Diablo 4: Improvements Blizzard Really Needs To Make

Blizzard’s current business model is to create games that demand an infusion of cash from their consumers for them to remain relevant in the content of the game, to for the company to justify its developmental resources. Take a brief look at the 2018 earnings below. See a pattern here? All of these games, including those of Activision, and Candy Crush, are always bringing in constant revenue.


One way that invasive microtransactions snuck their way into the modern gaming scene was starting with cosmetics. However, as people spent more and more on them, MTX started to become almost essential to some extent to play through the entirety of certain games. Redditor Modal1 expressed their grievances with the practice, saying "The whole idea of loot for me is cosmetics. Grinding and trying to unlock high-end, cool-looking gear is gone if the coolest armor is just going to be bought for $10 in a store. What’s even the point of playing


Old school fans rejoice, for Diablo II 's mechanics are making a big return in Diablo IV . From highly similar skill trees to runes, the developers took a lot of inspiration from the popular earlier installment of the g

Reading the above ideas about Diablo 4 may come off as pessimistic, but again, the point is to consider how a design for the next game would look with a revenue model that would satisfy Blizzard’s expectations, and that of its shareholders. Gone are the days of putting out a game with a single DLC pack and calling it a day. Blizzard, and many others, seek to produce games as a service, and Diablo 3 simply did not cut it. Let us cross our fingers and hope for the best, that Diablo 4 both meets our expectations and Blizzard’s - though it’s hard to imagine such an ideal landing spot for the next game.

In sum, the intent in Diablo 3 was to provide players with a safe, legitimate way to exchange in-game currency or real money for items, rather than continue to see players use unsecured, third-party websites. In that sense, the project was a success, but the Auction House also had the unintended effect of becoming the most efficient way to increase a character’s overall power level, rather than actually playing the game.

Redditor MonkawMonk liked the more subdued direction taken in Diablo IV , saying "I definitely dig the less flashy combat. I don’t know about you all but when I play ARPG or even an MMO I like to see what the hell I'm doing and what’s going on around me." The developers seem to also make combat less visually frantic while still keeping the spectacle factor and feeling cathar


Redditor Fauwcet said, "while plenty of the systems aren't fully realized as they are meant to be kept short, them having things like dungeons, world events, PvP, rifts, etc. gives me hope that there will be more to [the] endgame in D4 than just endless rifts." Aside from things like seasons, Diablo 4 Leveling Guide III thankfully had at least its story padded out with the DLC expans

These are but a few ideas to consider, and while they may sound radical, Diablo 4 cannot possibly be made with the same model of Diablo 3 , or it too will offer little to players in the endgame and likely suffer the same abandonment as the current game.

The answer may lie in taking a page from Destiny 2 , in the way that Bungie has recently embraced having players work towards to construction of gear that they want with the Chalice of Opulence. This empowers players and gives them a long-term goal. In Diablo 4 , a new currency and quests could be used to either craft set pieces, or if we move away from the notion of making our own gear, to provide buff that increase the odds of finding a specific type of gear.


Given the emphasis on the "shared world" aspect of Diablo IV , it's inevitable that the game will have online multiplayer components designed to keep fans playing as consistently as possible. That's another facet of gaming that saw MTX creep in, and players are worried things will get more aggressive in


One would think that the existence of Diablo Immortal (and those other Blizzard mobile games ) will allow Diablo 4 to have a more straightforward business model. After all, removing any predatory steps is more likely to build player trust, and long-term that kind of trust is what games need to bring in new fans after an honest gaming experie

Diablo 4 is rumoured to be making its first formal appearance at BlizzCon 2019 in less than two weeks. While we can expect plenty of demon slaying and looting of legendary gear, now is the perfect time to discuss how Blizzard could bring back the Auction House. In Diablo 3 , the failings of the Auction House were apparent from its launch and may have doomed the game from reaching its true potential - attempting to implement it a second time would require a vastly different design philosophy.


There's a fair bit of customization in Diablo when it comes to the loot collected, but there are still elements that can't be controlled. This leaves the game a little at odds in comparison to to even some of the classic RPG world, let alone modern titles. Indeed, Diablo 3 does feel a little limited when it comes to choosing character designs, and Diablo 4 could do with an upgrade in that reg