i am confused on the low ratings. the gameplay is fun, the game is smooth and polished and looks great, there is a ton of experimenting to do with builds. i am having a good time with this game, shrug.

It sounds like you just started, so you likely haven’t reached the part of the game that people have had issues with since launch

The end game is absurdly repetitive, and nothing has really been done to address that. Takes a huge amount of grinding to hit max level and especially to gear your character well that most people aren’t interested in investing. And if you want to be efficient it isn’t fun. The itemization has been atrocious but they’ve actually taken some strides to fix that with things like dedicated farms and trading in the upcoming season, but it’s still very weak compared to any other successful arpg

there are other small issues too but nothing that could force you away from the game as easily as those two

but how can anything be worse than endless baal runs ?

When did I say that was fun? But even though that sucks I would still rather do that than endless nm dungeons or vaults (which are the same thing with even less differentiation)

Baal runs are boring and mindless but they don’t make the experience worse by adding stupid modifiers that everyone hates or making you clear a poorly thought out objective to progress to the throne

Nm dungeons are heavily affected by the bad itemization of d4 also. You have to go through the chore of inspecting an entire inventory of rares and legendaries every single run and that sucks ass

As has said the main problem with D4 is the endgame.
2nd to that is the lack of socialization within the game.
3rd (in some people's opinion) is the itemization.

Compared to D2 the endgame is far greater content wise, the only real endgame in D2 is making FG, D4 is still lacking compared to PoE.
More endgame things are being added but it doesn't look that exciting to me.

The lack of socialization is something I don't think will be addressed soon if at all.

The itemization however is being changed drastically and so far it looks all good to me.

haha good hearing you enjoying the game!
gonna be even better (hopefully) next season!

Gameplay is fun - what exactly is fun? Loot is boring and non random - everything gives you damage, role model is about main stat/damage, skill design is very verylimited, endgame just doesn't exist.

Game is smooth and polished - polished? It crashes constantly, hangs up on minimap and is unplayable on hc.

There is a ton of experimenting to do with builds - no, because skill balance is horrible. You can pick any skill and use it, thinking you just invented cool build, but you will be forerver behind compared to one or two OP skills for your class.
Also, I don't think builds exist in diablo 4, because everything just contributes to your damage, no matter what you pick on items or paragon board.

Are you sure you're on the right forum.

Funny that so many people still think the activity is key, when its the loot.

Let it be Baal Runs or let it be 17 different options of endgame, in the end it doesnt matter because the only thing that counts is:

Loot has to be engaging, motivating, interesting and fun.

Thats why Baal Runs or Chaos Runs or Pit Runs or whatever you do in D2 is still fun 20+ years later. It doesnt matter if you run through the same area every 5 minutes over and over again, because its like christmas every time.

In D4 its more like "I have to empty my fuckin inventory every 5 Minutes". It is boring, depressing actual work. Compare shit stats with shit stats all the fuckin time. Its just horrible.

Nu uh