Hey guys, today I give my thoughts on the completed Season 4 journey, discussing the last chapter achievements, why I've been procrastinating on finishing it for so long, and some of the more annoying requirements - particularly the level 70 Hardcore (should be removed I think). Enjoy & discuss!
Achievements dont belong in diablo. Im mythos they mattered because you get a bonus (+100str, 2% cc, %50 chd etc) token, you could use 5 achievment icons at one time. So getting a rare acheivement would actually benefit your char.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Season Journey concept introduced with the current season, but I thought it was way too easy to accomplish. I completed the Guardian chapter 15 days after season start, and that was only because I delayed the TX rift clear. I had finished most of the objectives within the first week.
I agree that the lvl 70 hardcore should be removed. It's not a good way to incentivize HC play and when I was done I didn't feel accomplished, I only felt that I had wasted 7 hours on nothing.
For future journeys I'd like to see more variety, in particular I'd like to see more coop-oriented objectives, and that the journey should include more conquests. I'd also like to see conquests give rewards on their own. I still really want to do the kill all bosses in 30 mins on TX conquest, but none of my friends want to do it as it gives nothing, and they're too busy farming and grinding. Conquests should be incentivized as some of them require a party to be able to complete. The portrait reward for completing the Guardian chapter was cool enough, but the other portraits just looked like the designer had a lazy afternoon at work. Not even going to comment on the ugly pet.
Anyway. The journey had a nice balance of things that are progress related, that just needs time, but not necessarily effort to complete and others that made me go out of my normal routine to accomplish (conquests in particular). But as mentioned before, it was too easy to complete. With more focused effort I'd probably finished it within the first week. And I'm no streamer/progamer. I work fulltime, have kids etc, but was still able to complete it in just two weeks.
While I love the Journey concept I found it very annoying to complete. Since I play solo 99% of the time getting a group that could accomplish the TX < 3 min step very annoying. Also, while I did get to GR60 solo and get my 3 leg gems to 60 I found those steps almost as frustrating. Fishing for a good rift is not enjoyable to me at all. I was so happy when I got that crap done so I didn't have to fish anymore.
I can see why you think the 70 HC shouldn't be on the list. I personally enjoyed that part but it is an odd addition and potentially time consuming to complete.
While I love the Journey concept I found it very annoying to complete. Since I play solo 99% of the time getting a group that could accomplish the TX < 3 min step very annoying. Also, while I did get to GR60 solo and get my 3 leg gems to 60 I found those steps almost as frustrating. Fishing for a good rift is not enjoyable to me at all. I was so happy when I got that crap done so I didn't have to fish anymore.
I can see why you think the 70 HC shouldn't be on the list. I personally enjoyed that part but it is an odd addition and potentially time consuming to complete.
I totally agree with this. I'm a solo player too and it's too annoying for me to complete some of the conquests. The others are easy enough though as they are basically checkpoints, which are bland imo.
I dont think getting Guardian is too easy, i am still doing it. I think these timed must have checkpoints should be all soloable but they could add some easier co-op checkpoonts or conquests just for fun. As i dont play that much i am not even sure i get Guardian in time, maybe only if i get monk "best in slot" gear whit medium stats and yolo gr60
It's amusing how everyone tends to bring their experience on the table and showing it as the " correct one", as in all the "it's too easy" or "it's too hard"
comments.
TL;DR: just my 2 cents. Imho journey has to do less with player power (gems/paragon/GR) and more with doing stuff in game you normally won't do.
Season journey is something every player experiences differently for many reasons, from the class they play to the time they can put into the game. So until everyone plays the game the same exact way, we cannot say what's what in an objective way.
My experience: can play very little time, with a total of like 10-12 hours/week more or less. Rolled a monk because i started late due to changing home, and i wanted the "op" class to play more efficiently. Mostly ran solo with the occasional public GR runs as xp/support for faster paragon grinding.
Ended the journey a couple of days ago at 600-ish paragon (now i'm 611).
My opinion is that it has been very spot-on and i had the right chances to complete it comfortably with a decent challenge (nothing was really hard, but you need to commit at least some time to get everything done). But as you can see, my pov is very biased by all the conditions i played the game.
If i have to take it from an external point of view, i agree it wasn't difficult. Still, what's the goal of it? The cosemtic rewards are something everyone wants and nto only the elite players - though i think that the journey has been tailored this was so literally everyone could have a legit shot at it.
I mean, crusaders reaching 60 solo are basically near the endgame due to balancing issues. it wouldn't be right for an achievement to be "clear 80 solo" because everyone wanting to play a crusader would have been automatically left out.
The rewards are cosmetic only, so no player power issues with them - so everyone can have them or not and nothing would change. For the competition, ladders exist so why journey should be competitive? Id would overlapping and redundant design.
Specifically about the achievement/steps: as others said, some of them are basic checkpoints, others are just time-consuming. The 70HC one isn't hard at all, and it just requires some time to put in game, and i sincerely have no issues with it. I have more issues with "bring 3 gems to 60" or "do other boring farming stuff", which i'm going to do anyway.
Journey achievements should be things like "complete the entire campaign mode" or "do X thing in Y way". I really enjoyed the 40GR with no sets challenge, that required some thought and strategy about using a different build.
Journey should be around doing a variety of different activities, not about farming more GR because we're already doing that.
@Lord/True - yes, the journey is about doing things you don't normally do. Perfect example is the 3 minute TX rift. Solo players will find it nearly impossible to do given that you generally need to split up and have an open map with good density. Finding such a map doesn't take long (I'd say within 10 consecutive rifts you'll run into one), but you won't be able to progress fast enough by yourself - you need a group. So solo players will have to 'do something they don't normally do'.
I wonder if the season journey is meant to be completed by a large percentage of players or not though.
One night I was bored and decided to do the HC level 70 thing solo instead of just getting a powerlevel. After that I've played a lot of HC - did all 5 conquests, completed gearsets for three classes, before I got bored again (at around paragon 650). Recently went online again to do the Reddit challenge, and decided to do it on HC rather than SC.
This "HC level 70" part of the journey definitely sparked my interest for HC, and I'm still thinking if I should switch entirely to HC come season 5. I'd strongly advise everyone to not get a powerlevel but do it the old-fashioned way. You might discover a new aspect of the game that you end up liking. Worst case, you lose a few hours... so what. So for me, I think it's completely fair to include things in the journey that deviate from your usual gameplay.
One night I was bored and decided to do the HC level 70 thing solo instead of just getting a powerlevel. After that I've played a lot of HC - did all 5 conquests, completed gearsets for three classes, before I got bored again (at around paragon 650). Recently went online again to do the Reddit challenge, and decided to do it on HC rather than SC.
This "HC level 70" part of the journey definitely sparked my interest for HC, and I'm still thinking if I should switch entirely to HC come season 5. I'd strongly advise everyone to not get a powerlevel but do it the old-fashioned way. You might discover a new aspect of the game that you end up liking. Worst case, you lose a few hours... so what. So for me, I think it's completely fair to include things in the journey that deviate from your usual gameplay.
Glad you're enjoying HC, I've also solo-leveled to 70 back in S1, but how many deaths due to lag/disconnects before you don't like it anymore? Legit question.
Hey guys, today I give my thoughts on the completed Season 4 journey, discussing the last chapter achievements, why I've been procrastinating on finishing it for so long, and some of the more annoying requirements - particularly the level 70 Hardcore (should be removed I think). Enjoy & discuss!
https://youtu.be/Xldw9weRi24
MeatHeadGaming - YouTube - Twitch - Facebook - Web
Achievements dont belong in diablo. Im mythos they mattered because you get a bonus (+100str, 2% cc, %50 chd etc) token, you could use 5 achievment icons at one time. So getting a rare acheivement would actually benefit your char.
This is useless fluff.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Season Journey concept introduced with the current season, but I thought it was way too easy to accomplish. I completed the Guardian chapter 15 days after season start, and that was only because I delayed the TX rift clear. I had finished most of the objectives within the first week.
I agree that the lvl 70 hardcore should be removed. It's not a good way to incentivize HC play and when I was done I didn't feel accomplished, I only felt that I had wasted 7 hours on nothing.
For future journeys I'd like to see more variety, in particular I'd like to see more coop-oriented objectives, and that the journey should include more conquests. I'd also like to see conquests give rewards on their own. I still really want to do the kill all bosses in 30 mins on TX conquest, but none of my friends want to do it as it gives nothing, and they're too busy farming and grinding. Conquests should be incentivized as some of them require a party to be able to complete. The portrait reward for completing the Guardian chapter was cool enough, but the other portraits just looked like the designer had a lazy afternoon at work. Not even going to comment on the ugly pet.
Anyway. The journey had a nice balance of things that are progress related, that just needs time, but not necessarily effort to complete and others that made me go out of my normal routine to accomplish (conquests in particular). But as mentioned before, it was too easy to complete. With more focused effort I'd probably finished it within the first week. And I'm no streamer/progamer. I work fulltime, have kids etc, but was still able to complete it in just two weeks.
While I love the Journey concept I found it very annoying to complete. Since I play solo 99% of the time getting a group that could accomplish the TX < 3 min step very annoying. Also, while I did get to GR60 solo and get my 3 leg gems to 60 I found those steps almost as frustrating. Fishing for a good rift is not enjoyable to me at all. I was so happy when I got that crap done so I didn't have to fish anymore.
I can see why you think the 70 HC shouldn't be on the list. I personally enjoyed that part but it is an odd addition and potentially time consuming to complete.
I dont think getting Guardian is too easy, i am still doing it. I think these timed must have checkpoints should be all soloable but they could add some easier co-op checkpoonts or conquests just for fun. As i dont play that much i am not even sure i get Guardian in time, maybe only if i get monk "best in slot" gear whit medium stats and yolo gr60
It's amusing how everyone tends to bring their experience on the table and showing it as the " correct one", as in all the "it's too easy" or "it's too hard"
comments.
TL;DR: just my 2 cents. Imho journey has to do less with player power (gems/paragon/GR) and more with doing stuff in game you normally won't do.
Season journey is something every player experiences differently for many reasons, from the class they play to the time they can put into the game. So until everyone plays the game the same exact way, we cannot say what's what in an objective way.
My experience: can play very little time, with a total of like 10-12 hours/week more or less. Rolled a monk because i started late due to changing home, and i wanted the "op" class to play more efficiently. Mostly ran solo with the occasional public GR runs as xp/support for faster paragon grinding.
Ended the journey a couple of days ago at 600-ish paragon (now i'm 611).
My opinion is that it has been very spot-on and i had the right chances to complete it comfortably with a decent challenge (nothing was really hard, but you need to commit at least some time to get everything done). But as you can see, my pov is very biased by all the conditions i played the game.
If i have to take it from an external point of view, i agree it wasn't difficult. Still, what's the goal of it? The cosemtic rewards are something everyone wants and nto only the elite players - though i think that the journey has been tailored this was so literally everyone could have a legit shot at it.
I mean, crusaders reaching 60 solo are basically near the endgame due to balancing issues. it wouldn't be right for an achievement to be "clear 80 solo" because everyone wanting to play a crusader would have been automatically left out.
The rewards are cosmetic only, so no player power issues with them - so everyone can have them or not and nothing would change. For the competition, ladders exist so why journey should be competitive? Id would overlapping and redundant design.
Specifically about the achievement/steps: as others said, some of them are basic checkpoints, others are just time-consuming. The 70HC one isn't hard at all, and it just requires some time to put in game, and i sincerely have no issues with it. I have more issues with "bring 3 gems to 60" or "do other boring farming stuff", which i'm going to do anyway.
Journey achievements should be things like "complete the entire campaign mode" or "do X thing in Y way". I really enjoyed the 40GR with no sets challenge, that required some thought and strategy about using a different build.
Journey should be around doing a variety of different activities, not about farming more GR because we're already doing that.
@Lord/True - yes, the journey is about doing things you don't normally do. Perfect example is the 3 minute TX rift. Solo players will find it nearly impossible to do given that you generally need to split up and have an open map with good density. Finding such a map doesn't take long (I'd say within 10 consecutive rifts you'll run into one), but you won't be able to progress fast enough by yourself - you need a group. So solo players will have to 'do something they don't normally do'.
I wonder if the season journey is meant to be completed by a large percentage of players or not though.
MeatHeadGaming - YouTube - Twitch - Facebook - Web
One night I was bored and decided to do the HC level 70 thing solo instead of just getting a powerlevel. After that I've played a lot of HC - did all 5 conquests, completed gearsets for three classes, before I got bored again (at around paragon 650). Recently went online again to do the Reddit challenge, and decided to do it on HC rather than SC.
This "HC level 70" part of the journey definitely sparked my interest for HC, and I'm still thinking if I should switch entirely to HC come season 5. I'd strongly advise everyone to not get a powerlevel but do it the old-fashioned way. You might discover a new aspect of the game that you end up liking. Worst case, you lose a few hours... so what. So for me, I think it's completely fair to include things in the journey that deviate from your usual gameplay.
MeatHeadGaming - YouTube - Twitch - Facebook - Web