A problem currently persists in Diablo 4, but the studio does not seem to be in the process of fixing it, because it can be “really funny”. It remains to be seen whether this is everyone’s opinion.
The year 2024 is going to be a great year for Diablo 4. It will not only mark the start of season 3, but also the arrival of the Vessel of Hatred DLC. In the meantime, Blizzard is listening to the community, and making changes to the experience accordingly. However, there is a very specific problem that the studio does not seem to want to resolve immediately. And the reason is simple, it can create fun situations for players.
Being overpowered in Diablo 4 is actually fun
The Youtube channel Electric Playground Network had the opportunity to speak with Rod Fergusson, the general manager of the Diablo franchise. Of course, many topics were discussed, and the idea is not to transcribe them all here. We will instead focus on one of them, the one which concerns the balancing of builds. It’s no secret that there are some that are considered overpowered. To the point where you are unstoppable. If this happens, it is normally up to the development team to intervene to rectify the situation. Well, obviously not this time.
We’re exaggerating a bit, but Fergusson made it clear that they were going to wait a little longer before balancing anything. For him, it’s not really a big flaw, but rather a way for players to have fun. We would feel “like the king of the world”, while understanding that this will not last forever. On paper, he’s not completely wrong, but it raises the question of the challenge in an experience like Diablo 4. Wouldn’t we become too powerful, to the point of no longer enjoying the challenges offered?
The thing about a Diablo game, it’s that it’s those moments where you feel like you’re cheating or you know you’ve fooled the dev team or you’re taking advantage of an exploit that are really, really fun. That’s what we tried to do in Diablo 4.
That’s the magic: finding the right challenge. If it’s too easy, then people will say, it’s not fun because it’s too easy, but if it’s too difficult, it’s the same thing.
A promising year 2024 for the franchise
The next big step for Diablo 4 is the Vessel of Hatred expansion, if we leave aside season 3. It promises a bright future for the game, but for now, we’re a little hungry. The DLC has still not appeared again, which means that it does not yet have a precise release date. We know it should arrive in 2024, and that’s it. We will surely have more details in the coming weeks, at least that is what we hope. In the meantime, you can enjoy the update 1.2.3a. The latter offers a rather attractive advantage, since it doubles the drop rate of Ultra-Uniques from the Echo of Duriel until January 8, 2024.