The other day I asked myself this question, how much do I play Diablo compared to other games? The answer: 99.5 percent Diablo, 0.5 percent other games, roughly.
I’m a busy guy and don’t really focus on games that can take a lot of scheduling with a team of folks or large time blocks to complete something to enjoy. I left WoW years ago because I couldn’t fit in time for dailies, raiding, building faction rep, farming mats, leveling skills, and the trillion other things that dedicated players with more free time could enjoy. It became a job to remain a “good player” and I already had one of those, so I quit the game and switched to D3. There, I could leave half-way through a rift when the kid started crying and not really care. The opportunity cost was significantly lower than leaving half way through a raid and risk having my guild be pissed.
However I have noticed a few of things since I stopped playing other games:
My opinion of Blizzard started to decline because I began to believe in the vocal minority.
I spend a lot of time reading fan sites for Diablo and see a lot of well constructive arguments/criticisms, but I see more people saying stuff like “Blizzard sucks”, “Diablo is dead”, and “The Devs don’t listen to us.” If you see something long enough and often enough, then you begin to believe it. I fell into that trap.
I spent some time outside of Diablo and tried some other indie games as well as a few AAA titles. If you want to know what a broken game/company looks like, then I highly recommend you go explore some of the options in the Steam/Origin store. There are some atrocious examples of how a company can try to ram a game down your throat, ignore feedback, and try to get you to purchase something that you should have received as part of the base package. It wasn’t until I looked at those titles that I realized that Blizzard has some faults, but they are far from being broken or “dead.”
I was coming up with less creative feedback recommendations on how to improve the game.
When you think of how to improve GRifts, what do you use as a basis of comparison? D2? Torchlight2?
If you live in the world of ARPGs and dungeon crawlers, then you are limiting yourself in your ability to provide feedback that can help shape the future of a game that you enjoy.
For example, the 4 man meta is broken. There are a couple of iterations that work, but mostly the same builds and classes doing the same thing. So what if we take a strategy from popular FPS’ out there and let you change class after you die? You just encountered an Elite pack that just crushed you on your current party design? No problem, swap classes while the rez timer is counting down so you can re-optimize your group for the way the GRift has changed your strategy. Now, the new meta is working together to build a library of characters that can be used in new strategies instead of sticking to a single meta. Those who can build and improve based around the group’s strategy on dealing with certain situations wins.
Another example, I’m a hardcore solo player and I’m about to die. I have an item equipped that lets me tag in another one of my characters to continue the fight for me. Now I don't lose that character and can try a different strategy to win the fight. It helps me in Marvel vs. Capcom, so why can’t I look at the same mechanic here.
I was burning out on a game I loved.
Finally, I was getting burned out on the grind. I didn’t find pleasure in the things I enjoyed in the past. Smashing my head against the GRift tier, trying to quickly farm mats, helping folks power level, etc. When I started to play other games and then come back for some time in Diablo, I began to enjoy those things again. It’s like eating the same food every day without ever trying something else. What you do becomes bland, unpalatable, and you ultimately end us disliking it.
Think of it like a diet. Most diets don’t work because you give up on them and don’t allow yourself to cheat. If you’re true passion is Diablo, then play it but also “cheat” on it. Find some other titles from other genres and go to town. I think you’ll like being refreshed when you re-enter Sanctuary.
In the end, I really, really recommend that you don’t make the mistake I did and lock yourself into a single game. Since I’ve started to branch out, I have started to appreciate my time in Diablo a little more. I see it with a different lens and I can enjoy the good aspects of the game and make better recommendations on the things that need improvement.
If you haven’t branched out lately, then I recommend you do so. It might be what you need to carry you through the rest of the season and keep the fires of the Nephalem burning inside of you.
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