Ears. If you look at it the debut trailer for Devil IVrogue class, this was your main takeaway, at least if you’re like me. The scoundrel showed up at the “confession” with a large ear bag. The priest had a damn ear trophy. It may seem strange to you: most regular people only have one or two bodyless ears in their hand at a time, but if you play Devil II back then, you probably felt right at home.
In Devil II, the ears were tokens that other players dropped in PVP combat. If you kill someone, you will get an ear with their name, which you could sell for gold if you were really hurt for money. It was one of those sad bits of strangeness they did Devil II special. Blizzard says the system will make a return Devil IV, somehow.
“We are very excited to bring this idea back Devil IV“Said chief systems designer Joe Piepiora Kotaku in an interview on Zoom, noting that the development team is still sorting out the details of how the system will be implemented. “What we don’t want to do with this is turn it into currency, the ear gain, which you invest in cosmetics. That is not the focus. “
The goal, Piepiora explained, is to emphasize the appeal of the system Devil II, unlike turning your ears into another coin, you can insert it into the loot slot machine non-stop.
“We think what excited your ears and interested your ears was the fact that you basically had this permanent testimony of conquest about another character you killed as part of the fight,” Piepiora said. “We are excited to find a way to integrate it closely with the PVP experience we have without being part, for example, of some kind of PVP progression. We want to leave it in that trophy space where it’s exciting to collect these things and look back at the things you did without feeling that you only assemble as many of these things as you can to get an ax or a chest.
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So in short: there will be ears, but there will be no economy. However, the fact that some players expect something like this is illustrative of the awkward space in which Devil IV is. In spite of everything devil IIIdisastrous launch “always online”, Devil IV it will not have a single player mode. But Blizzard is not trying to create one MMO, either. While the Titans like it Destiny i Way of exile—With booty tables and other playground leveling systems — they now rule the place Devil Piepiora was characterized once dominated (of destruction) Devil like a series where even a random barrel you destroy could contain a single weapon.
Blizzard points to a midpoint between a player and MMO, where encounters with other players are infrequent, and when they do occur, no one will feel blinded. There will be designated PVP areas in the open world of gaming (called Hate Fields, probably because that’s where you’ll plant bodies) and you can complete various objectives within them to get currency that you can exchange for special loot, especially cosmetics. This loot will not be intrinsically better than the weapons and armor you get elsewhere in the game, but it will be unique. These areas also contain many enemies of NPCs, which means you can cultivate Fields of Hate for legendary weapons that you can also obtain elsewhere.
As a result of systems like this, Blizzard finds itself looking through the ear hole of a philosophical schism within its community. Some players want one Devil II-as a multiplayer experience where chaos reigns and anyone can exchange any object (regardless of how they have won it) with any other player. Others want something more structured. Others-Others want the option to play completely solo. Blizzard is trying to satisfy them all with a single shared experience. There will be some multiplayer chaos; Hate fields have been designed to facilitate moments of asymmetry, for example, one player ambushing another while fighting an NPC boss and a PVP-marking mechanic especially successful on other players’ maps so they can hide. them and chase them. . But this will not be the case Devil II-2. In spite of everything controversy within the community, Blizzard will still limit systems like trade at least to some extent.
“There will be some very special or very specific types of elements [that won’t be tradeable]”You can imagine, if you’re going to do, for example, PVP content, and you’ll get a special montage just for PVP. You wouldn’t allow it to be changed, because we want it to be a prestigious article that But when it comes to a legendary article that has some pretty good power, but maybe not for you, we like the idea of trying to find ways to make these changeable for players. ”.
Players have expressed concern that these limits may adversely affect Devil IV‘s end, channeling players into a small handful of activities like devil III, where many items could only be acquired through means prescribed by Blizzard and subsequently linked to players’ accounts. In the meantime, Devil II it had no end in the modern sense, but many players considered the PVP to be the end devil IIILimited systems did not allow it. But Piepiora said this in Devil IV, high-level players will still have something to fight for.
“There will be some specific types of items (almost first-rate) that we won’t make marketable, but we want to make sure that players who are at the end of the game still have things that can be changed and that are valuable to them,” he said. he said.
It is very clear that Blizzard walks a fine line, trying to make a game that satisfies all different types of players. Devil The series has grown over decades. But Piepiora believes Blizzard has learned its lessons devil III. There is no attempt to shoe an auction house or MMO items that do not fit. The goal, he suggests, is to create one Devil a game that listens and looks forward.
“As far as I know, Devil it is a single player game that can be played with friends and a party game can be played for a single player, ”said Piepiora. “So it’s really compatible to go anyway. We’re not trying to create content that says, ‘You have to go get a four-player party to make this dungeon.’ Devil experience … We don’t want to take out the players who want to play the game on their own. Likewise, players who want to play it with their partner or friend on the couch, we want to make sure you never feel like you need to go further if you don’t want to. But if you want, that’s fine, right? ”
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