Hi there,
I am having a difficult time understanding what this means:
“Accelerated Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock in Diablo IV—includes a Premium Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock plus 20 Tier Skips and a cosmetic”
I get the “cosmetic” term used, naturally. However, what is all this other stuff? The language used sounds like you’re buying a seasonal pass, but I don’t understand what the pass is for. Some sources I found claim the “seasonal pass” is simply to acquire a cosmetic set of items. When I see words like “accelerated” and “premium” and “tier skips”, I get the feeling that if you spend more money on this version of the game, you are being given advantages over other players that have nothing to do with cosmetics.
That being said (and read this part very carefully if you’re wanting to verbally scathe me instead of providing any useful information to my inquiry), I legitimately do not understand what this means, and I make no claims to understand what any of this means - I just want clarification. All I am looking for is a detailed answer, should one actually exist at this point. Was there a specific point in any specific video or something that details what all of this actually entails? I wasn’t able to find a clear answer.
Thank you.
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Say the battle pass has 100 unlocks that require you to for example earn x amount of xp per level, the Premium version instantly unlocks the first 20 levels of the pass so you start to unlock level 21 when you play.
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Taken from another thread.
The premium season pass will only reward cosmetics, it won’t offer any in-game advantages to players. The free tier pass offers in-game advantages and/or boosts, but they can only be obtained by playing the game, and spending money won’t change/affect how fast you obtain the free tier pass rewards.
"Seasons will add all-new gameplay, quests, challenges, meta changes, and quality-of-life improvements. The Battle Pass recognizes players’ dedication, with greater rewards unlocking as you play more throughout the Season. There will be a single track of rewards with Free Tiers that are unlocked just by playing the game and leveling, and Premium Tiers which provide no in-game power or advantage over other players.
The Free Tiers of the pass will provide gameplay boosts to all players—things which make the journey of leveling up a fresh seasonal character faster and more streamlined. In contrast, the Premium Tier rewards are focused on aesthetics, providing a huge value in the form of cosmetics and Premium Currency. Many of the rewards embody the seasonal theme, helping players show off their participation in that Season."
More info can be found here as it details Blizzard’s monetization plans:
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So if you don’t unlock the Premium Battle Pass you can’t earn any of those rewards right? I’ve actually never played a game that had a battle pass surprisingly.
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I’m with you. Been playing Diablo for decades but I never heard the terms that you mention. Confusing. I just sign in and start killing. Finished the game(s) many times but never dealt with any of this stuff – seasonal pass – tier – seasons. I just freaking play and that’s it.
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No clue what any of this means…
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Basically, a battle/season pass is a accumalative tier bar system that requires players to either spend money or gain some type of points in order to unlock a tier within a battle pass. either each tier or every other tier possesses a reward which becomes available to players upon unlocking. Normally there’s two different tier bars within the battlepass, the free tier bar (where the whole tier bar is available to all players, and it’s tiers is unlockable via activities) and the premium tier bar (a tier bar that requires players to purchase, usually with real money, in order to unlock it). If you don’t buy the premium battle pass (or the premium tier bar), then the rewards within the premium battle pass is unavailable to you.
Now in the case of Diablo 4. Every season, we’ll apparently have a season pass that has two different tier bars in it. The free season pass tier bar whose tiers offer players in-game boosts or advantages (such as exp bonuses, mf bonuses, etc) throughout the course of the season. And the premium season pass tier bar whose tiers offer players cosmetics (with no power or advantages) and premium currency (the free season pass tier also offers this, likely to a lesser amount) that can be used in the in-game shop, which apparently only sells cosmetics with no in-game advantages or powers.
Now if you don’t choose to purchase the premium pass during the seasons of Diablo 4, you’ll still have access to the free season pass and it’s in-game boosts. Also even if you choose to spend money to unlock tiers, you apparently won’t get any of the free season pass tiers in-game boosts or advantages, as they require players to actually play the game to unlock and spending money won’t change the speed in which you unlock them.
So long story short, the only thing that spending money in either the premium battle pass and/or in-game cash shop will get you is cosmetics that offer no in-game advantages or powers. You won’t lose out on anything (except cosmetics) if you opt out of spending additional real money in the game. That is of course, assuming nothing changes by the time the game is released as well as once it’s seasons hits.
I hope that clears some things up.
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Thanks for in the in depth reply. So If you get the Premium Battle Pass are all of those rewards unlocked immediately or parallel to the free tier rewards? So if I buy the pass and don’t play enough I could lose the rewards?
No after you purchase the premium battle pass, you’d only unlock access to the premium tiers. You’d still have to either play the game (and gain the necessary amount of points to unlock tiers) or spend additonal money in order to unlock the tiers within the premium battle pass. But yes, if you buy the pass, and don’t either play enough or spend enough to unlock all of the tiers, then you’d lose the chance to get the rewards once the season ends (assuming Blizzard doesn’t bring them back for later seasons).
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What the hell are the “rewards”??? All cosmetic? This game isn’t going to be pay to win is it? I’m all for having a RMAH(which I hope they do and they prob won’t) but giving blizzard money for in game advantages seems like a horrible idea.
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From what they have told us thus far; yes, all purchaseable rewards from the in-game cash shop and premium season pass are all cosmetics with no in-game advantages or power.
I think you Unlock 20 Tier earlier the cosmetics”
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"Premium Tiers which provide no in-game power or advantage over other players.
But you jump 20 Tiers, but other than that, no advantages 
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You only jump 20 tiers in the premium tiers, you don’t jump 20 tiers in the non-premium tiers. Think of them as separate exp bars.
What I can not figure out is the 20 skips is just for the 1st season or for all seasons going forward?
It’s likely for just the first season.
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So does the premium battle pass from now to the end of time or for only the first few battle pass seasons? I want to know because if it unlocks it for all time then ok, but if its limited then meh.
I THINK it is the first Season/Battlepass only. They will be 3 months long and there is a free version of everything except the end cosmetics.
After that I think they said a BP is $10, but I don’t know if that is the first tier or fancy one.
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Is this going to be anything like the Starcraft Battle Pass system? Where you gain rewards like access to videos, avatars, and other mostly useless fluff not even related to the game?
If so – as long as the game plays well - others can have all the bling they want to pay for.
ps: seems things like experience boosts are included in some battle passes: not sure this applies to D4 passes, but I’d gamble they will be.
" Seasonal XP Boost: Enjoy a Season-long 10% XP boost."
Yes, the battle pass will include boosts, including experience boosts, this will be within the free battle pass. The premium battle pass will have solely cosmetics and premium currency (which are used to purchase more cosmetics).
The Battle Pass awards free Season Boosts. Boosts accelerate players’ progress for the duration of the Season. For example, a Season Boost might accelerate XP earned to make leveling multiple characters within a season faster. Because they affect gameplay, Season Boosts are free rewards for all players. We want to be clear that players can’t unlock Season Boosts more quickly through purchases–there is no way to unlock more boosts, or boosts at a faster pace, by spending money.
Additional info:
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