Beta signup Diablo 4

[Edge-]

They pulled lots from PoE this time around (which of course arguably owes its existence to this franchise anyway, so....).

What do you figure they pulled from PoE? Genuine question since I play that game a lot and it's my "modern" frame of reference for the genre and in the very small amount I've played so far I see remarkably little in common outside the shared genre. (not a criticism either!)

[rhorle]

Got in after almost six hours of wait. Had weird vibration in some places so lowered a few setting. The play area became teal. The whole screen a uniform teal, and not even reverting changes or a log out and in fixed it. I don't think this will be ready for June.

That might be an issue with your hardware and/or the games interactions with it. I've been in off and on since the launch of the beta and have only had rubber banding and some flickers when it has hid the necro pets.

[PACOX]

Necro, OP Sorcerer with minions. I alt tabbed bosses.

[Stricks]

What do you figure they pulled from PoE? Genuine question since I play that game a lot and it's my "modern" frame of reference for the genre and in the very small amount I've played so far I see remarkably little in common outside the shared genre. (not a criticism either!)

I see much more in common with Lost Ark personally. I think "dumbed down" would be unfair to D4 also because Lost Ark to me had too many things happening that were what I would consider the opposite of dumbing down.

[LordVargK]

Necro, OP Sorcerer with minions. I alt tabbed bosses.

Yeah, but once again mind-numbingly boring to play. As far as I can see you interact even less with your minions than in D3. They are just there. Or not, if you sacrifice them. But really no more interaction.

[Biomega]

Yeah, but once again mind-numbingly boring to play. As far as I can see you interact even less with your minions than in D3. They are just there. Or not, if you sacrifice them. But really no more interaction.

Isn't that the point :P

Necro traditionally has been either full afk or piano.

[LordVargK]

Isn't that the point :P

Necro traditionally has been either full afk or piano.

Yeah, but you're not even being afk. At least my definition of afk is: Literally no useful active talents except ones that buff minions. But you get like... nothing.

[Liftbrul]

Finally got to play after numerous crashes. Turned everything to medium, removed 4k textures, scanned and repaired about a billion times, and made sure everything not Diablo 4 was turned off and not running in the background. After hitting level 15, I'd say it's a pretty solid iteration and has given me a significantly better first impression than D3 ever did. I particularly enjoyed the music and sound design, as well as the more depressing and melancholic atmosphere more in line with the classics. Gameplay is more of the usual, which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view. 7/10 game with a potential for 8.5/10.

/Blog

[Clawsout]

Im really enjoying the shit outta the beta yes the dcs are annoying but i feel its better then nothing

[Stricks]

I do think, and maybe they have this, that D4 needs other stuff to do that is interesting or fun to really lean into the MMO feel. It also desperately needs some way to find a group. Very odd omission. I'm not necessarily calling for LFD. Maybe outside of larger dungeons there could be a meeting stone situation where some players could gather. You could turn it on or off possibly if you wanted more of a single player experience.

[rhorle]

Yeah, but once again mind-numbingly boring to play. As far as I can see you interact even less with your minions than in D3. They are just there. Or not, if you sacrifice them. But really no more interaction.

There are 21 skills on the tree with the "keyword" minion so there are modifiers that will interact with some of the active abilities. So there is at least a little bit of interaction once you are able to fully invest.

[Fencers]

Druid is okay. Not very D2-ish.

[StillMcfuu]

Like, 8 lol, just have a few skills so far. I'm not judging based on that alone since I know more skills and options open up over time and all, it's early game. I'm keeping my current criticism more directed at things that aren't likely to radically change between now and endgame.

- - - Updated - - -



It seems some cutscenes (the long church one with lilith I think?) have a super short window to cancel them before they play but may bug out and play the whole way through if you don't. It's happened to me a few times.

You can still skip the cutscene. It seems the pop up on the bottom right corner bugs out and permanently disappears but if you hold escape it will still skip the scene.

- - - Updated - - -

I got to lvl 16 on bear Druid before I headed to work. I enjoyed it much more as the levels went up. Unfortunately I don't think the druid mastery is open, the quest is way the hell up in Scosglen and I don't think that zone is open. I wanted to see the druid tree. The devs said in a recent interview that you can customize into a single form and have that be all your shape-shifting. But I'm just not seeing it right now. Unless it's a leggo or maybe a wardrobe thing (that would be real poor implementation).

[RobertoCarlos]

I do enjoy the combat but why is every menu and dialog box mobile game quality ><

[Edge-]

Yeah, click to move fucking sucks in this game. It should still allow you to pick up items and interact with things, this is an absolute fucking travesty and inexcusable in a modern ARPG. Like this is borderline unfuckingplayable and there is absolutely no fucking reason for it.

Map overlay not being a thing is barely tolerable, and there's absolutely no fucking reason for it.

And the way this game seems to handle phasing is...a fucking disaster what the fuck. Huge hitching as you transition phases, enemies can just appear on top of you during this process. I hope this is really only used for questing and shit because it's jarring and not enjoyable when it happens. I can understand some of this may be due to high server loads and all but just...ooph.

I shall press on, but these are some basic things that Blizzard should not be missing on.

[Aucald]

Yeah, click to move fucking sucks in this game. It should still allow you to pick up items and interact with things, this is an absolute fucking travesty and inexcusable in a modern ARPG. Like this is borderline unfuckingplayable and there is absolutely no fucking reason for it.

Map overlay not being a thing is barely tolerable, and there's absolutely no fucking reason for it.

And the way this game seems to handle phasing is...a fucking disaster what the fuck. Huge hitching as you transition phases, enemies can just appear on top of you during this process. I hope this is really only used for questing and shit because it's jarring and not enjoyable when it happens. I can understand some of this may be due to high server loads and all but just...ooph.

I shall press on, but these are some basic things that Blizzard should not be missing on.

I've got to confess a bit of confusion at this, myself. The method of play for D4 feels to me the same as it was in D2 and D3, except for the inclusion of the jump/action button as an option. How is it unplayable, precisely? Mind you I haven't had a chance to jump into this instance of the open Beta, but I played it last weekend and leveled up a Sorcerer with no real issues insofar as movement and combat went. Am I missing something, or is this a different method of play included but badly implemented in D4?

[Unseen Guest]

I really wish they would just delay it another year and have a couple more open betas and get community feedback the whole time. Polish the game up even more.

They need to really knock it out of the park and impress me because this is the definition of final straw with them for me. If this isn't Blizzard North level of perfect, I'm officially done with Blizzard.

I have no interest in wow anymore, never liked overwatch, hearthstone and starcraft are dead, and Warcraft 3R is a train wreck. With Diablo being the only saving grace, I hope D4 isn't the final nail in the coffin for me.

[infinitemeridian]

Yeah, click to move fucking sucks in this game. It should still allow you to pick up items and interact with things, this is an absolute fucking travesty and inexcusable in a modern ARPG. Like this is borderline unfuckingplayable and there is absolutely no fucking reason for it.

Map overlay not being a thing is barely tolerable, and there's absolutely no fucking reason for it.

And the way this game seems to handle phasing is...a fucking disaster what the fuck. Huge hitching as you transition phases, enemies can just appear on top of you during this process. I hope this is really only used for questing and shit because it's jarring and not enjoyable when it happens. I can understand some of this may be due to high server loads and all but just...ooph.

I shall press on, but these are some basic things that Blizzard should not be missing on.

There's just an insane number of obvious things that should be in and the stuff that is is like so barebones it's just a wonder what they've been working on the last 6 years. Seems like 90% of this games budjet was on art design and that's about it.

[rhorle]

I really wish they would just delay it another year and have a couple more open betas and get community feedback the whole time. Polish the game up even more.

They have been doing closed beta's for a while now and taking feedback. This isn't a release build and I've seen nothing yet that would require a launch delay.

[Edge-]

I've got to confess a bit of confusion at this, myself. The method of play for D4 feels to me the same as it was in D2 and D3, except for the inclusion of the jump/action button as an option. How is it unplayable, precisely? Mind you I haven't had a chance to jump into this instance of the open Beta, but I played it last weekend and leveled up a Sorcerer with no real issues insofar as movement and combat went. Am I missing something, or is this a different method of play included but badly implemented in D4?

Click to move as a function has basically become standard since the days of D2 within the genre - it allows you to use the left mouse button to move around and interact with the world (talk to NPC's, pick up loot, click on interactable objects etc.) without every risking you stopping to just swing your weapon with an autoattack. Because practically many classes will either never autoattack or will simply replace their autoattack with another spammable skill anyways, so having a dedicated button for the function serves no purpose. It's already gotten me killed in events where large enemies with HUGE hitboxes end up the target of an attack of mine instead of me running in their direction. There's no gameplay reason for what has become a genre staple since the days of D2. It's even in D3. Like, Blizzard knows this. Literal tiny indie teams making their first game because they're huge D2/ARPG fans have figured this out (multiple times at that), current Blizzard should not be missing this.

Map overlay is similarly a common feature since the days of D1, and for a lot of us who have played this genre since those days it's basically required. We're focusing on the middle of the screen and what's around us while in combat or while looting. Since that's where our eyes are, having a transparent overlay allows me (I'll just speak for myself, actually) to be able to see where I'm at in the zone and plan out where I want to go next. It seems like a small thing to just look up to the minimap or pop the map open for a second can really break the flow of gameplay in combat.

The phasing issue is as described. It appears the use a lot of phasing tech throughout the game - between towns and combat zones, to trigger quest areas, and I imagine elsewhere - and each time it kicks in, at least my game, appears to hitch for a bit out of nowhere. This has resulted in enemies literally surrounding me in the brief moment I don't have control over my character and I'm getting my face smashed in with no chance to avoid that direct fight. I hope and can imagine this is due to server load issues and will improve as loads even out over the weekend and basically be cleared up by launch.

I say unplayable in the figurative rather than the literal sense, unplayable as in the lack of some of those core functions/features make what would likely otherwise be an enjoyable experience deeply unfun and tedious.