Happy Malthaversery! – Episode 451

In this episode: Sega of America supports its union workers; GameStop commits to layoffs; Nintendo of America laying off contractors; and Xbox

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
- Coming to you fromsomewhere in Sanctuary.
This is episode 4 5, 1of Shattered Soul Stone,
your Diablo Community podcast.
This episode is called ha,happy Mouth Anniversary.
It is March 30th, 2024. And this is Jen.
I'm gonna start off with somenews articles about things

(00:20):
that are good or bad for workers.
This one comes from Game Developer
and was written on March 27,
or at least was posted on March 27
by Chris Care Sega of America.
Union Workers Secureraises layoff protections
with first collectivelybargained contract.
Unionized workers at Sega
of America have secured a major victory

(00:42):
after voting to ratifya first collectively
bargained contract.
The news was described asa quote watershed moment,
end quote for A-E-G-I-Sdash CWA union members
who will now benefitfrom an improved contract
that contains better protectionsfor organizing workers
and guarantees base building raises

(01:02):
for every employee in the unit.
Quote, some workers received regular
raises, but some did not.
This was often basedon title or department.
The raises were widely different.
Person to person explaineda CWA spokesperson.
These base building raisesensure that everyone gets a raise
and Sega can always grantadditional raises based on merit.

(01:25):
End of quote, the ratifiedcontract also includes layoff
protections, includingthe recall rights for
temporary layoffs and severancefor permanent layoffs.
A commitment to properlycrediting all workers on relevant
projects, including early QA testers,
and a codified commitment
to continuing hybrid work initiatives

(01:45):
for at least six months.
It was noted that Segadoesn't currently intend
to change its hybrid work policy,
but now Aegis, I guess is, Iguess that's how you say it.
A-E-G-I-S dash CWA hasthat commitment in writing.
Uh, Aegis dash CWA alsosecured a codified annual bonus
plan, retirement benefits,health insurance,

(02:06):
parental benefits, includingpermission for parents
to pump breast milk on the clock
and expanded bereavementsleave better pathways
for requesting job related trainings.
Were baked into the newcontract alongside a commitment
that will require Sega toprovide a worker led committee
with advanced notice when it wants
to implement policy changes,including all those related

(02:28):
to AI usage.
There's more than that.
Everything I talk abouttoday will be in the show
[e-mail].
Another one from GameDeveloper, uh, titled,
GameStop commits
to layoffs despite concernsover business quote,
strain ends end quote, also written
by Chris Care on March 27th,

(02:49):
or at least posted on that date.
The retailer said the job cuts are part
of its strategic plan toachieve profitability.
GameStop is laying off anunknown number of staff,
but admits the cuts mightstrain its existing resources.
The video game retailer sharedthe news annual 10 K report
quote, as part of our strategic plan

(03:09):
to achieve profitability.
We have recently undertakencost reduction measures
and other initiatives toimprove the efficiency
of our operations, including initiatives
to reduce head count.
It wrote these initiativescould strain our
existing resources and wecould experience operating diff

(03:30):
operating difficultiesin managing our business,
including difficultiesin hiring, managing,
and retaining employees.
If we do not adapt, we mayexperience erosion to our brand.
The quality of our productsand services may suffer
and our operating resultsmay be negatively impacted.
GameStop noted that it, itexited its operations in Ireland,

(03:53):
Switzerland, and Austriaduring the 2023 fiscal year
and said it will continue toevaluate its business portfolio
to validate their quote, strategic
and financial fit end quote.
It kind of goes on from there.
So the first one was a, a great bargain
for the people working for Sega,
but I guess game developerdoesn't care about
their employees very much.

(04:14):
I don't know exactly whythey decided to bounce out
of three different countries,but that's what they're doing
and that is not a good wayto treat your employees.
And yeah, I do think
that they are gonna havetrouble getting people,
like new people to behired in, you know, their,
their stuff there becauseeverybody who's, you know,
online can read aboutthis particular article

(04:35):
and others that are probably similar.
So yeah, good luck to you.Good luck to you GameStop.
I think you made a terribledecision also in game developer,
uh, written by Justin Carter on March 27.
The article is titledReport Nintendo of America
Laying Off ContractorsAhead of Switch to Launch,
which they shouldn't bedoing either if they'd like

(04:56):
to have more employees, youknow, that's how this works.
You treat 'em well, theystay, you treat 'em bad,
well you get like a really bad mark, uh,
in your portfolio, I think as a company.
Alright, so here's alittle bit from this one.
The layoffs have hitNintendo of America according
to Kotaku sources toldthe outlet, the US arm

(05:16):
of Nintendo is undergoing a quote,
massive downsizing end quote
that we'll see over100 contractor layoffs.
Along with those cuts, a Nintendospokesperson told Kotaku a
significant number
and quote of full-timepositions will be created.
However, these new jobs willreportedly move those affected

(05:37):
out of software testing.
And then it says, uh, NOA, I don't know
what NOA is, but it's in brackets.
And this is part of aquote, it's actually a start
of a quote has reorganizedits product testing functions
to drive greater global integration in
game development efforts.
The email reads quote,
the changes will also better align NOA
with inter-regional testingprocedures and operations

(06:00):
and quote, thus far, layoffs have managed
to hit nearly everydeveloper in the industry.
Big and small. Nintendo marksthe last of the big three
to have staff cuts as Sony
and Microsoft had theirsearlier this year,
several contractors told Kotakuthey haven't recently tested
any major first party titles.

(06:20):
They further claimed that noone on staff that they know
of has tested the Nintendo Switch to,
which has reportedly moved out
of a late 2024 launch windowinto early 2025 contractors
for NOA previously made claimsof a harmful work culture
and pay inequity.
In 2022, NOA was also taken to task

(06:40):
for allegedly firing employees,
for discussing potentialunion unionization efforts.
Yeah, that's illegal .That's completely illegal.
You're not allowed to do that in America.
You cannot simply say, Hey,these people over here,
they're talking about getting a union.
We don't want them to have a union,
so let's just kill their jobs.
That's not legal. And

(07:00):
that could get them in huge, huge trouble.
So I hope they fix that shit pretty soon.
And another one, this is from,uh, video Games Chronicle.
This one is from March 26thand it's written by Tom Ivan.
Xbox claims mass layoffswere the outcome of a quote
concerning and quote,lack of industry growth.
And here's, you know, a picturein here and all of that.

(07:23):
Microsoft's head of gaming hassaid the company's decision
to cut 1,900 jobs wasultimately the result of a lack
of growth in the industry.
Does anyone believe this? Really?
In January, Microsoft announcedplans to lay off roughly 8%
of the 22,000 people employedacross Xbox, Bethesda
and Activision Blizzard.
The company completed its acquisition

(07:45):
of Activision Blizzard in October of 2023.
In the process, taking ownership
of franchises including Callof Duty, world of Warcraft,
Diablo, and Overwatch in a message sent
to staff when the job cutswere announced, Spencer,
meaning Phil Spencer saidthe decision was taken
after Microsoft and Activision'sleadership teams quote,

(08:05):
set priorities, identifiedareas of overlap
and ensured that we'reall aligned on the best
opportunities for growth.
Reflecting on the layoffs ina new interview with Polygons,
Spencer said a lack ofindustry growth was forcing
publicly traded companies acrossthe industry to cut costs,
gave developer Farhan
nor who had been tracking jobcuts dating back to the start

(08:27):
of 2022 on video games.
layoffs.com estimates that
around 10,500 games industryemployees were laid off last
year and less than four months into 2024,
some 8,000 planned jobcuts were already thought
to have been confirmed.
I'll say the thing thathas me most concerned

(08:47):
for the industry is the lack of growth.
Spencer said. And whenyou have an industry
that is projected to besmaller next year in terms
of players and dollars, you get a lot
of publici publicly traded companies
that are in the industry that have
to show their investors growth.
Because why else does somebody own a share
of someone's stock if it's not going
to grow the side of business?

(09:07):
That then gets scrutinizedis the cost side,
because if you're not goingto grow the revenue side,
then the cost side becomes challenged
and it goes on from there a little bit.
And I'm kind of, you know, Ihate when big companies do this
to people that have been attheir jobs there for a while.
Or in this case, if you were part
of Activision Blizzard King,I don't know if they bought,
I don't know if if Microsoft, uh, or Xbox

(09:30):
or whatever bought Kingprobably all the same, right?
If you're there just doingyour job and you're fine
and then you know, shortlyafter everything gets shaken out
and you end up withMicrosoft, you shouldn't have
to lose your job because of,oh, there's too many workers.
I mean, don't you want moreworkers? I mean, I don't know.

(09:50):
It doesn't make any damn sense to me
and I hate when companiesdo this kind of stuff.
Moving on to Polygon, thisis, um, about a handheld Xbox.
In fact, the title says ahandheld Xbox question mark.
Microsoft's gaming chiefcan't stop thinking about it.
So there is a little picturehere of a graphic of it.
It has the Xbox logo and some green lines,
and it's got the buttons on the side so

(10:12):
that you can play your game.
There's a button there thatsays Steam in case you're using
Steam for something, you know it's there.
So this one is posted
by Chris Plant from March 25th, 2024.
Phil Spencer has tried all thenew PC gaming handhelds the
ass, rogue Alley, the LenovoLegion Go and the Steam deck.

(10:34):
He's impressed, but hecan't shake one question.
How would he make them more Xbox quote,
I want my Lenovo Legion go
to feel like an Xbox Spencertold Polygon in an interview
during the annual GameDevelopers conference,
I bought the Legion Go, Ibrought the Legion, go with me
to CDC, I'm on the airplane
and I have this list of everything

(10:55):
that makes it not feel like an Xbox.
Forget about the brand. Morelike are all of my games there?
Do all my games show up withthe save files that I want.
I'll tell you one game
that doesn't right now it'sdriving me crazy, is Fallout 76.
It doesn't have cross save.
I want to be able to bootinto the Xbox app in a full
screen, but in a compact mode.

(11:15):
And all of my socialexperiences there, like I wanted
to feel like the dash
of my Xbox when I turn on the television,
except I wanted on thosedevices according to Spencer,
the Xbox Hardware team ledby Ron Rowan, Rowan, Sonos,
I think is how you say, isconsidering quote different
hardware form factors
and things that they coulddo that they could go do

(11:37):
and quote as it plans thefuture of Xbox Hardware.
What should we build thatwill find new players?
Spencer said that will allow people
to play at times when theycouldn't go play in the past.
It continues on from here.
It's kind of a long article,
so there's a few moreparagraphs and stuff like that.
And another fancy picture ofsome kind of handheld game.
Hey, remember Diablo three, a lot of us played it

(12:01):
for years and years and years.
And the uh, blizzard News,blizzard Entertainment
has information on season 31 season
of the Forbidden Archives.
It's a preview and this wasposted on March 27th, 2024.
For some reason, blizzarddoesn't specifically state
who wrote it or who contributed to it,
but that's just how things go.

(12:22):
So season 31, there's a little bit here.
Uh, sanctuary needs you to answer its call
for aid in season 31 seasonof the Forbidden Archives,
starting on April 12th at 5:00 PM
P-D-T-C-E-T-K-S-T Nephilim can harness the
Power of Forbidden Archivestheme, which first debuted

(12:44):
with season 20 for an in-depth.
Look at what's coming, read below
and it shows you like thatpopup screen that shows you
that there's a seasongoing on you can jump into.
So I think that's kind ofcool. Here's the season theme.
Season 31 is the seasonof the Forbidden Archives.
Many adventurers havecome to learn the power
that dwells within the ancientNephilim artifact Kanas cube.

(13:07):
However, none understands thispower better than the equally
celebrated and reviled harri.
Zoltan Kool Kool was able to unlock
and harness the powerof the cube like none
before, leveraging its power to siphon the
and archive the energiesof powerful items.
With season 31, we explorethe power cool might lend

(13:29):
to your fingertips if hisexperiments went unchecked
for the duration of season 31.
The slots and cannas cube that allow you
to equip three legendaryadditional legendary powers will
not be restricted totheir usual categories.
That's interesting. Whilenormally a player can equip one
power for each from the weapon armor

(13:50):
and jewelry categories,season 31 players can mix
and match between all three.
This might allow you torun two weapon powers
with one armor power,
or perhaps you might choose
to run three amulet powersinstead, the choice is yours.
And we're as eager asyou are to experiment
with the new buildopportunities this creates.
So here's the cosmetic rewards we've got.

(14:11):
I think I've seen someof these before. .
Uh, beginning with season 17,
we began reintroducingprevious seasonal rewards
to make them available to players
who may have missed them the first time
around For season 31,
this means awards originallyavailable from season seven are
returning to the season journey.
So we have here a characterwith very large shoulders

(14:35):
and some a lot of gold typethings looking out from it.
It's a helm and like theshoulder pieces, there's a,
I think it's like a little imagething so that if you wanted
to use that instead of the typical thing
around your character,
when you look at it off in thecorner, you know there's one
of those, it looks like something's
been snowing on that one.
And then there's this likereally rather deformed unicorn

(14:57):
thing with glowing red eyes.
I've got that one I think,I dunno if I have the rest,
but you know, these are some of the,
that was seven, that was season seven.
So that's, that's what'sthere to continue.
However, we know it's niceto have something new to aim
for if you've participatedin previous seasons.
We're bringing back end of journey rewards
as introduced in season 17 with not one

(15:19):
but two new cosmetic rewards for those
who complete the entiretyof the season journey.
Feast your eyes upon thevalor portrait frame,
which looks like you'dthink it's gold, it's shiny,
it looks like somethingan angel would, uh,
have their portrait putinto or something like that.
And then also there is anangelic treasure goblin pet

(15:40):
and it is spinning aroundin this particular article
and it's wearing like armorthat looks like an angel
and has a big old pack onits back that it's holding up
with one hand, which is kind of neat.
In addition to the helm
and shoulders slots of theexclusive conqueror set,
you'll be able to earn aseries of portrait frames
that embody the snowy foreboding era
aura of the eternal woods.

(16:01):
If you need a little, ifyou need a warm little pal
to keep you cozy throughyour cold journeys, the dream
of pi, that's the um,unicorn looking thing.
If you need a warm littlepal to help keep you cozy
through your cold journeys.
The dream of PI's fiery natureshould do the trick when he's
not instilling night terrors at the local
fauna season journey.
Rewards. If you've beendiligently slaying demons

(16:23):
for the past few seasons
and reached conquerorin the season journey,
each time you've surelyacquired, uh, sorry,
accrued a few extra stash tabs,
you'll earn one additional tab each season
by finishing the conquerortier up to a maximum of five.
So here's what this entails.
Guardian of sanctuary finisha level 70 Nephilim rift on

(16:44):
torment 13 within five minutes.
Gem of my life, level threelegendary gems to level 55.
All I do is win completetwo conquests this season.
Kill You, kill gom or gum at level 70
and under 30 seconds ontorment 13 difficulty
Money ain't a thing.
T-H-A-N-G slay greed on torment Difficulty

(17:08):
13 take you there.
Reach greater rift level 60solo power am amplification.
Use Kanis cube to augmentan ancient legendary item
with a level of 50 plus gemand cubic reconfiguration.
Use Kanis cube toReforge a legendary item.
There's also a seasonal conquest.

(17:29):
We want to prepare your conquest
or want to prepare yourconquest plan for season 31.
Here are the challenges you'll face.
Returning for season 31 issprinter slash speed racer,
where you've, you're challenged
to complete the entire Diablothree campaign from act one
to act five five at level70 in under one hour.
Next is Arvis Ravitawhere you can, where all

(17:51):
that glitters is gold.
That is if you can complete a50 million gold streak outside
of the vault or its innersanctum on a good day slash I
can't stop encourages you
to upgrade your legendarygems level three legendary
gems to 65.
To complete this challenge, push your way
to Greater Rift level 75
to complete divinity slash lion hearted.

(18:12):
Lastly, a fan favorite For those
who enjoy unconventional builds,
the thrill slash superhumanrequires completion
of a greater rift level 45 solo.
And without any set items equipped,
there's also Hadrick gift,which we've seen before.
So I'm gonna skip ahead through this part
and just tell you whatyou get depending on
what class you're playingin Diablo three, the sets

(18:33):
for season 31, the Barbariangets Wrath of the Waists.
Crusader gets Roland's legacyDemon Hunter gets Unhallowed
Essence, monk has Reignmentof a thousand Storms,
necromancer bones of rma,which Dr Hell Tooth Hardness
and Wizard Tal Russia's elements.
So those sound like fun.
Some of these things I've finished,

(18:54):
I think I finished almostthe whole journey one time
with just what I just read to you.
That's the class sets thatyou can get from Hadrick.
I've also got a blog posthere from uh, Kay LA's blog
and she is a multimediaartist and storyteller.
She's worked in the entertainmentindustry in various roles
and her post here is from 2016.

(19:15):
She reposted it intentionallyand it's titled of Dragons
and Demons, the Art andLegacy of Kevin Kana Griffith.
And there is a framed Maal sketch
by the late Kevin KanaGriffith in 2013, next
to his Frost warnes, uh, sword.
So there's some little bitsin here you might wanna read.
So I'm just gonna skipinto some of this blog

(19:37):
and you can pick it up for yourself later.
There's a section calledMemories of Kevin, Kevin Kana.
Griffith's birthday is March 24th,
and he would've been 34 this year.
Unfortunately, sometimes the lights
that burned the brightestare sometimes snuffed
out far too soon.
And Kevin passed away in Octoberseven on October 17th, 2014
from Alveolar Soft PartsSarcoma, A SPS Cancer.

(20:01):
He was 32 years young.
Kevin was a senior artistat Blizzard Entertainment.
And if you've played World of Warcraft
or Diablo three, youwere undoubtedly touched
by his artistry and if youwere lucky enough to know him,
you were awestruck by how authentic
and giving a personKevin Kenai Griffith was.
She says, I first met Kevinin 2009 at a sketch group.
He'd helped get up and runningat Blizzard at the time I was

(20:22):
working on the first communitydevelopment department
and was eager to stretchmy creative muscles
and connect with like-minded individuals.
I'd been directed to the Sketch group
by a fellow artist, Jessica Johnson.
And in short order I connectedwith Kevin and he was off
and getting me set up on creativemailing lists about sketch
groups, live drawing sessions,art challenges and more.
This might not seem like a big deal

(20:44):
to many since Kevin was an artist,
but it takes a certain kind of person
to see the best in othersand be willing to spend time
and energy helping people.
And well, Kevin was just that kind of guy.
And there are some pictureshere from some of these things,
you know, and there's somelinks in here as well.
There's a lot of stuff in here,
but I'll read you theselittle like pinpoints
that she had put in.

(21:04):
Kevin kept a blog withmuch of his artwork here,
and there's a link to that.
Kevin's Health blog is located here.
Another link, uh,
you can check on theout the bonus Camel blog
for Blizzard Sketch Group.
And there's a link to that.And there's just so much stuff.
And if you scroll down to the bottom,
you can see a whole bunch of artwork.
One of them is like a bunchof goblins dressed in kind

(21:25):
of little fancy Christmassweaters and one's got a hat
and um, just, you know, it's,it's one of those critters
that throws little tiny crittersat you, you know, ,
there's just something funny.
And then there's like a Valentineone and some other things
and a little seasonswishes final illustration
in there from the womanwho wrote this article

(21:45):
with like a little demon child holding up
a strange looking creature.
So it's kind of neat.
There's a lot of art inhere you can check out.
Some of you maybe, I don'tknow, I don't know how many
of you that are listening
to my voice right now played Diablo three,
but um, that's where Kanis came from.
That's why you go get it.
And you know, you have ZolKool following you around for
that towards like thelater end of Diablo three.

(22:08):
So I just figured I'd put that in
because I know there's gonnabe people who were too young
to play the game when that came out
or people who have never played.
So it's just kind of a really nice blog
and I'll leave you to read it
because it is well put together.
Diablo, the Diablo count on,uh, x slash Twitter wrote,
no one can stop death and puta little like skull emoji.

(22:29):
It's, and asks what were youdoing on March 25th, 2014 when
Diablo three Reaper of Souls was released?
There's a video with this.
Now, before I go into that,if I remember correctly, um,
my husband Sean and I went toan event to release the Reaper
of Soul's expansion.
And we got to talk to a bunch of people

(22:51):
that were very intoDiablo three at the time.
That was new. We didn't knowexactly what would happen in
that expansion except for therewas at least one video out
that I'll I'll point outto you in just a minute.
And there was like foodand there was drinks
and there was, you know,friends and all of that stuff.
And there was food.
And I remember that, uh, one

(23:12):
of the drinks they hadwas a red colored drink.
That was something, somethingabout Soul Stone, right?
And I'm like, well, that's for me
'cause that's my, that's mypodcast, you know, .
And we just had a good time.
Really it was inside a church, uh,
that had been convertedinto like an event place.
It was really fun. So I do remember that.
And then we all got our boxesfor, um, rehearsals expansion

(23:34):
and had a bunch of developers sign it.
It was really fun. But there is this
cinematic from 10 years ago.
Oh my gosh, that was 10 years ago.
and, um, it's Reaper, uh, Diablo,
three Reaper Souls opening cinematic
and it's, you may have seen this before.
So there's like angels trying
to do things with the soul stone.
It's four minutes and 26 seconds.
Again, it'll be in the show notes

(23:55):
and I think, I think you'll enjoy
it if you haven't seen it before.
If you're new to Diablo three,you know, check this out.
It may contain spoilers, I'm not sure,
but it's, it's just fun.
It's just a really good, youknow, cinematic in there.
A lot of the rest of thisis coming from wow head.
So we've got, um, all 12new unique items in Diablo
for PTR patch,

(24:16):
1.4 0.0 posted two days ago by Siic.
And it has a graphic hereof a character that has,
it's probably a rogue, this uh,
character has a crossbow on their back
and there are 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 6, 7, 8 pieces of armor
with red lights comingoff the top of them.
That's how, you know, it'slike a fancier thing I

(24:37):
suppose is the color codes.
They did that in Diablo three as well.
So here's what we've got
and this is, uh, comingfrom Blizzard itself.
So here's the new items.
Uh, all classes Tes mite,Uber unique chest armor.
While at full life yourskills unleash a divine
barrage dealing damage.
Jens blessing, unique bootscasting a skill has a 20

(25:01):
to 30% chance to cast a nonmobility non ultimate skill
that is currently on Cool down.
This effect can only occuronce every 12 seconds.
And then we have all the piecesfor the different classes.
So we have the barbarian, itsunique item is arias bearing.
They are unique pants ancientsyou summon are empowered.

(25:22):
Ick creates an earthquake
that deals physicaldamage over four seconds.
When he leaps Taikleaves behind dust devils
that deal damage while he whirlwinds.
Modoc ignites the ground burning enemies
for an additional damage overfour seconds when he upheave
the ground twin strikes.
That's gloves. Those are uniquegloves for the barbarian.

(25:43):
After casting double swing four times,
your next double swing willhit two additional times,
each dealing 10 to 25%increased damage for the druid.
The druid starts with earthbreaker, a unique ring.
It says this about it landslidecauses the ground to erupt
and tectonic spikes whichcontinue to deal 0.6

(26:03):
to 0.9 damage over two seconds.
Casting landslide in thisarea has a 20 to 30% chance
to cause additional landslide pillars
to spawn within wildheart hunger unique boots.
So you get two things eachit seems when you shape shift
into a werewolf
or a wear bear, you gainwild heart for five seconds.
Wild Heart grants you oneto 1.5% increased damage

(26:27):
with shape shiftingskills every two seconds
stacking 20 times.
Here's for the Necroanswer the ebb and piercer.
It's a unique emulate blightalso shoots four smaller
projectiles that pierce enemies
and deal shadow damage over three seconds.
Also, you get uh, Coors embrace.
These are unique glovesand it does blood surge.

(26:49):
Blood surge consumes corpses
to cause mini Novas dealing damage.
Damage is increased by10% per target, drained
by the initial cast up to50% damage is also increased
by 20% for each corp consumed,which sounds disgusting
unless you like playing an acro answer,
which I did in D three,
but I haven't really doneone in uh D four yet.

(27:10):
Okay, the rogue, uh, scoundrelskiss, it's a unique ring
rapid fire now LOBs explodingarrows that deal 15%
to 25% increased damage.
And then saboteurs signet,
a unique ring casting flurryhas a 15 to 30% chance
to release stun grenadesthat deal physical damage

(27:32):
and stun enemies for one second.
Your grenade skills have a5% lucky hit chance sorcerer
fractured winter glass uniqueemulate casting frozen orb has
a 35 to 50% chance
to spawn a random conationwhen it explodes Lucky hit your
conation have up to a 70 to 100% chance

(27:53):
to launch a frozen orb at nearby enemies.
And then there's also FlameWeaver. These are unique gloves.
Casting fire bolt throughyour firewall causes it
to split into four bolts each dealing 80
to 100% more damage.
So that's what to look,that's what to look for
after the PTR is done.
I'd also like to say I never expected

(28:14):
that Diablo four was gonna have a PTR,
but they decided to go ahead
and do this one for, uh, season four.
We're in season threenow, which is the one
with the ALS and things like that.
I've been playing a little bit of it
and so here's a little bit more.
Uh, this one is also postedby SEK from two days ago
and it's on wow head Diablofour PTR Patch 1.4 0.0

(28:35):
patch notes now available.
Itemization rework class changes.
I wonder if this is thesame thing as before.
Let's check it out. No,there's a lot more in here.
So here we go. If you'reinterested in, uh,
what this is gonna be,
blizzard has just released the patch notes
for the upcoming Diablofour PTR patch, 1.4 0.0,
including the itemization rework class

(28:55):
changes and much more.
The PTR will start on April 2nd.
That's just a few days fromnow and last until April 9th.
All classes are gettingsignificant changes
with overall net positive buffs.
Some classes such asbarbarians are seeing nerfs
to overpowered skills such as charge,
but the vast majority of adjustments will
provide more power to players.

(29:16):
Itemization changes arealso on full display,
completely altering buildsacross the board along
with the codex of power, redefining
how legendary aspectswork with sweeping changes
to systems such as held tides as well
as entirely new systems such
as the master working and tempering.
Season four of Diablo four seemsto have taken to heart many
of the community's requests

(29:36):
that have been fielded sincethe launch of Diablo four.
So here's some stuff fromBlizzard. Change is coming.
Wanderer, do you dare immerseyourself in What lies ahead
for all of sanctuary?
The first public test realm, PTR
for Diablo four is on thehorizon, offering you the chance
to test upcoming changes andfeatures for season four ES.

(29:57):
Escalation point PTR willbe available from April two
through April nine for playerswith a PC battle net account.
Oh, so that's how that's gonna go.
Yeah, I, okay, I have said this before
and I'm grumpy about it still.
I can't play Diablo fouron my Mac, so I'm doing it
through an Xbox, which meansI won't get into the uh,

(30:18):
PC battle net account, youknow, like it's just for PC
to kind of, you know, slog through
and see what works and what doesn't.
So I'm gonna leave it to thembecause I can't get in anyway.
There's a little bit more here.
The purpose of the PTR is to test updates
and features alongside youbefore the launch of season four.
Then we'll take your feedbackfrom PTR to make adjustments
to season four before itgoes live for everyone,

(30:39):
your experience in sanctuaryis shaking up in a big way.
Here's an overview ofwhat you need to know
and there is so many things in here.
So I'll read you someof these itemization.
We have three guiding pillarsfor our itemization updates,
quality over quantity, thebest items, having a journey
of power and improvementthat you can work toward.
And of course having items feel satisfying

(31:01):
and exciting to use.
For a full list of what's new for
or adjusted for classes,
there's a patch notesupdate you can check on,
but the summary of theitemizations, uh, here's a summary
of the itemizationschanges basic item updates,
reduced number of apexesnow three on legendary items
and two on rare items.
Smaller pool of more potent,a apexes more relevant apexes.

(31:25):
Example of ranks of a single core skill.
Only sacred items in world tier three,
only ancestral items in worldtier four apex values are
turned up to be punchier.
We want you and the fiends ofsanctuary to really feel them
New apexes and positioningof apexes resource per second
resource on kill, lucky hitapply vulnerable life per hit

(31:47):
and basic skill ranks.
Miscellaneous updates, I alwayslike the miscellaneous ones
because it's like we dunnowhat to call this yet.
Uh, legendary items droppedfrom enemy levels 95 plus are
always 925 item.
Power gems are simpler, more useful,
and have a much longer crafting tail.
Gems now have core stats
and the more conditionalbonuses have been simplified.

(32:09):
Salvage crafting andrewards have all been tuned
significantly Reduced itemdrop rates, less time sorting,
more time slaying item re-rolling.
Gold cost capped when enchanting material
removal and consolidation.
Forgotten souls can nowbe obtained from whispers
and are now a globalrare drop from elites.
Uniques appear earlier,

(32:30):
some uniques are nowdropping in the world.
In world tier one and two,
all uniques can now dropin world tier three.
Uber uniques can startdropping from monster level.
55 drops at 925 Item power.
There's the temperingsystem, which I tried doing
and I didn't quiteunderstand what I was doing.
There's a graphic here that helps

(32:51):
and it does say in development content,
not final off in the corner.
It's a new enter interface
with whatever blacksmithyou're talking to.
So here's some of what this says.
This new system willallow you to add apexes
to your items at the blacksmiththrough a new reusable item
that can drop from mostcontent in game called
temper manuals.

(33:11):
These are categorized likethe codex of power example,
resource mobility, et cetera.
Once gained, you retainedthese for unlimited use.
Each manual contains a handful of apexes.
You are able to attach one at a time.
Apexes can be re-roll up
to the items temporary re-roll limit.
Ancestral items can havetwo tempered apexes from

(33:32):
different categories.
Greater apexes onlyappearing on ancestral,
legendary and unique items.
These are more powerfulversions of normal apexes
with a 1.5 times multiplieron the AP X's maximum roll.
An item with greater apexwill be immediately obvious
with a unique audio cue aswell as a one up to four,

(33:54):
IV four next to the item name indicating
how many apexes are greater.
So for example, helm ancestral
and it's got two behind it like you know,
little two little lines too,not a number two specifically.
Each apex on the item hasa chance to be greater.
In world tier three
and four players cannotenchant into a greater apex.
They can only be found.

(34:15):
There's master working,
which has another interface pretty similar
to the one I was just looking at.
A late game crafting system
to upgrade items including using materials
gathered from the pit.
I don't know where the pit is,but I'll probably try it when
this, uh, season four goeslive improves the value
of your current apexes.
There are 12 upgraderanks every four ranks.

(34:36):
A single apex is massively upgraded.
Other ranks slightly increasethe value of all apexes.
There's more to be had in here.
There's also like, lookslike codex of power,
so you can kind of pickand choose from there.
There's hell Tide reborn.They wrote a Tide.
So nice, we made it twice.
Here's what's new in therevamped Hell Tide event

(34:57):
to bring the depths of hellto the surface of sanctuary.
The hell Tide threat as you battle
through hell tides youwill generate threat.
How much will be determinedby the difficulty of Monster
and how often you're securingtortured gifts within hell.
Tide dying will reset yourthreat, so you might lose it.
There are three hell tide threat tears
with each increasing the danger

(35:18):
and frequency of monster ambushes.
At tier three, you become hell marked.
Achieving maximum threat willinitiate a brief ambush frenzy
of maximum enemy density.
The ambush will end witha final hell born spawn
and immediately and immenselypowerful agent of hell
resurrected from the torturedsouls of sanctuaries.

(35:39):
Most powerful champions,
there are five variantsrepresenting each class in Diablo.
For upon activating the hell born ambush,
your threat will reset.
And there's another imagein here of a bunch of um,
there's like a shaman
and bunch of these littlered guys running around.
So, and one player characterin there. A cursed ritual.
This one's got a reallyinteresting piece of art on it.

(36:01):
Gainful hearts can primarily be earned
through opening tortured gift chests
and can be used at thecursed ritual location.
A scene of shocking gore.
The A cursed ritual isthe ultimate testament
to the disturbing lengths ofthe manic cultist who will go
to appease their dark wishes.
It is here where you can beginthe accursed ritual deposit
three Bain full heartsto begin the ritual.

(36:23):
And you will be swarmedwith a dense demonic ambush.
Other players within yoursub zone will be alerted
that the ritual has begun.
If they wish to join you in your fight.
This ambush will climax with the arrival
of the blood maiden,
an immensely powerfuldemon demonic creature
who will offer greatreward upon her death.
And this image here, it's got three sort

(36:44):
of blood fountain type things.
There's a circle on thefloor with some ruins in it
and some writing and that ofcourse you cannot understand
there are three body, threebodies lying in the spaces
between these like blood fountain things
and all of them are missing their heads.
So there you go. And there's acharacter standing there like
what just happened here.
There's a little bit more from that.

(37:04):
There's also the pit of artificers.
There are rumors thatdeep within the network
of dungeons crisscrossingthe north of sanctuary,
there are strange varieties of
or perfect for craftingexceptionally crafted armor
with secret her Rodrick techniques.
And again, this one is also in
development content not final.
It's got a very glowing thing
with a whole bunch ofstuff flying around it.
Okay, upon entering world tier four,

(37:26):
you'll receive a priority quest
to complete a tier 46 nightmare dungeon.
Upon completion, you'll begin
to collect r shard Duringend game activities,
collect enough r shard
to ultimately activatethe obelisk in serga,
or I think that's how you say it.
Activating the obeliskwill send you to the pit.
Your goal will be to slay enough monsters
before a 10 minute timer runs out.

(37:48):
Each player death removestime from the clock.
First death removes 30 seconds.
Second death removes 60 seconds.
Third, and subsequent deathswill remove 90 seconds.
So you gotta move, move, move in there.
If you slay enough monsters,a portal will appear.
Taking you to the boss'sarena, killing the boss
before the timer expireswill grant you master working

(38:08):
materials and unlocksthe next tier of the pit,
killing the boss withinfour to six minutes.
Despair, grants, uh, despair,
grants you an additionaltier unlock killing the boss
with six or more minutes
to spare grants you twoadditional tier unlocks.
The pit has hundredsof tears of difficulty.
If the mastery timer expires

(38:28):
before you finish running through the pit,
you'll still receive loot
but won't receive anymaster working materials.
The pit can be undertakenwith groups up to four
with the player who opened the pit,
receiving the lion's share of materials.
Only the player who openedthe pit has the chance
of receiving the materials used
for summoning tormented echoes.
And then there's a BossLadder update in here.

(38:50):
Features offered for testing.This is about the PTR.
It's talking aboutcampaign completion mount
and skill points, fog of war,altar of Lilith, stat bonuses,
um, a bunch of other stuff.
What kind of things you can get from it.
There's a piece in thereabout how to provide feedback
and how to install the PTR.
So those of you that can playthis game, meaning Dia Levo

(39:12):
on a pc, go for it.
I won't be able to do it. I'mnot really salty about that.
I just, I didn't figure you could do a PTR
through like an Xbox anyway.
But you know, still there'sa whole like talk through to,
to get you in there andget you into the game.
There's also a coupleof new items down here
and one of the materials might,
which is like a chest piece kind of thing.

(39:32):
While at full life yourskills unleash a divine
barrage dealing damage.
Jen's blessing is unique.
Boots cast casting askill has 20 to 30% chance
to cast a non mobility non ultimate skill
that is currently on Cool Down.
Uh, there's aspect of Frosty Strides
and then there's someother stuff in there too.
And there's a whole bunch of things on.
I think I've already read the stuff

(39:53):
to you about the different classes.
So with that, this show isgetting a little bit long.
So I think I'm gonna stop here.
You have been listening to episode 4 5, 1
of the Shattered Soul Stone.
Your Diablo communitypodcast missed an episode.
You could find the show blog
and listen to the show archives at
www do shattered soul stone.com.
Come join us in game.

(40:14):
Our in-game community
and clan, both namedShattered Soul Stone are open
to anyone who would like to join.
You could also join us onDiscord for the ultimate team
and community-based experience.
Find the Discord invitationlink on our Twitter at shattered
stone, as well as theShattered Soul Stone website.
Thank you for listening.

(40:43):
It also initiates to improve.
Let me just try that paragraph again.
Quote, as part of our .