While Diablo 4 has improved some systems lately, especially Nightmare Dungeons for Season 9, players are now turning their focus to a major part of the game that feels neglected: the open world.
In a recent Reddit thread, they discussed how the open world, once advertised as a key feature of Diablo 4, has become largely pointless outside of Helltide events.
You can take a look at the original post here:
A Beautiful World That Feels Empty
Players agree that the open world is visually beautiful, full of tiny details and various different areas to explore. But once you have seen it all, there is no reason to explore anymore. One player wrote, “If you’re just teleporting from one activity to another, all that beauty is wasted.”
Others said the open world feels like an obstacle between you and the real content. Dungeons, bosses, and seasonal events offer better XP, rewards, and density, while regular zones remain low-density and unrewarding.
What Players Are Suggesting
For once, players did not just complain, they came together to offer Blizzard some very cool ideas for the open-world! Of course, any big update to the game will not happen overnight, but it may push them to change things up in a future expansion, for example:
- More Density
- Zones like Nahantu feel better simply because there are more enemies. Players want every area to be packed like the old Diablo 3 zones: full of chaos and rewards.
- Better Cellars
- Many see cellars as a wasted opportunity. They could be turned into proper mini-dungeons with rare modifiers such as gold hoards, unique mobs, or even hidden bosses.
- Revamped Strongholds
- What if strongholds became defendable bases? After clearing one, players could face waves of enemies trying to reclaim it, with rewards scaling over time. Lose once, and you lose it all. A high-risk, high-reward system.
- Random Events & Bosses
- The map is too predictable. People are asking for random encounters, more world bosses, and roaming threats to bring surprise and danger back to traveling. This would give you a good reason to walk around the map trying to find rare things.
- Meaningful Sidequests
- You have zero reason to do the sidequests currently. They don’t give that much xp, and even less meaningful rewards. They feel like a loss of time, even tho some of them actually give you interesting lore information. But that is often not a good reason enough for most players to do those sidequests every season. With rare meaningful rewards, at least on the lore-related quests, this would make players actually go out of their way to explore and seek those out.
Divided Opinions on Open World in ARPGs
Not everyone thinks the open world belongs in an ARPG. Some feel it slows down the pace of what is traditionally a fast, loot-driven genre. As one player put it:
“Open world and ARPGs just don’t mix well. Players want efficiency, not scenic exploration.”
Still, others think Diablo 4’s open world has potential. It just has not been fully realized. A more dynamic and rewarding world could get players to actually explore, not just teleport past it.
It is a beautiful world that just demands to be explored. Players want more than pretty landscapes. They want reasons to explore, fight, and take risks. Blizzard has already shown it can rework systems (like Nightmare Dungeons), so maybe it is time for the open-world to get some of that love too.
