more. That attracted very profit oriented people who had nothing to do with gaming before. That in turn attracted these people to the kind of work like Hobson's and started to weaponize it. More and more studios started by nerds for nerds turning publicly traded. Someone always wanted to sell out. The big industrialization of gaming went full steam ahead. And ofc designers and devs are alot more out of touch aswell. They don't have time to game themselves anymore. Especially the ones in those big companies. But even if they did, it would hardly matter because they don't call the shots.

User 2: It really all started in the late 2000's. There were a ton of articles in gaming journalism at that time about how gaming needed to "grow up" and be more like Hollywood. Well, they got what they wanted. It's exactly like Hollywood now. Ironically they have surpassed the movie industry in revenue. Entertainment as an industry and quality products just do not intersect very often. Especially when that quality requires a lot of specialized technical knowledge that can be applied elsewhere for more pay and less work.
 

CriticalGaming

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Allow me to showcase to you guys why this video proves that Blizzard doesn't know what the fuck they are doing anymore.

1, The dev's that were playing said they were graphics designers, meaning they were art team which has nothing to do with how the game functions. Neither person went to school for game design they both went to school for archetect.
2. They either weren't even playing the game, or the editing is very bad because their button presses don't mean anything on the game screen.
3. The builds for each class made no fucking sense, which if it IS them actually playing further showcases that they don't know how to play their own game.
4. They talk about a communal effort when making the project, which works in the ART AND DESIGN level of the game, but not in the coding aspect. So if they really passed around the same bits of code to several different people, it would explain why a bunch of the game doesn't fucking work. And also explains the bad design choices on fundamental systems.

If they were trying to prove that the developers actually play their own game, then they failed. One of the girls even states that they actively test everything they put into the game, which is not true. It's OBVIOUSLY not true because if they tested the game then they would realize that core stats do not work. They would realize that nearly half of the skills on EVERY class are useless. They would realize that the Stats on gear do next to nothing, in favor of a couple of key modifiers, in which case they wouldn't have dropped a patch that reduced the best stats in the game by 40FUCKING PERCENT. They would have realized that the tiny inventory is a fucking problem, and wouldn't have made a seasonal mechanic that eats up EVEN MORE INVENTORY SPACE!!!!!

There was no testing, none, they fucking cobbled this fucking trash together as best they could to make it seem promising then the scammed everyone into buying into the hype.

The game is basically in the same state as it was when I was playing the Secret Alpha over a year ago. The game had promise then because it was clearly still early so things could be fixed and changed and polished and all that good shit. Come to find out after a year of further development they have done absolutely NOTHING to fix any of those problems we pointed out in the fucking alpha! Which is typical Blizzard.

"Hey let's give players beta testing access and get feedback and bug reports from a large scale audience so that we can completely ignore every complaint about the game for launch and launch it anyway. Then let's all get surprised when nobody fucking likes the game."
 

meiam

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Allow me to showcase to you guys why this video proves that Blizzard doesn't know what the fuck they are doing anymore.

1, The dev's that were playing said they were graphics designers, meaning they were art team which has nothing to do with how the game functions. Neither person went to school for game design they both went to school for archetect.
2. They either weren't even playing the game, or the editing is very bad because their button presses don't mean anything on the game screen.
3. The builds for each class made no fucking sense, which if it IS them actually playing further showcases that they don't know how to play their own game.
4. They talk about a communal effort when making the project, which works in the ART AND DESIGN level of the game, but not in the coding aspect. So if they really passed around the same bits of code to several different people, it would explain why a bunch of the game doesn't fucking work. And also explains the bad design choices on fundamental systems.

If they were trying to prove that the developers actually play their own game, then they failed. One of the girls even states that they actively test everything they put into the game, which is not true. It's OBVIOUSLY not true because if they tested the game then they would realize that core stats do not work. They would realize that nearly half of the skills on EVERY class are useless. They would realize that the Stats on gear do next to nothing, in favor of a couple of key modifiers, in which case they wouldn't have dropped a patch that reduced the best stats in the game by 40FUCKING PERCENT. They would have realized that the tiny inventory is a fucking problem, and wouldn't have made a seasonal mechanic that eats up EVEN MORE INVENTORY SPACE!!!!!

There was no testing, none, they fucking cobbled this fucking trash together as best they could to make it seem promising then the scammed everyone into buying into the hype.

The game is basically in the same state as it was when I was playing the Secret Alpha over a year ago. The game had promise then because it was clearly still early so things could be fixed and changed and polished and all that good shit. Come to find out after a year of further development they have done absolutely NOTHING to fix any of those problems we pointed out in the fucking alpha! Which is typical Blizzard.

"Hey let's give players beta testing access and get feedback and bug reports from a large scale audience so that we can completely ignore every complaint about the game for launch and launch it anyway. Then let's all get surprised when nobody fucking likes the game."
The video is about dungeon design so they won't really be talking about mechanic and stats, they're still part of the dev team, not just the gameplay mechanic side of things.

That being said, its a terrible video and would have been far better if they just showcase what they worked on directly rather than while playing the game. It's also not the video they should have made a few days after a disastrous patch release. I also can't shake the feeling that they wanted to have a video with two women in, traying to shake off the bad press from not too long ago, but couldn't find any in the actual gameplay side of things.
 

CriticalGaming

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I also can't shake the feeling that they wanted to have a video with two women in, traying to shake off the bad press from not too long ago, but couldn't find any in the actual gameplay side of things.
I mean yes.

The thing is, the outcry from the playerbase has been sort of accusing Blizzard developers of not playing the game. Of course Blizzard doesn't understand what our problems with the game are, because they don't play the game themselves so they are ignorant of the problems they are causing.

Then this video drops as seemingly a response to those player accusations. Only for the video to showcase two people who clearly aren't involved with any decisions that players are shitting on right now.

Top that off with them showing these two girls who clearly aren't gamers, in a video about playing the game and you are just super confused. What's the point of this? If you wanted a video about your architectural design, then just have a video about the architecture and have them showcase their concepts in a slide show. There was no reason to shove a controller into their hands because all it does it make them and Blizzard look bad.

Top that off with the fact that Blizzard seems to really really really be leaning into their new-found diversity hiring policy. Every press video, every developer showcase, all of these videos have deliberately shown female and trans employees working on the game and it leaves a bad message hanging in the air. Is blizzard hiring people based off their LBGT-status for the sake of having those people on the payroll? If so, then they are hiring people who can't do the job required of them and the games coming out of the company are clearly proving this.

It's fucked up as well that they are showing the staff that showcase LBGT representation as if trying to parade them around to prove how unbigoted they are. It's like they are show animals being let out of the developer cage for the carnival of whatever video.

I don't fucking care who develops a video game. Black, brown, gay, trans, furry, vegan, I don't fucking care. I only care about having a good game to play at the end of the say. That's all I want. And when your developer videos are more about showcasing the diversity of the people working on the game, over what the game actually has to offer, then you are fucking wasting everyone's time.
 
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Samtemdo8

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Allow me to showcase to you guys why this video proves that Blizzard doesn't know what the fuck they are doing anymore.

1, The dev's that were playing said they were graphics designers, meaning they were art team which has nothing to do with how the game functions. Neither person went to school for game design they both went to school for archetect.
2. They either weren't even playing the game, or the editing is very bad because their button presses don't mean anything on the game screen.
3. The builds for each class made no fucking sense, which if it IS them actually playing further showcases that they don't know how to play their own game.
4. They talk about a communal effort when making the project, which works in the ART AND DESIGN level of the game, but not in the coding aspect. So if they really passed around the same bits of code to several different people, it would explain why a bunch of the game doesn't fucking work. And also explains the bad design choices on fundamental systems.

If they were trying to prove that the developers actually play their own game, then they failed. One of the girls even states that they actively test everything they put into the game, which is not true. It's OBVIOUSLY not true because if they tested the game then they would realize that core stats do not work. They would realize that nearly half of the skills on EVERY class are useless. They would realize that the Stats on gear do next to nothing, in favor of a couple of key modifiers, in which case they wouldn't have dropped a patch that reduced the best stats in the game by 40FUCKING PERCENT. They would have realized that the tiny inventory is a fucking problem, and wouldn't have made a seasonal mechanic that eats up EVEN MORE INVENTORY SPACE!!!!!

There was no testing, none, they fucking cobbled this fucking trash together as best they could to make it seem promising then the scammed everyone into buying into the hype.

The game is basically in the same state as it was when I was playing the Secret Alpha over a year ago. The game had promise then because it was clearly still early so things could be fixed and changed and polished and all that good shit. Come to find out after a year of further development they have done absolutely NOTHING to fix any of those problems we pointed out in the fucking alpha! Which is typical Blizzard.

"Hey let's give players beta testing access and get feedback and bug reports from a large scale audience so that we can completely ignore every complaint about the game for launch and launch it anyway. Then let's all get surprised when nobody fucking likes the game."
My only experience with this game is via the pre-launch beta they publicly released like a month prior and I had an ok time with it?

And yet I'm hearing here that this game is as unplayable as Mafia 3 was at launch