In a recent interview with streamer Raxxanterax, Adam Jackson, the lead class designer for Diablo 4, talked about how some game features that didn’t sit well with players in the beginning actually seemed good during development. Jackson said this was because they didn’t test them enough, so they didn’t realize how repetitive some parts were. I know it sounds a bit silly, but not every feature is tested all the way through before it gets to the game; that takes a lot of resources.
According to Jackson, the team behind Diablo 4 is now concentrating on thorough internal testing processes to prevent similar issues in the future (thanks, GR). “This is where you get things that seem obvious to players that were bad ideas but sounded like good ideas when we’re sitting in the room talking about it,” he explained. For instance, he highlighted the unskippable animation during tempering items in Season 4. Although the animation may have been intended to create a sense of importance, it became tiresome after repeated use.
I think no game should have unskippable animation or cutscenes. It’s cool the first time, but when you replay games, that kind of stuff can get annoying. Imagine not being able to skip a Metal Gear Solid or Yakuza cutscene. They’re great but feel like they take a while if you already know what will happen.
Jackson highlighted the importance of finding the right balance between the initial appeal of a feature and its long-term enjoyment. According to him, the challenge lies in avoiding situations where repeated actions become tedious while still preserving moments of celebration and the appeal of new features. He admitted that Blizzard had made such mistakes in the past, but it won’t happen again. The development team is now prioritizing the long-term experience of features.
The focus on playtesting is clear in Diablo 4’s introduction of a public test realm (PTR) for the first time. Season 4 took advantage of this PTR, letting players find and report issues before the official release. The feedback from the PTR led to comprehensive Season 4 patch notes, which cover over 10,000 words of balance adjustments, bug fixes, and quality-of-life improvements. The resource thing I mentioned was that you need many people testing the game to get every bit of it right.
Looking to the future, Jackson suggested that more major system changes akin to those seen in the Season 4 update might be on the horizon. He also assured players that Blizzard is open to re-evaluating other aspects of the game in response to player input.
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