People need to stop saying, "there is a reason you see patches for D2 and SC etc...." because those patches are 1-2 codes changed that created server errors based on current tech. An intern can fix that in 3-4 hours, it is inconsequential.
I agree they will spend small resources to keep people happy, seasons do not make people happy, not at all!
Interns can start new season if there are no code changes, also. It's a pretty trivial process.
I'm pretty sure the start of seasons is the only time you see a lot of people playing D3. You rarely ever see anyone playing nonseason. Start of seasons is the best thing this game has going for it currently.
You neglected an option that has pretty high probablity of happening. Nothing of new significance gets announced, and they do some 20 year retrospective of the game.
That doesn't mean they aren't working on something for the future, it might just mean they have nothing ready to show, and they are still playing with concepts. That would be the best time to bring in a new game lead developer.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see patch 2.5 with something interesting at Blizzcon and then a PTR one week after Blizzcon, for a 2 month testing period (Season 8-9 transition end of January).But of course could also be completely unrelated, and more likely this is just another sign that Diablo 3 is going into "long-term maintenance" mode and although small features might still come every now and then, development of the Diablo franchise is moving on to something else.
Personally, I think you emphasized the least likely of the 2 scenarios he laid out. I think it is more likely
But of course could also be completely unrelated, and more likely this is just another sign that Diablo 3 is going into "long-term maintenance" mode and although small features might still come every now and then, development of the Diablo franchise is moving on to something else.
That is the part that is more likely. The D3 engine is laggy in a 4 person group, with DoT builds like WW being impossible to implement, so Blizzard nerfed them into the ground because they can't fix the lag.
It's time for a new, higher performing, engine, and it's probably time for long term development, not slapping another bandaid on a D3 game that has been flawed from the start, and has had bandaid after bandaid slapped on it.
Whether Blizzard does D4 or lets Diablo lie fallow for a few years while working on D4 or whether they never do another Diablo IP, they'll keep the servers up, and they'll keep changing seasons.
Why? Because Blizzard wisely values customer loyalty. There is a reason that you still see patches to D2 and SC and WC years after they were released.
They will also work on new content, whether or not it is Diablo content, but they will expend a small, reasonable, amount of resources keeping their old customers happy.
Soft resets really don't take much resources though. You can pretty much write a script to do it if there are no PTR changes. Then you just run the script every time you want to change seasons.
This notion that doing that "spends resources when the game is dying off" just misunderstands how databases work. It takes almost no resources to change seasons. It takes considerable resources to upgrade the code and graphical assets.
You could leave a script running that rolled seasons every few months for eternity without additional resources after the script was written and tested, a process much easier than writing new shiny changes and addons to the existing game.
Here's my crazy ass, probably wrong, conspiracy theory on why the season is restarting early.
I think there may be an internal contest or bonus program at Blizzard based on time played in a game in the month before Blizzcon, so the D3 leadership correctly realized the best way to pump up playtime was to release a brand new season, even if there was no new content. Starts of season are very popular, and then it goes back to being dead after a couple weeks.
My proof for this? None. However, I've noticed this week that while playing Heroes of the Storm, I've gotten the "Play 8 games" daily 5 days out of the last 7. That seems pretty statistically unlikely, unless the odds of getting that went way up for some reason, like they were trying to get people playing Heroes more hours per day.
Anyway, I figure it was time for another crazy conspiracy theory, much like Rhykker's d4 theory.
I guess if the game is going into maintenance and there is going to be no new content, you may as well do 2 month seasons instead of 3 month seasons. Paragon grinding for 2 months sounds way better than paragon grinding for 3 months. Lets face it, anyone who isn't paragon grinding is probably doing 2 week or less seasons anyway.
The same applies to you if D4 or new game are NOT announced at Blizzcon.
The most likely scenario is D3X2. Anything outside that are wild speculations.
No, D2HD remake costs much much less energy than D3 xpac or D4, especially if you look at all the other HD remakes that have been made. It takes much, much less effort, and in November '15 they were hiring people for legacy games. A brand new game is likely to take them at least 5 years.
1
Interns can start new season if there are no code changes, also. It's a pretty trivial process.
I'm pretty sure the start of seasons is the only time you see a lot of people playing D3. You rarely ever see anyone playing nonseason. Start of seasons is the best thing this game has going for it currently.
0
You neglected an option that has pretty high probablity of happening. Nothing of new significance gets announced, and they do some 20 year retrospective of the game.
That doesn't mean they aren't working on something for the future, it might just mean they have nothing ready to show, and they are still playing with concepts. That would be the best time to bring in a new game lead developer.
2
That is the part that is more likely. The D3 engine is laggy in a 4 person group, with DoT builds like WW being impossible to implement, so Blizzard nerfed them into the ground because they can't fix the lag.
It's time for a new, higher performing, engine, and it's probably time for long term development, not slapping another bandaid on a D3 game that has been flawed from the start, and has had bandaid after bandaid slapped on it.
0
Well, at some point, we knew D3 would go into maintenance. Apparently season 8 is some point.
2
Lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke5Mr5eCF2U
Whether Blizzard does D4 or lets Diablo lie fallow for a few years while working on D4 or whether they never do another Diablo IP, they'll keep the servers up, and they'll keep changing seasons.
Why? Because Blizzard wisely values customer loyalty. There is a reason that you still see patches to D2 and SC and WC years after they were released.
They will also work on new content, whether or not it is Diablo content, but they will expend a small, reasonable, amount of resources keeping their old customers happy.
0
Soft resets really don't take much resources though. You can pretty much write a script to do it if there are no PTR changes. Then you just run the script every time you want to change seasons.
This notion that doing that "spends resources when the game is dying off" just misunderstands how databases work. It takes almost no resources to change seasons. It takes considerable resources to upgrade the code and graphical assets.
You could leave a script running that rolled seasons every few months for eternity without additional resources after the script was written and tested, a process much easier than writing new shiny changes and addons to the existing game.
0
Try path of exile. free to play, so the price is right.
0
Here's my crazy ass, probably wrong, conspiracy theory on why the season is restarting early.
I think there may be an internal contest or bonus program at Blizzard based on time played in a game in the month before Blizzcon, so the D3 leadership correctly realized the best way to pump up playtime was to release a brand new season, even if there was no new content. Starts of season are very popular, and then it goes back to being dead after a couple weeks.
My proof for this? None. However, I've noticed this week that while playing Heroes of the Storm, I've gotten the "Play 8 games" daily 5 days out of the last 7. That seems pretty statistically unlikely, unless the odds of getting that went way up for some reason, like they were trying to get people playing Heroes more hours per day.
Anyway, I figure it was time for another crazy conspiracy theory, much like Rhykker's d4 theory.
3
I imagine the sun rising is an indicator to some folks that something big is coming at Blizzcon.
3
I guess if the game is going into maintenance and there is going to be no new content, you may as well do 2 month seasons instead of 3 month seasons. Paragon grinding for 2 months sounds way better than paragon grinding for 3 months. Lets face it, anyone who isn't paragon grinding is probably doing 2 week or less seasons anyway.
0
I imagine the script kiddies will be out this week disrupting Blizzard servers with WoW raids going live. I'd be extra careful.
0
0
No, D2HD remake costs much much less energy than D3 xpac or D4, especially if you look at all the other HD remakes that have been made. It takes much, much less effort, and in November '15 they were hiring people for legacy games. A brand new game is likely to take them at least 5 years.
0
Yeah, good luck on hoping for a D3 xpac or D4 release anytime soon.
0