Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred is a real return to form for Blizzard. Even though I'm normally done and dusted a couple of weeks into a new season, I'm still playing nearly a month later and don't feel like putting it down anytime soon. The player retention this season has been incredible if Steam numbers are to go by, though it's obviously not an exact science since the majority of the player base is on Battle.net and Xbox.
There is still one thing that everyone continues to argue about, though, and it's the Diablo 4 shop. Now, I'm not against the cash shop at all; in fact, admitting that I use it now and again is a more controversial stance in the community than being flat-out against it. But I do see why many people have an issue with it. It has always felt a bit "ick" and quintessentially not Diablo, that store-bought cosmetics, with their flashy packaged VFX, look infinitely cooler than anything that can be found out in the wild.
With the release of Lord of Hatred, however, I think Blizzard has finally struck a balance, and it's all down to the secrets and mad goose chases they've thrown at the player base. Suddenly, I'm not wearing anything I purchased in the shop. I've replaced it all with items that tell every other player in the game that I've actually played it and put in a hell of a lot of hours to earn them.
