Wednesday 24 August 2016

Keeping Diablo III Alive with Seasons



While keeping Diablo III fresh with new content and maybe an additional add-on or two has turned out to be a path Blizzard did not deem worthy of following, it is still keeping the game alive through a system called Seasons. Seasons represent new beginnings for players. Season 7 has kicked off on August 5 and it is currently in full swing.

What is it though that makes Seasons so attractive for veteran players? To begin with, Seasonal characters are completely distinct from what someone has developed in the game. They are a clean slate, without weapons stashes, gems, gold or legendary items, but they are wonderfully suited to acquiring brand new unique items. The objectives and the rewards within a season are unique and new as well.

With Season 7, the challenges have been upped through a patch (2.4.2) which seriously tweaked the stakes for veterans.  The patch delivered three new levels of Torment difficulty (a feature that was indeed sorely needed) and that makes the earning of progressively better loot possible. New items have also been introduced for all levels of difficulty and the rewards have been increased for Adventure Mode. Other, more subtle tweaks landed too through patch 2.4.2, like the possibility to hide the UI when taking screenshots.

Many of the areas of the Season 7 reward system have been tweaked as well. Haedrig's gift is unlocked differently now: instead of completing specific goals, players can now simply complete game chapters to get their hands on this bundle of goodies. Completing Act IV of the Season will unlock the cosmetic and the new portrait.
 
The cosmetic pet that players can earn this season is a hell unicorn type of creature. Only one set of rewards can be claimed per account. 


Philip Thalberg has been working with esports one way or another, since 2004.