I've Played Diablo IV Since Season 1, and I Think Its Biggest Problem Isn't Balance—It's Motivation
I've been playing Diablo IV since Season 1, and before anyone says "just quit," I haven't because I actually enjoy the game. If I didn't, I wouldn't have put hundreds of hours into it.
Season 13 honestly felt like a huge step in the right direction... until I got further into it.
One thing that's always bugged me is how many Uniques and even Mythics just don't feel exciting. Seeing one of the rarest items in the game should be one of those "NO WAY!" moments.
Instead it's usually...
"Oh... another one."
Most of them either sit in my stash or get salvaged because they're too niche or just flat out worse than what everyone is already using.
Then there were Warplans.
I thought they were finally going to let us choose the content we actually wanted to run. Instead they still felt mostly random, so for me they didn't really fix anything.
The skill tree changes are another example.
People keep saying the tree is so much better now, but to me Blizzard basically took a skinny stick and turned it into a slightly fatter stick.
Sure, there are more nodes...
...but I'm still walking down basically the same path to end up with basically the same build.
That leads into what I think is Diablo IV's biggest issue.
I don't think it's balance.
I think it's build diversity.
Every ARPG is going to have overpowered builds. That's never going away.
The problem is that it feels like the same skills, aspects, and builds stay at the top while everything else just collects dust.
Personally, I'd rather Blizzard spend an entire season making forgotten skills, aspects, and Uniques actually worth using than adding another seasonal mechanic that disappears three months later.
Then Season 14 came out.
The Helltides are fun because you're constantly killing stuff, but the rewards don't really feel special. I can get similar rewards almost anywhere else, so after the novelty wears off I'm left wondering why I'm doing it.
The whole Unique-to-Mythic upgrade system also just feels like another layer of RNG stacked on top of all the other RNG already in the game.
And before someone says, "Diablo has always been RNG."
I know.
I don't want RNG removed.
I just don't want everything to be RNG.
Drops are random.
Affixes are random.
Tempering is random.
Masterworking is random.
Crafting is random.
At some point it starts feeling less like progression and more like pulling the lever on a slot machine.
Then I find myself asking the same question every season.
What am I actually chasing?
Once I have my gear...
Level my glyphs...
Beat the hardest content I want to beat...
What's left?
It feels like I'm farming better gear so I can farm the same content faster so I can maybe get even better gear.
That's where Diablo IV loses me.
I genuinely think the combat is some of the best in the ARPG genre. That's why I keep coming back.
But the game doesn't have a loot quantity problem.
It has a loot quality problem.
It doesn't have a balance problem.
It has a build diversity problem.
And more than anything...
I think it has an endgame motivation problem.
I'm not trying to hate on the game. If I hated it, I wouldn't still be here after all these seasons.
I just wish Blizzard would spend more time making the core game better instead of adding another seasonal system that disappears a few months later.
Am I the only one that gets to the endgame and eventually asks, "Okay... now what?"