Did Blizzard redeem themselves with the D4 Announcment?

[Smokinya]

Played the game for two hours today with a very open mind with 3 of my buddies. It was fucking awesome. Hit similar notes to Lost Ark. game was fun and punchy. We had 4 Druid’s in a small dungeon with about 35 mobs on screen and 4 lightning storms going at once and no hitches. It’s very, very polished.

Graphically it’s amazing. Another user talked about it being too “polished” which made it seem plastic-y? I didn’t feel that at all. The lighting was great. Especially in the dungeons. It was quick. Overall, the screens I able to see were cool. Abilities were neat (spent more time playing then seeing what I could get in the future), but I looked a little and it seemed awesome. Talent trees is a good mix between D3 and POE (which I find to be a bit over complex at times).

My intial impressions are I’m going to play this game. A lot. I like it better than POE so far and depending what types of systems they have I might like it better than Lost Ark too. If we even get a version of it instead of needing my VPN.

In terms of negatives I can’t really think of anything right now. My dad said he didn’t like Barb which I won’t play until tomorrow. Once I play more I can update this comment if you like.

[Deventh]

Pretty much this.

I'm already seeing two areas of concern - a potential avenue for Microtransactions of Skins and Mounts

A friend of mine is raising concerns for microtransactions involving that PVP zone, but I don't think that's going to happen...

That is not a concern, my man. Microtransactions are absolutely necessary evil for the longevity of the game.

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Played the game for two hours today with a very open mind with 3 of my buddies. It was fucking awesome. Hit similar notes to Lost Ark. game was fun and punchy. We had 4 Druid’s in a small dungeon with about 35 mobs on screen and 4 lightning storms going at once and no hitches. It’s very, very polished.

Graphically it’s amazing. Another user talked about it being too “polished” which made it seem plastic-y? I didn’t feel that at all. The lighting was great. Especially in the dungeons. It was quick. Overall, the screens I able to see were cool. Abilities were neat (spent more time playing then seeing what I could get in the future), but I looked a little and it seemed awesome. Talent trees is a good mix between D3 and POE (which I find to be a bit over complex at times).

My intial impressions are I’m going to play this game. A lot. I like it better than POE so far and depending what types of systems they have I might like it better than Lost Ark too. If we even get a version of it instead of needing my VPN.

In terms of negatives I can’t really think of anything right now. My dad said he didn’t like Barb which I won’t play until tomorrow. Once I play more I can update this comment if you like.

How many people can you encounter in the open world? Any idea on the max number?

[Thelxi]

I wouldn't say redeem. They met my expectations. The devil will be in the details now, like how solo friendly will the leaderboards be or how critical of a component will trading be to the endgame, or how much freedom will we really have in making different specs. Basically how much like PoE will D4 be lol.

[Gungnir]

Played the game for two hours today with a very open mind with 3 of my buddies. It was fucking awesome. Hit similar notes to Lost Ark. game was fun and punchy. We had 4 Druid’s in a small dungeon with about 35 mobs on screen and 4 lightning storms going at once and no hitches. It’s very, very polished.

Graphically it’s amazing. Another user talked about it being too “polished” which made it seem plastic-y? I didn’t feel that at all. The lighting was great. Especially in the dungeons. It was quick. Overall, the screens I able to see were cool. Abilities were neat (spent more time playing then seeing what I could get in the future), but I looked a little and it seemed awesome. Talent trees is a good mix between D3 and POE (which I find to be a bit over complex at times).

My intial impressions are I’m going to play this game. A lot. I like it better than POE so far and depending what types of systems they have I might like it better than Lost Ark too. If we even get a version of it instead of needing my VPN.

In terms of negatives I can’t really think of anything right now. My dad said he didn’t like Barb which I won’t play until tomorrow. Once I play more I can update this comment if you like.

Keep in mind that it's still very early alpha, so there's a lot of polish needing to be done. I've noticed certain animations are a bit wonky and it's a bit choppy sometimes, but for an early alpha demo it seems pretty solid.

I won't love it more than I love PoE, but it'll probably be a decent time with friends.

[-aiko-]

The cinematic blew my mind and the gameplay looks pretty solid so it's pretty promising. The downside is it's not coming out for a long, long time.

[Super Kami Dende]

We'll know in 5 years when it is released.

[Smokinya]

That is not a concern, my man. Microtransactions are absolutely necessary evil for the longevity of the game.

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How many people can you encounter in the open world? Any idea on the max number?

110% guess on max number, but when we did the world event I counted at least 10 players. I have no idea if there were other players running around in parts of the zone that I couldn’t see at the same time though. It could’ve been more as well. No more than 15 on the fight for sure.

If you have any other questions about how it played feel free to ask. I’ll do my best to articulate my feelings. Probably put some time in it tomorrow as well.

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Keep in mind that it's still very early alpha, so there's a lot of polish needing to be done. I've noticed certain animations are a bit wonky and it's a bit choppy sometimes, but for an early alpha demo it seems pretty solid.

I won't love it more than I love PoE, but it'll probably be a decent time with friends.

Interesting. We didn’t have any issues with chopping and I didn’t notice any animation issues while playing. I would be shocked if the game wasn’t out by 2021, but we won know how ambitious it truly is until the panel tomorrow.

Don’t get me wrong I do like POE a lot. My biggest gripes are that it’s a “floor cleaner” type ARPG, the crafting is way too convoluted now, and the talent tree/gem system isn’t as revolutionary as people think (unless you’re a build maker 90% of people cookie cut). I also dislike the resistances (play too heavily for my liking). Overall, POE is very fun and I’ve played a fair amount of it over its life-time. I just don’t like blowing up 100 enemies with one skill and having to do hours of research to craft. Also has feature creep issues with past seasons. 4.0 might fix a lot of my problems with it.

So far D4 seemed to have more meaningful combat where multiple enemies didn’t get one tapped with a single ability and it seemed very fast while remaining “slow”. Very similar to Lost Ark combat speed minus the staggering. I’m excited but also trying to temper my expectations.

[badgersmashr]

i play games, not announcement trailers and cinematics, until i have some way of seeing the content, and the core gameplay loop/end game i reserve my judgement. Blizzard has a lot to make up for considering an indie developer is making them look like bad at the moment.
THat being said, the trailer was really awesome, but that is to be expected, the blizzard art and cinematics team have been backpacking the company for years. They are still far from redemption, but it looks like they at least have a decent idea to build off of, so if they don't fuck it up they could make a comeback. THere is big competition coming their way with PoE 4.0 and that korean thing that I can't remember the name of on the horizon as well, so we will see if they can keep up with the market.

[exochaft]

Played the game for two hours today with a very open mind with 3 of my buddies. It was fucking awesome. Hit similar notes to Lost Ark. game was fun and punchy. We had 4 Druid’s in a small dungeon with about 35 mobs on screen and 4 lightning storms going at once and no hitches. It’s very, very polished.

Graphically it’s amazing. Another user talked about it being too “polished” which made it seem plastic-y? I didn’t feel that at all. The lighting was great. Especially in the dungeons. It was quick. Overall, the screens I able to see were cool. Abilities were neat (spent more time playing then seeing what I could get in the future), but I looked a little and it seemed awesome. Talent trees is a good mix between D3 and POE (which I find to be a bit over complex at times).

My intial impressions are I’m going to play this game. A lot. I like it better than POE so far and depending what types of systems they have I might like it better than Lost Ark too. If we even get a version of it instead of needing my VPN.

In terms of negatives I can’t really think of anything right now. My dad said he didn’t like Barb which I won’t play until tomorrow. Once I play more I can update this comment if you like.

Glad I wasn't crazy, it looked like PoE meets Lost Ark with a Bloodborne-like tone for graphics, all of which I approve. Obviously it's still early in development, but so far so good from what they've released.

I'm not really concerned about microtransactions, as they've already stated they've pretty much settled on expansions as the primary business model instead of nickle and diming the players. If they pull a PoE and offer cosmetic rewards as MTX, I have no issue with that at all. If I had a slight hangup, it'd be not having an offline mode, however D3 technically didn't have one either. I'll be quite curious as to how they handle the shared world allowing solo/private group options, as sometimes you want the feeling of being a world full of adventurers... and other times you want to be the only one there.

[Smokinya]

Glad I wasn't crazy, it looked like PoE meets Lost Ark with a Bloodborne-like tone for graphics, all of which I approve. Obviously it's still early in development, but so far so good from what they've released.

I'm not really concerned about microtransactions, as they've already stated they've pretty much settled on expansions as the primary business model instead of nickle and diming the players. If they pull a PoE and offer cosmetic rewards as MTX, I have no issue with that at all. If I had a slight hangup, it'd be not having an offline mode, however D3 technically didn't have one either. I'll be quite curious as to how they handle the shared world allowing solo/private group options, as sometimes you want the feeling of being a world full of adventurers... and other times you want to be the only one there.

Yes, Bloodbourne is a great way to describe the graphic quality. Sucks I didn’t have much time to look and smell the roses because I was too busy consuming the content!

A part of me wished it was just called Diablo and they used a POE style monetization model, but I think that POE has huge feature creep right now. So hard to get into it as a new player and figure out what’s going on. Gearing and crafting alone is a fucking nightmare let alone getting a good build that won’t fall off halfway through the game.

I’ll be interested to see what they share tomorrow. The armour and weapons look stellar and really shine with the graphics. The shared world piece is a cool and I really want them to dig into it more so they can compete with Lost Ark. Hopefully, all dungeons are private (they seem to be) and they phase more people in for the events and then remove them after so you still see a few people out in the over world, but not 30 guys bouncing around!

[Shigma]

Well after diablo 3, i am going to be VERY cautious about D4. And some of those skills/magic animations look rather bland and weird. I just care about gameplay, and i need something at least on par with D2 (That keeps me playing and trading, not boring rifts for 99% of the game) or better, or after the fiasco it was D3 for me, i'll might skip it even if its gory and has great cinematics.

[Th3Scourge]

Yeah they did. The cinematic was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Truly epic!! Having skill trees etc is a great addition to the game once again.

If looks like d2 systems with PoE gameplay and D3 combat fluidity. Perfect Union

On a sour note though, what the fuck was with the crowd during the D4 unveiled panel. Fuck me what a terribly engaged crowd, show some fucking enthusiasm. This year’s crowd sound depressed as fuck

[Deventh]

Yeah they did. The cinematic was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Truly epic!! Having skill trees etc is a great addition to the game once again.

If looks like d2 systems with PoE gameplay and D3 combat fluidity. Perfect Union

On a sour note though, what the fuck was with the crowd during the D4 unveiled panel. Fuck me what a terribly engaged crowd, show some fucking enthusiasm. This year’s crowd sound depressed as fuck

The crowd was yikes. I guess because of Hong Kong thing?

[Th3Scourge]

The crowd was yikes. I guess because of Hong Kong thing?

Like why even be there then? Paying thousands for a weekend away to blizzcon only to sit in silence.

If I had to guess, a number of people in the crowd were at the panel because it was a coming soon panel so they may not have known what they were sitting in until it started. Maybe an Overwatch crowd? Those ppl are weird lol

I dunno, they had zero engagement. Like going to a sporting event to sit in silence. I felt embarrassed for the hosts, and they were fine

[Sastank]

It's clearly too early to tell. Yes they gave us what we wanted. The announcement. The game's very early in alpha obviously.
It will be a full year before we have a better idea. I will be smart and logical and reserve judgement, unlike most people on the forums and internet in general.
It's like judging the whole country on the front lawn of one house.

[ophion1990]

We know far too little to tell. I will say, them focusing so much on the "dark fantasy" is kinda silly, it's clearly just being repeated to appease the D2 crowd and kinda misses the point that D3 not being dark enough wasn't really the major concern, it was the gameplay.

[DesoPL]

No. But as someone said, it is right direction but not enough.

[Itisamuh]

Not that they needed to redeem themselves but I chose unsure because I am unsure how I feel about this game. Most of it seems fine but the MMO style world puts me off big time. I far prefer having the world to myself unless I specifically choose to group with someone. Half the appeal of these games for me is that they were NOT MMOs. I get enough of random players getting in my way in WoW and this will no longer provide relief by contrast. But I will probably still play it and enjoy it well enough regardless.

[Jerot]

D3's biggest falling is how shallow and boring the gameplay loop is, even for an already grindy genre. There is no meaningful character customization, variety in gear, creative builds (Ones that aren't pre-packaged, railroaded by the devs). Theres no content worth challenging yourself to build a character to beat, its all modern blizzard spread-sheet styled balancing, put in a bigger number and try the same thing again. I have no hope D4 will do anything to change that after they spent the entire announcement trying to appease the original critics of D3 from 7 years ago, going on about artstyle and other crap that ultimately has no effect on how fun the game is. Nothing about the economy, itemization, meaningful content.

If all they took away from that mess was "It didn't do good because it wasn't gritty and dark enough", there's no hope.

[sabe]

What Diablo? This is X-men!

They can't even create their own bad guy, low skilled Blizz will fail again.