** Diablo 4 Thread **

[Teaf]

It's a completely different game now. Especially with adventure mode, rifts, kanai's cube and primal/ancient legendaries.

Aye, I still play now and again on Diablo 3, but the itemisation is dead and in these types of games I like grinding for those 1 in 10000 items where the planets align and you get this insane item. With all of the game revolving around sets and legendaries that have pre-rolled stats, it took too much of the fun away. It's a shame really, as nearly everything else in the game (other than that story which is a bit weak) such as the game play, art, music, and voice acting are all outstanding.

iirc only Kripparian got Diablo pre nerf. Game was way to hard on release where gold for repairs was the end game grind lol

I think he got world first on hardcore Inferno; there was probably a few people who did it on softcore. Definitely agree on the gold, I ended up farming blue 1 handers for cash for a while to make some money back and running the wall in Bastion's Keep. Still, I wish they just toned the difficulty down a smidge and sorted the itemisation out (dex/str on wands ), but instead they made it even worse. People moan about Jay Wilson's Diablo 3 being awful, but personally I think it actually got worse over time, and Loot 2.0 completely destroyed any real semblance of item grind.

 

[.Lethal]

I think he got world first on hardcore Inferno; there was probably a few people who did it on softcore. Definitely agree on the gold, I ended up farming blue 1 handers for cash for a while to make some money back and running the wall in Bastion's Keep. Still, I wish they just toned the difficulty down a smidge and sorted the itemisation out (dex/str on wands ), but instead they made it even worse. People moan about Jay Wilson's Diablo 3 being awful, but personally I think it actually got worse over time, and Loot 2.0 completely destroyed any real semblance of item grind.

Yeah it was HC WF, him and Krippi and the only ones to ever do it on HC right before the patch dropped. I've put in thousands of hours into D3 and got my moneys worth but in many ways it was such a let down too. Many highs and lows.

 

[starmanwarz]

With D2R coming this year, I doubt we will get D4 in 2022.

What are everyone's predictions?

 

[MadMossy]

D4 is 2-3 years away at least, maybe get a beta/alpha in 2022, but I doubt release will come before the years is up. Maybe with extreme luck it could come Dec 2022, but I think 2023 is more likely with 2024 being entirely possible. My question though will D2R end up being more popular than D4? I think it might from what I have seen of D4 so far.

 

[Brok]

Yeah it was HC WF, him and Krippi and the only ones to ever do it on HC right before the patch dropped. I've put in thousands of hours into D3 and got my moneys worth but in many ways it was such a let down too. Many highs and lows.

I assume you guys mean pre 1.03 as 'pre nerf'? I beat Inferno Diablo the night before this patch dropped in SC but it was dependent on basically never getting hit as a glass cannon Demon Hunter. It took a lot of attempts! I was kinda sad when they nerfed everything but I could see why as it was very unforgiving and melee classes were at a massive disadvantage in Inferno. You needed to break into Act 3 to get to the good loot and Act 2 was just brutal if you had to tank damage. Still, fond memories!

 

[Teaf]

With D2R coming this year, I doubt we will get D4 in 2022.

What are everyone's predictions?

I'm expecting mid 2022 alpha, late 2022 beta, and a Q1/Q2 2023 release.

I originally expected a Q3/Q4 2022 release window, but with Diablo 2 Resurrected coming by Christmas, and coronavirus causing some development delays, I'm putting my expectations back a few months since they'll be also using D2R to help scratch peoples itches and buy some more time. Although, I can't see it being any later than Q2 2023 as they've been working on the game since at least Q4 2016. Diablo 3 took 6.5 years from concept to creation and they were creating a new 3D game, whereas Diablo 4 will be using Diablo 3 as a base so a lot of the engine would have already been done.

 

[Randomface74]

tbh, it's launching with only part of the map, so it's not like there's tons of content that can fit in that area. The game is already playable.
2021 = finish the content
2022 = polish
late 2022 = release.

 

[Smokey Deza]

I think D4 is still several years off. I said that in the D3 thread years ago at a time where it now transpires that it wasn't even in development! Surely most remember that Blizzard only started making it a few years back when they thought they could spit on everyone with nothing but a new mobile game?

the market place was even worse.

I won't have it. Flipping stuff in the AH was a lot fun

Diablo 3 took 6.5 years from concept to creation and they were creating a new 3D game

It was a fair bit longer than that. 11 years at least.

 

[Converge]

The graphics looked 11 years old too by the time it was released. The character models are awful.

 

[.Lethal]

It was a fair bit longer than that. 11 years at least.

Development started in 2005, announced in 2008. Prior to that it was rumour involving Blizzard North that got scrapped, but never confirmed.

You can read the Diablo 3 History here but the tldr: the version of D3 we got began in 2005.

 

[Teaf]

Yeah, came out May 2012 with a development start Q4 2005, so around 6.5 years.

As mentioned, I'd expect D4 to be equal to or less than since they are using D3 as a base, and development began in Q4 2016; adding a few months for covid issues, we're looking at Q4 2022 to Q2 2023 for a release.

 

[Smokey Deza]

Development started in 2005, announced in 2008. Prior to that it was rumour involving Blizzard North that got scrapped, but never confirmed.

You can read the Diablo 3 History here but the tldr: the version of D3 we got began in 2005.

Sorry, I'm still not with you. Despite all the turmoil prior to 2005 over there, the link still states development started in 2000.

"Work began on a third title in the Diablo series shortly after Diablo II was completed, in June 2000"

 

[Mint8]

I am surprised people think 4 is such a long time away - the gameplay videos seem to suggest they are a long way down the road with content etc.

 

[.Lethal]

Sorry, I'm still not with you. Despite all the turmoil prior to 2005 over there, the link still states development started in 2000.

That version you've cited was the unconfirmed/scrapped version that didn't go anywhere by Blizzard North prior to the 4 key developers losing their jobs.

The current version of D3 didn't start development until 2005.

 

[.Lethal]

I am surprised people think 4 is such a long time away - the gameplay videos seem to suggest they are a long way down the road with content etc.

It's a running meme because of the time it took between Diablo 2 and 3's release.

12 years between 2 and 3, so we'll get 4 in 2024.

 

[Teaf]

The engine and enough systems will be in place to make a demo, but that's about it. Everything else won't be anywhere near fleshed out.

 

[NZXT30]

Can blizzard's archaic and long development cycles produce something that can compete with the juggernaut that is path of exile? I feel like by the time D4 releases POE2 will already be out with lots of content updates.

 

[.Lethal]

Can blizzard's archaic and long development cycles produce something that can compete with the juggernaut that is path of exile? I feel like by the time D4 releases POE2 will already be out with lots of content updates.

Honestly I doubt it’ll compete with PoE endgame.

 

[Teaf]

Won't even get close to be honest, at least not at the start; Path of Exile has an amazing in-depth end game. They'll also have to compete with what GGG offers every 3 to 4 months in terms of content, which means they need a good micro-transaction model around the game to support development but not make it pay to win.

 

[Teaf]

The new quarterly update out for June 2021.

Introduction
Character Art (Art Director)
Character Art (Lead Character Artist)
Character Art (Associate Art Director)

They have gone through the character designs, and have a bunch of videos that you can watch with some close-up shots of how the models and animations look - and, in my opinion, they look fantastic.