On February 24, 2023, the new Season 28 in Diablo 3 launched. After many years, login issues have reappeared, and the servers are overloaded (Error 3002). What’s the reason for this?
What’s going on with Diablo 3? The start of Season 28 was only a few hours ago. On February 24 at 5:00 PM, the gates to hell opened for PC players. This chapter is expected to run for the next three to four months and entertain players. As in every season, there is also a “seasonal theme” this time. A gameplay change that is supposed to make the chapter unique.
However, this new Season 28 seems to be received much better than in previous years. I have participated in every season start for the past few years and was surprised by what happened last night.
Diablo 3 with Error 3002 – Issues retrieving heroes, queues
Here’s how the launch went: For me and many other players, it started right at 5:00 PM. Eagerly, I launched Diablo 3 and went to the hero menu to create a seasonal character. Right from the start, there were waiting times, and the creation took longer.
Anyone who has been there for previous season launches in Diablo 3 knows that the first 5-10 minutes are always a bit shaky, but the game usually stabilizes afterwards. Then the rush, when all players want to start at the same time, is overcome.
This time was different. I followed my speed leveling guide for Season 28, which suggests that you leave your game session occasionally, load the menu, complete a challenge portal, and start a new game afterwards. At the start of a new game, the surprise was: “The servers are overloaded. Estimated wait time: [5-10] minutes.” And that was about 30 minutes after launch.
I was surprised, annoyed, and pleased at the same time. Surprised because I hadn’t seen such a notice in Diablo 3 for years. Annoyed because I wanted to play and couldn’t. Pleased because apparently so many people are excited to play the game from 2012 again and are joining Season 28.
Throughout Friday evening, the problems for me did not lessen; instead, they remained constant or even worsened. Midway through a Greater Rift, everything suddenly stopped for me. I couldn’t execute attacks, enemies were standing still. After a restart, there was again a 10-minute queue.
At 10:45 PM, the server message arrived: “The server will restart in 9 minutes to apply updates.” After the restart, there were again queues of up to 15 minutes. For me, this was the reason to stop for the evening.
Where do the problems come from? A look at the new season
What’s special: For the seasonal theme, Blizzard has come up with a big feature that already attracted significant interest upon announcement: The Altar of Rites.
This is something like a large skill tree. 29 seals can be unlocked within it, granting you more damage or quality-of-life improvements. In the end, there are even cool wings in store!
A massive change for the gameplay of Diablo 3 and not just “any” theme. Community Manager PezRadar explains on Twitter: “It’s probably the biggest season yet, and the team has invested tons of work into it. This is a great time to jump into Diablo.”
What the community says: Among Diablo 3 players, the server status is a hot topic. On reddit , the thread “rip servers” has collected over 130 comments. There, user Archiive writes: “Did anyone expect anything different to happen? Honestly. My entire friends list is full of people logging into D3, most of whom haven’t played in years. It’ll be a good season.”
Others state that they feel reminded of the game’s launch. The legendary “Error 37” caused global frustration at launch in 2012. The servers were overloaded.
What does Diablo 4 have to do with it? Blizzard’s next hack ‘n’ slash is on its way to us. Diablo 4 will launch its open beta in March.
If all goes according to plan, this will be the last season in Diablo 3 before D4 starts. A good reason for many players to play the “old” game once more and perhaps say goodbye.
A reasoning that can also be read on reddit: “This is the last season before D4, that’s it. People who haven’t played for a while are coming back for one last run, that’s pretty much it,” writes a user.
In the meantime, the servers have calmed down, and one can play without a queue (as of February 25 at 9:29 AM). Whether server issues will return during prime time cannot be ruled out.
Everything you need to know about Season 28 is summarized here
