Console. PS5, specifically.
I don’t play on my PC much at all, but I acknowledge that if I play something on it, it’s digital at this point.
I’m a PS/Switch/iOS gamer.
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Preordered the ridiculously priced version on xbox cause I’m a Blizzard fanboy since the original Warcraft. I’m sure at some point not owning a physical copy may bite me, but such is life.
Let the 88GB download pre-install go last night, looking forward to reducing my productivity on Friday to play….
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I already took the day off lol
(I do have some legit stuff to do in the morning, but it is a happy coincidence!)
And if you care about experiencing the storyline for yourself through playing the game, avoid looking at the internet for the next several days!
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Is anyone else bothered by the microtransactions and battle pass stuff? I can stomach these things a bit in free games or games where cosmetics don’t matter much (except for destroying the immersion, CoD), but I always felt at least half the point of the Diablo series is to get loot to look awesome. Now people can just pay money to look fancy.
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It’s much better than the real money auction house in the last Diablo game!
Everything that you can acquire with money is cosmetic, so it’s not really that different than getting the extra mount and mount armor in the Ultimate Edition if you pay extra.
You can play the full game and enjoy all seasonal content for your one time purchase of $70, which is a pretty good deal considering MMOs with similar level of popularity have some form of monthly fee or “pay to win” transactions.
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I feel that a good monetisation plan means the game will last longer and hopefully be better over time.
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Yup, I am installed for pre-order now. I do have meetings on Friday, but not as much as usual, so should get to play some during the day.
But how many KFC sandwiches have you purchased?
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I signed up…
But did you know there are zero KFC in the city of Chicago? Wtf KFC!!!
I need to drive 5 miles into the suburbs to get my skins and heart disease?
Seriously, KFC need to take a good hard look in the mirror and place their restaurants closer to my upper class local haunts…
If it’s the aroma you miss…
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True that for every game. Also screw you YT with your unwanted unsolicited SPOILERIFIC AS F***! recommendations for every game ever…
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Diablo IV. But aren’t we all?
I can’t see how someone could like this genre but not like this game. It’s really well done. I certainly like it better than D3 at this point.
I can still nitpick, though. I still don’t like the micro transactions and having be game work like an MMO where I am on a server with others makes it especially egregious because I will be seeing players that have looks that I will never have.
Speaking of other players, I’m still not sure about the MMO aspect of this game. Randomly teaming up to take on a challenge is cool, but it’s also spoiled some of the game for me already. Only an hour or so in I came across a level 60 Druid and saw a bunch of his gear and mechanics. I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal but a lot of the later-game surprise is spoiled early.
I also don’t like the always online. I love playing hardcore and will never be able to with this game. I’m not putting my time at the mercy of server and my own ISP. I read an article yesterday that the first person to get a hardcore character to 100 lost said character when the server crashed. That’s a horrible system.
Finally, I’m not sure how I feel about the level scaling. I like in old games (and other games like MMORPGs) where each new zone is increasingly harder; it gave me a sense of scaling where I actually got better to handle a harder challenge. Not so, here. Now I know that no matter where I go I’m likely to find the same challenge with only minor increases to difficulty or specific boss spikes.
But like I said, nitpicking. Overall a very fun game.
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This has become such a common “feature” for games now, and I just won’t buy into those games. From a gameplay POV, there’s no reason for it, and it can ruin your progress so easily. Like everyone, I like Diablo, but I’ll never buy this.
Agreed on most counts. I love Diablo, and think this is probably the best iteration yet.
Don’t know that the cosmetics or always online bother me; I play on xbox and it’s always connected anyway, so… Insofar as the stuff, I’m content with the transmogs in game and the inevitable set pieces that will come along. I’d like a cooler looking horse, but for all the time I spend looking at it…
100% agreed on the level scaling - jumped into a buddy’s game last night, expecting to give him a ton of xp, only to find that the mobs were somehow tailored to both of our different levels and that we generated xp separately. I also don’t love that a tough boss who I might not be geared / setup for / good enough to beat isn’t just someone I can come back to a few levels later and spank.
But also, nitpicking for a game that I’ve already gotten my money’s worth 10x over. Also, no real money auction house this time, so there’s that in the plus column.
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I am in Act 3 with a level 35 Druid and really enjoying the heck out of the game so far.
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I’ve been wandering around doing side quests or just aimlessly farming. I’m only 21 and just got smoked by (I presume) the Act I boss. I hadn’t upgraded my potions, though. Already, though, I can’t see how I don’t get every character to 100 and possibly one of each in hardcore, too, if the servers are stable. It’s not the worst Diablo game and that automatically makes it a great game.
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To each its own I guess.
The world events in D4 are carbon copies of the dynamic events GW2 spearheaded nearly 12 years ago, and what an innovation it was back then. For an MMO it was earth-shattering, for casuals now it is fun as well in D4 if you don’t mind the “spoiling game mechanics stuff”.
Usually, I am a stickler for that as well but in Diablo games that usually devolve into diarrhea-Christmas-lights-special-effect-fiesta soon anyways, it is ok for me.
However, I had to chuckle about your level-scaling comment. It is one if not the BEST features for me. I am usually an avid end-game-stuff avoider in my online games since they usually devolve into work-like grind fests and get too hectic for me. After finishing the mainline story I move on or go into podcast/casual play mode. So I am usually wayyyy over-leveled and play in areas I like best in regard to ambient sound/background music and biome design. I really like snow, I like mountains, I like ice, did I mention that I like snow? Well, guess what I LIKE SNOW!
In GW2 in over a dozen years and thousands of hours “played” I am usually roaming in the mountains starting and mid-game zones of the Norn (the Norse-inspired race) doing whatever.
When I booted up the D4 Beta after a media blackout on the game and made my first steps in-game I laughed. I laughed very loudly and very hard…after reading about the level-scaling the laughter turned into a maniacal cackle. I knew since Beta day one, 60 seconds into play I will be spending 95% of my D4 playtime in the Fractured Peaks.
I was one of the very first crazy persons worldwide who leveled to max-level in GW2 without leaving the first tutorial instance (doing the instance not like a crazy person just puts you over the threshold to level up ONCE)
Let’s see if there is a way to do something crazy as well in D4…do Wolves respawn before entering the Village? Hmmm…life-altering decisions are following 
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“Always Online” does have advantages. Much harder to cheat. I love that I can play on my desktop in my office when I’m alone, but if my son wants to play we can do couch co-op on PS5 and both use the characters from our battle.net account. And if I go on a trip, it will run just fine on the laptop, bringing all my keybinds and settings along with it. The Early Access launch was surprisingly smooth. I was able to login at 4pm last Thursday and play through the first weekend without any connection issues. Once the unwashed masses arrived on Monday though, it got pretty rocky. Hopefully they have it sorted out for this weekend.
I hated level scaling when I first encountered it in Oblivion. But it makes so much more sense here. There are 50 quests in each zone. The primary goal when you start your first character is to finish the campaign and unlock World Tier 3 so you can get the higher level loot. Which means you skip a lot of the side quests if you want to pursue that goal. Without level scaling, you have to go back and do these sidequests against monsters that are way too easy and give no XP. With level scaling, it is a rewarding experience to be able to do these on WT3 and get better loot while enjoying the content. And it makes it much easier to play with players of differing levels and still feel challenged. I’m well ahead of my son, but we can still do the couch coop game without feeling like I’m doing all the work. Each zone does have a minimum level, so you can go to Hawezar or Kehjistan early if you want to try harder content. And the first two World Tier cap at level 50, so you can level up past that if you want an easier time to finish the campaign and beat the first Capstone. Nightmare Dungeons will also give you a way to control the levels of monsters once you reach them (the rule is that monsters will be 54 levels higher then the tier number for the sigil).
I’ve found some cool cosmetics as drops in the game, like the spectal horse. And I’ve earned some cosmetics rewards from watching Twitch and ordering KFC. So I don’t care that there are cool costumes available for sale. Those purchases go to sustain the game for years to come while I only have to pay for expansion content going forward.
Oh, and I have seen @Neumannium online in Fractured Peaks. If the game wasn’t online only, he’d be able to continue to hide.
My frost sorceress is now level 65. Hopefully the second Capstone will topple later this evening.
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