The closed beta of Diablo 4 is over and pre-order customers had plenty of time to roam around Sanctuary and try out quests as well as some dungeons. The problem, however, is that many have complained about these dungeons. Blizzard promises improvements for the release, but players are not optimistic.
What is the problem with the dungeons? The dungeons in Diablo 4 are different from those in previous installments. Each dungeon has a different environment, enemies, and a boss. In addition, there are tasks like “Kill X enemies in the dungeon” or “Reach PLACE”. In the end, a boss is always waiting for you, which you can send to the afterlife for loot.
On paper, this doesn’t sound dramatic, but many fans who played these dungeons in the closed beta see criticisms that could hinder player enjoyment in the long run. These include:
- The annoying backtracking to open or activate various doors or gates
- The lesser number of monsters
- Boring or too few tasks
Players have therefore voiced a lot of criticism towards Blizzard, and the developers have now addressed the “dungeon” problem in an interview. Blizzard promises improvements for the release, but fans remain skeptical.
Solution for dungeons does not address the real problem
What solution does Blizzard propose? General Manager Rod Fergusson and Game Director Joe Shely sat down with the gaming site “Eurogamer” (via eurogamer.net) and discussed the key topics surrounding Diablo 4 and its beta. One topic was also the dungeons, which are hotly debated in the community.
When asked if the developers had noticed the community’s feedback regarding backtracking and enemy intensity, Joe Shely responded as follows:
We have seen it, yes. There are some elements. There are players who … we have added the option for players to teleport out of dungeons through the user interface, and some players do not know that it exists. But certainly, there are cases within the dungeon where you receive a key and then have to go elsewhere. We do not want players to run through an empty dungeon. In cases where you receive a key and have to walk back through an area, enemies should spawn to refresh things. One of our goals is that you never have to run through an empty dungeon. It can be okay for very short periods. […]
One of the design decisions we made was that we wanted the dungeons, a single dungeon, to have certain characteristics that are consistent and tied to this dungeon and this location (the environment) in the world. So when you enter a dungeon, things (enemies) are not randomly generated; there are some things that are consistent.
And the way players should approach it when they level up is to see it as: “I want to do each of these different dungeons,” and that is encouraged through things like the Codex of Power and the Renown system, which give you a kind of checklist for all the dungeons you can do. And then when you reach the endgame after finishing the campaign and gaining access to the Nightmare Dungeon system, we have the seals that modify the dungeons in really cool ways, with buffs and nerfs, and these modify the dungeon dramatically. […]
Blizzard relies here entirely on the power of the seals for the nightmare dungeons. All of these dungeons are also firmly integrated into the world of Diablo 4, not just externally but also narratively. It would not fit if dungeons were random areas, with a mix of enemies, where only wild slaughter is done to get loot.
The challenge and focus on looting should only come in the endgame of Diablo 4, when players can gather their seals and modify dungeons that way. According to Rob Fergusson, they should also change the number of enemies as well as their difficulty.
What do players think about it? Players on Reddit feel that Blizzard does not understand the criticism. They are relying too heavily on the full version of Diablo 4 and their nightmare dungeons and are not addressing the real problem of backtracking. Players therefore comment with the following opinions:
- “Yes, I read that earlier and thought that they (Blizzard) do not really understand the complaints … The seals will not change the limited number of objectives or the limited pool of bosses.” – says kenm130
- “I think they understand it; it’s just impossible to avoid the mountain of feedback dealing with it. But they know that they may not be able to fix these problems before the release, so they probably think it’s best to sidestep the issue until they have better news to share.” – thinks AllLimes
- “People complained about this ages ago in the friends-and-family beta. This was nothing new; it was a long time coming with this feedback.” – says MisterMetal
It remains to be seen how Blizzard will handle the dungeons at release and later in Diablo 4. How did you find the dungeons in the beta? Were they too boring or exhausting for you? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
A small detail in Diablo 4 can become a big problem because players have too much freedom
