The next seasonal event for the game Diablo 4, entitled “Season of Divine Intervention,” has been proclaimed by Blizzard, and the controversy surrounding Capstone Dungeons, which is the most disliked and loved gameplay feature of all time, has also been confirmed. The new season will officially begin on December 11 at exactly 8:30 PM PT along with the new feature – the bloodiest road and the toughest challenges ahead. Meanwhile, the announcement resulted in a heated debate among the existing players. A vocal faction was heard calling for the introduction of the Paladin class, while the others were merely grumbling in the celebration of the new content.
The player base is split down the line regarding the Capstone Dungeons, while others are still scratching their heads over Blizzard’s decision to bring back this feature. The company’s Diablo account of the official tweet tries to make the situation a bit clearer by stating that the dungeons will represent extensive tests and a long and hard journey with the utmost difficulty at every turn of the road. The plan is to have it that by the end of it, or at least with a stupendous amount of fighting, your characters should actually be leaving behind a trail of dead demons! This is indeed very Diablo. High stakes, high rewards if you are lucky enough. Besides, the name of the season is ‘Divine Intervention,’ which may imply that the majority of the players are wishing for such intercession for the class resurrection.
And that is exactly where the discussion in the comments immediately went to. It’s unbelievable. Blizzard releases a new season with tough dungeons and the top comments are just different ways of saying ‘Where’s the Paladin?’ or ‘Show us the Paladin.’ For instance, user NiceGuy187x literally asked, ‘Wheres the Paladin.’ GianniPlay responded with the same question, ‘show us the paladin.’ This is the dominant demand of the moment.
Nevertheless, the discussion has created a paradox situation. One very active user on the forum called Istklos has gone as far as to say that the players’ behavior shows hypocrisy. He was very harsh while saying, ‘Everyone is whining when D4 incorporates elements from D2 or D3 but at the same time are whining that they are not playing until the Paladin comes back.. idk m8.’ And he does have a point! There is a constant fight where game players want new things but at the same time are very much longing for the nostalgia of the good old days. The Paladin is one of the biggest sources of that Diablo 2 nostalgia.
There are, however, more than just surface-level requests being made. One player, known as Joey Knish (KSB2215) has compiled an elaborate list outlining all the conditions concerning the Paladin’s resurrection: ‘If you’re gifting us Paladin on the 11th, please make sure it has -Hammers -Shield Charge -Smite -Holy Fire (Literally uninstall if it doesn’t) -FoH -Zeal (as a basic maybe???).’ He doesn’t sound like he’s making a request but rather is issuing a manifesto. The mistake he made with the word ‘Literlaly’ only serves to further authenticate him as a gamer.
On the other hand, the fear of the much-expected Path of Exile 2 has hung heavily over this announcement. There have been a lot of users advising others to take the easy way out and just play POE2 instead. Aaron Clover tweeted, ‘We shall take our journey in PoE 2. – Which is the only game like diablo in this genre.’ Ouch. That was quite a direct shot. While another user, Tiacoloyal, voiced his concern sending out a tweet that said, ‘I really hope the reason you delayed the season is to shadowdrop the expansion, because after seeing PO2 there’s cause for worry. And I say this as a D4 fan.’ So even the fans feel the competition is tough.
But not all is misty and sad. Some gamers have mixed feelings about the whole situation and see it as a positive thing. Cliptis commented, ‘Capstone dungeons were one of the hardest challenges for me when the game first came out. Very excited to go through them na!’ And Codeth mentioned an amazing idea which came from the hardcore community, ‘I love the Capstone Dungeons are back! One of my favorite things to do when they were last was to gather a group of level 1s in hardcore with any aspects/tempers you can find and confront the first Capstone. Last one standing wins!’ That indeed sounds very chaotic and fun.
Meanwhile, there have been other types of replies rolling in as well. One of the players, JvMPER, took advantage of the post to request assistance in getting his account back after it was hacked. Another player, YearlyBillsFan, just simply asked, ‘Rebirth on PlayStation?’ while others are looking forward to the experience on Xbox.
