INB4 people freak out by the idea MMO terms associated with Diablo4, please read
I really Hoped Diablo4 borrowed the aspect of choosing a faction some MMos have for the stronghold mechanic. I should i say and highlight it stays a ARPG hack’n slash but borrow a MMO mechanic to empower its endgame Pretty sure that was the original plan for D3 by blizzard North https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swIztpMr4EM&ab_channel=Xtimus
We even got a glimpse of it with the original item designs where there were angelic and demonic powers
Its still a full-on ARPG gameplay but with faction system for the endgame
Humanity VS Heaven VS Hell
Playing the storyline, you are face with choices that makes you choose between Lilith, Inarius or Humanity. those choices are just flavour since they all end up the same way, you die, Lilith killed you because you are with heaven, Lilith betrays you if you side with her(mistress of betrayal afterall) and she kills you just for being a human trying to stop her. Finishing the Storyline you are Reborn as an Angel through the crystal arch or a Demon through the burning hells or get revived by Rathma. This would give good replayability to the storyline by having 3 paths, give cool looks to characters and create a justified neverending endgame
Endgame applications of this choice
Fight to gain control over towns and areas. The precedent behind this could be like the existance of the pandemonium fortress. This forteresse was built to protect the worldstone from falling into enemies hand but through time it changed hands regularlaly. With Lilith’s uprising, world stone shard(giant ones) scattered all over Sanctuary are being the main target of Power Seekers. Fortresses are being built around them to protect them from falling into enemy camp
Having control of a WorldStone fortress could grant buffs to its faction members while doing quests in surrounding areas. Players could contribute to the fortress’s power by financing it with ressources, making the guarding monsters stronger, creating a natural ressource sink for the game.
They already said they wanted to make it a Massive open world, this would take full benefit of it. There would obviously still be normal dungeon crawling, you could play the game without even caring about this mechanic. The only difference would be that Those fortress grant Shrine like buffs to allies on a certain radius on the map, its basically a Tug-o-war for faction buffs
Its still a traditional “Clear dungeons get loot” arpg, but its just a flavourful twist to it. It could also be a good pretext to have pvp ingame. The “Faction” system taken from MMOs is just there as a justification for the endgame repetitive grind, it turns the players into the “Eternal Conflict” mode
A faction conquers a Stronghold after X consecutive victories
Victories are:
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Pvp 4of7 duels
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stronghold assault: players run what is exactly like a dungeon, so it’s pvm. Attack players face the defending forces of the stronghold while defending players face the offence monsters, pushing them back
Ie: Heaven tries to siege a Hell conquered stronghold. Heaven players face demons and undead while hell players face angels, archangels and other Heavenly creatures
It just gives a lore/thematic reason as to why you would endlessly grind dungeons, because the other side is also doing this to get stronger…
https://youtu.be/IBAKjviBElo?t=249 even Tyrael talks about the hero choosing a side