What would you like to see in the next quarterly update.
Would you like to see something new added to the Darkening of Tristram event in January?
Here we go…
It’s possible they delay the update to January.
Why would they do that? In February we will have even more news at Blizzconline.
- PezRadarIt could be that Blizzconline will replace the 1Q update for D4 in 2021.
Yes please! That would be great.
Since some dev left, I dunno…
He was already replaced by someone on the team.
“David’s replacement comes from inside Blizzard and the Diablo 4 team itself. Joe Piepiora now takes on the role moving up the Diablo 4 team ranks from Lead Open World Designer, then Senior Game Designer, to his new role as Lead Systems Designer. Joe joined the Diablo 4 team in September 2019 so he’s got quite a few months under his belt already.” - PureDiablo fan site.
If we’re to continue getting quarterly updates in 2021, then that would be my expectation. Also, I’m doubtful about a delay in the 4th quarterly update. However if there is one, I’m sure they would inform the community beforehand.
That said:
I wouldn’t expect this to happen unless they decide to make the Darkening of Tristram event year long, as having a beneficial item (especially for endgame activity) offered temporarily rarely sits well with the community.
Many of the current gems are not even used, so a new gem for the helm might be an option. 
Right now many of use have run the event several times. So adding something new each year might be an incentive to keep playing it.
Well the issue there, or at least the issue imo, is that while you create incentive for folks to run the Darkening of Tristram event by having it offer a useful and exclusive endgame reward. Depending on how useful and/or powerful the reward is, you may have also demotivated folks who happened to have missed the event or couldn’t participate in it, as without the reward, they would be at a disadvantage against the folks who did participate in it.
This of course, could easily be alleviated if you make the Darkening of Tristram event year long. They could have it where entering the Darkening of Tristram requires players to craft a key that would open the portal when used at old Tristram. The materials needed to obtain the key can be found by grinding anywhere, such as adventure mode, campaign mode, rifts, bounty caches etc., however the materials would have a better drop rate from Diablo (only when you’ve killed the other act bosses in the game).
To add to this, they could make January the only time of year where you could enter the Darkening of Tristram event without needing to craft a key. So it would certainly still have some incentive for players to run the event at January.
Assuming that it’s one primal per mode, then that would be a good reward imo.
Not everything is going to be equal for everyone. At the start of each season many players run the challenge rift which gives them a massive head start on people who do not run it or cannot finished it. Others start the season a few days late and get power leveled by friends who give them legendary items and run the vault and cow level with them. Solo players are never carried by others they never receive free handouts. If someone missed the DoT event in January that offered a special item so be it.
Should players who have been playing for years be held back, just because we do not want a new player to miss out on one item?
Many of us are at a disadvantage trying to compete with players who play 6-8 hours a day. I have a job, family and a life outside of gaming. More power to them if they can play games all day. Missing out on one items in the DoT is not going to tip the scales one way or the other for most players.
The advantages provided by those are neither lasting nor exclusive. The rewards you could obtain from the Challenge Rift are also obtainable from bounties (and to a greater amount as well); as such the advantage is mostly a short term advantage, as within about a week of playtime (assuming you haven’t done any bounties), you’d already had burnt through the content of the Challenge Rift reward from activities such as cubing legendary powers, reforging legendary items, converting a rare into a legendary, utilizing the mystic, etc.
Powerleveling advantages vary and in some circumstances possess some tradeoffs. For example, if you get powerleveled early in the season, you’re least likely to have any decent starting gear, as such you’ll then find yourself looking for someone who’s willing to carry you in a number of rifts and/or greater rifts. Trying to find someone like that (even with the communities function), you’ll be using up time that you could be using for activities such as bounties. The only time I would say that powerleveling is truly advantageous is either if you already have a bunch of exp gear ready and plenty of gems of ease to use (most of which would’ve required some time and effort to use) and/or you’re being power leveled by either a friend or a kind soul who also happens to play a class similar to yours and such the gear they drop to you has use besides being cubed or salvaged for souls.
Now regarding solo players, they have access to the same content as multiplayers do; as such the disadvantage they have isn’t in terms of exclusivity, but efficiency.
In short, even if I were to miss the first week’s challenge rift, I can still get bloodshards, crafting mats, bounty mats, and gold from other activities. Even if a friend of mine gets powerleveled and plays in a group with others, while I continue to solo on; I’ll still have access to the same type of rewards as they do, he’ll only get them at a faster rate.
On the other hand, if you tie an exclusive item with endgame value in into a temporary event like Darkening of Tristram, with no other way of getting it; then for any player who missed out on it, not only would they not be able to catch up to the players who did partake, but for those who don’t care about competition, they would lose out on a potential key piece of item or gear that could be used for making potentially new and/or interesting builds to them.
For example if I were to run the Darkening of Tristram event (which I always run come every January) and completed it while obtaining the item, but a Friend of mine wasn’t able to for whatever reason, then he would’ve missed out on a reward that no amount of time or effort can help him get; and by the time January rolls around again, the season would’ve been over.
So yeah, I rather not have time-based exclusivity, unless said exclusive item is purely cosmetic with no impact to a person’s gameplay; otherwise there would need to be additional ways for players to obtain said rewards.
It depends if Blizz gives their employees time off during the holidays in the same way they have done before the virus. If yes then I would expect the next update before the holidays or after it in January if it is delayed. Although I can’t see what would delay the update. There is nothing new that they have to talk about concerning D3 or any other Diablo project that they might be working on. So my hope is before the holidays.
that wouldn’t be a quarterly update tho…
I am looking forward to the D1 throwback.
I wish Blizz would add a D2 throwback later in the year.
They had an opportunity to do something special for the D2 20th anniversary instead we had this.
Yeah, personally I would like if it was some kind of event where you go to fight the Diablo 2 act end bosses, each boss would have their own area that look similar to the area you fought them in Diablo 2. After you beat Baal, you’d have a choice to return to town with your reward or continue on and be transported to Old Tristram where you’d face Pandemonium Diablo, Uber Baal, and Uber Mephisto.
Similar to the hellfire boss fights? 
I would not mind seeing some more scenery from D4…