Has felt this way since season 3 unfortunately.
Low effort.
But hey, at least we know what to expect from them these days. I won’t ever preorder from them again, and always wait for sales etc. Not that it matters to them, they could care less. But my wallet is happier.
2 whole mins for the XP buff?
The entire game is low effort. The absolute bare minimum to keep players coming back.
Recycled content, rehashed seasons, flavor of the month balance, I cant believe we got here so fast with this game. If Blizzard was known for one thing, it was their standout quality, and care for the games they produced. Diablo 4 looks and plays like a computer science project that was completed a few days before the due date. SOO many cut corners and head scratching design decisions.
As someone who used to audit large corporations ( everything from logistics to finances, and NOTHING as large as Blizzard, but still fairly large) it screams to me a lack of resources pumped into the game (largely human capital) . They are and have been running on a skeleton crew seemingly since launch. And while its easy to feel bad for developers in that position- I feel no sympathy for Blizzard. They have the resources, they have the capital . They choose to focus on bottom line metrics, while ignoring the pursuit of quality, which is what lead to their success in the first place. It’s very very typical share -holder centric behavior, and while yes you WILL drive bottom line that way ,eventually a competitor WILL come around that is willing to make a little less money and invest more in quality. <-----This is where we are. I’m not saying any other game will “kill” D4 but the blood is in the water, and game companies are going to capitalize.
So this is a mobile game with all these cash shop things being added to it?
BINGO!
Ive said this before, if D4 was released as a mobile game , it would have been lauded as the best mobile game to date!
Unfortunately as a AAA title, that wont cut it .
I sure hope so.
Until then, here we are unfortunately.
POE2 really never appealed to me in any way. Visually and otherwise.
POE 2 despite being for a different audience, is still eating some of D4’s lunch. I am hesitant to even mention that game here because it alerts some of the Blizzard Brigade***tm
However , its still far more polished and complete than this mess, even in EA. Everyone loves to point out its flaws, but seem to forget - its been out a little over a month, and it’s team seems a least dedicated to making positive changes . Im not shilling for that game either, i have about 350 hours in early access, and Im well aware that it has its issues. But at their core , it’s not even close how more well thought out / fleshed out the systems in POE2 are.
I never asked D4 to be a perfect flawless game - but I did expect it to be finished , have a clear design direction (whether I agreed or not ) and continuous support from developers who both play AND understand the ARPG genre. I dont think thats a whole lot to ask for, yet they still couldnt deliver.
I don’t mind recycled mini-events like this as they are just nice extras and aren’t key to overall gameplay. But only adding one new cosmetic to unlock? Not expecting dozens of free items, but being able to unlock more than one isn’t unreasonable.
Right? That’s rich, I thought they wouldn’t give us that much, they are becoming more generous… Seriously now, I understand that the power should last for a short time, but make the XP last a bit longer, at least 15 minutes 
The absolute bare minimum
Well, 2 things: D4 is partly modeled after D: Immortal, so it does have some mobile dna in its philosophy & design approach. Though it’s mostly a console-centric design, with modern mobile tech representing a bridging of the gap that publishers were hoping for, to maximize reach with lowest development effort. D: Immortal could’ve been it IMO… if the player base hadn’t reacted as indignantly as they did in late 2018, the D4 project might’ve sloshed around & never seen the light of day.
Second: the other game is clearly being built in real time… we’re just getting in on the development action, like being allowed in the factory & playing with the machinery. It’s so obviously going to sprout massive new & fleshed-out parts, like a giant mech early in the assembly process. We’re seeing mostly the scaffolding & some of the skeleton right now. Every time people draw a like-to-like comparison to D4 - a game 1.75 years post-release - it’s an enormous compliment to GGG.
A horse with a tramp stamp?
It’s the most visible parts of the horse unfortunately: the rump & the legs. B/c they won’t let us remove saddles altogether.
surely the “2 minutes” is a typo and not actually 2 minutes buff because it would be just better to release the perma 35% exp buff we usually get than a 2 minutes buff
I agree both on the “mobilization / consolelization” of modern gaming and where POE2 stands today.
This is the part that I find most interesting, and never really considered before. WAS diablo 4 a knee jerk reaction to the overall negative response to DI ? Interesting to say the least, and would at least explain SOME of the missteps .
i love this loot festival the rewards from ying yue r worth unceasing gifts W