The official Diablo page has made an impressive announcement that has turned the entire Diablo IV world upside down by unveiling the new modes and leaderboards, and the community is already quite sharply divided on this issue because some players anticipate the challenge whereas others are not only dissatisfied with the current state of the game but also consider the update as favoring a small elite group of players. The whole reaction reflects the everlasting battle between what the players want and what Blizzard has determined as their priority in terms of development for the action RPG.
Blizzard has just let the cat out of the bag that the Tower of the Damned will be opened next week and going through the replies is like a safari tour. On the one hand, you have the overwhelming majority of the Diablo IV community shouting “LET’S GOOOO!” and on the other hand… the complete opposite side seems to be entirely disinterested. The very large gap in opinions is a good indicator of the game’s current situation.
Let’s first look at the hype. Gamers like Anilahation describe that they are being “pretty hyped” about the competition among friends and the chance to see the regional rankings. Amazing! The grid of players is going to be around for a while even bringing back that good old-fashioned competitive feel that some were longing for since the game got released. gbrlvlbr could not have been more accurate when he said that this update “is what was required to rejuvenate the endgame.” Aspiring fame seekers, Monday cannot be soon enough for you while the team of Imortilize is thanking the devs for the Spiritborn buffs – a rare, positive win in the notes!
Keep scrolling though and oh man! All that the other half of the discussion consists of is nothing but so much frustration it hurts. What is worse, it is not even about The Tower. It is everything around it, one way or the other. What is the main, the most prominent complaint? Mythic Sanctification. This new super-rare gear modifier has become a real headache. User denizmustafatr complained: “mythic sanctification just ruined the game for me… People like me are not going to be able to take part. Why are you ruining it for the 1% only?”.
That sentiment is omnipresent. Wilbur (TwoFirstNames85) lamented loudly that the never-ending chase is still going on and that it used to require just 3 good affixes, then 3 greater affixes, and now it is 4 affixes PLUS greater affixes PLUS a sanctify… “It’s a ridiculous chase and boring tbh…it’s the same thing for hours upon hours with 0 gains.” The exhaustion is tangible. Cliptis, who was actually looking forward to it, admitted that they are still “hunting for those tower Sancs” and are not ready. If even the players who like the system feel behind, what about the rest of them?
Next up are the bugs that are rather serious. There are a lot of players, among them nj_joker_ and Alexandru122, who want to know when the “Thorns and Thistles” issue will be fixed. They cannot believe it that it is still not working and are inclined to call it “absurd”. ZXanza simply remarked “So no thorns fix still? GGs” – which is pretty much the similar reaction as raising your hands in despair. When you are facing a situation where even the most basic mechanics do not work, the emergence of a new fancy competitive tower is really big and dominating over appearing backward; do you know what I mean? Just, can we make the foundation strong first?
And the rewards – or rather, the lack of those. Anthony Germino described it as “pits 2.0 with no rewards….only the cringe streamers like this.” KingOfAbyss666 gave a more detailed criticism of the plan to later integrate rewards as a “Bad freaking move.” Their standpoint is that if the coolest rewards are only for the top 10 or streamers, the majority of the player base is left out in the cold. Why bother grinding for a leaderboard spot if the only thing waiting for you at the end is your name on a list that barely anyone will see?
Moreover, there is even an argument about the goblin event! George T. and Stephen are asking for it to be stretched out, while the other side is requesting that the “mythic prankster dungeon affix” can be made permanent. It seems that everybody has their little preference that they do not like about the current state of the game and the Tower announcement was just the lightning rod that attracted all of it.
Sometimes even good things have an odd downside. HarambeBlunts is having a great time playing Season 11 and using the new Paladin class, but then Choche is all
