Diablo IV - Beta Impressions

[Hawki]

Again that is fair. But Optics matter to the user base and when this video is what drops seemingly in response to player accusations, it's bad optics.

Was it? It's the third "Adventure with a dev" installment, hasn't this been going on for awhile?

And imo no matter how you slice it, there really is no excuse for sloppy builds or gameplay to be used in ANY developer video.

Well, again, I disagree. It depends on the nature of the video in question. And even if I agreed, I didn't see much in the video that indicates "sloppiness" as you put it. We never see their item tabs or skill tree, the dungeon is completed with only one death, etc.

Even if you are art team, are you somehow excused for never playing the game you're making? I don't think so because art is an important part of making the game feel a certain way, and you'd want to play the game to make sure your art assets fit into the world. They don't have to be pros at the game, but they should appear to have at least a little competency in playing a game they've been working on for 7 years. Don't you think?

It's not a simple yes/no question. A concept artist could get by without ever playing the game, since their job is to pitch concepts that developers will implement in the game itself. A dungeon designer probably should, but even then, they'd only need to complete the dungeon, they could do it on god mode and do their job well enough.

Or, to look at another example of dungeon design in the game, take the tomes that you find in them. Would the people who write them have to play the dungeon? Not really. It might help, but it wouldn't be a requirement in the same way it would be in other departments.

 

[BrawlMan]

​

 

[FakeSympathy]

Looks like we'll be hunting vampires. HOW ORIGINAL!

At least this one's looking a bit better w/ new dungeons and build options with the vampiric powers.

Now how about fixing the stash space issue?

 

[CriticalGaming]

Looks like we'll be hunting vampires. HOW ORIGINAL!

At least this one's looking a bit better w/ new dungeons and build options with the vampiric powers.

Now how about fixing the stash space issue?

What?

 

[FakeSympathy]

 

[CriticalGaming]

WHERE IS MY DISLIKE BUTTON!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hawki]

Looks like we'll be hunting vampires. HOW ORIGINAL!

Okay, and? Vampires have been part of the setting since D2, are integral to the Blood Knights in DI, and feature prominently in the Fractured Peaks in D4. How is this an issue?

WHERE IS MY DISLIKE BUTTON!!!!!!!!!

What's wrong with it?

I'm not trying to be glib, I seriously get the issue. In the base game, the vampires are seen in the Fractured Peaks, and their leader is hinted at in various points (remember Pomuk Zlicek?). So not only do we get a throughline over the vampire lore that's been brewing in the IP for awhile across both DI and D4, but we get payoff (I assume) for the vampire stuff in D4 itself. So if this is used as the lore/story for a season, how is that a bad thing?

 

[BrawlMan]

WHERE IS MY DISLIKE BUTTON!!!!!!!!!

It's still there on the video, you just need an extension installed on your browser to see the results. The dislike ratio is 3K and counting. The like ratio is 1.9K.

 

[Samtemdo8]

What is there to dislike about the trailer as is?

 

[Samtemdo8]

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Fuck Act Man and his hate farming scheme

People like him are influencing the masses to mass dislike anything Blizzard on videos and store pages

Diablo 4 isn't a bad game and its all nitpicky things that you would not notice or care on a casual playthrough

 

[BrawlMan]

Fuck Act Man and his hate farming scheme

I have my disagreements and problems with the guy, but this isn't even the worse thing he has done. He had worse content back in the 2010s.

People like him are influencing the masses to mass dislike anything Blizzard on videos and store pages

He and other YouTubers/Twitchers didn't need to do much, when Acti-Blizz did to themselves a million times over for the past decade and a 1/4.

Diablo 4 isn't a bad game and its all nitpicky things that you would not notice or care on a casual playthrough

Debatable and YMMV. I couldn't care less about the game, but it clearly sold well, so someone on the team did something right. It still doesn't change the fact Blizzard fucked up after the fact, and are pulling their usual scheming bullshit.

 

[Samtemdo8]

I have my disagreements and problems with the guy, but this isn't even the worse thing he has done. He had worse content back in the 2010s.


He and other YouTubers/Twitchers didn't need to do much, when Acti-Blizz did to themselves a million times over for the past decade and a 1/4.


Debatable and YMMV. I couldn't care less about the game, but it clearly sold well, so someone on the team did something right. It still doesn't change the fact Blizzard fucked up after the fact, and are pulling their usual scheming bullshit.

How is what they are selling a scheme?

 

[BrawlMan]

How is what they are selling a scheme?

Figure it out.

 

[Hawki]

Figure it out.

How? The only thing you can purchase in D4 bar the game itself is cosmetics.

 

[BrawlMan]

How? The only thing you can purchase in D4 bar the game itself is cosmetics.

Diablo 4’s Season 1 Cosmetic Microtransactions Are Now Actively Upsetting

What Diablo 4 is starting to do with its live service ambitions is probably the first time I’m actually pretty upset with cosmetic microtransactions.

www.forbes.com

Evidence already provided in the Act Man video and here. I do not care, because I am not doing this with either (Samtemdo8 ) of you. If you don't like answer, not my problem.

 

[Hawki]

Diablo 4’s Season 1 Cosmetic Microtransactions Are Now Actively Upsetting

What Diablo 4 is starting to do with its live service ambitions is probably the first time I’m actually pretty upset with cosmetic microtransactions.

www.forbes.com

Evidence already provided in the Act Man video and here. I do not care, because I am not doing this with either (Samtemdo8 ) of you. If you don't like answer, not my problem.

I read the article - it's a whine about cosmetics costing too much. As absurddly high as the prices are, people are entitled to spend money on bling if they want (or not).

Personally speaking, I've looked as the cosmetics in-game, but only to get the lore behind them. Fortunately, you don't need to purchase them to get it, so while the rotating stuff is irritating, it's so incidental to the actual game it's barely worth mentioning (I don't think I've even touched on it in my "what are you playing?" posts).

 

[BrawlMan]

There will be surprises, but not in the way he's thinking.

Blizzard boss promises Diablo 4 “surprises” as Season 1 struggles

Diablo 4 content creator 'Wudijo' doesn't pull any punches in a new YouTube analysis of the hit RPG, but Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra promises change is coming.

www.pcgamesn.com

Diablo 5 is already being teased, fans won't have as long to wait

Fans of the Diablo series will reportedly have a much shorter wait for Diablo V, as Blizzard boss suggests more sequels are planned.

www.gamingbible.com

 

[CriticalGaming]

Desperate for players they are running CoD-style bonus weekends.

I'd like to remind everybody that they NERFED XP gain by 25% in the seasonal patch. NERFED IT! Now they want to give it back to us for a weekend? Okay GG Bliz.

 

[CriticalGaming]

There will be surprises, but in the way he's thinking.

Blizzard boss promises Diablo 4 “surprises” as Season 1 struggles

Diablo 4 content creator 'Wudijo' doesn't pull any punches in a new YouTube analysis of the hit RPG, but Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra promises change is coming.

www.pcgamesn.com

Diablo 5 is already being teased, fans won't have as long to wait

Fans of the Diablo series will reportedly have a much shorter wait for Diablo V, as Blizzard boss suggests more sequels are planned.

www.gamingbible.com

Here is my guess based on how broken D4 is.

I don't think Blizzard knows how to fix D4's issues. So since they already said there are planned expansions to D4 I think they are instead going to scramble and scrap those expansions and instead convert the expansions into Diablo 5 and just rebuild a whole new game. That's my guess.

 

[BrawlMan]

Here is my guess based on how broken D4 is.

I don't think Blizzard knows how to fix D4's issues. So since they already said there are planned expansions to D4 I think they are instead going to scramble and scrap those expansions and instead convert the expansions into Diablo 5 and just rebuild a whole new game. That's my guess.

I honestly don't care what happens, because I hate everything Activision Blizzard stands for, but we'll see how it goes.