Diablo IV

[ArchAngel]

Should I even bother downloading the beta? Anyone have any day one impressions?

Probably not worth it at this point. The queues are going to be insane for the public beta.

It is not bad if you can avoid EU afternoon/evening times. Then queue is usually 1-2 min only

 

[Arbiter]

Funny considering how old Blizzard was laser-focused on making things like this work correctly:

https://www.raphkoster.com/2006/09/06/agc-rob-pardos-keynote/

Rob Pardo used to be focused on creating games. Now he is more focused on burning investors' money.

 

[ArchAngel]

No issues logging in/queuing.

Runs fine on a gtx1060 @1080p with its autodetected/recommended default settings (mix of mostly medium with a few low and high) with a 60fps cap. If people are having performance and stability issues might want to consider reducing/disabling some of the fancier effects which may be bugged and cap the fps properly.

Graphically it's the prettiest top down game I've tried since Pillars of Eternity 2.

Can't comment much on the gameplay as diablo-likes are not my thing and last tried it decades ago. Seems to flow well enough. There seems to be a huge power difference between the classes. If Barb felt normal/easy Necro felt like game journalist mode.

Would've liked an alternate solution for a high tension/hardcore/ironman mode that doesn't end up wiping your character if the batteries in your mouse go out or if you get a phone call in the middle of a fight.

Why are you using wireless mouse lol?!
Casual gamers..
And why is your phone on during gaming time?
Casuals x2..

 

[Reever]

that's... not how diablo 4 works...

it is though?

 

[bloodlover]

I just finished a 3h session with a friend. There was no queue when we logged it but things will most likely change in the evening.

The game is really fun and graphically it looks great. It scratches a certain itch when it comes to hack and slash games. In the back of my head was the constant comparison with Lost Ark but my buddy never played it and still thoguht that it's a good game on its own. The gameplay is fun and you don't get showered in items like in D3 so that's a massive plus.

On the downside, it runs like crap. Lag and stutters are very frequent and it's good to know that I am not the only one with the issue. My PC is not that good by 2023 standards but this shit should run even on a 5yo card.

 

[Rhobar121]

I just finished a 3h session with a friend. There was no queue when we logged it but things will most likely change in the evening.

The game is really fun and graphically it looks great. It scratches a certain itch when it comes to hack and slash games. In the back of my head was the constant comparison with Lost Ark but my buddy never played it and still thoguht that it's a good game on its own. The gameplay is fun and you don't get showered in items like in D3 so that's a massive plus.

On the downside, it runs like crap. Lag and stutters are very frequent and it's good to know that I am not the only one with the issue. My PC is not that good by 2023 standards but this shit should run even on a 5yo card.

Unfortunately, Blizzard has been organizing all betas on servers located in the USA for years, so they always work like shit in Europe.
Apart from lags, the game ran fine on my hardware (gtx1060)

 

[Yosharian]

Having a great time, suddenly the world boss spawn timer appears. About to get to the area, 20 mins left before it spawns. NP. Suddenly disconnected. Try to reconnect, error. OK, restart my PC. Log back in.

26 min queue.

 

[Nathir]

This game looks like D3 with more realistic graphics. Art direction still sucks though, with glowing skeletons and non-threatening demons.

 

[Yosharian]

It speaks to how much I'm enjoying this that I'm not hopping onto Chaos Gate Daemonhunters and am instead sitting in the queue

 

[whydoibother]

I just finished a 3h session with a friend. There was no queue when we logged it but things will most likely change in the evening.

Were you the same level? How does the game work with a party of different leveled characters, with different quest progress?

 

[whydoibother]

that's... not how diablo 4 works...

it is though?

You can't be underleveled. All enemies are always your level.
However, you can be overleveled. As in, your gear isn't good enough for your level.

 

[Reever]

You can't be underleveled. All enemies are always your level.

Not for all content. Some content is level-gated and enemies will not scale to your level. Strongholds are one such example.

 

[Rhobar121]

that's... not how diablo 4 works...

it is though?

You can't be underleveled. All enemies are always your level.
However, you can be overleveled. As in, your gear isn't good enough for your level.

You should check before you write something.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Blizzard's "recent" history:

- Followed up gameplay-centric Diablo 2 with Diablo 3 which was best known for its gold auction house and Chinese bots farming for it.
- Followed up Starcraft with Starcraft 2, which was basically a graphical re-skin, AND split it up into 3 games to milk more money.
- Promised to combine RPG with RTS in Warcraft 3, with in-depth heroes you could level up, ended up with cookie-cutter 10 level rpg-lite units that didn't really add anything to the game, and eventually unintentionally led to the whole MOBA/DOTA thing which almost killed RTS off. Then, released a Warcraft 3 re-make which has the lowest Steam rating of all time I believe.
- Gradually declined and ruined WoW (which was a quite good themepark MMO at the start) over the years/decades of expansions by continuously introducing features that kill off the Massive Multiplayer part, such as cross-server dungeon queues, instanced PvP, phasing, flying mounts, level-up packs, etc. This was done to the point that they had to release a "classic" version which was very popular, since most of their changes since have sucked ass. Also WoW has almost killed off the MMO genre, by changing it from an intersting laboratory of multiplayer experiences to a bunch of mostly failed WoW clones. Blizzard has also since cancelled the development of Titan, the WoW sequel.

Yeah... I am sure Diablo IV will be great...

 

[Yosharian]

OK the lag / disconnects are much worse this evening. I got ditched again and even while I was logged in the lag was pretty bad.

Also so about the world boss, I managed to get logged back in in time to take part in the event, but he was one-shotting me quite a bit so I went back to town to repair. When I portaled back into the area, the world boss had disappeared.

So yeah, the whole MMO aspect of this game is turning out to be pretty bad. I would be really happy playing this game offline as an SP game. Overall everything that isn't do to with the game being multiplayer is great, and everything multiplayer-related sucks shit through a straw.

Even communicating with other players doesn't seem to work - I typed quite a bit in local chat and nobody responds. I don't know if this is because all the other players are console trash or don't speak English, or because the game isn't working correctly.

 

[Peachcurl]

Even communicating with other players doesn't seem to work - I typed quite a bit in local chat and nobody responds. I don't know if this is because all the other players are console trash or don't speak English, or because the game isn't working correctly.

Or they switched off chat.

 

[bloodlover]

I just finished a 3h session with a friend. There was no queue when we logged it but things will most likely change in the evening.

Were you the same level? How does the game work with a party of different leveled characters, with different quest progress?

No idea, we both started at level 1. I assume that it's scaled to fit the individual player? They did a similar thing in WoW Where you could go in every questing area regardless of your level.

Great idea for WoW, not so good for Diablo imo.

 

[whydoibother]

that's... not how diablo 4 works...

it is though?

You can't be underleveled. All enemies are always your level.
However, you can be overleveled. As in, your gear isn't good enough for your level.

You should check before you write something.

Now where's the fun in that?

 

[Turn_BASED]

Well I just gave it a try, I was having a pretty good time until I left the crazy cultist village and got hit with the COLLECT LILITH STATUES, GET BERRIES, COLLECT ORE, ACHIEVEMENTS ACHIEVEMENTS FRICKIN CHEEVOS.

What a turnoff. Uninstalled immediately.

 

[HeyCheckOutHowHardICanPee]

I'm not exactly sure what the pull is for the other acts and content past act 1 if you get access to all your skills except the "full" passives before you even finish act 1.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Got around to playing it. Game is semi decent for a couple of play throughs maybe. Not nearly as snappy as D3, price is extortion, and it needs a 6 month delay, otherwise it'll be a fucked up launch all over again.

The mmo shit can get 'tae fuck, adds literally nothing.

 

[JDR13]

Anyone else constantly running into invisible barriers because of areas not loading?

 

[Reever]

Anyone else constantly running into invisible barriers because of areas not loading?

If you mean the ones where you get sent back a few seconds, yeah. I thought it was my internet/pc but apparently a lot of people are getting that. Happens especially in towns.

 

[ArchAngel]

Blizzard's "recent" history:

- Followed up gameplay-centric Diablo 2 with Diablo 3 which was best known for its gold auction house and Chinese bots farming for it.
- Followed up Starcraft with Starcraft 2, which was basically a graphical re-skin, AND split it up into 3 games to milk more money.
- Promised to combine RPG with RTS in Warcraft 3, with in-depth heroes you could level up, ended up with cookie-cutter 10 level rpg-lite units that didn't really add anything to the game, and eventually unintentionally led to the whole MOBA/DOTA thing which almost killed RTS off. Then, released a Warcraft 3 re-make which has the lowest Steam rating of all time I believe.
- Gradually declined and ruined WoW (which was a quite good themepark MMO at the start) over the years/decades of expansions by continuously introducing features that kill off the Massive Multiplayer part, such as cross-server dungeon queues, instanced PvP, phasing, flying mounts, level-up packs, etc. This was done to the point that they had to release a "classic" version which was very popular, since most of their changes since have sucked ass. Also WoW has almost killed off the MMO genre, by changing it from an intersting laboratory of multiplayer experiences to a bunch of mostly failed WoW clones. Blizzard has also since cancelled the development of Titan, the WoW sequel.

Yeah... I am sure Diablo IV will be great...

You forgot about decline called Heartstone that suddenly spawned a shit ton of shitty card games including putting it games it should never go to like that Marvel shit game.
Then their own take on Dota that luckily failed.
And lets not forget Overwatch that turned interesting and chaotic Team Fortress into PC cartoon game Overwatch

 

[ArchAngel]

I'm not exactly sure what the pull is for the other acts and content past act 1 if you get access to all your skills except the "full" passives before you even finish act 1.

Beta has increased XP and loot drops.