Diablo in Hand, Diablo Immortal Interview with Caleb Arseneaux & Kris Zierhut
The announcement of Diablo Immortal at the BlizzCon 2018 event and it must be admitted that it was not received well. When many fans attended the event and waited for the announcement of the latest Diablo IV series, they ended up being presented with a mobile game that was not to their liking. But despite the negative reception the game has received, Diablo Immortal is a game that seeks to offer a new experience for playing this popular ARPG franchise while reaching more players.
As time went on and the testing phase carried out by the developer, Diablo Immortal slowly managed to attract the attention of many fans who were looking forward to its release. To find out more details about the development of the game, at the BlizzConline 2021 event last week we have summarized an exclusive interview session with Lead Producer – Caleb Arseneaux and Senior System Designer – Kris Zierhut. Instead of being curious, just look at the summary below.
Successful Feedback So far
Diablo Immortal has so far opened the Technical Alpha stage which gives some players access to the game early. The game, which was also co-developed with NetEase, is still in the development stage which requires a lot of improvement, that’s why feedback from players is really needed. This is mainly related to performance when playing the game which turns out to be their main focus.
Caleb said “One of our main targets is to get feedback on performance when playing the game and ensure that the game runs smoothly on various devices, which is why this was our main focus during the testing phase”. Kris added, “So we also see player feedback regarding what systems or elements are fun in the game, what systems are interesting, and what activities still need to be perfected”.
“An example is the character class adjustment that we changed based on feedback from the Technical Alpha stage… namely the Wizard class, where players feel that the character class is not as strong as other classes and after digging deeper into this feedback, it seems that players have the assumption that Wizards can attract monsters. . So they ran while dealing damage when the monsters chased after them. Wizards are not very good at doing this strategy because of the ability to weaken the movement of monsters with Chill’s abilities. So we decided to make changes to their Chill abilities to be more effective against monsters,” said Kris.
More than just perfecting the game’s performance, the development team also put a full focus on making this game fun and in line with fans’ tastes, this is especially important when it comes to dealing with veteran Diablo fans who are very familiar with the ins and outs of the franchise. This feedback collection is also reserved for players who really understand Diablo, so access to the Technical Alpha stage is indeed very limited. But Caleb said that they will open the testing phase in more other areas.
Comparison with Other Diablo Series
Despite its status as a car game, Diablo Immortal certainly cannot be separated from the comparisons associated with other Diablo series. One striking difference can already be seen, namely the concept of gameplay that is more directed to MMORPG than classic ARPG. Some players who have played the game at the Technical Alpha stage even get the impression that Diablo Immortal feels more like a mobile version of Diablo III.
Caleb responds “Despite the aesthetic aspects of Diablo III, such as the art style of the game, we feel that it has made a difference with a new story, new system, new design decisions and new endgame content that hasn’t been announced yet. Although the aesthetics of Diablo III are the main inspiration, we have a dedicated team to take that inspiration as a starting point and then make their own decisions in designing various monsters, such as how we can add more monsters to this game than Diablo III”.
Kris then also added that all character classes in Diablo Immortal have different skills than classes in Diablo III. So even though they have the same class, all the building elements are made completely different such as skill sets, legendary items, gems, and how the playing style of each class is. The familiar sensation felt by players seems to be more directed to the aesthetic element of the game which still takes inspiration from the modern Diablo series, and even this might even be compared to Diablo IV when looking at the appearance of screenshots and trailers.
The game concept that is built on the basis of an MMORPG also brings many differences, such as how the character’s role feels more like an extension of the player’s identity into the game. “Not restricted to Nephalem characters like in Diablo III…this is an MMO game where you can choose an avatar based on the chosen class and take it on an adventure to express yourself,” said Caleb. One aspect of this “self-expression” also lies in the deeper customization options so that each avatar that the player has can have its own identity.
“So you will be able to customize it by changing the face, skin color, hair, jewelry on the character’s face…of course you can also change the cosmetic items used to change the character’s appearance, customize the properties of the gear, legendary gems worn, skills that you want to use, these various combinations can make your character feel very different from what other players have if that’s what you want.”
Apart from the gameplay options that feel more free, other comparisons also arise from players’ curiosity about the presentation of the game’s storyline, and why Diablo Immortal is a prequel to Diablo III and not Diablo IV. “From the storyline, it is clear that this game takes place after Diablo II, because Tyrael broke the worldstone at the end of the game and the shards were scattered in the Sanctuary world, where your character will go on an adventure to find these shards and stop the demon race’s attempts to seize them,” said Kris. He also added “There are many ways to present the storyline; just like in the world itself, from NPC interactions, story missions, available quests, written materials…all aspects of this story will connect the two arcs of the Diablo universe”.
Regarding the reason why this game was built as a prequel to Diablo III, Caleb explained “For us there is an unexplored area of mystery between Diablo II and Diablo III to be the focus of the story, and allows us to create a kind of sandbox and bring a story from different characters. ” The connection between the two games is apparently the reason why Diablo Immortal took the setting of the story, which is quite reasonable, especially since the game base feels like an MMORPG sandbox.
About Microtransactions and Their Effects on the Gaming Experience
One important element and perhaps the main reason why many gamers gave a negative response to Diablo Immortal is Microtransaction. The monetization options used by almost all of these free-to-play mobile games can sometimes be very annoying, especially when game progress is limited and requires players to spend money to enjoy the game to the fullest. When asked about the effect of the Diablo Immortal microtransaction on the game experience, Caleb has already provided an explanation below.
“We have a philosophy of playing the game first; meaning that the best way to strengthen the character, is to make progress by playing the game. Kill monsters, and get their loot. There are no monster gear, armor, and loot that players can get through the purchase system. The only ones available are bonuses, which are also very useful for players to get; So for Legendary Gems although some can be obtained for free by participating in various activities, we feel that this is a bonus that players deserve.”
Kris added “So we also have a Battle Pass like most other mobile games that use it…and as you go through activity moments with your character while playing the game, you’ll earn accumulated Battle Pass points throughout the season and once you level up, you’ll gain access to various rewards”. This explanation is enough to give an idea that microtransactions in Diablo Immortal seem optional, especially how you can only strengthen your character by making pure progress.
Preparation Ahead of Release
As we mentioned above, Diablo Immortal will open the testing phase in more regions. Unfortunately, the developer has not been able to provide certainty about when the game will be released, but Caleb said that Diablo Immortal is already in the Public Testing stage which is very good for the game. Because in the early stages there were many specific adjustments, and now the game has received a variety of changes that are tailored to player feedback.
“For the next testing phase, we will provide details about the endgame content, and hopefully this can satisfy player expectations while giving us more new feedback as well,” said Caleb. With this, fans will still have to wait a little longer for the game to get more improvements, which is honestly very necessary for any game, because releasing a game in its best quality is the most appropriate decision that any developer should prioritize.
Closing
Well, that’s the summary of the Diablo Immortal interview session with Caleb Arseneaux and Kris Zierhut from BlizzConline 2021 last week. There is a lot of interesting information obtained, including the developer’s efforts to continue to improve the quality of the game according to fans’ expectations. Although there is no new release schedule yet, later Diablo Immortal will be available for Android and iOS with a testing phase that will follow in more other regions. You can monitor the updated information through the official website HERE.
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