Be warned - this is a soapbox speech. Please feel free to skip to the tldr if you're disinclined to read drudgery. I'm also making an assumption from here on out. Diablo 4 will not be an MMO. May be totally wrong but that's my guess.
When the dust settles around the Necromancer, an apropos sense of finality to Diablo 3 in my mind, what is next for this franchise? A good rest but then Diablo 4 of course. It may seem premature to invest any time speaking about a product that is years away from us. But hear me out. The ideological design behind Diablo 3 was more or less established before any actual coding was done. And most likely rough design documents for D4 are being worked on now. Speculation aside I'd very much like to plant a seed in each of your minds. Moddable content for Diablo 4.
It's undoubtedly an empowering experience to take the wheel. Starting with one set of rules and turning them upside down. It evokes that inner child that craves to build, destroy and rebuild. Too many games allow modding to list off but most clearly it was present in both previous Diablo games. And while it was not endorsed by Blizzard I believe they had no issue with people expressing their creative muscles. Or perhaps they did which is why Diablo 3 is the way it is. Regardless, I believe if Diablo 4 embraced the idea from the outset and supported modding, Blizzard would be doing themselves a great service. I've seen a lot of hopeful content posted here, from very ambitious fleshed out character ideas to pages of overhauled items, new items and new game modes. None of which can be acted upon without the developers help.
Why post this here and not on the official forums?
Hearts and minds. Obviously this is an emotional appeal, and my hope is that it gets reiterated enough that it has some sticking points. I'm not at all bothered by whether or not an official development member of Blizzard comments or sees this.
Don't you need to have an offline mode to mod?
Not necessarily. It would depend on implementation and the robustness of tools. Perhaps you allow for in-game quick mods like the mutators of Unreal Tournament games. Perhaps you can make mods such as they were in the Starsiege Tribes or HalfLife/Counterstrike where custom content was downloaded when attempting to join a game.
What about the cesspool of cheaters that came about from modding?
If integrity is your concern then be aware that seasons are finally coming to consoles. Which I do believe represents a minor show from Blizzard for an offline and a closed online component that stresses fairness. D3 on PC may not ever have that feature, and that is absolutely not what I'm proposing, but certainly if seasons on console go well surely there is room for a return of a similar realm system D4. Lastly, exposing the underlying systems of a game does indeed make it more vulnerable but... it almost needn't be said, Diablo 3 has had more than its fair share of exploitation without that.
TL;DR: Make modding a thing for Diablo 4.
PS: Apart from commenting on the above, the definition of modding varies from person to person. So what does modding mean to you? And if you're not into modding what are your concerns?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"We", "Everyone" - Argumentum ad populum. "You people" - Argumentum ad hominem. "Your dumb" - Contractionem absum.
If things like GR leaderboards exist in a D4, then we all have to play under the exact same game - i.e. a Blizzard only game with no mods. You cannot have Joe Blow using mod A and Sam Smith using mod B where their mods have various changes to core gameplay and expect them to both be on the same leaderboard.
I was set to read this thing as I'm desperately trying to distract myself from the election, but your assumption that Necro is the end doesn't sit well with me.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Be warned - this is a soapbox speech. Please feel free to skip to the tldr if you're disinclined to read drudgery. I'm also making an assumption from here on out. Diablo 4 will not be an MMO. May be totally wrong but that's my guess.
When the dust settles around the Necromancer, an apropos sense of finality to Diablo 3 in my mind, what is next for this franchise? A good rest but then Diablo 4 of course. It may seem premature to invest any time speaking about a product that is years away from us. But hear me out. The ideological design behind Diablo 3 was more or less established before any actual coding was done. And most likely rough design documents for D4 are being worked on now. Speculation aside I'd very much like to plant a seed in each of your minds. Moddable content for Diablo 4.
It's undoubtedly an empowering experience to take the wheel. Starting with one set of rules and turning them upside down. It evokes that inner child that craves to build, destroy and rebuild. Too many games allow modding to list off but most clearly it was present in both previous Diablo games. And while it was not endorsed by Blizzard I believe they had no issue with people expressing their creative muscles. Or perhaps they did which is why Diablo 3 is the way it is. Regardless, I believe if Diablo 4 embraced the idea from the outset and supported modding, Blizzard would be doing themselves a great service. I've seen a lot of hopeful content posted here, from very ambitious fleshed out character ideas to pages of overhauled items, new items and new game modes. None of which can be acted upon without the developers help.
Why post this here and not on the official forums?
Hearts and minds. Obviously this is an emotional appeal, and my hope is that it gets reiterated enough that it has some sticking points. I'm not at all bothered by whether or not an official development member of Blizzard comments or sees this.
Don't you need to have an offline mode to mod?
Not necessarily. It would depend on implementation and the robustness of tools. Perhaps you allow for in-game quick mods like the mutators of Unreal Tournament games. Perhaps you can make mods such as they were in the Starsiege Tribes or HalfLife/Counterstrike where custom content was downloaded when attempting to join a game.
What about the cesspool of cheaters that came about from modding?
If integrity is your concern then be aware that seasons are finally coming to consoles. Which I do believe represents a minor show from Blizzard for an offline and a closed online component that stresses fairness. D3 on PC may not ever have that feature, and that is absolutely not what I'm proposing, but certainly if seasons on console go well surely there is room for a return of a similar realm system D4. Lastly, exposing the underlying systems of a game does indeed make it more vulnerable but... it almost needn't be said, Diablo 3 has had more than its fair share of exploitation without that.
TL;DR: Make modding a thing for Diablo 4.
PS: Apart from commenting on the above, the definition of modding varies from person to person. So what does modding mean to you? And if you're not into modding what are your concerns?
"We", "Everyone" - Argumentum ad populum. "You people" - Argumentum ad hominem. "Your dumb" - Contractionem absum.
If things like GR leaderboards exist in a D4, then we all have to play under the exact same game - i.e. a Blizzard only game with no mods. You cannot have Joe Blow using mod A and Sam Smith using mod B where their mods have various changes to core gameplay and expect them to both be on the same leaderboard.
I was set to read this thing as I'm desperately trying to distract myself from the election, but your assumption that Necro is the end doesn't sit well with me.