A Letter From Game Director Luis Barriga - BlizzCon 2019
An official blog post from Luis Barriga (Diablo IV Game Director) has been posted as a response and follow up to BlizzCon 2019. Luis Barriga also mentions that they know there is a discussion surrounding items and stats, and reassures the Diablo community that their team is having the same conversations while reading everyone's feedback.
Originally Posted by Luis Barriga (Official Post)
Dear Diablo family,
Thank you all for a great BlizzCon. We unveiled Diablo IV with our announce cinematic, establishing the tone for our overall creative vision moving forward. We hope you all dug that.
We also showed you our gameplay trailer, showcasing our classes, monsters, and open world, and invited you to take the first step in this journey toward Diablo IV together. We can tell from all the questions and excitement we’ve seen online and in-person that you are eager to find out more.
The lines to our demo stations and Dark Gallery were packed all weekend long and we were floored by the overall reception—especially from long-time Diablo players. We were blown away by how often we met people who came back to play the demo again and again. The stories you shared with us about Diablo and what this series means to you moved us and inspire us to do our best.
We’ve been taking this week to assess and discuss our takeaways from BlizzCon, and we love all the deep discussions happening around the art, features, systems, and world of Diablo IV. We’re also excited about a cool update we’re planning for you in February of next year. It will be the first in a series of quarterly updates where we’ll share behind-the-scenes looks at our progress going forward.
We also know that one topic is burning hotter than the rest. We want you to know that we are having the same conversations about items and stats that you are having—whether on the official discussion threads or external sites, we read it all! Getting this right is at the top of our minds, and in the coming weeks our lead systems designer David Kim will provide a few clarifications, share some of his thoughts, and address some of your open questions. We hope you check it out and let us know what you think.
Once again, on behalf of the entire team, from the bottom of our hearts we want to thank you all for a fantastic and unforgettable BlizzCon 2019.
Hail Lilith and see you in Hell!
Luis Barriga,
Game Director, Diablo IV
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 13, 2019I have a strong feeling the game will release in 2021 with beta starting maybe in spring 2021. Present day "blizzard soon" is not what is used to be in the golden days of Blizzard.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 13, 2019Well, at least they are listening ....
I do hope they decide to make yellow items relevant in end game (like D2) rather than just be materials or everyone will be wearing all of the same legendary items just like in D3. They need to make items difficult to attain, and please no more rerolling gear in the cube. We want to feel like our gear was earned and the harder an item is to attain the better it's going to feel when we finally get it.
The skill tree looks way too basic as well. Even D2 had a more complex system from the looks of it. I wish it was more dynamic.
Hoping for the best.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 14, 2019Soon: Within a week.
Blizzard soon: 4 years.
Not even Blizzard Soon: 5+ years.
Lets see if they can prove to me that they wanna nail the itemization, the skills and the stats before I even consider to buy this game. I have been burned enough of times, mostly from greedy AAA companies.
A good way to see how good a game is, is actually to get the game 1 or 2 years post launch. But who wanna wait for that long? By that time we can see what the games real score is, after the microtransactions, after the expansions, after the fixes. Hell, maybe even 3+ years needs to be applied on top of it to really see its a good game.
I guess we have to gamble when its close to release, unless there are statements that they have really addressed the issues, made the loot fun, the adventure solid and overall a fun experience that will hold up for years. A game that can evolve and embrace the franschise toward the right direction.
Diablo IV should, on the paper, be an success, and with it a bunch of expansions, making this the first game to actually have huge chunk of content in these expansions. But people seems to need big patches instead, so I fear microtransactions will destroy my wallet and for something so minor as new set of red eyes or a stupid hello emote for one class. Something I am not keen on.
I hope the main game is well made, and good enough so we do not need anything extra to it. No extra slots, no extra cosmetics, no extra classes. Base game should be complete. And expansions should make the game better and longer.
Just nail the original content guys. We are in need of a proper sequal to Diablo 2.
Thanks for your time everyone. (Devs included if there is a minor chance they see this)
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 14, 2019When they say they're going to give us quarterly updates - do they really mean updates with actual information - or is it just going to be "everything is going great - honest 'guv!"?
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 14, 2019If its anything like Diablo 3 its small portions of a few features here and there, without getting the big picture. I doubt they have much to show after Blizzcon and only after a few months. But sure, they might show the skill-tree in-depth. And perhaps some gear and examples of what the loot can have in terms of state. Its fairly fast and easy to make mock-up images like that.
After that, they recieve the feel and constructive feedback needed to see if they are on the right track or not.
Stay vigilant everyone, and focus on making the game good. If they want the feedback, and if they keep doing what they say - making it worthy the Diablo name, then there must be changes and praise for good changes and updates.
Do not expect major leaks or plot things.
Remember when the community could make a weapon in Diablo 3? Resulting in Mephisto's name being a Sword? Well, something like that is possible too, but I highly doubt it. It's more like checking in once and a while with the community, to make sure, underline, what their vision is, what we want and so that we can meet in the middle. I hope.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 14, 2019There has been a lot of justified criticism over the years about the lack of communication of the Diablo devs with the community, its even more pronounced when you can look at different Blizzard teams, and see a much higher level of communication while Diablo essentially went into silent mode.
It looks like they are finally starting to turn the ship around and make a concerted effort to have real communication with the community. For that I am hopeful about the future. Now we just need the proof that they have been listening about our itemization concerns and we can see some real strides towards interesting diversity.
With POE 4.0 releasing before D4, blizzard has to nail this early period of development and really listen to the community this time, otherwise Diablo will die a horrible death, and it will all be Blizzards fault for not listening to the community.