Blizzard ended the Diablo 4 Season 4 PTR (Public Test Realm) earlier this week after about a week of testing. Not only is this the first time Diablo 4 players will be able to test content ahead of release, but it’s also necessary given the scale of the proposed content.
The main purpose of the Diablo 4 PTR is to allow players to provide feedback on several basic changes that affect loot quality/frequency, itemization principles, some game mechanics, and more. These changes will appear in Season 4 on May 14th, and there is still a long way to go before Blizzard can digest and utilize this feedback.
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Given the many mistakes Blizzard has made with Diablo 4, most notably recent major feature delays, poor limited-time events, a slew of unreasonably priced microtransactions, and an almost universally panned third season, the game’s Reputation is at an all-time high. low.
When the PTR was announced, there were definitely people who asked “but does anyone care?” There was a cloud hanging over it.The good news is that the PTR has Exactly Blizzard and Diablo 4 need more than one thing.
Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson agreed in an interview with IGN that the major changes to the game in Season 4 are partly an attempt to keep players coming back to the game. But somewhat surprisingly, the PTR has done just that.
“We’re even seeing this in the PTR itself,” Ferguson revealed. “There are some people who haven’t competed in the season that are participating in the PTR. So we know the way we’re changing the system is really exciting.”
While this may come as a surprise, it’s worth remembering that all of Season 4’s gameplay changes will be coming to the main game as well. In other words, players who never cared or wanted to participate in Seasons will still benefit from all this work, so it makes sense to download it and see it for yourself.
However, this begs the question: does Blizzard plan to open the PTR for every season going forward? unnecessary. The answer really lies in striking a balance between allowing some of the surprises Blizzard is working on to be spoiled with the desire for real player feedback.
“The success of the Season 4 PTR really pointed the direction of what we want to continue to do,” said Ferguson
“But no one should believe that we do PTR every season. Because sometimes we still want surprises to be more meaningful than the feedback at the time.”
Of course, Ferguson was referring to the risk of future content data mining, which happens at almost every game these days. In fact, players have dug deep through the recent PTR to discover what the theme of Season 4 is likely to be: the return of famous Diablo 2 factions and more.
Ferguson explained that, unsurprisingly, the decision to open test servers ahead of a big launch will be made on a case-by-case basis.
“So every season we have this conversation, do we want PTR for this?” he said.
“Our feeling is that Season 4 is fundamentally different and the changes are very basic, and like we’re changing the way the game plays, we’d better get feedback early on, which is why we’re launching the PTR.”
Blizzard will likely be diving right in to collect player impressions and feedback after the PTR closes, so it’s unlikely we’ll hear from the developers until the game is ready or Season 4 is previewed or revealed. However, we do hope to get a post-PTR live stream to discuss lessons learned, etc.