Read the patch notes. The Cliff Notes version is they’re making major changes to itemization and the end game loop. And, instead of dumping it on players blindly, they’re finally opening a PTR.
Things the player community has been screaming for since last June when we finally got to see what the game looked like after the first act in the story ended. Or every time a season dropped with major zero day exploits.
The problem is we’ve seen how Blizzard responded to player feedback from D3 PTR’s and how they’ve ignored player feedback for a year (if you count the open betas/server slams) in D4 so honestly don’t expect much. But it is a sign they might change the direction D4 is headed.
Another example of the morbidity in the AAA gaming world is that manufacturers are now claiming they’re making AAAA games. So much junk fills the AAA space that they think calling new games AAAA will make people buy them. And when doesn’t work they’ll merge some more brands/titles together, slap on a few more A’s and jack up the price. “Coming soon for UbivisionSports the new AAAAAAAAA game Diabloshock Madden '27! Only $109.95 with subscription!”
While there are exceptions to every rule, AAA games being bad isn’t even the rule.
Expectations are simply way higher than 25 years ago.
That’s not to say every AAA game is good, it’s probably easy to name a dozen bad ones. However there are also plenty of studios releasing consistently good games
We must have a very different definition of good AAA games. I can think of only two recently. Neither in genres I play. I’ll tell you how high my expectations are. I’d rather play Dungeon Keeper. Most modern games qualify as bloatware. Too much nothing going on.
It’s not just a blizzard thing. Making crap games in favor of easy profit, in the form of loot boxes, cosmetics, battle passes, meaningless dlcs, while their games are empty and shallow and just plain bad. Look at ubisoft, bioware, bethesda, etc.
This one makes me sad, the most. It really makes me hope that Elder Scrolls 6 or Fallout 5 are not dress-up simulators baked into a half-assed games too.
As far as D4 is concerned, the part that I find the funniest is there are actually some people who were praising Blizzard for all the recent changes, saying things like “Look guys, they are listening to us! They’re awesome!” when they’re just doing things that should have been done from the start. That’s like watching someone dump garbage all over the neighborhood then give the person praise a year later when they decide to pick it up.