Almighty Video Game Designer

Chapter 215: Reaper of Souls Released

Evidently, the international players were also feeling the lack of content in the post game. As a hack and slash game, the post game of Diablo was indeed quite monotonous. This was a conclusion most players could arrive at.

And the other criticism was from Chinese players.

The news of Diablo’s international release quickly spread within the Chinese Diablo community..

“Have you heard that Diablo started selling overseas?”

“Didn’t Chen Mo release Don’t Starve not long ago? He hasn’t even taken a break huh.”

“He’s quite brave huh. Obviously Diablo is an unfinished game, has he already given up us Chinese players? Is he going to release a DLC? Does he plan to run away with the money he makes overseas, never to be seen again?”

“Yeah, I’m angry too. If he has the energy to develop Don’t Starve and release Diablo internationally, why didn’t he channel that into making a DLC instead? It feels like we are just an afterthought!”

“I gotta go tag Chen Mo and give him a good thrashing!”

“Geez, whatever. It’s a singleplayer game anyways, what else can you complain about after watching the cinematics. It’s about time anyways. If you’re really that bored, it’s not a bad idea to try out Don’t Starve.”

“I don’t like games like that, I wanna continue grinding in Diablo!”

“Haven’t the players given plenty of suggestions? The suggestions thread is now over fifty pages, I wanna know if he’s seen any of it, is he listening to us players!”

“I don’t think so, why else would there be no news at all? He’s probably gone!”

“I’m mad!”

“I’m going to give the experience store a visit and find out what’s on Chen Mo’s mind!”

—

The release of Diablo internationally triggered some dissatisfaction among players. Although the development of the DLC and the international version were happening in parallel, with neither coming into contact, the players didn’t know this, nor did they want to hear that.

They just wanted a DLC that would satisfy them, one that would allow them to play Diablo long into the future.

Many posts were bumped on the forums as players vented their dissatisfaction.

-In the office.-

Chen Mo scrolled through his DMs on Weibo and some other discussions while asking, “Qian Kun, will Reaper of Souls be finished this week? I’m worried that my life might be in danger otherwise.”

Qian Kun facepalmed, “Really? Can’t the players wait another few more weeks?”

“It’s already quite tight. It’s been three months since release, and most players are complete sick of the game, mainly because its so difficult to grind the rarer equipment, and the hardcore grinders were done grinding. Needless to say, the normal players are bored of it too.”

Qian Kun nodded, “I understand, it’s almost done, but I think the balancing of the two classes aren’t quite right. I’ll work overtime to try and finish this within this week.”

Chen Mo patted him on the back, “Thanks for your hard work. Once this update is released, we can set Diablo aside for the time being.”

qian Kun nodded, “Alright! Don’t worry manager, I’ll finish it in time.”

Chen Mo returned to the experience store after checking in on the progress, feeling that the update should be completed within this week.

Zheng Hongxi said to Qian Kun, “I think Reaper of Souls is quite high on the manager’s priority list. But I do wonder, other than the two new classes and a few new quest lines, the main additions of the game is the Challenge Rift and the ranked ladder. Are these things really capable of extending the lifespan of the game?”

“In the manager’s thinking, probably. The ranked ladder introduces a competitive element. Just like ranked mode in many other games, it triggers the players to try and reach the top for bragging rights, which obviously would do a thing or two in extending the player’s playtime. But to be honest, I think these two modes are quite simplistic. It’s basically a new dungeon and a ranked system. These aren’t anything complicated. Moreover, there was already so much game content, wouldn’t the players get bored of the game again?” Qian Kun turned the question around.

Zheng Hongxi gave it some thought, “What about competitive seasons and Expert mode?

“I think Expert mode would be something fresh for the new players to try out, but it’ll only cater to a small audience. There is a lot of failure associated with that after all as they start over every time they die. Based on how difficult Diablo is, there probably aren’t many players who are willing to fail again and again like that right?

“I think the competitive season works well with the ranked ladder. It should give the players something to feed off of for a bit, but I can’t say now well it’s going to work.”

Zheng Hongxi replied, “Yeah, the game is quite self-restricting after all. It’s a singleplayer at core, yet we are trying to drag out the life of the game to a few months and maybe even a few years. It’s such a difficult task.”

“Who said it wasn’t? Whatever, lets chat after I’m done with work.”

—

With a week’s worth of overtime, the development of Reaper of Souls finally came to an end.

At the same moment Reaper of Souls was released on the Thunderbolt Gaming Platform, Chen Mo released a long Weibo as a reply to the players.

Diablo’s expansion pack, Reaper of Souls is now live!

The new content in this DLC includes:

New classes: Crusader and Necromancer.

New act: A fifth chapter in the Diablo III storyline will be added, taking place mainly in Westmarch.

New Game Modes:

Adventure Mode: A mode where the world itself is the player’s battlefield. Bounty quests are also available for the nephalem to undertake, with a reward for finishing all the bounties in each Act.

Nephalem Challenge Rift: Unlocked using Rift Keystone Fragments, it uses completely random terrain generation, spawns, and bosses. There are normal Challenge Rifts, and Greater Rifts. Completing Challenge Rifts grant extra loot.

Legendaries Gems have a chance of dropping in Greater Rifts, further increasing the strength of the characters.

Expert mode: High skilled players can play expert mode, characters will only have one chance at being the game. There are no revives once they die.

Ranked Ladder(Leaderboards) allow players to compare their progress to that of your gameplay region, friends, and clan members. The names of the top one thousand players in the Greater Rifts will also be on the Leaderboards.

Competitive Seasons: We encourage players to try and experiment to get as strong as possible. At the start of each season, players could create a brand new character alongside many other players. The ranked seasons will provide unique rewards, including legendary items, borders, banners, ,etc.(Seasonal ranked leaderboards will be separate from the normal ranked ladder).

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