Blizzard is in damage control mode after angering fans with Diablo 4’s 1.1 patch and the Season of the Malignant.
Ahead of Diablo 4 Season 1, Blizzard detailed its plans to deliver enormous nerfs to player damage and defense, large buffs to monsters, and reductions of up to 90% in EXP yields. The decision was met with swift, brutal backlash from players who took umbrage with Blizzard gutting their builds and making it harder to find a different option. Discussion of the patch trended across multiple social media, with everyone from streamer Asmongold to former Blizzard devs blasting Diablo’s developers.
In response to this, the Diablo 4 development team hosted a “campfire chat” to discuss why these nerfs were implemented. While they spent an hour discussing their rationale, players simply aren’t buying it.
Why are they nerfing everything in Diablo 4 patch 1.1?
Three members of the Diablo 4 development team discussed the decision to nerf players almost across the board in patch 1.1. The primary reasons stem from how vulnerable damage works in the game and how Nightmare Dungeons fit into the late game.
“We know that blasting through content with those things is really fun so it feels really, really painful to have to take some of those things away, and we certainly don’t relish the idea. That was the original thinking for these sorts of bits. One of the reasons why we think that these builds are very prevalent at the moment is based on the nature of some of the end-game content we have in Diablo 4,” associate game director Joe Piepiora said.
A big part of the issue according to Piepiora was vulnerable damage. He stated that because different types of damage can multiply and stack with one another, a straightforward reduction to the vulnerable damage bonus wouldn’t have done much. Without also nerfing how different types of damage were calculated, builds focused on vulnerable damage were going to remain overpowered next to other options.
Fans still mad before Diablo 4 Season 1 despite campfire chat with developers
Despite the hourlong campfire chat, Diablo 4 players were still hot as hell over the nerfs that hit their characters for Diablo 4 Season 1. Many bristled over the fact that the developers were acknowledging the fact that they were taking fun aspects of the game away from the players while saying that their goal was still to make the game more fun.
Much of the frustration with Diablo 4 is an extension of the simmering frustration with Blizzard. The publisher was previously beloved by gamers but trust has waned following numerous scandals and games that were critically panned upon launch. The most recent example is the company’s sweeping layoffs of its esports department and plans to effectively pay franchises to let the Overwatch League die.
While a patch like Diablo 4 version 1.1 would’ve been a tough pill to swallow under any circumstances, the frustration is compounded by the numerous controversies that preceded it.
