Hopped onto the PTR to see a preview of the new season. I’m right on the border between casual and more frequent players; I usually hit the first weekend hard and then play an hour or two most nights, more on the weekends. I’d say I probably average about 1500 Paragons a season.
Was having a blast leveling with the combination of the Altar and the Visions. Could not for the life of me get a second diamond or flawless or better to drop to unlock the no level requirement seal. Didn’t really bother me though, was enjoying myself. Then a soul shard dropped and I full stopped. That really got me pumped and excited for the upcoming season. Was enjoying trying out the Angry Chicken with the changes from last season to see if it was viable to unlock the whole altar (I usually main GoD DH).
Altar leveling was going smooth, was getting challenged by the higher GRs, but that’s half the fun. Hit about 600 Paragons and it was time for the later nodes of the altar…and I hit the Staff of Herding. Killed my enthusiasm in one fell swoop.
Please consider a different item for this. Grinding this two seasons ago was awful. It’s especially bad because this item has basically no purpose but to unlock a portrait frame.
If you intend to make the altar season-only, consider a fully leveled soul shard this season and something similar with the different themes (Level 70 Ethereal, Sanctified Weapon, etc.). Or farming a bunch of high level regular gems, a 100th level legendary gem, basically anything that’s a more efficient use of time. If this will be a “from now on” feature, but we don’t have to unlock it every season it’s less of a concern, but if we have to do this every season a lot of people won’t bother with other game options out there.
I have a friend who’s a very casual player. She only really plays when her partner and I are playing, probably about 20-40 hours a whole season. She was really enjoying herself that season right up to that point. She stopped after that and completely skipped the season after.
For casuals, you’ve done a terrific job of making the game accessible and fun. something like this really kills the enthusiasm for anything but a more “grind mindset” player.
Really love all the changes over the last few years. Your team has been crushing it with new content. I’d love to see you revisit some of the Legendaries that drop during the 1-70 phase and make them better for leveling if they don’t support a build currently. Or an addition to 2-handed sets that focuses on quickly killing monsters and keeping a kill streak going. You could give a level 50 set of those for Chapter 1 rewards and give players the choice to either use those to kill lower level monsters and go fast or upgrade to a higher DPS weapon for higher difficulty but possibly slower time. This might add a choice similar to the “save or use” for the Challenge Rift cache that the altar adds so well.
Again, really appreciate the hard work and great content. Given the state of D4, I honestly still get more pumped for a D3 Season as it’s way more fun to level a character and I don’t ever have to start completely over if I go Softcore. Thanks for keeping a great game alive!
EJV