Diablo 4’s latest marketing stunt for Season 6 and Vessel of Hatred achieved a surprising feat: it convinced players to stop playing Season 5.
In a two-hour campfire chat, Blizzard unveiled seismic changes for Diablo 4, including a revamped paragon system, a new level cap, and the elimination of world tiers. Much like the overhaul in Season 4, which introduced tempering, Season 6 is promising another game reboot.
The hype session, designed to build excitement, instead left players feeling disillusioned with the current season, Infernal Hordes.
Blizzard forums are buzzing with discontent. One player posted, “I just can’t bring myself to log in knowing that anything I find will be garbage in 4 weeks.”
The player admitted that while some changes sound promising, the overwhelming sense of futility has dampened their enthusiasm. They now log in briefly every few days, only to question “what’s the point” and close the game.
The sentiment isn’t isolated. A popular forum comment echoed this frustration: “This happens every season. If everything keeps changing, we essentially get a new game every three months. Too much change, too quickly just p’ses players off.”
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This second player compared the experience to eating a green banana every few months – unpleasantly unripe and soon replaced with another green banana. “The devs are using the player as an experimental chimp, driving them nuts in the process,” they said.
Players are craving stability and a reason to invest time. The alternative, the Eternal Realm, has its fair share of issues after the legacy item changes introduced in Season 4.
Eternal Realm players shared on another forum thread that the sense of achievement and progression is gone. Not to mention you’d be missing out on the seasonal questlines and stories if you stuck to Eternal.
Blizzard’s ambition to shake up Diablo 4 may have alienated its base. By overhauling core mechanics all at once, the game risks losing players who are eager for fresh content but also need a stable experience.