What Are You Doing with This Game?

[Sazaku-1559]

@Nevalistis

In Season 17, there is an additional reward available in the form of the Galactic Wings. Unfortunately, we were unable to add a similar reward to Season 18.

We may still add similar bonus cosmetics to future Seasons, and really just comes down to where we focus efforts in a given patch. Cosmetics are one of the more difficult things to add to the game, requiring art, modeling, and significant QA testing (especially in the case of wings; we have to thoroughly model and test their effectiveness on 14 different player character models). That wasn’t in the cards for this patch, but it’s not off the table for the future.

That is a load of nonsense–you know it; I know it; Nev who wrote it knows it; and anybody reading it knows it, and more: the poor mod who has to delete this post knows it. There are people in the community who would work on this for free, and you can’t give one employee a couple hours on a slow day to recolor some doodad for a cosmetic reward. What a joke.

[Edited in - Just for the case in point: they are asking us–the hundreds or thousands of players still active every season–to spend dozens upon dozens, maybe even 100s, of hours per person for this season alone when they won’t even afford a single person to invest a couple hours, if that, for a new reward each time. “Just was wondering, is this an out-of-season April Fools’ joke?”]

[BagboyBrown-11183]

I agree 100% Reskinning some wings wouldn’t even take a couple hours.

[Santoro-1516]

They gave us some love in last patch but the season 18 is too boring, no new rewards, what’s the point ? we wait 3 months for that, sad.

[Skyi-1715]

Even the portrait frames… Don’t know why they recycled them when there’s half a dozen released a few years back that never made it into the game…

Also isn’t there cosmetics in Asia already in the game, they could just copy and past these as season rewards for NA and EU players.

[ShadowAegis-1537]

@Sazaku-1559

That is a load of nonsense–you know it; I know it; Nev who wrote it knows it; and anybody reading it knows it, and more: the poor mod who has to delete this post knows it. There are people in the community who would work on this for free, and you can’t give one employee a couple hours on a slow day to recolor some doodad for a cosmetic reward. What a joke.

But what if their future priorities are on making some really great changes to this game that will allow even more viable builds to exist. More builds that players can use to push to the tops of the leader boards if they want to.

More new items to try out in new viable builds. I think I would rather them work on that than cosmetic items and I am sure that a lot of other players would love it as well. More so if you are a barb player. They need a little more TLC from the devs.

[cyclOne-1357]

Not to mention, once you’ve run the QA tests on one set of wings, the tester should be able to dig up those same tests and run them against the new wings. Crafting any new tests on the new wings should be minimal.

[Sazaku-1559]

@ShadowAegis-1537

But what if their future priorities are on making some really great changes to this game that will allow even more viable builds to exist. More builds that players can use to push to the tops of the leader boards if they want to.

More new items to try out in new viable builds. I think I would rather them work on that than cosmetic items and I am sure that a lot of other players would love it as well. More so if you are a barb player. They need a little more TLC from the devs.

I mean, can they not do both? The whole “small indie company” meme is exactly that, only company I know that hosts their own convention, heh. They have people working on balance changes, people looking at PTR threads, etc. The fact they were able to work on those and not spare time for one new cosmetic reward in three months (when they should have dozens, if not hundreds, ready to go for future events) just showcases how little care is given.

Besides, as a recent WoW sub who has not re-upped, we used to get that same nonsense all the time: “look, guys, we can either do something about X issue or we can focus entirely on the future,” it’s a weak argument, because both can be done, and the X issue in this case, one person could do in a couple hours. And, let me be clear, yes, delay your D4 and pencil some intern-esque employee to create some new cosmetics for the coming seasons, especially if you’re expecting us to drop dozens and hundreds of hours into these seasons.

Blizz wants workable feedback, and mine is: care about the playerbase who still cares about you. Asking us to invest more time in a season where nothing new is on offer is objectively the opposite of caring.

[naksiloth-1354]

@Sazaku-1559

There are people in the community who would work on this for free,

Free content from users doesn’t mean quality work. I doubt you can find someone willing to hack into Blizzard made content modify it and pack it back to Blizzard for free. Punchline is, he might get sued for it unless Blizzard asked it and they’re pretty tight on their files. Unless you qualify for their criterias to be hired, you ain’t gonna touch those files nor be able to modify them to work on official servers.
If they monetize such movement, both Blizzard and users win, yet they also have to add mod support.

If anything Blizzard can start a community collaboration for such thing and open polls for next wing types to be added as a seasonal reward.
Please mind that recycled cosmetic stuff is solely for Nintendo Switch users who missed it and saving them server space while buying time as they work on increasing server capabilities.

[MicroRNA-1507]

The game is about 7 years old.

This patch (2.6.6) and as a result S18 had muliple new items and changes to crafted sets.

I would much prefer the development team focus on new sets, items, and class balance as outlined in the link below rather then a new set of wings as a seasonal reward.

https://us.diablo3.com/en/blog/23093785/diablo-iii-and-ongoing-support-8-13-2019

[ShadowAegis-1537]

@Sazaku-1559

I mean, can they not do both? The whole “small indie company” meme is exactly that, only company I know that hosts their own convention, heh. They have people working on balance changes, people looking at PTR threads, etc. The fact they were able to work on those and not spare time for one new cosmetic reward in three months (when they should have dozens, if not hundreds, ready to go for future events) just showcases how little care is given.

Path of Exile is coded and setup like D3 right. I am sure you know that each game is coded differently and setup differently.

@Sazaku-1559

Besides, as a recent WoW sub who has not re-upped, we used to get that same nonsense all the time: “look, guys, we can either do something about X issue or we can focus entirely on the future,” it’s a weak argument, because both can be done, and the X issue in this case, one person could do in a couple hours. And, let me be clear, yes, delay your D4 and pencil some intern-esque employee to create some new cosmetics for the coming seasons, especially if you’re expecting us to drop dozens and hundreds of hours into these seasons.

Look it is all based on how each game and each company is setup and how the game is coded is what will determine what would be best to work on. Unless you are a long time game developer working for any company like Blizz or GGG then you might not fully understand what hurdles you would have to cross over to get the job done.

Plus what GGG does is worthy of being called an expansion. Expansions are not what this game will get so doing a whole lot at once is not how things are setup with Blizz.

Oh I see put every effort into cosmetics and wait till 2041 to release D4 right. After all you need to keep pumping out new cosmetics. I highly doubt that Blizz could afford (not money) business wise to do that. They would loose too much steam to GGG in the process. They need to focus on what they are focusing on in order to be able to compete with GGG and Path of Exile 4.0.0.

@Sazaku-1559

Blizz wants workable feedback, and mine is: care about the playerbase who still cares about you. Asking us to invest more time in a season where nothing new is on offer is objectively the opposite of caring.

So cosmetics are so important that new items to chase after along with new builds to try out won’t keep people playing seasons till D4 hits the shelves? I highly doubt that, there are probably more players here in season 18 playing with the new captain crimson set where it can be fitted into existing builds along with Squirt’s Necklace to push GRs to climb even higher than before.

If adding new stuff and making changes to existing content along with new QoL features that are yet to be revealed isn’t caring then I don’t know what is. To you it is all about the mighty cosmetics. Sorry but those won’t save the day and won’t keep the majority playing till D4 releases.

@naksiloth-1354

Free content from users doesn’t mean quality work. I doubt you can find someone willing to hack into Blizzard made content modify it and pack it back to Blizzard for free. Punchline is, he might get sued for it unless Blizzard asked it and they’re pretty tight on their files. Unless you qualify for their criterias to be hired, you ain’t gonna touch those files nor be able to modify them to work on official servers.

I do believe that if someone found superior tech that would allow them to hack into game files and change them. Along with giving them a version that is bug free. Then the changes made to D3 would be so great that it would Blizz billions of dollars more to the coffers for D4. I am sure that they wouldn’t want to sue such a person. No, instead they are likely gonna want to hire him/her.

Let’s say that the person doesn’t need Blizz’s money because they already have more than enough money than they know what to do with it. So they want to give their services freely as a way of repaying Blizz for the first two Diablo games that were great. Wanting to save the franchise or to ensure its future would be their goal, at least according to them.

[Sazaku-1559]

@naksiloth-1354

Free content from users doesn’t mean quality work.

Have you played WoW? All those mods that make the game unbelievably better and more wholesome come from an entire network of people who started out doing it for free–some still do and others have Patreon set up. There are like-minded talent on this forum who could contribute in others ways–especially since it’s not the same genre. If you’ve seen the Blizzcon panels, several of their talent they picked up just checking their art and github work, so the quality is definitely out there for the plucking.

@MicroRNA-1507

I would much prefer the development team focus on new sets, items, and class balance as outlined in the link below rather then a new set of wings as a seasonal reward.

They could code a bot that could randomly tweak numbers every season on different sets to “switch it up,” put out a PTR changes doc, and move on. Given how much they ignore PTR, I wouldn’t doubt the bot is what’s happening currently, just trot out Nev for a “TrAnsPaREncY” post to give the illusion that “the forges are burning hot.” Trust me, they don’t need you to make the case for them to do even less.

@ShadowAegis-1537

Oh I see put every effort into cosmetics and wait till 2041 to release D4 right. After all you need to keep pumping out new cosmetics.

That’s an absurd statement. Again, it’s why they keep trotting out, “hey, we can work on balancing this problem, but it’ll cost you a tier.” They can do both, walking and chewing bubblegum is not revolutionary. What I’m asking for is not only the minimum they SHOULD be doing, but it’s how you know they still care, because what’s the point of doing any changes at all if there’s no carrot? Imagine Blizzard changing gear vendors, tweaking their currencies or power of the items, only to not ever add back toys, pets, mounts, new gear. Saying they will doesn’t amount for anything until they do it, and this time they didn’t do it. After Blizzcon, they need to stop teasing and start delivering. Chang said on Blizzcon stage, “We love Diablo!” Prove it. Guys, the billion dollar company doesn’t need white-knights, they need customers who are pushing them to make things better, so the game does better, thrives, gets us hyped for what’s next.

[Edited in - You know what makes it not thrive? Friends messaging me asking if I’m ready to start the new season and, as a S3-17 Guardian player, I respond, “nope, they tweaked a few numbers, and there’s nothing new they added.” Now, not only am I not playing, but those dozen friends who wanted to but found out there’s nothing new won’t be either, and then that cause-and-effect goes out not linearly but geometrically.]

[ShadowAegis-1537]

@Sazaku-1559

They could code a bot that could randomly tweak numbers every season on different sets to “switch it up,” put out a PTR changes doc, and move on. Given how much they ignore PTR, I wouldn’t doubt the bot is what’s happening currently, just trot out Nev for a “TrAnsPaREncY” post to give the illusion that “the forges are burning hot.” Trust me, they don’t need you to make the case for them to do even less.

Oh instead of making something new, just change some numbers and maybe have the theme like the first two where they doubled it. All for the purpose of them working on cosmetics. Along with no new QoL stuff that was hinted at in the blog.

Some of that QoL could be more stash space. It could be a change to the armory where they would let it act as if it were additional stash space where we could store the gear for each saved build. There might even be a chance that we might get even more recipes for the cube or even a new slot for the cube.

To hold off on that just to make more cosmetics won’t do as good as all of the above and possibly more.

@Sazaku-1559

[Edited in - You know what makes it not thrive? Friends messaging me asking if I’m ready to start the new season and, as a S3-17 Guardian player, I respond, “nope, they tweaked a few numbers, and there’s nothing new they added.” Now, not only am I not playing, but those dozen friends who wanted to but found out there’s nothing new won’t be either, and then that cause-and-effect goes out not linearly but geometrically.]

Look I again would rather them work on new stuff for the game. Things that would change how we play the game and even change the builds that we would use. Then just tweak a few numbers so they can add more cosmetic stuff. Sorry but the way that Blizz and this game is setup something has to take top billing and I want it to be the new things they plan on adding.

Or players will say that there they go again lying to us because they gave us only cosmetics. It is just seven seasons of number tweaks and double x for the theme of the season. That would be boring real fast, worse than nothing new for Guardian seasonal players.

[Talzar13-1735]

Yeah, I don’t think I’ll even unlock the free set. I’m on the 4th chapter and already so bored. The rings aren’t worth trying to mess with. There’s nothing new to work towards, and I’ve given up on getting more stash. Also the random crashes and freezes are getting old.

Maybe I’ll try to unlock the cosmetics on my console, but frankly, why should I bother? BL3 is coming out soon. I guess I’ll check back for S19 and see if anything fun is coming.

[Sazaku-1559]

@ShadowAegis-1537

To hold off on that just to make more cosmetics won’t do as good as all of the above and possibly more.

I was saying, as a way to extricate themselves even more from involvement, they could just develop a bot that randomly manipulated numbers every season for the sake of “new builds lol” and not even need a team to work on its implications. Just let people complain about what isn’t working, change that, and not even really invest in the gameplay itself.

Again, you’re hoping they are going to be releasing more when we’re seeing what they are releasing now. Sure, they could be developing a gamemode that allows for real pvp–something long requested by community–but we see that don’t even afford the effort of copy/paste a recolor as a reward, and you’re so sure about “all of the above and possibly more?” Nev said the forges were burning hot prior to Blizzcon and the we were hit with Immortals mobile, so your mileage may vary on what you think is hinted at in the blogpost.

@ShadowAegis-1537

Things that would change how we play the game and even change the builds that we would use. Then just tweak a few numbers so they can add more cosmetic stuff.

I’d dropped so many hundreds of hours in this game that new tweaks don’t do much for me. Are you going to be that much more excited for them to make a change such as “hey, we added 40k% dmg to Blackthorne’s set, try it out in 100+ grift groups!” Sure, you can test it, find out it’s still garbage, and test the group’s tenacity and threshold for being gimped, all for the sake of “NeW cHAnGeS, BoIZ!” Making new things for the game shows much more dedication than RNG manipulation for some perceived parity. But, alas, if you guys want them to do less, you’re winning, assuredly!

@Talzar13-1735

I guess I’ll check back for S19 and see if anything fun is coming.

I guess I could argue some more to fanboys who don’t care the company is leaving us behind, but that’s the real advice, come back in S19 and hope “all of the above and possibly more” comes. I have a feeling we’ll be waiting on that just like QoL changes in Hearthstone, insofar if it’s not making a profit to the bottomline, then it gets relegated into obscurity no matter how much more enjoyable it’d make for the current playerbase.

[ShadowAegis-1537]

@Sazaku-1559

I was saying, as a way to extricate themselves even more from involvement, they could just develop a bot that randomly manipulated numbers every season for the sake of “new builds lol” and not even need a team to work on its implications. Just let people complain about what isn’t working, change that, and not even really invest in the gameplay itself.

Mind telling me how many players actually complete the season journey by reaching guardian. I will give you a hint, I know it isn’t everyone. In fact the season tappers off in activity after about the first few weeks of a season.

Making content solely for those that reach guardian by giving them cosmetics and new cosmetics won’t be as good as giving new legendary powers along with the new sets. Nor will cosmetics beat getting new QoL stuff that the blog mentioned.

Just cosmetics with a numbers tweak won’t hold the masses till D4 launches like new stuff will. For the longest time Blizz was doing just that new cosmetics during seasons. Along with a few times they would tweak some numbers. That didn’t do any good at all. I know that new stuff to try out will do far better and we will see it when they patch those items in.

It is worse for them working cosmetics only due to the fact that they told us they would be working on adding new items to try out. They don’t do that along with QoL stuff. Then players would say there goes Blizz breaking their promises to us yet again.

@Sazaku-1559

I’d dropped so many hundreds of hours in this game that new tweaks don’t do much for me. Are you going to be that much more excited for them to make a change such as “hey, we added 40k% dmg to Blackthorne’s set, try it out in 100+ grift groups!” Sure, you can test it, find out it’s still garbage, and test the group’s tenacity and threshold for being gimped, all for the sake of “NeW cHAnGeS, BoIZ!” Making new things for the game shows much more dedication than RNG manipulation for some perceived parity. But, alas, if you guys want them to do less, you’re winning, assuredly!

They could add more legendary gems, like Legacy of Dreams. Or even revisit the legendary gems and change them where they might have a new extra effect. Maybe a rank 50 effect. Along with new gems.

They could find a way to change the armory where it would actually function like a second stash storing the actual gear (minus legendary gems and normal gems).

There could be new recipes for the cube. A new cube slot, changes to solo bounties where solo players don’t have to do five bounties to get the cache.

They could even change how some of the existing sets function. Like when it is the wizard’s turn to get a new set he could see a reworked Firebirds that could cause more players to use Firebirds.

[Aysrian-1127]

One week ptr. No cosmetics for season. Multi projects for D3. One real terrible patch/season for me(barb). Yup the fires still burn , but not in d3. What have we seen for diablo? Its almost Blizz Con again, if is see wash/rinse /repeat of the last one ill go play checkers:)

[Blashyrkh-1824]

There’s a bunch of paid cosmetics in China. Last season’s wings were quite literally a retextured version of the Necro pack/Trag’Oul wings, and the texture already existed in the cosmic wings with a different color. It’s really hard to believe they just couldn’t put yet another recycled asset together. Mind you, I don’t mind the fact they’re reusing assets. It’s smart and it saves time, plus it gives a bit of an incentive for folks that like that sort of thing. The way the thing was phrased made it sound like it was this titanic task they just hadn’t ever done before, which is complete BS.

Frankly, I’d rather have them be transparent and say they were focusing on delivering new items and that new set for each class plus balance changes. I’d be fine with that, because I can actually see there’s still a lot of effort put into those changes, and I’m grateful for that work. I’m fully aware they’re pretty resource starved with the game having no revenue tail. If you didn’t have time for it, then so be it, but don’t make up such a dumb excuse, Blizz, and don’t treat us like stupid little gullible children, please.

[Thax-2779]

you will have d4 for sure, and maybe some stuff related too, but prepare for blizzard “”""“quality”""""

[ShadowAegis-1537]

@Aysrian-1127

One week ptr. No cosmetics for season. Multi projects for D3. One real terrible patch/season for me(barb). Yup the fires still burn , but not in d3. What have we seen for diablo? Its almost Blizz Con again, if is see wash/rinse /repeat of the last one ill go play checkers:)

Wait till the season rolls around where Barbs get their new set along with possibly the majority of the legendary powers. Then most of the balance changes might even be for barbs. So you day in the sun is coming, just don’t know when.

@Blashyrkh-1824

Frankly, I’d rather have them be transparent and say they were focusing on delivering new items and that new set for each class plus balance changes. I’d be fine with that, because I can actually see there’s still a lot of effort put into those changes, and I’m grateful for that work. I’m fully aware they’re pretty resource starved with the game having no revenue tail. If you didn’t have time for it, then so be it, but don’t make up such a dumb excuse, Blizz, and don’t treat us like stupid little gullible children, please.

I don’t think that they need to tell us that when the blog said that and more already.

[Lango-1671]

As a developer myself, I understand Blizz.
People overlook things like “it is very simple” “I can do it in a few hours”, but in a big project it is not as easy as it looks like.

Often people ask me things like “Oh, just move this button from left to right” “just change the label from x to y”, etc…

In reality it is indeed an easy task, but the issue is to make sure everything is working after the change. Did my change broke something that is related to it? Is it showing correctly in all different resolution? Does it works in all cenarios?

Also, this is just a developer PoV, there is also the UX/design work on it. It is not simply changing the color to see if it looks good.
What is the theme of the wing? Is it supposed to look evil, divine, neutral, or what? And many other questions like that.

Overall, it is not as simple as “just change the color”.