I’ve been a long fan of the Diablo Franchise (fond memories of D2), and wanted to share a few suggestions with Blizzard and the community. I’ll do my best to keep this short and sweet…
Mood & Atmosphere
What made D1/D2 masterpieces was simply the mood and atmosphere. The dark/gritty tone and mounting terror as you proceed step by step through gory dungeons keeping you on your toes for what is around the corner made it truly a horrific experience. The soundtrack in particular, reverberating guitar and pounding drums was an integral part of the games success. Blizzard North got it right, and hope that the current D4 development team can get this one right.
Larger Parties
One of the most addictive experiences in D2 was running the campaign with a total of eight players. The game ramped up the difficulty to match the might of the party and made for some great moments. I would love to see D4 return to large co-op style of play.
Trading
Trading is an important element of an online game and helps keep the community alive and thriving. The D4 development team will have to tackle how best to implement this feature, but please no auction house of any kind. I would like to see trading done via town hubs where players can congregate (one of the pitfalls of D3 is it had no sense of community). Lasty, I think trading should be open and just restrict the higest tier gear only (e.g. Ancients & Mythics) would be best for an ARPG and the community at-large.
Leveling
Bring back the level cap to 99. The player should finish the game around lvl 60-70. The journey from lvl 70 to 99 should be a very long and difficult road. A true feat in and of itself. This gives players an end goal to attain for their characters while avoiding infinite Paragon levels. Do not increase the level cap with expansions. When this is done, all items from the previous max level become irrelevant.
Skill Trees
I hope the D4 development team considers adding skill trees similar to D2 (LoD). Having tension and requiring players to make difficult choices with character customization is a good thing, Not all builds are created equal (or viable on the hardest difficulty), but that is perfectly acceptable. Permanent character builds and choice should have meaning, both the good and the bad. If someone messes up their character, that’s excellent for replay-ability as we now have a reason to re-roll the same class. If this is too contentious, maybe adding a re-spec cost that increases exponentially could be a solution (e.g. significant gold sink).
Character Attributes
I would like to see the classic stats return to D4, such as Strength, Dexerity, Vitality and Intelligence. They would give bonuses, add diversity to builds and would fullfill stat requirements for legendary items, etc. This creates gear restrictions, but all items (except sets) could be equipped by all classes. Items for the barbarian would require more strength, items for the sorceress would require more intelligence, and so forth.
Great & Diverse Itemization
Itemization needs to have great diversity. Legendary items should be interesting rather than just piling on more stats. Sets shouldn’t be best end game gear as it is too cookie cutter. Would be interesting to see magic and rare items that are actually best in slot, pushing the boundary even more for build diversity. In D2, I liked that items of every rarity type had the potential to be a BiS item.
Charms
The development team should bring back charms, but this time your character will have a bag dedicated to holding X amount of charms. This gives characters more customization without the D2 issue of charms clogging up inventory.
The Gold Economy
Gold in D4 should be a relatively scarce resource and not something you amass millions running dungeons. In D3, I felt like Scrooge McDuck with hoards of gold and nothing to spend it on. It breaks immersion. The development team should consider having a semi-realistic economy to make it feel like you are struggling to survive in a dark and grim world. Bottom line is gold should be valuable akin to Dungeons and Dragons.
PvP & PvP Arena
No open world PvP, unless by player choice. They should include open world PvP servers to give those players the adrenaline rush for collecting other players ears. In addition, include arenas where players can battle it out (1v1 or 2v2 match-ups) and other players can wager bets on the fights.
Leaderboards
Having leaderboards for PvE, PvP, and PvP Arena with solo options as well would be a great addition to D4.
Light Radius
I would like to see the light radius return in D4 for dungeons, caves, sewers, etc. as it made the environment darker, created an element of suspense (not knowing what might lurk around the corner), and added to the immersion. In D3, everything is out in the open in well lit corridors, with no suspense and no apprehension. No light radius for outdoor locations as it is not appropriate.
Amazon & Paladin
For the two remaining classes that are pending announcement, I hope we will see the amazon and paladin. A powerful woman warrior that wields spears, javelins and bows with uncanny ability and knights of faith that yield holy magic would be a welcome sight, indeed.
Follower Improvements
I thought it would be interesting to see Follower Sets included in the game. It would also be great if followers could be fully geared up and wear a complete armour set akin to players.
Treasure Goblin Improvements
I like the idea of treasure goblins in D4, but would like to see the art/model look more horrifying and grotesque. One idea is for them to be cannibalist little creatures that collect body parts for blood rituals that have rings around bloody fingers and necklaces around the necks of slain victims. Or, instead of them carrying a bright glowing bag around, they store gold in their fat bellies. When you hack and slash them to death, the gold spills out from their guts and entrails.
Crafting Material Improvements
I thought it would be a cool addition to broaden crafting materials to include hides, bones, scales and even body parts from slain beasts, monsters and players alike.
Seasonal Events
It would be a cool addition if they added seasonal events like Halloween and Christmas to the game. There would be caravans, tents, or wagons being added to towns, decorations on buildings, new vendors selling seasonal merchandise, etc. Players could participate in the events for collecting some goodies.
Mechanical & Magical Traps
I would like to see the addition of traps to D4, both mechanical and magical. Mechanical traps could include poison arrows, spikes, falling blocks, and whirling blades whereas magical traps could initiate spell effects when triggered such as darkness, weakness gas, fiery blast, illusions, etc. The various types of traps would have varying levels of lethality and duration.
Crossplay
At launch, dissolve the platform barriers and make D4 available to play on console as well as PC on day one with crossplay and a master account that will let you shift from your desk to your couch.