Why Diablo IV is Worrying | Asmongold Reacts 

Blizzard has finally done the seemingly impossible: ruined their reputation to the point where even their die-hard fans have lost excitement for their products.

Blizzard should rebrand themselves from being a gaming company to solely doing cinematic movies. They can’t seem to be able to make good games anymore

I wonder if all the best skins will be behind paywalls. Making you pay for bag and bank space is the biggest middle finger from developers. Putting any QoL behind paywall is skeezy. Literally designing the game to be restrictive.

loved that "tons of character customisation" and just spinned off different tattoos :D

I don't expect anything good from Blizzard to come in this decade. For all I know they could make WoW semi f2p with the same mechanics they used in Diablo Immortal. They've gone completely nuts.

They'll make the obtainable armor intentionally ugly so if you want a good looking character you have to pay .

3:32 I agree, the way I play diablo 3 is: play a class, get it to level 60, start another character in another class, repeat till I'm board, wait a year or so, repeat. I've never properly invested in the endgame.

Gamers ought to reach out to their representatives to write a bill forcing all developers to disclose any possible mtx in future games as well as future costs and time it takes to complete the game. It would stop the devs messing with drop-rates , nerfing skills etc.

I think they're going to take the destiny 2 route where you get a big expansion in many seasons and what you have to pay for all of it just to be competitive in the PVp

Im just going to say it. These game companies need to get out of California. The people being hired into these game companies are more worried about social issues than they are about making great games. The people being hired are not passionate about games. They find their identity in social issues. Not saying social issues are not important but I want my devs to be all about making good games, not changing the world. They are failing because their heart is in the wrong place.

You can't do that in PoE, because everyone wears MTX over their "Epic gear" - and the best items in the game are rare, not unique, so they won't even look cool if they're good.

The people hyped about D4 are the personification of the "consoomer" meme. Blizzard is dead. Time to accept reality and get over it.

Can people just please, for the love of god - not preorder this game and wait to find out whether they deserve our money. So many people love to criticise but wont actually punish the developer when push comes to shove.

Honestly, if they did Path of Exile's microtransactions I wouldn't really care. I think if there has to be something, that model works fine if you include the option of earning skins by playing as well

i hate that cosmetic cash shops r just accepted now that shit is why we have ended up where we are now. Not being able to unlock skins in like almost any game anymore is so sad

lol "wash hands" when I worked in a motor shop I ate lunch with grease covered hands. My only rule was my hands couldnt be so dirty that I would leave fingerprints of grime on my food, or if I was handling legitimate garbage. Never ended up getting sick unless some other coworker coughed on me

I refuse to participate in the modern game industry. I constantly have this growing desire to go back to WoW, and then Blizzard inevitably reminds me why I don't support them in any way with each new step they take. Don't sell your souls, and give up your income to an industry that abuses you.

Cosmetics are okay. Hell even taking some pages out of PoE's books with cosmetic lootboxes, stash tabs, etc even the stuff that's borderline P2W in PoE like the specialized tabs. I'm okay with all of that. There's at a minimum going to be an "optional" monthly sub that all of these games have now a days with extra xp, inventory space, free fast travel and all that jazz. I wont be happy about it but I will accept it. If they take it any farther than that, if I see a god damn battle pass or any way to buy progression of any kind outright I'll boycott it.

You can’t even buy the gems you need to be lucky with RNG , I hope they don’t fuck D4 up

19:50 black desert been on that wave

i see 2 free character slots for 5 classes and you have to purchase 3 more slots. skins with stats and all that good stuff. and buff potions. just like they all do.

The moment Diablo Immortal made millions, Diablo 4's fate was sealed... Inside a loot box.

16x the micro transactions.

i don't know what everyone is expecting, blizzard said time and time again they believe their actions speak louder than words, and then gifted the world diablo immortal. like how much louder do you want them to get XD

Wyatt has proven blizzard will lie and insult you to your face . There such heartless , soulless ghouls

They are scumbags. “Not being able to buy gear” is dishonest and disingenuous. Absolute horrible people.

The first 2 games were great with story, lore, and expansive gameplay. With Diablo 3 they tested the waters of bullshit they could do, and with Immortal they pushed the limits of their predatory nature to stress test things. Diablo 4 may just be their opus of cruelty to fans at this point to lure people with the promise of great things while hiding the knife behind their backs.

RIP Diablo. Blizzard is truly turning into the new EA

"A cash shop with cosmetics is not weird" - Asmongold. Yeah and a couple of years from now predatory monetization in AAA games is not gonna be weird either. Cash shops in full priced or subscription based games are weird, people thinking overwise have just had it normalized to them by games gradually pushing things further and further over time.

Jim sterling said it first when overwatxh came out. He said these cosmetics are the tip of the iceberg. If you let them get anyway with that? They’ll do it everywhere. Boy was he right.

Have never been hyped for D4 because I've been burned too many times on WoW expansions. I am confident in saying current Blizzard isn't capable of making another classic... which is a damn shame because they had an incredible run in the 2000s

"League of Legends is balanced for Challenger" - said the Riot employee hiding in Asmon's chat trying to convince people the game is balanced

Here is a secret: Stop caring. Do not give em your time and money. Blizzard will never produce good games ever again. Its gonna be the EA/Ubisoft method.

Surely now that the One Ring has claimed them, they won't be tempted to use its dark power. Surely they can resist it.

Using development time to create awesome cosmetics only to put them behind a cash shop paywall, despite having paid a full price for the game is still crossing the line for me. Like, that was the first step, and now that it's become normalized we all think it's fine since it hasn't stepped over the 'pay to win' line. Cosmetics should be rewards like any other kind of reward for overcoming obstacles in a game. Doing raids, quests, world bosses etc. Also, why the fuck does every game now need a damn battle pass in the mix. Like, we all know why, so can we stop fucking supporting it please. It's just a clever layer to do the same god damn thing as paying to progress faster, but now we can get you to play the game a little and drip feed premium rewards. There is no good intentions for the players when these things are designed.

$70 is not a problem if you get a full game. $50 in the 90's was still higher than $70 in the 20's. The problem is that you rarely get a full game and it's often monetized afterwards

We stopped them selling loot boxes and they just found another way to fleece their audience. Well done Blizztard you are so very clever and not at all transparent in your avaricious and insidious dealings.

my hype for D4 is dead and Diablo Immortal fucking murdered it

May I recommend Titan Quest? The game released an expansion YET AGAIN recently. 15 years after release. Combat is good. Leveling is satisfying. Fireballs be GOOD. And....the story is good if you care to not skip it. (as the game totally lets you do.) It's GOOD....better than Diablo 3 by a long shot and it was released in 2007.

All the problems in gaming, or most industries, could be alleviated by having intelligent prudent consumers, but their are currently too many fools with money and I cannot blame blizzard for selling what people are willing to buy. They would be stupid not to. The only good games, in my opinion, that will come out in the future will be from game developers passionate about their craft and not their bottom line. Fromsoftware is probably the largest company that still works on this model after the the fall of Bioware and CDPR. I goes in a cycle. You start out with passionate people developing games because they love them (that was Blizzard, Bioware, etc. in their beginnings). Their games explode in popularity b/c they are great and that generates both revenue and the interests of larger publishers. A big publisher swoops in and outright buys the company or enough control in it. This may start out a good thing b/c with greater funding those passionate people can make even greater games, but slowly those people are replaced or forced out and the corporation concerned only with short term profits fill the voids. They wear the dead husk of a once great name (Bioware/Blizz/etc.) and utilize its name for a while until consumers wise up and stop paying. They then toss aside the company and move on to their next victim, I mean partner.

I played titan quest for hundreds of hours,5 acts x 12 class builds x 3 difficulty levels is enough endgame content for me,thats all i want from diablo 4

50 Cent should release a new song this year called "cash shop" instead of the older title "candy shop". Later edit: This would be the song trailer for Blizard's D4 Cash Shop trailer.

Why do people call the Necromancer a "brand new class" when it isn't brand new. What was a brand new job class is the Assassin in Diablo II, since there was no Assassin class in the original Diablo. Necromancer is an original job class, thus has been in all of the Diablo series. It's just a returning OG job class coming back in Diablo IV. A brand new job class in Diablo IV would be like a Summoner/Ranger/Berserker class. Calling Necromancer brand new job class is saying we've never seen it done before in the Diablo series.

Since the release of the Necromancer on Diablo 3 I have been staying really far from Blizzard. The Reaper of Souls was out in 2014 (60$ or so DLC). 3 years later, The rise of the Necromancer (2017) was released at a whopping 50$ price tag. I was speechless. For a game that came out in 2012. releasing a dlc in 2014 was fine with me. Albeit a short-ish Dlc it was fine. But a 50$ price for a single character was revolting. I have a lot of fears regarding Diablo 4 because I feel the same type of stuff will happen with it. Maybe it will have 150 dungeons...at 50$ each.

We should give Blizzard no rest about this; D4 can NOT be anything like Diablo Immoral.

Social hubs are a detriment to every experience where you, as the player, are the main protagonist. It takes away the feeling of loneliness, of dread, of despair. With a social hub you feel like you're in a world where you don't matter. Not everything has to be an MMO. Fuck that shit.

Dungeons-wise, I'd think 150 is tangible if we compare it to say, Elden Ring, where maybe they have Caves, Castles, 'actual dungeons', prisons, forest biomes with 'dungeon zones' within, and they're spread apart the world. That if they counted 'small caves with enemies/loot/chests' like not all Caves in Elden ring were massive structures with some 'final boss', then MAYBE? The Diablo 4 concept of open world and castles to explore and etc reminded me much of what Elden Ring offered as a fair comparison.

they wouldnt say they only have cosmetics, because that would be lying, and the community cant call you a liar if you dont say anything.

it amazes me how this mobile game managed to bring light to how rotten the gaming community is. it's truly saddening how we have to actually justify how something that is practically illegal in most parts of the world is bad and damaging for the industry as a whole.

I think what they will do is take stats of which method people spend most on in diablo immortals and will add that to the game

If there was actually 150 dungeons, especially unique dungeons, I would be floored. However they got a lot on their plate because path of exile is not only a fantastic game created from the spirit of Diablo 2 with amazing graphics and game play that has only improved and got better through time - It has stand the test of time. So if they can't beat path of exile it will go down hill. If they can at least match POE then it just serves as a different game from the same genre to play with different mechanics... Which POE has a ton of different mechanics and their skill tree is massive. You got a lot of work to do Diablo 4... I'll be happy if they come out with something good, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Time will tell, as it anyways does. Worst case, I'll just continue to play POE where they do sell cosmetics. PS - I feel that WW whirlwind spin is a tad slow. Maybe it's just me and my love of D2, but when WW was first introduced it was so fast that it was basically a fan blur, or so it was conveyed in 2D... D2/2D lol Final Edit: Since I made this comment before they even showed POE which I'm not surprised, is that if they do sell potions for magic find outside of gear stats then that's pretty lame. I don't know if anyone feels the same, but these types of games and the fun I get is the thrill of finding powerful items and if you find something really good not only are you stronger from how rare it is, but the rarity itself gives you sense of accomplishment. Take that away and you're taking a major part of what makes the game fun away. Once everyone has the same most powerful items, it's boring after that and in fact if they plan to add new items every year then I think that would be cool.

While I love the Diablo series, I’m sadly not hyped for Diablo 4 after Diablo immortal. Shadowlands I enjoyed the 4 zones first raid(only did heroic) tried PvP cause I got bored n realized monks/boomkins/Pally could 1 shot you. Blizzard has ruined their reputation for me they are just activison now, no longer blizzard north. They didn’t want bad PR that’s why it wasn’t said. (Diablo) I would rather a sub than micro transactions anyday, issue is subs aren’t enough these days even ashes of creation will sell stuff it’s sad. It’s like lost ark 1% power, virtues bonus on gear which barely anyone talked about totally is pay to win n was a great example of this. They never explained if that gear is equalized in those modes I would bet not. Modern gaming has turned into modern dating for me, I think I’m just going to walk away from both n watch instead eating popcorn with this horror show. FYI New Zealand is south east of The Aussies. They have caves with glowing worms kinda nuts.

just DON'T pre-purchase D4, wait a day or two after release to see if there's shit that comes out then decide for yourself.

The funny thing is that even if it's "only cosmetics" there is more ways in which that can be disingenuous! Black Desert makes the majority of their revenue with costume sales, but that is only the case because those cosmetics can then be destroyed to obtain materials called Cron Stones that anchor equipment when upgrading and prevent it from downgrading. In the end it's possible to technically just sell cosmetics but still incorporate them into pay2win garbage where getting enough materials for an endgame upgrade costs 200 bucks per attempt at 5% chance.

To put in perspective of how lucrative the heavily monetized mobile version of PC games could be: Diablo 3 sold 30m copies, to make the same amount of money 30m copies at $60 made Blizzard...they would only need 90k people putting in the amount Rich has at around $20k. You can make the same amount of money in monetization with a 99.7% DECREASE in the player base.

Overwatch announcement 2016: Awesome character with a backstory that respects their culture and heritage. Overwatch 2 announcement 2022: LOL SO WACKY MAN BAD WOMEN GOOD (Don't forget to pay for the beta and the exclusive MYTHIC SKIN for $39.99 + tax)

The thing that worries me more is the fact that Diablo immortal had more development time than Diablo 4. Edit: just to make it clear since not everyone listen to as many vids on diablo immortal as I do, Diablo Immortal has been stated by Quin, Asmon and Josh to be basically a copy of Diablo 3 just made playable on a phone. So when I say Diablo Immortal had more development time I mean diablo immortal's development time on top of diablo 3's development time.

What you said about "if you have good relationship with your community they will give you more money" is the truest of truths. I play PoE since 2012 and now that I'm financially stable I just keep on giving then 100 bucks per month in average and man, I HATE paying things monthly... when I'm forced to do it, but to GGG? Yeah, I can give then 100 bucks, 200 bucks per month no problem. They can have my money. Blizzard? They dont deserve a penny.

I was mega mega excited 2 years ago. Not so excited anymore.

Immortal was testing the waters to see what they could get away with in 4, then they can get a pat on the back because there are slightly less micro transactions in 4

Honestly don't care how good it looks, I just won't pay to win. I want to win by skill.

If Diablo 4 is p2w then Blizzard will have ruined their final IP...

"The problem with alot of blizzard games these days is that they arent developed well" ...Yes you are correct but the real problem is that Blizz has a standerd they goto when their dev teams dont have imagination and that is, 'make it look amazing' and distract them from the fact there isnt anything else in the game sadly this isnt a problem inside blizzard, its a problem with most games companies, they lack vision, they lack commitment, they lack anything even vaguly resembling imagination and they ALL go to the point place they know they can make better, graphics case and point, Dwarf Fortress, the 2nd best game ever created, Asci graphics and more story telling and wworld building in its baby finger then all of blizzard, activision, ea and microsoft could ever hope to achieve Its sad really, the gaming industry is in such a shit situation and nobody can smell the burning bodies at their feet

what worries me the most is the fact that all "innovations" d4 is going to do for hte arpg genre have been done by poe for half a decade already

Blizzard is a failing company, let it die out.

Wtf you ban people for criticizing you? You are not perfect and may be guilty of cognitive dissonance, we all are. People are going to misinterpret you and you will misinterpret them. Way to set yourself up for a echo chamber and surround yourself with yes men.

"you have micro transactions or you have a sub, if you have both, you are full of shit" This is something i'd like to see challenged by authorities. Make companies pick one of these monetization methods and see which one comes out on top. It's beyond me that people these days are brainwashed into prefering paying tens of thousands of dollars / euros over putting in the time and effort with everyone being on an even playing field. I hope this is the low point where things only get better from here on out, but i'm afraid this thing is going to be a stinker before it's going to get any better.

Not that it'd change things that much, but how can y'all not even mention or factor in that it's going to be on Game Pass when Microsoft deal finalizes.

It's cool to know that the Whales in D4 will be marked as high value targets in PVP.

Nope, not touching another Blizzard game until Blizzard really fixes itself. Getting microtransaction into borderline poverty is NOT OPTIMAL. I want a full, complete game with 0 P2W like they used to with Diablo 1 and 2, otherwise I'll just stick with Path of Exile. At least in PoE I'm not being nickel and dimed to death. Also Blizzard has completely lost me in the MMORPG market, WoW is dead to me. Final Fantasy XIV is my ONLY MMO I love.

I think Asmongold is one of the only content creators or public figures who think critically about things outside personal success. He goes out of his way to steel man both sides of sometimes unpopular opinions and topics regardless of what side of it hes on. It feels like he is building a clear and concise picture for the viewer before he gives his take so people can decide for themselves. These days I browse politics to see grifters and dumpster fires. Thankfully I can still watch Asmongold mald and meme if I want a broadcast with integrity. What kind of world are we living in.

I absolutely hate that we’ve normalized selling cosmetic items. I miss being able to just play the fucking game to unlock cosmetics. Remember when you’d unlock halo armor by completing certain achievements that were earned in the campaign. Those were the good days.

I have hope. Everyone has extremely low expectations as of rn (understandably so) and i feel like thats why the game will actually be really good since no one is expecting it to be good..

Blizzard was so focused on making money with Diablo Immortal they didn't stop to think about how it would negatively affect Diablo 4.

I blame blizzard 100% for their greedy economy but people who actually pay for digital Numbers to be bigger in a fucking mobile game are even worse. Bro how can you not respect your money at all and just throw casual $100 for a mobile game when you could have bought like demon souls and elden ring and have fun for 300+ hours, I’ll never understand why people do it.

I want to hear what the OG Diablo developers think about what Blizzard has done to this beloved masterpiece

Lemme predict something: Diablo 4 will have a lot of p2w stuff too, but they will say: "we learned our lesson and made everything 90% cheaper!" (and that is still 10k to max)

Honestly its so sad that accepting a cashshop for a PAID $60 game. Even if its "only" cosmetics.. its not okay. Cosmetic shop existing on its own means that cool gear doesnt exist, best cosmetics are in the shop, nobody would buy the otherwise...

D4 coming out with loot boxes Using gold to gamble for more auction house is going to be rigged bots are going to appear and there not going to do anything about it. The future for gaming especially for mmorpg its either p2w or p2l which ever form other see it as. Its like paying to get vip level 12 like some Chinese game (Mu) D4 coming out with battle pass Silver Gold Platinum who knows Diamonds might be a battle pass differences. Mmorpg will never be the same.

Love Force's perspective. He makes such good quality, clear and thoughtful videos. Highly encourage

can yall just stop playing this shit? It's not even that good even if there is no p2w. Yall are crazy. D2 was good back in the day because that was the best we could do. Now the bullshit mechanics we had to deal with have become genre defining? please. It's literally not worth it when the company behaves this way. Fuck, sell me another Skyrim anniversary edition - at least they took their RPGs the right direction lol

I went from the biggest Diablo fan, having waited 20 years for this game, to "I'm not gonna deal with this shit".

New Zealand is a region within Middle Earth. Thee LOTR Middle Earth, not the Hobbit. That's why PoE is the spiritual successor to Diablo 2, not Diablo 3.

I would be excited, but thanks to Diablo Immortal left me skeptical of 4

3:00 I completely agree.. I finished elden ring from start to finish.. but after that i lost interest.. and that game looks good.. plays well... but i don't know.. there is something missing.. i can't quite put my finger on it.. Edit: i guess having every single item at the same spot (killing the same mob) definitely didn't help.. having a mount and being able to go very far into the game and grabbing very meta items also didn't help.. and the quests were kind of hard to finish without looking for a guide online, i mean.. obviously not all of them. but most of them were very vague in their description that made it quite hard to finish yourself without outside help... anyway that was my experience with it.

I'm so glad I play single player and strategy games.

end_game = new LongTermMonetizationPlan(user_description: "Long term progression", screw_factor: 666, user_analysis_mode: true);

Asmongold has called their every move since the beginning! Holy smokes dude! Every single thing

Man the rogue is pathetic, it's just a reskinned demon hunter. They even fire a bow the same... BTW who fucking fire a bow like that lol. God dammit give us the amazon back

I think they should make different servers for different types of players. Want to pay to play with others like-minded? Make a server for those people. Have another server for people who don't have interest into leaping a head with their wallets. And finally, have a server for their seasonal ideas.

Honestly imo having WoW raids be extremely hard isn't necessarily the problem. The problem is that they then nerf them a million times. If they want two versions of the fight, one for the race and one for everyone else then they should just actually release two versions of the raid not nerf it. That harder version should also only have a vanity reward like a mount, some good looking transmogs etc. and not anything that's stronger than what the version for everyone else drops

In resume: D4 is going to be a D3 with all seasons in one game. Plus p2w like DI. They could make a first person diablo, but they just want to make the same thing again and again.

I still have the same feelings about the game since I have heard it's announcement. looks fun, and interesting enough that I will put probably 1000 or so hours into it.

I've waited for Diablo 4 for years but if it's anything like Immortal I won't buy it, if it's actually good then I will wait 6 months before buying it, that's how little I trust Blizzard

guys, No. No this game will not be good. Full price? Cash shop? Immortal? Wake up. Blizzard is long gone.

i would not mind if diablo 4 got monthly subscription if blizz really wanna take our money... but p2w for items and gems... no make it monthly sub instead like WoW

League is balanced for all ranks. There are champs for high elo and there are for low elo. Guy who said It's for chall understands nothing and types. Typical lol player tho who is not a game dev

One thing i've said to my friends was that WoW is being ruined by the competitive aspect they forced into there. Everything seems to be catered to the absolute min max repetition and everything else is left to be mostly ignored.

The days of buying a game on release or preorder are DONE. The only reasonable perspective now id to be pessimistic until after it has been out a while and you watch reviews by creditable people.

P2W is the baddest thing for casual gamers , Thx Netherland and Belgium becoause they forbitten this games to play