Path of Exile devs 'feel very bad' for their Diablo 4 counterparts, but that's live service for you and why they're 'going more in the Elden Ring sort of direction'
Diablo 4's magnificent stallions may be more powerful than ever, but the game itself is in a tough spot. It's always had its disgruntled players, but the blow done to its reputation by the almost universally reviled pre-season 1 patch has seriously soured the mood in the game's community. Although Blizzard apologised for the update's disastrous launch, it didn't totally backpedal on it, and the mood in spaces like the game's subreddit—once a hive of hype— is still bitter.
Other studios are paying attention. In a chat with IGN, developers on long-running Diablo-like Path of Exile gave their take on Diablo 4's rocky season 1 launch, offering Blizzard their sympathy while emphasising that their own fans shouldn't worry: Grinding Gear is taking a different tack with Path of Exile 2.
«Honestly, when I look at that, all I can think is, 'Man, it's tough. It's a real tough situation to be in,'» said studio technical director Jonathan Rogers, remarking on the difficulty of running a season-based live service game. «The learning process for running a live game with Seasons like this is a hard one,» said Rogers, but thankfully Grinding Gear has «learned our lessons about how to do this stuff» over its many years of season-esque challenge leagues.
«I feel very bad for the developers, because I'm sure that they mean well, but yeah, it's a hard lesson to learn,» said Rogers.
Managing director Chris Wilson was a bit more specific. «There are times when a developer looks at a thing in their game that is too fast and they think. 'I should slow this down,'» he said, likely referring to much-maligned class-based nerfs in Diablo 4's 1.1.0 patch, «however, there is a process for that.» What process? Wilson didn't say. But I suspect it bears
Read more on pcgamer.com
