Diablo 4 has thrilled players with Season 2 and improved many aspects compared to the previous season. Only two changes are frequently criticized: that materials are now needed for different things. At BlizzCon 2023, Associate Game Director Joe Piepiora explains that this change was meant to address a much older issue.
What is this criticism about?
- While Diablo 4 should never become an MMO, it has always aimed to include MMO elements. The idea was to create a shared Diablo world where players interact with each other.
- The idea faced opposition from fans of the old parts prior to release. They wanted their own Diablo, a solo experience, and to play alone without xXGamerXx running through their screen.
- Shortly thereafter, the opinion turned 180°: with the heavily restricted trading and the absence of a group finder, players suddenly criticized how much social interaction was lacking.
This is how the problem was meant to be fixed: With the new Season 2, Blizzard introduced several innovations, including a change or new feature that now requires significantly more grind than before.
The new rolling of item affixes, which used to cost you several hundred million gold, is now cheaper but requires rare Forgotten Souls
and Devil’s Roses
.
In addition, there is now the option to summon Uber Duriel and specifically farm the Uber Uniques. You will also need a material for this: Living Steel
. At BlizzCon 2023, MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus interviewed Associate Game Director Joe Piepiora, who stated that the developers’ idea was for players to meet and trade. However, that didn’t happen.
“The only L, but a big one”
Both circumstances left fans upset. They complain: rerolling is now cheaper, but requires much more work. Because you only get Devil’s Roses and Souls in Hell Flows, just like the Living Steel.
However, the flows are not always active, but only every few hours and only for an hour. You are therefore forced to play intensely at specific times if you want to farm the corresponding materials and not buy them.
Additionally, you need an enormous number of flows to even find what you want. If you are looking for a specific unique, you may have to complete up to 1,800 Hell Flows, as you can only receive a limited amount of steel.
In a further interview, which we later conducted with Joe and Tiffany Wat, we delved a little deeper into the topic, where the executives explained to us how work on items, in general, will continue. You can read the interview here on MeinMMO in the coming days.
