It’s close enough to reasonably say that GRifts is where all this started.
You’re nitpicking details to claim they’re not at all alike, but I could honestly do the same of the stuff you’re saying D4 takes from WoW and TW3.
None of this stuff is 100% identical, and even if Nightmare Dungeons were actually 100% identical to Mythic+ that’d still make it basically nothing like WoW on the whole(which makes it a weird claim to say it’s like D2 + WoW + TW3 when it’s almost nothing like WoW or TW3).
Most of us have also not seen Diablo 4’s endgame, and it’s hardly fair to judge the pace of combat off low level gameplay which is slower in most RPGs(including Diablo 3).
Not to mention that most Diablo games are about running stuff fast, including Diablo 2. Diablo 4 will almost assuredly also be about running stuff fast.
Honestly I see Diablo 4 lasting far more than a year unless Blizzard just abandons it.
They want this to be another live service game, which means seasonal updates. It probably wont be much in the way of content each season, but it’ll be enough to keep a decent number of people coming back each season.
Truth be told, I’m no more worried about Diablo 4 than I am about any games (that I was/am also looking forward to) that were released in the last few years and/or have an upcoming release. That said, I’m confident that I’ll have more satisfying moments while playing Diablo 4 than disappointing ones; assuming ofc, that nothing major changes from what I currently know.
It’s funny. Because on one hand I am really NOT worried about D4 at all.
At worst, I reckon, I will only have a couple of months of fun after which I could lose interest. Which would still be good value. But you know what? I reckon I will happily and eagerly play many more seasons.
But when I idly reflect on how scummy and worthless Blizzard/Activision is of late… I guess worst scenario might very well happen. Still worst scenario is still good value for money, just somewhat disappointing. Though not immediately disappointing, only disappointing later…
so far, from my personal experiences with D4, it’s suffering from D2itis - “make the game super large so it looks good”. Size does NOT equal quality. I found the game absolutely boring. The visuals didn’t look anything special to me either. Game mechanics (just playing a character, no build) were boring. I played half of beta 1 and didn’t even touch the 2nd beta. CBF.
In all honesty, I can’t even see myself playing this game through to its entirety. It’ll be a game that I bought, but shouldn’t have bought, and it’ll sit on the shelf, unloved and ignored.
D3 is a far more enjoyable game as far as I’m concerned.
You CAN play it solo, but it’s not a single player game. Assassins Creed is a single player game, and at least the last few iterations in that franchise have had MTX.
Yes sir… that ^^ right there. There will be 10 million and eleventy-one threads posting that video.
@Tbone:
Keep your money in your bank account and you’ll have nothing to worry about. I’m not worried. I’m not buying it. No FoMO. No hype train. I’m not drunk with anticipation. No days off scheduled in advance. Blizz does not have to worry about success or failure. They are a subsidiary or M$ now… or will be shortly when the check clears the bank (read that again… the phrase isn’t transposed). The game doesn’t have to be great… or even good. “Fine” is good enough as long as player engagement is maintained. Who the F spends $70 to $100 on an entertainment product that is just “fine”. Its like getting a subscription to HBO so that you just don’t fall asleep… quickly.
Again, don’t worry the real game isn’t the game. … the real game is the battle pass, the XP boost, the mounts, and other collectable digital mtx. The NPCs, world bosses, constant stream of cinematics, and the Othello like paragon board is just a window dressing distraction to maintain player engagement. The boredom will drive players to the mtx shop.
I’m sorry but that sounds like a bland, unsalted, unseasoned, hospital food product. When did companies start selling boredom in a can.
There you have it. The game is “fine”… as in peak mediocrity. To some people “fine” game is fun.
Level scaling making levels not irrelevant… .just less relevant. This makes D4 flat instead of having levels? From your description D4 isn’t good… its not bad… its just “meh”.
@Everyone:
You guys are starting to convince me that D4 is closer to D:I. The bigger, fatter, designed for game consoles version of D:I. D:I put me to sleep.
The inclusion of a Battle Pass is extremely off-putting. Yeah, yeah, only cosmetics. For now. I genuinely envy people that still manage to have faith in this company after the past few years.
Wow! Rhykker confirms basically everything I’ve said in one video. Flat, bland, nice, ok, shrugging while wincing, not exactly bad but not exciting either…
I was absolutely stoked in the lead up to the release of D3, WoW vanilla and the few expansions that I played, War3/TFT, and SC-2. I can remember taking the day off and taking a short jog over to game stop to buy a boxed product. I would jog back home install the game while sipping tea or coffee. It did not matter if I installed directly from CD/DVD or from an image file on a hard disk using Alcohol 120. I was so anxious for the damn installer to complete. Its only like 4 mins of install time but it felt like an eternity to complete. Those weren’t just games they were an experience. I use to think I was a rabid fan until a former coworker, brought a beach chair, to sit in line at a Barnes and Nobles book store, to buy a Harry Potter book. She only sat in line for 11+ hours and then took the next 3 days off. D4 release feels like bland white toast popping up when the toaster timer runs out.
Just listen to how Rhykker describes the blandness and flatness of gear, gear progression, level progression, character strength progression. It sounds like jogging in place.
If you think progressing in D4 gonna be like jogging in the same spot then you haven’t been paying attention to progress development of D3. At the end game, you go through a horrible grindfest just like the previous installments. The major difference is that D4 won’t really have a yardstick of sorts, but a diverse trial with modifiers.
Please stop trying to over generalize the idea of:
all grinds are the same (false equivalence)
grinding = jogging in place
Jogging in place = not moving. Slow, flat, 1% increase progression will feel like not progressing and not increasing in power. Maybe at the end game things change where level scaling may stop and then the build and gear can eclipse monster health and damage. However, if between level 1 and the point at which level scaling stops:
the skills/build and gear only increase in tiny increments
the level scaling erodes a steady or fixed portion of the character strength gains
…then as Rhykker states the progression will feel slow. This is akin to running at top speed over a long distance with an open parachute attached to your back. All of your speed and strength is setup to work against you. It would not matter if you are running on 2 legs or 4 legs.
WoW is the ultimate multi-tiered hamster wheel and D4 wants to follow in a similar vein.
It occurs to me that you are the one who judge that. All I said is, that you tasted how slow the progress can be from D3 and perhaps D2/D2R already. I never implied grinding in D2 and D3 are same, neither it was about D4. I’m talking about their pace where it’s mutual.
End game content and character progress is different in D4 compared to D3/D2; so expect some slowdown until community itself figure the way of farming efficiently. Grinding in D4 and D3 will not be same until patches start to roll out and make it an even ground for new starters and old veterans. As I get it that you won’t be gated by level from content at any point, so don’t worry.
It come out blaring to be an MMO-lite, it will have similar elements to WoW for sure.
The post Haedrig’s Gift D3 grind as a fresh level 70 is relatively fast compared to D2/LoD/Resurrected. D4 early grind with a large number of stats that are bland as [insert explicative] and generally increase at 1% to 1.4%. Come on… that is not a mutual grind. The grinds are not equivalent.
I’m not talking about end-game farming. I’m talking about the leveling journey. The level scaling mechanic is basically a penalty for leveling up. The bland and flat itemization means you get very small bumps in character performance strength. Its nice that Maxroll had build guides ready for the open beta and it looks like a select few (ex: streamers, gaming media types) have already experienced the entire game. Did they all have to pay a fee above what general public is being offered to get privileged access? I doubt it. So, what is the incentive for me to pay for early access to game that others got access to for free. Why the hell would I pay the inflated price of $70 to $100 when streamers will most likely get the super duper deluxe game given to them for free and have the ears of the dev team. I don’t need a drag mechanic (level scaling) to slow down my progression in addition to a constant stream of cinematic interrupts.
See what I wrote above about a select few gaining access to the game before the general public and the general public includes the pre-order folks. There is no even ground, when people are paying for a head start, and folks sign NDAs to gain access to the game and the ears of the devs. The “open beta” and “server slam” weren’t really betas. They were a marketing tool. You’ll have to search for my post about how a buddy of mine was completely turned off to D4 because after I completed something in-game I was presented with an in-game “Pre-Order D4” advert. He went from looking forward to playing the game to a hard Hell No after I told him about it.
I’m not worried. I’m not buying the game. I might not ever buy the game.
