Hiya, longtime Diablo player here, started with II when I was a tween and have hundreds to thousands of hours across II, III, and IV.
So I think gameplay and build freedom-wise, the game is in a good spot. I like all the different stuff there is to do, I do feel like some of the Season Journey chapters this time were waaaaay too much of a grind but that’s a different topic. I think with Loot Reborn you guys really hit your stride on that piecemeal progression that is crucial to these kinds of games; hitting that temper, getting that next manual upgrade or Masterwork tier, finding that Greater Affix you wanted.
My critique here is just the sheer volume of useless stuff that hits the floor, particularly Legendary items. They all want me to check them in case they’re an Aspect upgrade (the Codex change is 10/10 by the way), but after a point if it isn’t an Ancestral item there’s no reason to. They still crowd my map, my inbox they get sent to if I leave them. I know this was a common complaint early on in this season, about the Rot zones dropping just way too much stuff, which was then addressed by increasing Restless Rot drops and decreasing Legendary item drops, but with as much time as it takes to grind out the seasonal powers, ranking them up, and making the gems just to complete the Season Journey chapters, I was finding myself constantly breaking up the farm having to just go dust some items.
I know you’ve said before that a player-managed filter isn’t exactly what you’re looking for since you want all items to be useful, but is there a way to perhaps have an option where a Legendary item, if not flagged as a Codex aspect upgrade (which is currently visible in the inventory UI so I’m sure it’s possible) and/or not Ancestral, just have it hit the ground as salvage materials?
Frankly I fear D4 has gotten just a little too close to D3 in the last couple patches, where everything is just eruptions of gold stars that are quickly no longer exciting. Most of the systems are really cool, I’d just like to see the pace of character progression brought a little under control and not having my bags gummed up with stuff I just have to salvage while I’m trying to achieve other goals.
Yeah they are adressing all these in season 8 from similar feedback. They are trying to strike that balance but it should be headed in the right direction. I believe they just wanted everyone level fast to test armory on as many people as possible most likely. Its seasonal so a roller coaster ride is to be expected i guess…
Been blasting this season all weekend, and having only just hit T4, I’m inclined to agree. Character progression feels much more meaningful and healthy now. Was not a fan of the “Level to 60 then catapult into T4 on the same day” pattern.
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I feel there is not enough gear being dropped. Most chests in a NMD drop gold when what I need is a better focus. WB caches have a single piece of gear. I can’t find better gear if no gear is dropped.
I do agree most is useless but I’ m searching for that diamond in the rough. Also, I want a few saved in my stash for when I brick an item.
My issue is getting blue and yellow gear in Torment 4.
Season 8 reward to effort ratio is out of alignment. Making the uber boss fights require effort is a great change. However, not adjusting rewards to reflect the time and effort it takes to farm boss mats that then have to be farmed into more boss mats to then fight meticulous boss fights littered with insta-kill mechanics is disrespectful.
The boss fights take more time, effort and attention relative to last season and the drop rates are WORSE than last season. That’s more effort for less reward. Who thought this was a good development initiative? I’ve enjoyed previous seasons. They weren’t perfect but the baseline of effort translating to reward was sufficient to make the game worth playing. The game, in its current state of effort to reward is not worth playing. You should not ever increase time/effort while simultaneously decreasing rewards.
If the logic is that there were additional sources of reward to compensate the reduced effort/reward ratio then that logic has proven to be really terrible for making a satisfying gaming experience. Making Belial a random spawn on bosses is cool. Adding Belial to the already extensive boss mat tier system was okay. Making those rewards not reflect the 4 layers of boss mat farming it takes to get there is just an insult to anyone playing the game.
You need to fix this now. Not in a later patch or seasonal update. You need to fix this like today, right now. Go in and increase the GA drop rate a couple percentage points, right now.
To be clear, I’m talking about Eternal. And as an Eternal player I pay the same amount as a person who chooses to play seasonal.
The problem might be based on the reduced economy in Eternal. In Seasonal, farming Belial for the increased drop chance from whatever boss loot table you want is cool. But making uber boss fights more effort and reducing drop rates when the economy can’t support making Belial farming feasible is just a punishment and makes the game not worth playing.
You may need to stop introducing the same reward ratios for Eternal as you do for Seasonal. They are different economies and that needs to be taken into account. Eternal players pay for the expansion just as much as seasonal characters. Seasonal players aren’t contributing more for the game and many people play Seasonal and Eternal.
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