The social media account of Diablo has released a mysterious message that stated, “All of us are Mephisto moments before impact,” along with an incredible image. The tweet has aroused a lot of discussions among the player community regarding the impending download of the Vessel of Hatred and also the price of the game and the recent seasonal offering issues. The different types of feedback show that the community of Diablo 4 is still divided in its anticipation of a large new release.
The tweet from the Diablo account was a real brain-dizzying. It featured just a photo of what looked like a wild swirling vortex of light and dark and the text “All of us are Mephisto moments before impact.” What is the meaning of that? Are we the ones who are doing evil now? Will the expansion force us to take the place of the Prime Evil? My thoughts keep going round and round just trying to get it, but the replies… wow, the replies are chaos on another level.
On the one hand, there are the folks who are utterly delighted and confused but in a very nice way. User @Glitchymagic ponders if the subject is about “the fragility of ambition or something more… infernal?” which is a much deeper question than what I was going to ask. My only question would have been, “impact from what, a truck?” Another player, @cacoochie, just casually states that “honestly i feel like we’re all just waiting for our villain arc to start at this point 😂” which, is indeed very accurate. After fighting for perfect gear for months, becoming the dark lord sounds very relaxing, to tell the truth.
But then you move your mouse and oh my god – the mood flips very quickly. It seems that the tweet had opened up a whole flood of gamers who were not happy with it. User @slothstyle83 gets ready to deliver a rant of enormous size: “If you think we are going to pay another 40 for a dlc and a paladin, you have a serious problem… Players that bought the game will have to pay MORE, yes, you heard it right. Do better or RIP.” This leads to a whole thread of discussions about the price of the Vessel of Hatred expansion. Some players like @Revanchist117 are backing it up with the reasoning that they have received “two dlcs, 3 classes, and one of them early for 40 bucks” so it is a fabulous deal. But there are others who are apparently still very upset about the game being released in such a poor state and all the related issues.
Apologies, I lost the thread of my argument. Oh yes, the chaos. But it is not only about the money aspect; there are people who ask for technical help – @razoshix posts a screenshot and asks the developers to please fix a skill bug. @Sekiro669 wants to know about a PS5 Pro patch. @veelqnexus is begging the company to fix D2R on the console. It is as if there was a tech support line, a philosophy seminar, and a price comparison app all happening at the same time.
Then there are the unpredictable ones. One user, @jiujiu99999, claims to be a “long-time veteran player from China” and threatens to make big streamers boycott the game because “Blizzard has treated its loyal fans with utter cruelty.” Another user just posts a GIF of a smiling cat with the text “My face come April 28th!” which is the date of the expansion release, so that could also be a mood, but a much happier one.
Nonetheless, the biggest thing is that the positive comments liberated it. In fact, a good number of the community members are very appreciative of Season 11. @Imissthe90ss declares, “nice job on season 11. I honestly am shocked at how much fun i’m having.” @TommyWierper gives “credits that are due where it’s earned” and mentions that Diablo has “fixed several major issues” and the new Paladin class is fun. Even in the argument threads, @Revanchist117 points out that “and the community at large is enjoying Diablo 4 season 11 more than PoE rn.” That’s quite a big statement considering how devoted the Path of Exile community is.
So what is the moral of the story of all this screaming into the void? It is that the community is at a point where it has to decide. There are, on one hand, players who feel disappointed by past choices and their doubts, together with the total disbelief in any new paid content, are root-deep. On the other hand, there are players who are enjoying the current game state to the fullest and are looking forward to what comes next. The mysterious, almost poetic tweet from the official account seems to be trying to generate hype and mystery for the lore.
