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Diablo IV |OT| Blessed Mother... Save Us

cormack12

Gold Member
So am I right in thinking that basically we run malignant tunnels to get caged hearts. We craft those hearts into sigils (or socket them).

And that's pretty much it yeah?
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
I’m enjoying season 1 so far.

My policy is if I’m enjoying my time I’ll play and if it isn’t I play something else.

TLDR version on how to fix game:

-Get rid of codex of power entirely or have a season option on new character creation that is “no codex no imprints”. Now every time drop matters.

-Fix uniques. Only have 1-3 Ubers. Rest be in play as regular unique drop rates. Make them have wanted affixes in them (crit, lucky hits, etc) so they compete with best in slot gear. Have one affix always drop randomly so uniques are always exciting as possible improvements.

-Rework every skill tree to have actual choice. If node two of a core skill is always an enhancement to the skill that isn’t a choice. That’s a mandatory requirement. Plus when it finally forks in option from option A&B it should be game changers like Diablo 3. An ability can now freeze or be fire etc. These things are in gear instead now and it’s why the skills feel so whack is they remain the same from start to finish. In D3 they can change drastically just from which version you pick. Also it’s not a choice when one thing is crit damage and another is plus 2 mana regen. That’s an illusion of choice. Skill tree also has way too many passives instead of actual abilities and changes to how abilities function.
-I’ll also add in with the skill tree they need to change the paragon board drastically. Each season should add glyphs and even new boards for each class. They also need to create purpose for blue glyphs to be socketed, and make more choice in the boards themselves matter. Perhaps put 2-3 legendary nodes per board , and make magic nodes turn into sockets for the blue glyphs. Spread them out all around the board and not just focused on one path/spot otherwise the boards will remain the same every character you make every season with only slight variation.
 

DavidGzz

Gold Member
Nice, they confirmed patches during the season. That NEVER happened in D3. Only some fixes to bugs, but no quality changes.
 

Orbital2060

Member
Playing with strangers was awful in D3 honestly
I was thinking of dungeons mainly. I forgot to say. In Immortal (and Im not advocating the games mtx features) you can click on the dungeon entrance and choose to matchmake. Or go in solo. For campaign and farming stuff I dont mind using LFG tool or play with friends.

But maybe it brings issues with difficulty balancing several classes and builds together.
 
m7v6vtF.jpg
 

cormack12

Gold Member
Is levelling fast? I'm like almost 25 and only played it like a few hours. Did the campaign really slow the process down that much? Or is it just cos I've been used to grinding to 90 really slowly?
 

Minsc

Gold Member
It all sounds very nice to me! Like the immediate inventory increases and eventual additional content and leaderboards are fun too, though I'm not competitive in them.
 

gothmog

Gold Member
This is pretty sad, but IMO people are overreacting to a bad patch. Devs mess up sometimes, not the end of the world. They're on it, they'll fix it. Game is still fun as is I think for most players.

The good news for them is that there wouldn't be an uproar if people didnt' care.
People were not unhappy about the patch alone. It was more around how everything shook out. Patch notes should have been shared earlier given the nerfs. A test realm/PTR could have been set up so those who enjoy the theorycrafting side can come in and show how the changes impact the numbers before it goes live. None of this is particularly difficult and has been done in other Diablo and Blizzard games. It is time consuming and this is the part that surprised me. Having season 1 start weeks after launch made me think they had this all planned with some kind of road to season 1 thing. Instead we got a surprising set of patch notes right before they made a bunch of nerfs right before the long term content flywheel got released. Many of their responses show that even the devs understand that it is not just a bad patch and more around setting correct expectations with opportunities for community feedback before things go live.
 

marquimvfs

Member
This is pretty sad, but IMO people are overreacting to a bad patch. Devs mess up sometimes, not the end of the world. They're on it, they'll fix it. Game is still fun as is I think for most players.

The good news for them is that there wouldn't be an uproar if people didnt' care.
It's not only that, some primary problems of the game are being largely ignored in favour of some nerfs to some classes and some other changes that are largely useless...
 

Atrus

Gold Member
Is levelling fast? I'm like almost 25 and only played it like a few hours. Did the campaign really slow the process down that much? Or is it just cos I've been used to grinding to 90 really slowly?

Levelling early on is normally quick given everything scales with you plus you now get Lilith shrines, max potions, whisper xp, horse, waypoints and can join legion events from the get go.

When you first started the game you had no horse and had to walk all the way from A to B, fully explored dungeons, and watched cutscenes and dialogue in full. Having experience with the dungeons also makes you run them faster and more boldly.

I started a Rogue for the season on WT2 and it’s already 40 with most Fractured Peaks quests done and about half the dungeons complete.
 
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Eotheod

Member
So do I have this correct? In order to participate in the battle pass system D4 has, I need to create a whole new character for the season? All unlocked items will also become available to my "normal" characters as well? What happens to the season character at the end?

Also I bought the digital one that gave a battle pass, is that automatically for season 1 or can I choose? This is all bloody confusing.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
So do I have this correct? In order to participate in the battle pass system D4 has, I need to create a whole new character for the season? All unlocked items will also become available to my "normal" characters as well? What happens to the season character at the end?

Also I bought the digital one that gave a battle pass, is that automatically for season 1 or can I choose? This is all bloody confusing.
So when a season drops it runs in another realm. This is because the entire mechanics usually change that need to be kept seperate from the eternal realm. Its kind of like a gameplay mod on top of the base game. This season its essentially replacing gems with these 'hearts'.

Any non-seasonal characters are created in the eternal realm. That is the base game and stays as normal.

At the end of the season, your seasonal character will transfer to the eternal realm and the seasonal realm will be closed. Any season specific items (like hearts) will be remove from your character. In this case we expect all the sockets to return to standard. You can then log into the eternal realm and keep playing the character as per normal.

You can redeem the battle pass now or wait for season pass 2. Although just be aware the button on the season tab will just activate it when you click it.

The Battle Pass has progression linked to the current season so won't run on the eternal realm. Some things like cosmetics will transfer back to the eternal realm. I don't think aspects will merge down into your codex if not acquired in the eternal realm tho
 
I just had a strange bug where one of my abilities straight up disappeared?! I’m pretty sure I had one point invested in Rabies with the druid (meaning, it was not from an item) and all of sudden that ability was gone.

Did someone else had this happen to him?
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
This is pretty sad, but IMO people are overreacting to a bad patch. Devs mess up sometimes, not the end of the world. They're on it, they'll fix it. Game is still fun as is I think for most players.

The good news for them is that there wouldn't be an uproar if people didnt' care.
“Associate game director Joe Piepiora went on to explain some of Blizzard's thinking behind the patch. The goal was to slow down builds that were "blasting through content"—which is fun, Piepiora admitted—to keep any one stat, particularly cooldown reduction and vulnerable, from dwarfing the effectiveness of all the others.”

The problem that irks me is yet another evidence of the business model, GaaS, nastily affecting the game design… they know they are not prioritising fun but game engagement which is another trait that games built on engagement (all the ones where the money is meant to be made post download) share. Fun is not the most important thing anymore…

They will patch the patch, but they will NOT roll it back.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
“Associate game director Joe Piepiora went on to explain some of Blizzard's thinking behind the patch. The goal was to slow down builds that were "blasting through content"—which is fun, Piepiora admitted—to keep any one stat, particularly cooldown reduction and vulnerable, from dwarfing the effectiveness of all the others.”

The problem that irks me is yet another evidence of the business model, GaaS, nastily affecting the game design… they know they are not prioritising fun but game engagement which is another trait that games built on engagement (all the ones where the money is meant to be made post download) share. Fun is not the most important thing anymore…

They will patch the patch, but they will NOT roll it back.

Contrast to: https://www.thegamer.com/minecraft-dungeons-unbalanced-fun/

The upcoming dungeon crawler, Minecraft Dungeons, will reportedly give players ways to make their characters absurdly overpowered. Not only that, but the developers don't really seem to care too much if it makes the game unbalanced, "because it's fun".

Ultimately I understand why the changes were thought of and implemented. With changes like this though, I'd always like to see what percent of people/players are meant to be arrested by them. And in contrast how many of us are just collateral damage.

Surely the bigger issue to address is every class only having one or two viable end game build (3+ in the case of rogue/druid)
 

Braag

Member
I made 3 season characters for D3 and then just played eternal.
I doubt most players would even bother to make more than 1 seasonal character.
I understand they want to incentivize players to start a seasonal character but most players don't want to restart every 3 months, especially the casual ones.
So considering that they clearly want to sell the season pass to players, it's odd that they're ready to leave so many players out of the season pass pool who are still playing their lv.60+ eternal characters.
 

Ironbunny

Member
I made 3 season characters for D3 and then just played eternal.
I doubt most players would even bother to make more than 1 seasonal character.
I understand they want to incentivize players to start a seasonal character but most players don't want to restart every 3 months, especially the casual ones.
So considering that they clearly want to sell the season pass to players, it's odd that they're ready to leave so many players out of the season pass pool who are still playing their lv.60+ eternal characters.

This reset system was news to me. I really dont see the point of it for casuals. Just going to play my eternal realm character through fully and be done with this game.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
It's an incentive for those wanting to reroll class but have a slightly different/fresh levelling experience rather than grind the same content with the same meta.

You don't need to participate unless you want the battle pass season cosmetics - which is a bit shitty (will they come to the store in the future?)
 

Minsc

Gold Member
I made 3 season characters for D3 and then just played eternal.
I doubt most players would even bother to make more than 1 seasonal character.
I understand they want to incentivize players to start a seasonal character but most players don't want to restart every 3 months, especially the casual ones.
So considering that they clearly want to sell the season pass to players, it's odd that they're ready to leave so many players out of the season pass pool who are still playing their lv.60+ eternal characters.

Most people who run seasons are seemingly able to max a character in a month or so. So after that what incentive is there to return to it?

Why would you keep going back to a "done" character? Each season offers brand new experiences, which is the point of the game. Make a new character, experience the new things, then a few weeks later when you're funished, wait 2 months to do it again.

Do you really think most people log in every night for 2-3 hours on one character for 5-10 years? You will run out of stuff to do with that character in a few months, and if you had access to them each season you would essentially finish that season in a single day - so what would they even be doing for the next 89 days? The same exact dungeon loop they did the 3,000 days before? At least starting a new seasonal character will mix up the gameplay to a relatively new and fresh experience.

I just 100% do not see the draw of playing one character endlessly, what is there to do at level 100 and after you've run everything there is to run? A new character at least provides all sorts of new things to experiment and go after.
 
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DavidGzz

Gold Member
It's an incentive for those wanting to reroll class but have a slightly different/fresh levelling experience rather than grind the same content with the same meta.

You don't need to participate unless you want the battle pass season cosmetics - which is a bit shitty (will they come to the store in the future?)

Yep, I tried a Druid out before the season but I didn't play him seriously since Rogue was my main. Now I get to devote all my time to the class and I am having a blast! Now I don't know which class is my favorite. Anyway, it looks like the whole world woke up and logged in. I am having some rubber banding and long load times. :(
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
This is pretty sad, but IMO people are overreacting to a bad patch. Devs mess up sometimes, not the end of the world. They're on it, they'll fix it. Game is still fun as is I think for most players.

The good news for them is that there wouldn't be an uproar if people didnt' care.
I will praise them WHEN it gets fixed. Not before. Trust is earned. Not given.

This patch was clearly designed to milk players and I am glad to see it is backfiring.

Keep the heat on.
 
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That’s where you messed up. Do 1 toon at a time and save a build your interested for seasons. I did barb and now have a necro in seasons. The barb is 70 I’m loving the necro in seasons. People burn themselves out, just pace yourself.
Yea, I plan on doing a different class each season, and then if I'm still even playing by the end of that just doing either OP or wacky as fuck builds each season.

This is really a game you gotta play in bursts, I stopped playing the original release weeks ago and am actually interested now in this new season. If I kept playing my original character from release to now I would hate the game.
 

DavidGzz

Gold Member
I was having fun with shred but I just I unlocked an aspect for pulverize via the season rewards and trample plus pulverize with the extended shockwave has been a blast!

The heart that pulls enemies close when I activate an ultimate(cataclysm) is also so good! Just hit level 31. Time to sleep.
 

FoxMcChief

Gold Member
That’s where you messed up. Do 1 toon at a time and save a build your interested for seasons. I did barb and now have a necro in seasons. The barb is 70 I’m loving the necro in seasons. People burn themselves out, just pace yourself.
I get that. Not the games fault. My play style just isn’t suited for this game. Kind of like how I kept wanting to make FF16 an RPG, when it’s not.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
Needed a break from the grind tonight. Level 37 druid, pulverise. Quite an interesting change from the TB rogue on eternal.

Not really finding any great malignant hearts yet. They seem to be summon wolf, generate life in barrier or activate cyclone armour.
 

Zheph

Member
52 rogue in T3, my necro friend has some cool hearts but the rogue ones are really lackluster so far if not completely shit
 

Eotheod

Member
So when a season drops it runs in another realm. This is because the entire mechanics usually change that need to be kept seperate from the eternal realm. Its kind of like a gameplay mod on top of the base game. This season its essentially replacing gems with these 'hearts'.

Any non-seasonal characters are created in the eternal realm. That is the base game and stays as normal.

At the end of the season, your seasonal character will transfer to the eternal realm and the seasonal realm will be closed. Any season specific items (like hearts) will be remove from your character. In this case we expect all the sockets to return to standard. You can then log into the eternal realm and keep playing the character as per normal.

You can redeem the battle pass now or wait for season pass 2. Although just be aware the button on the season tab will just activate it when you click it.

The Battle Pass has progression linked to the current season so won't run on the eternal realm. Some things like cosmetics will transfer back to the eternal realm. I don't think aspects will merge down into your codex if not acquired in the eternal realm tho
Right, thanks for that breakdown as it was incredibly informative. I never lasted long enough for D3 seasons so was super confused.

I'm not sure if I can be bothered playing through the game more than once, already struggling to find time as is with one character at level 25. That would mean you'd have to run the whole story again wouldn't it? If that's the case, I'm sorry but no thank you because I don't see that being replayable at all.

It's just super weird of a system, because it is clear they want to sell battle pass monetisation but this just makes people not want to participate more. At least in my view it does, can't be bothered restarting every three months.
 

Minsc

Gold Member
Right, thanks for that breakdown as it was incredibly informative. I never lasted long enough for D3 seasons so was super confused.

I'm not sure if I can be bothered playing through the game more than once, already struggling to find time as is with one character at level 25. That would mean you'd have to run the whole story again wouldn't it? If that's the case, I'm sorry but no thank you because I don't see that being replayable at all.

It's just super weird of a system, because it is clear they want to sell battle pass monetisation but this just makes people not want to participate more. At least in my view it does, can't be bothered restarting every three months.

You can skip the campaign, so you get right to the fun stuff from the start.

And it's not restarting every three months, it's getting that fresh hit of gameplay. It's not like you're simply playing the same exact build every season. I mean you could, but what's the point? There's 5 classes and at least 15 drastically different ways to build them (a lot more but 3 pretty major branches per class). So right there you have 15 seasons covered without even considering all the crazy modifiers they bring to the game in seasons. And new classes from the expansions.
 

Eotheod

Member
You can skip the campaign, so you get right to the fun stuff from the start.

And it's not restarting every three months, it's getting that fresh hit of gameplay. It's not like you're simply playing the same exact build every season. I mean you could, but what's the point? There's 5 classes and at least 15 drastically different ways to build them (a lot more but 3 pretty major branches per class). So right there you have 15 seasons covered without even considering all the crazy modifiers they bring to the game in seasons. And new classes from the expansions.
Right, well the skip is good to hear as that was half my complaint/issue with the design. That your character comes over is pretty good too. I'm still barely into the story so I think skipping this season and using my freebie for next one is the ticket. I barely have time as is anyway.
 

Neolombax

Member
Just finished the main campaign last night. If I want to start over in seasons, would I start back at WT2 or can I go to WT3?
 
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