How player feedback shaped Diablo IV’s best season yet

Blizzard officially released the fourth season of Diablo 4 — dubbed Loot Reborn — on May 14, and this time around, the studio tried to things a bit differently. While there are still new things for players to discover, the developers went out of their way to try and make an already very good game even better by tweaking how loot works.

After getting to see just how some of those changes play out, I was lucky enough to talk to Lead Live Game Designer Colin Finer and Lead Seasons Designer Deric Nunez, two of the people who spearheaded the big changes and kept their eyes on the small details that help Season 4 change and evolve in Loot Reborn.

How and when the Loot Reborn idea started

Diablo 4 devs are listening to the players

Blizzard

Considering that Diablo 4’s first season kicked off last July, it’s interesting that a tweak to the loot systems didn’t come until almost a year later. However, these kinds of changes always take a little bit of time, especially when the developers want to see how everything is going to play out. Finer made it clear the tweaks have been in the works in one form or another for quite a while.

“I wouldn’t say there was a finite start point of the ‘idea’ for Loot Reborn, it’s been a culmination of pre/post launch discussions and response to player feedback. We’re always discussing and working towards improving and evolving how you gain power in Diablo — loot is an enormous part of that.”

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Finer added that the original approach to how loot worked was initially inspired by how itemization worked in Diablo 2 — specifically when it came to rare items. However, the developers soon realized a different direction was needed.

“This approach in Diablo 4 felt a lot like sifting through sand without more immediate indicators on what could be good items. So, how has player feedback shaped our approach? We’re giving players more steps and autonomy to create perfect items, and we’ve added more indicators to tell you what could be good.”

In short, as Finer put it, “it’s less ‘find a needle in a haystack.'” or “waiting for a 1 in 100,000 drop,” and instead about giving players more control over the development and growth of their characters.

The most difficult change and how it affects players

Making Legendary items more legendary

Blizzard

So with the changes to the game, I asked just what they thought was the most difficult thing to get right. The answer, in retrospect, was hardly surprising.

“This sounds silly, but making Legendary items Legendary,” Finer said while also explaining just how they wanted the shifts to affect the dedicated players.

“It’s in the spirit of being more immediately clear to players on what a good item is. The impact is that players are going to be able to more quickly identify upgrades and good items. They’re also going to pick up less items in general. Our goal is that if we’re going to drop items they need to have purpose and play a role in making your character be more powerful. In Season 4, rarities that aren’t legendary play a role in the overall loot crafting system through salvage. We are continuing to explore ways for these rarities to be useful without betraying the benefits of being more clear on what items are good and don’t get us back into a sifting-through-sand approach”Building on Loot Reborn

Player feedback keeps playing a part

Blizzard

With Loot Reborn out there, the obvious question is just how will Colin, Deric and the rest of the team keep building on the changes made in Season 4 for Season 5 and all the expansions coming in the future.

“Top of mind is building out more tempered affixes,” Finer said. “Especially within the utility space. In general, we want to be a little more lax on what we call utility, which should open things up a lot more.”

“We’re excited to get the Helltide updates in the hands of players and review the feedback as it comes in,” Nunez added. “The Helltide updates are directly inspired by the amazing feedback received from previous seasons, so we’re always looking out for ways to continually upgrade and improve our content.”The Return of the Iron Wolves

Longtime Diablo players get to see some old friends again

Blizzard

While the overarching focus of Season 4 is changing what kind, how and when loot drops, it’s not the sole focus. There is a story involved and part of that story incorporates the Iron Wolves, a group that made their debut back in Diablo 2. That the devs were inspired so often by a game that released 24 years ago next month, was certainly and interesting one, so I asked them why Loot Reborn was the right time for the reintroduction of such beloved characters.

“We’re big fans of the Iron Wolves for the unique, honor-forward, mercenaries they are and have been looking for more ways to enhance their presence in the world of Sanctuary for Diablo IV,” Nunez responded. “The intensifying Helltides were the perfect opportunity to achieve just that. If Hell is ramping up their assaults on Sanctuary, the Iron Wolves would certainly not let it go unanswered, considering their strong values of loyalty, duty, and devotion of their lives to protect the innocent. It’s also just a fun fantasy of joining the wolves and climbing their ranks and earning their respect for your acts of valor in the Helltide.”