They actively nerfed xp to make things take much longer and at the same time the end game is very repetitive and even more grind. They don't give you anywhere near enough storage either. I'm sure there is more I'm not thinking of. But essentially the game is good up until you hit endgame really and then with people leaving and it being designed as an always online game you end up having to solo things intended to be done as a group.
You do the same thing over and over (and over and over) to attempt to level, but all you get for your trouble is shitty gear that you'd rather drop than deal with.
First 40-70hrs are fun. After that... it feels like a chore. It's worth it for the base game, but the seasonal content was a slap in the face. I'm talking they have the player fight the same enemies twice each before they'd drop the thing we need (AND made us start from scratch just to get to do it)
Sure you can try out a new character but the same thing happens. It gets tedious.
For a while we'd play for a helltide, or do some grim favors but again, it get so painfully boring. Again, if you want to play the game go for it, just know that after the main story and sidequests are done there's nothing left but endless grinding
They actively nerfed xp to make things take much longer and at the same time the end game is very repetitive and even more grind. They don't give you anywhere near enough storage either. I'm sure there is more I'm not thinking of. But essentially the game is good up until you hit endgame really and then with people leaving and it being designed as an always online game you end up having to solo things intended to be done as a group.
Nothing demotivates me more than a game with a battlepass. Really disappointed, I played and somewhat enjoyed the campaign, then totally lost interest at around level 20 in the first season.
Haven’t picked up the game in a long time, and it’s all because having a battlepass just kills the game for me.
It turns the game into completing the battlepass instead of just playing the game as I normally would. Ignoring the battlepass doesn’t work for me, because I know it’s there.
It triggers FOMO, but instead of making me want to play to not miss out, it makes me not want to play at all because I know completing battlepasses for me is highly unlikely
Are you against systems like Deep Rock Galactic's battle pass?
The battle pass is free, and after the season ends anything you didn't earn through the pass is added into the regular item rewards in the game, so you don't miss anything by not finishing the pass.
I used to think I was against battle passes as well, but after trying deep rock's i realized I just don't like predatory monetization and feeling punished for not playing.
I’ve never played deep rock galactic. It very well could be the exception that proves the rule.
Feeling punished for not playing, and feeling like a company is trying to manipulate me with psychological tricks to make me play their game is why I don’t play games with battlepasses.
I didn’t mind Diablo iii’s seasons journey at all, and that had rewards that were missable. But Diablo iv has like 90 levels, it costs money and you have to do stupid shit like kill world bosses 15 times with them being on a timer.
I’m not going to set a fucking alarm to log into a video game. I play games on my schedule, not the developers.
It sounds like deep rock has a much more sane system. Maybe I’ll give it a try.
The only other one I know is from Warframe, which is free but still pretty bad for a number of reasons. I think throwing the rewards into the regular reward pool sounds good, but I'm not familiar with the game so I can't really judge how this actually plays out. In WF they throw the old rewards into a special store that uses currency earned through the battlepass, so you still have to play it and let it dictate your game if you want to buy them. In the case of WF though this whole system came on top of already existing tactics to keep you in the game & playing certain content, like the relic rotations for example. It was like the last drop that eventually made me quit. So it's hard to judge from the outside when I don't know the game, but in general I find such mechanisms terrible. It's sort of like dark patterns but adapted for video games and inherently predatory.
I know people like to hate Halo Infinite for a number of reasons, but IMO battle passes are one thing they do fine. MP is free, while the $10 battle passes are optional and you can buy and finish them any time.
I’m still on season 2 while everyone else is on 4 (I think?) I play a few rounds once a week, maybe, but there’s no FOMO because you earn the rewards at whatever pace you want. Once you finish a battle pass you can buy the next one. Or you can buy them out of order or skip any of them.
I'm not OP but I definitely don't like the DRG battlepass. I don't hate it, but I'm neutral towards it at very best. I'd rather just have this content as part of a regular game progression.
Agreed.
My first experience was in Warframe, and that one was at least free, but it still gave you timed rewards (FOMO) and dictated when and what to play, which I absolutely hated. Relics already kinda did this shit too, making the game even more of a chore. In Diablo however you even have to pay for it on top of all that. And what do we got for this "live service" bullshit? Half baked and still rare as fuck updates and even worse seasons that I care even less about (which also just serve the same purpose of baiting you into the game through FOMO pressure). I haven't touched the game for like 2 months already and deeply regret giving into my FOMO of buying it, but it is hard for a franchise that I've followed for such a long time.
The seasons are optional (and have been a thing since as far back as II). I don’t play the seasons myself but I’ll eventually play the single-player campaign on a deep sale someday.
I don't really play online multiplayer games anymore, what actually are "seasons" (and "battle passes" for that matter)? I've seen them mentioned in games like rocket league and overwatch which I'd paid for, but they cost more money and didn't appear to be DLCs/expansions so I just ignored them.
Battlepasses are usually an another progression system with time limited skins and rewards. Usually a season last a couple of months, then a new one starts with new progression and rewards. Sometimes there are events tied to a season.
In theory, it means the game always gets updates, but in actuality its ripping off players for like a handful of skins (theres a lot of filler in most of them), while getting them to play the game more because of fomo.
Also sometimes you can earn back the price back in in-game currency, so if you keep maxing them out its "free" after the first one.
I really enjoy Path of Exile seasons and recommend it. They always add new mechanics and change the game on some of them, so it never feels you're just playing the same thing over and over again.
It's not crap... I found it addicting to play through, but it reached a limit and I couldn't see myself continuing. Before it got to that point, I was having a blast. I'm playing BG3 now, and its pace is so different. Diablo was fast AOE madness.
Game runs really well on Steamdeck. This is a great step, even though Blizzard has no expanded upon the games very short campaign and cliffhanger ending (with the drop rate fuckery there's like no replayability).