Things About Diablo 4 That Have Us Worried
"Diablo 4" is on the way and fans are excited to get their hands on the next entry in the iconic series. Based on critical reactions to the beta, things are looking good so far with the game receiving praise for its solid gameplay and new focus on telling a deeper story. Of course, this doesn't mean the game is perfect, and there are some points that have at least a few gamers worried about how the final product will turn out.
While "Diablo" and "Diablo 2" are often regarded as classics that helped define a genre, "Diablo 3" faced a turbulent development and ultimately failed to live up to its predecessors. Meanwhile, "Diablo Immortal" proved to largely be a disappointment and turned out even worse than fans thought it would be. With "Diablo 4," Blizzard is looking to turn things around and restore the glory of the "Diablo" series, and there's good reason to be optimistic.
Still, some issues and controversies have emerged that have some fans worried that the next game is more likely to follow in the footsteps of "Diablo 3" and "Immortal" instead of "Diablo 2."
Server issues during the beta
With the "Diablo" series moving towards an always online experience, it's vital that Blizzard's servers are up to the task. Nothing can kill an online game like constant disconnects, long wait times, and unexpected outages. Given these realities, the experiences of some players during the beta should raise concerns.
During the beta weekends, especially the early access weekend, players struggled with notably long queue times as the servers were put under pressure for the first time. Further, error messages, disconnects, and other bugs cropped up to occasionally frustrate fans and keep Blizzard busy rolling out fixes.
"Diablo" GM Rod Fergusson has revealed the long waits were by design, and that the discovery of issues will allow Blizzard to make the official launch that much better. Still, these hiccups serve as a reminder of just how much can go wrong and are likely to have some worried until "Diablo 4" releases in June.
The move towards live service
On the subject of "Diablo" becoming always online, some fans aren't happy about this change in general and fear the move towards games as a live service.
While fans can take on the challenges of "Diablo 4" alone, it will now be impossible to adventure in one's own, personal world. Instead, even those looking for a solo experience must join a server and occupy a world with other player characters. Blizzard is presenting this change as a positive step forward, making it easier than ever to play with friends. Many critics and fans are excited about this development and see "Diablo" as becoming a series that please both single-player fans and those looking for more of an MMO experience. For others, however, this may be a step too far from the original vision of "Diablo."
Fans that want a traditional, single-player "Diablo" game are sure to be concerned about this change. Not being able to have a whole world all to themselves may harm the experience for some — and being forced to connect to a server to play alone will just add insult to injury. The move towards live service also raises fears about the future of the game, and how it will develop. While Blizzard has assured fans that microtransactions will only be cosmetic and that "Diablo 4" will not display the darker aspects of live service games, fans familiar with the history of "Diablo Immortal" are still concerned.
Further, this move towards live service and MMO features has led to other changes that are also irking some fans who were hoping for something closer to "Diablo 2."
Monster scaling
To accommodate a more open world and a more massively multiplayer experience, Blizzard made another change that impacts leveling in "Diablo 4."
In "Diablo 2," monsters in a given Act would always be the same level. It was possible for a player to push far ahead and encounter monsters that were too strong for them and to return to earlier areas in the game and find the monsters were now pushovers. In "Diablo 4," however, monsters across the world will, with a few exceptions, automatically scale to the level of the player. As an adventurer levels up, so too will the enemies they're fighting. This change has already sparked controversy.
Fans of the change argue it's necessary for the open world to ensure that no area is ever too hard or easy. These fans also state that it will keep the entire world interesting forever. In "Diablo 2," players rarely had reason to revisit past regions as everything was too weak to present a challenge. Now, everywhere in the world will be open for exploration throughout a character's progression.
Meanwhile, fans of the old system are arguing that monster scaling takes away the sense of progression. If the monsters are always getting stronger, the player never feels like they're becoming more powerful. They can't return to an earlier area to fight enemies that have become easier now. Nor can they push ahead to encounter foes that present more of a challenge. Enemies will stay equal to the player forever.
This has already become a contentious issue with fans of "Diablo 2," in particular, criticizing the change. While Blizzard has valid reasons for making the change, if it isn't implemented well, it could cause a lot of older fans to turn against the game.
Changes to unique items
Items are also being changed up for "Diablo 4." The new title is changing Legendary items from "Diablo 3" to allow for more adaptability, but it's also changing Unique items from "Diablo 2."
"Diablo 4" will feature Uniques that scale up to match the level of the character who found them. This means that the same Unique item could be found multiple times with dramatically different stats, depending on the level of the character who first obtained it. Once again, this has become a source of debate among fans with those favoring the style of "Diablo 2" arguing against the change.
Advocates of item scaling note that it will allow all Uniques to be viable at the end game. In "Diablo 2," many Uniques were simply not powerful enough to be used by higher-level characters, which meant that even if a player liked them aesthetically or thematically, they had to abandon them over time. Now, any Unique could be usable by anyone. For some, however, Unique should mean unique and not every item should be viable at endgame.
As with monster scaling, this is splitting the fanbase and drawing out differences between those who would like to see an evolution of the series, and those who want a return to the days of "Diablo 2." How much these issues are a cause for concern will vary from player to player. For some, especially veterans of "Diablo 2," however, these points will be reason to keep an eye on the game's development and news ahead of its release.