Thread relevance: technical state & player engagement in D4 Season 7 as a whole, and Lunar event, in light of related events & their timing in Diablo.
Just keeping track of strong correlations.
- S33 in D4âs older, more self-assured sister was âaccidentallyâ killed ahead of schedule in early January worldwide, followed by
- a salvage operation in which (kekw) many peopleâs seasonal stash contents were stranded in âEternalâ, followed by
- a last-minute postponement of S34 (on the eve of season launch) due to purported âfeedbackâ from the âcommunityâ. (Hey you! They apparently do read your posts? And they apparently do take immediate action - to the point of rescheduling a season hours before launch - and they give timely feedback? Vanquish your lingering doubts & hang your head in shame, cynical cabbage-flinger.)
- followed by a Season 7 theme riddled with âgame-breakingâ & âbuild-disablingâ âbugsâ & âbug fixesâ
- followed by a Lunar event with novel bugs
- on the same day a poorly-telegraphed âscheduled maintenanceâ shuts down D3 for several hours (currently) 4 days after (delayed) season launch
- all following a D4 season (6) which most circumstantial evidence suggests probably brought anxieties & hand-wringing in the studio to novel heights.
Otherwise, situation normal, I think.
Added:
For anyone whoâs familiar with the early-January snafu⌠the official explanation = several layers of incompetence (i.e. someone or some process triggered a worldwide premature shutdown of S33⌠but they also want players to understand that even though the North America servers had an âopportunity windowâ of several hours due to the staggered timing of the shutdown, studio staff had neither the technical nor situational awareness to intervene to stop it⌠alright, I guess).
But the series of correlations outlined in the OP move the needle slightly in favor of a directive from management. Someone in a position to do so, possibly right after holiday break, floated the plan (which was partially automated for efficient implementation later) to move the S33/S34 transition further away from S7 launch date. Delaying it by several weeks is too obvious & less satisfactory to said manager, thus a 3-week early death. But it was a contingency plan, not finalized, yet when the time came to pause the automated portion of it, they âforgotâ.
Then, Plan C was implemented: to throw the CMâs under the bus (granted, I donât think itâs a huge bus) by ordering them to sell a story about âcommunity feedbackâ on the eve of S34 launch (literally the day before).
The original contingency plan was⌠what for? Well, itâs easy for players to believe they didnât ânoticeâ the 2 seasons started within a week of each other until they got back from xmas break, sure. But more likely, they fed the boss metrics:
- post-S6 malaise;
- S7 sapped enthusiasm;
- engagement metrics in the âfuture rivalâ EA project (nobody cares if you donât pay attention to graphs⌠the boss does);
- levels & nature of negative chatter;
- class rebalance announcements & predictable fallout (esp. re: SB, and then Sorc);
- known season bugs which couldnât be fixed prior to scheduled S7 start (weâll never hear officially the exact when-did-they-know details ofc., but itâs obvious⌠they do do PTRâs now);
- pending staff reorganization (known probably weeks prior to season launch);
- probably several other things covered in testy memos & video conference calls I canât guess right now.
Idle Matrix-staring because canât tinker with crucible Multishot Strafe for another few hours. 