With Diablo 4 featuring a shared world that calls to mind an MMO, the Diablo team might look to World of Warcraft for inspiration. It's always in flux, and something new always seems to be around the corner, waiting for people to get bored. New raids, storylines POE currency trade , event quests—Azeroth's inhabitants are kept busy. It's so different from how it started that Blizzard now maintains World of Warcraft Classic servers, running two distinct versions of the game. It'll be a tricky balancing act, though, because it might be a mistake for Diablo to venture too far into MMO territory.

Let us play alone

(Image credit: Blizzard)
Even when venturing into a dungeon with a few friends, Diablo has always evoked loneliness and isolation, but this time you're going to see randos running around, grabbing quests and slaughtering monsters right in front of you. I won't beat around the bush here—this seems kinda shit.

Finding people to play Diablo 3 with wasn't a problem, so it feels like Diablo 4's shared worlds are trying to fix an issue that simply doesn't exist. If I play Diablo 4 with anyone, it will probably be friends, and with that in mind I'd quite like the option to not see other people until I want to—which will probably be never. Story quests and dungeons will still be just for you and your group, but Blizzard's also putting in lots of multiplayer diversions, including events, enemy camps, side quests and PvP. Even if you're planning on ignoring that, Blizzard says you'll still have to put up with other people in your game.

Like a lot of the changes introduced in Diablo 3, maybe lots of players will learn to love the pseudo-MMO elements, but I suspect there will be plenty who will just find somewhere else to go on their solo adventures.

Make co-op meaningful

(Image credit: Blizzard)
If I can't escape the shared world, I certainly hope co-op is more memorable. I've never really felt encouraged to play with anyone else in either Diablo 3 or Path of Exile, and when I do, most of the fun comes from the simple fact that it's a laugh to carve a bloody swathe through a dungeon with your pals. Aside from that, it's never seemed like a distinct experience. If Diablo 4 wants to make multiplayer a big part of the experience, it will need to make working together more attractive, which could also give it a leg up on Path of Exile.

Multiplayer features like camps and events suggest the possibility for encounters that demand communication and team tactics, but I hope that's also replicated in the less open multiplayer, where you're just on a trip into a dungeon with a few mates. That's also the place where people are more likely to make a real effort to work together POE buy currency .