Diablo 4 is simply too big, the developers say themselves. Lead Class Designer Adam Z. Jackson and Associate Game Director Joe Piepiora talked in an interview about how troubleshooting and testing new features works. That is clearly more work than one would expect, they say.
What content and issues are we talking about?
- Diablo 4 receives a complete overhaul with Season 4. The entire loot system will be changed, core content like the Hell Flood will be expanded. You can find all information about Season 4 summarized here.
- Many of these contents have been worked on for months. One thing that the developers specifically mention is the new crafting system with hardening and completion.
- On the PTR, you had to watch an animation with every attempt, and crafting could fail. Both have improved now, much to the delight of the players. But the developers say: To find out such things sometimes takes hundreds of hours.
This is what the developers say: In an interview with Diablo expert Raxxanterax, the conversation eventually turned to the implementation of feedback and the development of new content as well as bug fixing (via YouTube, at minute 09:48).
Adam Jackson states that he cannot do without playing the game extensively with his live team for new content. This is important to even understand what needs to be fixed:
Everyone on my team must play an internal build or their live character for a certain amount of time each day. I am already playing Season 5 […] You have to play the game to understand the problems. […] There is no substitute for actually playing the game for 80 hours or more.
Adam Jackson
However, you cannot force the developers to play only Diablo in their entire free time. You have to rely on experience.
That’s why it is so valuable to see the feedback from active players, for example on Reddit. The developers are constantly active there, explains Joe Piepiora in his comment. Although they have access to the meta-data, such as how many people use certain legendaries, the community’s discussions are ultimately more important.
For this reason, the developers also have to polish from time to time after the release of new features, says Jackson. That is the normal process: You work according to your own knowledge and conscience, bring in the new content, and then improve it based on player feedback.
Before the start of Season 4, we were also able to talk to the developers. Lead Seasons Designer Deric Nuñez and Lead Game Producer Timothy Ismay answered some questions about the contents of the season and the future of Diablo 4: Diablo 4 promises content for everyone in Season 4 – developers explain how the game fundamentally changes
While playing, you then have a whole list of things that are not good and that you want to improve. Then you have to see what is feasible.
Ideally, Jackson would like to play the future Season 5 for 200 hours to be able to test everything. But he only has 50 and has to make the best of it: “We need to use our gut feeling, existing ideas, and data to find out if our decisions are right.”
What the developers learned from the PTR, they explain in the video:
“One would have to play their whole life”
The reason it takes so much time for testing and troubleshooting is the scope of the game. Jackson says: Diablo 4 has so many systems that interlock, it takes forever to understand everything. It is not easy even for the team:
Diablo is a damn big game, and it takes forever to understand it […] The part that really makes it hard for us, and where I think the community makes it even harder for us… is that to really test our game, you would have to play it your whole life.
Adam Jackson
However, you cannot force the developers to play only Diablo in their entire free time. You have to rely on experience.
That’s why it is so valuable to see the feedback from active players, for example on Reddit. The developers are constantly active there, explains Joe Piepiora in his comment. Although they have access to the meta-data, such as how many people use certain legendaries, the community’s discussions are ultimately more important.
For this reason, the developers also have to polish from time to time after the release of new features, says Jackson. That is the normal process: You work according to your own knowledge and conscience, bring in the new content, and then improve it based on player feedback.
Before the start of Season 4, we were also able to talk to the developers. Lead Seasons Designer Deric Nuñez and Lead Game Producer Timothy Ismay answered some questions about the contents of the season and the future of Diablo 4: Diablo 4 promises content for everyone in Season 4 – developers explain how the game fundamentally changes
