Skip to main content

Diablo 4 team concedes that latest patch "is not fun"

In a recent live stream, Blizzard developers acknowledged that Diablo 4's latest update disappointed fans, claiming they don't "plan on doing a patch like this ever again."

In a fireside chat, Diablo 4's senior developers took an apologetic tone in light of a glut of negative feedback from fans in the wake of the game's latest update: the Season of the Malignant. Though we at TRG were unimpressed with the nerfs to the sorcerer class, fan indignation went further, responding to the update's across-the-board nerfs aimed at preventing players from "blasting through content." 

The trio of senior developers took the time to "acknowledge everyone's feedback... We know it's bad. We know it is not fun." 

The Campfire Chat was a surprisingly candid affair, with the developers taking the time to "talk about what we were trying to achieve specifically with this patch and with the changes that players ended up seeing." Crucially, however, the team was keen to stress "how we don't plan on doing a patch like that ever again." 

Adam Fletcher, associate director of community management for Diablo 4, elaborated on this point, stressing that "we've heard the feedback on that front." He also went on to discuss "how we can talk better and communicate with the community better."  

What this amounted to was a long, but fascinating discussion about the game's design philosophy from three highly experienced game developers. You can see the full live stream below. 

Perhaps the most significant takeaway was the team's commitment to ensure that "when making changes to increase build diversity, [we would] let some builds be overpowered until we have provided compelling alternatives." 

This approach stands in stark contrast to previous operating procedures, where Diablo 4 classes have often found their best endgame builds pared down with little to replace them. This is certainly true of the Sorcerer, which relied on skills that were heavily nerfed in the recent patch to make up for its relative lack of survivability. 

While many would rather that Blizzard never made these missteps in the first place, the Diablo 4's team's honest acknowledgment of player concerns is one of the better outcomes of the patch's controversy. The Campfire Chat could set a precedent for openness and transparency that bodes well for Diablo 4's future.  

If you're looking for a break from Diablo 4 while Blizzard makes these changes, check out our lists of the best RPGs and best co-op games. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TechRadar's Year in Review: AI revolution, smartphone evolution, and visions of the future

If I had to sum up 2023 in one word it would be AI. Okay, technically that’s two initials, but let’s not quibble – because there’s no doubt that it provided the year in tech with its main story arc. Artificial intelligence was everywhere this year, as every company in the world gawped at the massive impact of ChatGPT, and decided they wanted to jump aboard that bandwagon. You could barely move for new chatbots, new image generators, and new AI-enhanced features in every device released in 2023. And there’s no sign of that changing in 2024; in fact, we expect it to be an even bigger deal. Elsewhere, phones and laptops did much the same as they had the previous year – well, except where they had new AI-enhanced features – so it was in the virtual reality space where bigger changes were afoot. If the Meta Quest 3 was impressive then the Apple Vision Pro looks to be genuinely game-changing, and we can’t wait to see what impact it has in the next 12 months. Of course we also saw plenty ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Microsoft and Sony enter "binding agreement" to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation

Microsoft has announced that it has reached a "binding agreement" with Sony, pledging to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.  With Microsoft having won its anti-trust case with the US Federal Trade Commission , its planned acquisition of Call of Duty developers Activision Blizzard has taken a big step closer to becoming a reality. In order to alleviate the concerns of monopoly-building that got Microsoft in legal hot water to begin with, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, announced yesterday via Tweet that it has entered into an "agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation."  This agreement will no doubt come as a relief to fans concerned that Microsoft's acquisition plans might result in Call of Duty becoming an Xbox exclusive, following in the footsteps of future Bethesda releases. Since Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda caused the studio to break its tradition of offering titles cross-platform for upcomi...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Stardew Valley-like farming sim plays at the bottom of your screen so you work and play at the same time

Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing are among some of the best choices out there if you're looking for a game to get swept up in for hours at a time. But, if you're a fan of management sims and a multitasker as well, this upcoming farming sim will likely pique your interest.  Developed by Mister Morris Games, Rusty's Retirement is an idle-farming simulation game that runs at the bottom of your gaming monitor, allowing you to focus on other tasks like working while you tend to your crops. Set to release in Q1 2024 on Steam , the idle sim puts you in the shoes of a wholesome robot as you grow crops and use them to produce clean and energy-efficient biofuel. Having gathered this "vital robot power source," you'll then need to sell your harvest to the other machine inhabitants of your settlement. This, in turn, will let you reinvest the money into expanding your farm. If you're a terrible procrastinator (like me) this might not sound like your cup of tea...
Post a Comment
Read more