When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Heres how it works.
In our short time we covered so much, that we had to split it into two parts.
Oh and of course, I had to bring up Unicorns.
Season of Blood had the sauce for success, but why?
What was the best Season, and why was it Season of Blood?
I asked Rod why he thinks Season 2 stood out in comparison toSeason of the MalignantandSeason of the Construct.
“I think it was a combination of a couple of things.
Season of Blood had the sauce for success, but why?
I think the vampire fantasy is a strong one that is easily relatable.
So I think there’s that notion of approachability.
But I also think Season 2 helped us understand what we need to do around things like Hell Tide.
Having a Public Test Realm comes with pros and cons for Diablo 4 developers
The fantasy really is about slaying multitudes of monsters and that feeling of power.
So when you had the Blood Harvest, which was a sort of a themed version of Hell Tide.
You had that moment of, I can have all these monsters and I could summon the council.
Diablo 4 Store(Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)
And there’s legionaries everywhere.
So there’s this density there, that everybody loved. "
We could have this sort of larger ambush.
Diablo 4 Store(Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)
And it’s just not something that is easily done.
He let me know this is on its way via a Campfire Chat.
Like the other games in the franchise, can we expect this ahead of each Season update?
Diablo 4 Cosmic mount and Beautiful in Sin set(Image credit: Jennifer Young - Windows Central)
“That’s a good question.
I think that’s sort of a TBD for us.
There are pros and cons to PTR.
One of the class bundles available in the Diablo store
Like Season 4 is such a big change that we definitely needed to get more feedback than usual.
And so we could patch Season 3 in the first 3 days.
So we can respond pretty quickly to that stuff.
The Lord Eater armor was added with Season 3
It can work for you or against you, depending on what you’re trying.
So there’s still something left to discover.
And we can pretty much guarantee that every season we’re gonna have that conversation.
John Mueller (Art Director for Diablo 4) and Rod Fergusson attend the BAFTAS in London
Is it going to be in our best interest to get people playing earlier?
And getting that feedback?
We’ve been really happy with this Season for PTR.
So we will probably ended up doing more of them for sure. "
What I don’t love about the PTR is the fact that right now it is PC only.
And that’s more of a technological issue for us.
The Diablo PTRs have always been exclusive to PC testers via Battle.net.
With more players on console than ever before, I did wonder could we get a PTR on console?
Thankfully, Rod read my mind and bought this subject up of his own accord.
“What I don’t love about the PTR is the fact that right now it is PC only.
And that’s more of a technological issue for us.
To get things onto retail consoles, you have to go through certification.
So we’re still working through how to best do that.
And so that’s why we’re still working through that.”
Still, as the months have gone on, its items have become increasingly covetable.
Shop items that can be earned?
Or just easier to purchase?
So we did one of those for each class.
Perhaps less than half of what our top armor stuff normally goes for.
So we wanted to find places for people to use the shop, but at a lower price point.
And so like,hey here’s four different levels of discount on four different types of things.
But it’s all cosmetic.
They don’t need to get it, they don’t.
It’s all about your vanity in playing your power fantasy.”
“I think we’re always talking about that notion of making cool stuff that people can earn.
That’s an ongoing conversation.
At the beginning of Diablo 4, we were very focused on kind of staying authentic and staying grounded.
There’s some interesting skins there.”
How we look to include new types of cosmetics, the way that you saw in Diablo 3.
So there’ll be some interesting stuff on the horizon, I think you’ll be excited about.
We’re always trying to find the right balance there in terms of what is earnable.
We want cool things for people that they can earn, which I think you’re able to.
It’s always something we’re talking about. "
Thankfully for me, Rod appreciates the fun factor.
“There is one in there!
There’s a Unicorn mount!
And so he’s like, ‘Yeah, or maybe we will at some point.”
What had been his most rewarding moment and his most challenging in his four years of residency?
I think it’s well-documented.
I don’t need to bring that back up.
But you know, that’s just been hard to see.
That’s been really rewarding to see Diablo come back and start firing on all cylinders again.
To be able to bring it to players, it’s just it’s really exciting.”
