Instead of trying to ‘fix the game’ and develop a new seasonal activity every 3 months. Would the game simply be better if there was a well designed expansion ever 6-12 months instead? Not saying seasons should disappear just the idea some revolutionary ‘new’ borrowed power system has to be added every 3 months.
To be clear I really like the seasonal concept but this whole live service thing and the reality of what we actually have been getting is a little lackluster. Now S4 might change all that but I cannot help but think long-term is this whole system going to work?
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Isn’t this already the case? Pretty sure we’re still gonna get a couple of DLCs
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IT would not be a better game with more regular expansions. Expansions take time to develop and get right. An expansion every 6 months isnt feasible. It would turn into garbage being rushed out.
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i just wonder if you didnt pay attention to d4 so far?
Expansions are going to be released regularly. VoH being released in 2024.
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its a 8 months live game… How many expansions were you expecting in the elapsed time ?
They already announced Vessels of Hatred expansion to be release to the end of the year so I guess is that what they are doing…
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So it wouldn’t be better only because the dev team is inept? Wow had WAY more success than any diablo game and they have expansions.
Did I say dont have expansions??! Did I say devs are inept?? Maybe slow down when reading next time Mr Bob. Expansions are fine. Just cant rush them out every 6 months. No team releases expansions that fast.
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None, however its just feels like a mess with seasons every 3 months requiring new mechanics, massive game changing patches and the promise of an expansion all being conjured up.
When I step back and look at it all I just wonder if there isn’t a better way. I would still play seasons provided the core gameplay loop was fun, even without the need for some gimmicky half thought through borrowed power mechanic. New items, bosses and balance patches could drive good seasons with more time and effort available for ‘game changing’ expansion content that becomes a permanent addition.
Season 4 ‘could’ be a good example, the changes to the game are huge and we have new items and content…do we really need a seasonal mechanic further complicating what will probably be a good season anyway?
That will definitely improve the game as paid DLC will have longer development cycle and funding to add features and improve the game compare to the 3 months seasonal release.
What Blizzard need is to keep the Diablo brand from rotting so they are able to sell all this DLC. Thats the reason they still release season 31 for an old game D3, just for goodwill and maintain brand image.
Seasons just Life Service Game to justify continuing MTX monetization by releasing minimum content. Many Life Service Game players complaint lack of content, it is not just happen to D4.
They are already doing the 12 months Expansion thing. The first one will arrive in December 2024. And since Blizzard said that they are planning to do an expansion every year, we can only assume that the second expansion arrives in December 2025 and so forth.
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Faster season release cadence? Yes.
Faster expansion releases? No.
Pretty sure they said at some point that we will get annual expansions for D4.
This kind of games revolves around constantly making new characters anyway, so seasons and mini overhauls/reworks every 3 months are okay.
I think it might be at some time later on, but certainly not now
There are still game core mechanics that need be taken care of like itemization (about to be done), dungeon improvements/reworks, hazards, loot
Once that’s done (hopefully), I could see them not do more gradual/seasonal stuff and be focused more on the Expansions
But again, the earliest time for that to even start happening would be at around S6.5/S7
I believe there are massive updates because they rushed out a game with not much to it so they are trying to fix and add things players thought should be in the game from the start. I don’t think it’s just because they wanted to do big updates with every season. They made the player base mad with the game they released and now they are trying to make it better. I imagine the massive updates will slow down once players appear to be happy with the game when they are done.
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for sure it would be a better game, focussing on deliver a complete and balanced experience with a lot of stuff to do that are now gated behind seasons.
But thats not what they want here, they do no not want a better game they want the most lucrative game, and the gacha/season models are proven to deliver that.
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With Microsoft’s acquisition, the objectives definitely shifted to how to fit in and survive as they have to compete with so many studios Microsoft acquired for Game Pass.
It is all about how to fit in Phil’s grand scheme of things.
I totally agree that their focus on throwaway content, seasonal gimmicks and borrowed power needs to be abolished.
Developer time and resources should be invested in fleshing out a mechanically rich and deep base game that can stand up on its own merits before any gimmicks should be entertained.
I’m gonna need a much better base game if I’m going to put down so many other great games and play D4. As it stands now D4 doesn’t hold a candle to other games in other genres and PoE2 is right around the corner and it looks phenomenal.
Heck, I’d even pay a monthly subscription if the development flow was justifiably sufficient.
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I think the seasons can be better utilized. After they end they just disappear??
-Place season NPCs in a tavern as side missions.
-Leave the coffers, the vampire seas, the seas of constructions.
-Create tabs with “seasonal powers” instead of creating mechanics every 3 months, such as colors of rings or crowns on items. Play these powers in the eternal and you can choose 3, 4 or 5.
-New builds would emerge when mixing powers. This would enrich the eternal kingdom, facilitate game development and save resources and time.
-Seasons will always be interesting for 1 month or 2 at most. No matter what they do. Now the eternal kingdom can be more interesting.
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