Hello,
I am DrCrustyKillz. I am an experienced Diablo player, having played D2, D3, and D4, among other ARPGs. I have been playing since the D4 betas, across all seasons, as well as the Vessel of Hatred expansion, with over 600+ hours invested across all classes and PTRs. I am also a Management Information Systems major who has worked professionally in the SaaS space, improving and overhauling systems with international companies, resulting in millions of dollars in value generated. I’m also a dad too so this will be a “dad” gamer take 100%. I approach Diablo 4 not just as a player, but as someone who understands ARPGs and how systems should evolve incrementally in SaaS models to support long-term user engagement over the course of time.
That being said, I have been underwhelmed and dissatisfied as a long time Diablo fan with D4 and how it’s currently positioned against its other competitors in the market. Put bluntly, the game is not meeting fans expectations and the overall player/user experience (UX) lacks. Blizzard’s lack of investment into D4 is really felt by fans nowadays and really stands out when playing products from its competitors. Believe me, I know Blizzard is a business and plays corporate doing what it can to show progress to its bottom lines, investors and shareholders. However, it’s also an entertainment company and it’s failing to provide entertainment successfully to its fans, in accordance to the very foundation as to why the company exists.
Why Blizzard’s Philosophy with D4 Is Failing
Before I share feedback, I want to take a moment to frame first why Blizzard’s philosophy with D4 is failing and in order to do so, we need to understand the company’s vision, mission statement and values to analyze how those points compare stand against the finished product.
I’ve had to do this professionally in F500 companies when people push back on ideas because aligning people to the vision, mission statement and values of the company reminds them why the company exists and why they are lucky to be a part of that.
Blizzard’s Vision: Foster Joy and Belonging for Everyone
It’s no secret. While D4 excels at accessibility (with its awards and videos showcasing its diversity, methodology, and commitment), making the game widely approachable to a large audience, it falls short in fostering joy, especially for its core ARPG community. Many players feel disillusioned by design decisions, shallow progression, and recycled content. All of this leads to burnout and disappointment. Yes, we should always champion accessibility because games should be enjoyed by everyone, but accessibility alone is not enough when player morale is low.
Blizzard’s Mission: To craft genre-defining games and legendary worlds for all to share
Again, no secret. The Diablo franchise is legendary! Millions of people love and appreciate the games, but respectfully, D4 is not currently a genre-defining ARPG. Screw what a shareholder feels. Compared to peers like Path of Exile or Last Epoch, D4 lacks depth, complexity, progression and replayability. The open world is both legendary and beautifully designed and it’s amazing to play through. However, it still fails to evolve or surprise beyond a certain point, years after its release. In a SaaS/GaaS live-service model, that’s a critical failure!
To be clear, this isn’t a jab at individual developers. The folks appearing on streams, behind the scenes in dev updates, or engaging with the community aren’t the issue. I’ve been around the block, played enough games, followed enough industry stories, and worked in high-level environments to know where the real accountability lies: Leadership.
The problem is the direction being set and the standards being accepted by the people at the top are too comfortable delivering what amounts to a minimum viable product that hits “good enough” ROI. That mindset might work in enterprise SaaS (which based on my experience, it doesn’t). But in entertainment, where you’re selling magic, wonder, and long-term engagement? That’s unacceptable.
Blizzard’s Core Values
For the Love of Play
There’s clear effort and polish here, but the fun isn’t consistent. Power fantasies should be core to D4, but it comes in short, sporadic bursts instead of a sustained, satisfying arc. The systems don’t support long-term engagement in the way they should so Blizzard fails as a result.
Passion for Greatness
The ambition is there and even felt at times. The cinematic quality, high-level production, and seasonal rollouts are fun to watch but the execution is extremely inconsistent. Systems often feel rushed, shallow, or contradictory, even though Blizzard prides itself on QA and polish.
In the SaaS world, reworking a C- product until it’s a B- isn’t passion. It’s just damage control. True passion would demand an A+ from the start (or a strong march towards it) because we owe it to customers, clients and fans to provide that.
Better Together
The emphasis on party play and multiplayer systems doesn’t align with the behavior of most players, who prefer solo or small group play. Ignoring that reality creates friction. If player feedback matters, the design should reflect actual behavior, not idealized assumptions.
Also, sourcing feedback from your customers is great because user stories tell companies what is and isn’t working. However, a core Customer Relationship Management tenet is executing on feedback from your customers. Happy customers = Money. Why are you “listening?” Take action and “Close the loop.”
Strength in Diversity
This is one area where Blizzard shines. D4 is globally inclusive and offers good accessibility options and representation. That said, diversity should also extend to gameplay options and player agency, which currently feels limited.
Boundless Curiosity
This is where D4 struggles the most. If the team is truly curious and inspired, that should translate to bold, experimental, and rewarding design. Instead, we get recycled content like boss powers and mechanics that dry out within a week. Community feedback exists in abundance, but there’s a gap between listening and responding in meaningful, engaging ways. Again—take action and close the loop.
Summary
If we use Blizzard’s own guiding company statements as the rubric then D4 earns a failing grade. Out of seven core areas, only one is being knocked out of the park. The rest are either under-delivering or actively eroding player trust with each update. In my world, this would warrant a Performance Improvement Plan. Not because people aren’t trying but because the results don’t match the basic standards.
It’s time to focus up or start cycling in someone who can get the job done. D4 can be something great. The foundation is there and the potential is real. But right now, it’s wildly inconsistent, underwhelming, and hard to love long-term and that’s a brutal thing to admit as a long-time fan.
Feedback
Nightmare Dungeon Sigils Should Match or Highlight Whisper Objectives (URGENT)
Benefit: This is a huge quality-of-life improvement and actually insane this didn’t make it into the seasons about NMD being overhauled. That’s an inexcusable miss and really highlights lack of care, polish and quality in both the brand and game design. Right now, it’s frustrating to manage overlapping systems that don’t align. Letting players match Sigils to Whisper objectives would cut planning time, reduce friction, and make dungeon running way more efficient.
Marketplace / Trade Hub – Build It In-Game (URGENT)
D4 urgently needs a centralized, in-game trading system. Relying on 3rd-party sites creates a poor, fragmented experience that’s vulnerable to scams, misinformation, and inconsistent quality; none of which reflect well on Blizzard’s brand. For a game designed with party play and community interaction at its core, it’s a major oversight that trade systems are left unsupported in-game. This disconnect leads to confusion, poor UX, and creates unnecessary barriers to entry for casual and new players alike. If accessibility is a goal, trade needs to be a native, trusted feature.
Benefit: Creates a safe, integrated economy that’s accessible to all players. Reduces friction, improves community engagement, and aligns core game systems under a unified, Blizzard-owned experience.
Solo Self-Found Mode – Add
So many players go solo, especially in Hardcore. A Solo-Self Found (SSF) mode should be supported officially, with no access to shared stash or trading. This would be really fun in HC mode.
Benefit: Creates a true challenge and immersive experience. Especially valuable for Hardcore players who want a clean slate after a death and more meaningful loot progression.
Factions/Meta Progression for Target Farming/Trade
Benefit: Adds meaningful choice to grinding, like factions or loot paths (e.g. Last Epoch-style), to allow targeted drops and structured trade options. Helps players pursue specific gear while building identity within the world.
Waypoints and Town Unlocks – Carry Across Seasonal Realms
Benefit: Keeps early-season momentum high. More time on builds and mechanics, less on re-walking known paths.
Strongholds – Buff Them/Add Replayability
Benefit: A rework to add challenge and rewarding loot would make them worth repeating, diversifying endgame activity. Making them replayable would be interesting too if you could consume a sigil for a harder stronghold that rewards.
Tune Up Renown Rewards
Benefit: Adjust gold or swap for more valuable currency. Keeps Renown relevant across all stages of play, not just early. 100–1000 gold at level 60 is stupid.
Expand Game Guide
Benefit: Great for onboarding new or returning players. Removes the need to alt-tab for every question about aspects, stats, or mechanics.
Increase Base Move Speed (Start Higher, Keep Cap)
Benefit: A small bump early helps jumpstart energy. The cap can stay for balance, but the journey to it should be faster and more fun.
Let Pets Collect XP/Objective Currency/Orbs
Benefit: Keeps flow tight and reduces backtracking, especially in dungeons with orb-heavy mechanics.
Suppressor Modifier – Needs Redesign
Benefit: Encouraging adaptation is good, but hard counters kill creativity. This mod currently feels lazy and restrictive.
Auto-Salvage Option (Late Game) or Loot Quality Improvements
Benefit: Reduces inventory fatigue and increases late-game flow. More time slaying, less time sorting.
Reworking Old Content – Acceptable, But Shouldn’t Be the Main Course
Benefit: Fresh content drives engagement. Reworks should supplement, not substitute, meaningful updates.
Streamlined Character Start (Looks, Mercs, Pets)
Benefit: Reduces early-game headache and lets players jump into content right away on game start vs. wasting 5 minutes TP’ing around to modify looks.
Shrine Sigils – Underwhelming
Benefit: Unless buffed or creatively reworked, Shrine Sigils feel like filler. Needs to either go big or go away. I wouldn’t mind seeing some bizarre or modded shrines that do weird spells/effects.
Malphas Fight & Vaults – Bring Them Back
Benefit: Breaks up the endgame loop and adds boss diversity. More of this style of content would enrich the core offering. I’m against the statement “D4 has enough activities.”
Less Is More – Cut Quantity, Boost Quality
Benefit: Improves reward-to-time ratio. If time is the bottleneck, let players consume more materials for better output. This respects both casual and hardcore time investment.
Bosses – Improve the Reward Curve
Benefit: Boss difficulty should scale down over time for efficient farming. Health gates and slow animations become a drag if the loot doesn’t scale with the time investment.
Endgame Meta-Progression Paths – Needed
Benefit: Adds depth to the grind. Keeps engagement up by offering more meaningful long-term rewards beyond just bigger numbers.
Thank you sincerely if you read the full thing. Game design is not my core background but I know what I like and I can see the flaws in the current system. Let me/Blizzard know if you agree/disagree. I encourage all POVs in order to make sure all points are transparent and considered in order to make D4 the best game possible.
Enjoy your weekends!