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In today’s fast-growing economy, the traditional virtual world is no longer just a medium for gamers to obtain spiritual pleasure. Instead, it has become a tool for many people to succeed and make money. The success of MMO games such as Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 has also inspired people to connect passion with technology in a new economic model. What does this represent? What does it mean? How will players reasonably benefit from this new economic model? We need to explore further.

Diablo 4 Season 8 Focuses On The In-Game Economy

Diablo 4 received a lot of attention when it was first launched, and it turned out that it did not disappoint many players. The expansion of Diablo 4 Gold trading and loot system in Season 8 has made its in-game economy once again a key point to attract players.

And after several years of development, more and more people have gradually realized that real money-making opportunities are not limited to traditional dungeon exploration and character development.

In the player community, we can see that many players are increasingly interested in the item market, transactions between players, and third-party platforms. Whether it is the fluctuations in item prices or the overall trend, these developing in-game economic systems are similar to the cryptocurrency system.

Can POE 2 Have A Foresight On The Future Of Digital Trade?

With the release of POE 2’s early access, it promises to bring players greater game expansion. In the first generation, the economic transaction of bartering was its core. In the second generation, its economic system will only be made more complex to meet the development needs of digital trade in today’s society.

In the meantime, many speculations have followed. In any case, there is no doubt that every update and expansion will make the game and digital closely integrated.

Currency And Game Are Closely Integrated

It is undeniable that whether players believe it or not, the combination of currency and games has gradually been on the right track, and role-based tokens are just the beginning. New opportunities bring new opportunities to players, and real-life transactions are moved into the game world, redefining digital assets.

What To Do Next?

In this transformation of economic digital transactions, Diablo 4 and POE 2 have played a vital role. They are a larger part of this movement and a comparison of people changing traditional views and combining games with the digital economy.

As games are playing their extraordinary scalability in digital economic transactions, players are gradually becoming investors, creators and beneficiaries of digital assets.

Finally, the game world has been rewritten into a different chapter. Diablo 4 and POE 2 prove that games are not just games, not just simple pictures and plots, but a “stick” that can “pry” the earth.

This means that players can not only get game experience in the game, but also, in a broader sense, it means that players have more autonomy and opportunities, and investors have more chips. These all symbolize the advent of a new era, allowing people to rethink the real feedback brought by games.

The spring breeze of Eorzea will blow to Gridania, and Final Fantasy XIV players will also usher in an annual event full of surprises!

Starting from April 9, Final Fantasy XIV will hold annual Hatching-Tide event, providing players with numerous Easter-themed activities and attractions. It also brings new vitality to adventurers who have just experienced the major update of Seekers of Eternity in version 7.2.

Version 7.2

Before Hatching-Tide event started, the developer just presented a heavyweight version 7.2 update to players around the world. This patch, called Seekers of Eternity, not only advances the main storyline, but also brings thoughtful quality-of-life changes. New Jog system allows a constant movement speed in the sanctuary area. The optimized Mount summoning mechanism finally realizes the seemingly simple function of getting on a mount while running, which has made players wait for ten years.

In addition, some job balance changes have been made, mainly for Black Mage and Pictomancer jobs. These changes undoubtedly provide more tactical options for the upcoming festival activities.

Archon Egg Parasol

After completing the festival mission, players will receive this year’s limited reward: Archon Egg Parasol, a golden parasol. Featuring striking yellow and gold accents, this accessory offers excellent protection from all but the heaviest downpours. It is not only a fashion accessory that can be displayed in the town but also a collection.

It is worth noting that previous Hatching-Tide rewards, such as the Peatie mount, will return to the Mog Station for a limited time. She is a big pink Goobbue and a little princess with flowers on her head. She met you during a Little Lady's Day event. After getting your help, she decided to join your journey to spread more joy. With the festival special discounts, Final Fantasy XIV Gil in the wallets of players may not be able to keep it.

Hatching-Tide Event

As FFXIV’s most childlike traditional festival, Hatching-Tide will be staged at Mih Khetto’s Amphitheatre in the forest city of Gridania this year. Although the 2024 Hatching-Tide is combined with Little Ladies‘ Day, in 2025, the two festivals will be separated again.

Careful players may have noticed that this year’s key artwork is the classic combination of Yda and Paplymo from A Realm Reborn. Just like the previous design of Thancred as the protagonist of Little Ladies’ Day. Perhaps it is to let old players revisit it.

What’s more, the event quest of Hatching-Tide is a quest called In Pursuit of Eggcelence by Jihli Aliapoh, which will be open to FFXIV players at level 15 or higher. That means Free Trial accounts can also participate.

In short, as with similar holiday quests, players can expect a short and charming story accompanied by an egg-themed experience. It is speculated that there will be many fantasy elements in this plot. The quest process is controlled at about 30 minutes, which is friendly enough for players who just want to get rewards. By the way, I heard that there will be many previous Easter eggs waiting for players to discover!

Interestingly, this year’s Hatching-Tide event will be perfectly connected with the launch of version 7.21 Cosmic Exploration on April 24. This patch will bring the long-awaited Cosmic Exploration feature to FFXIV players. What other surprises will Final Fantasy XIV bring us this spring? Let’s wait and see.

When Diablo 4 was launched in 2023, this classic IP sequel set a record with 9.3 million copies sold in the first month. But, with the release of its first seasonal update, the game's reviews began to decline. It was severely criticized by fans because it not only weakened most of the builds in the game, but also made it more difficult to gain experience points. The quality of subsequent post-launch support was also uneven, with good and bad.

D4 is currently at the end of Season 7, and soon, the game's Season 8 update is coming. D4 is facing an unprecedented competitive landscape. Developer recently revealed that the next season of Diablo 4 will focus mainly on improving the difficulty of the game's boss battles. Although there is no definite news on the release time of Season 8, it should be launched after the end of Season 7 - that is, some time after April 29, 2025.

However, this release time may lead to very fierce competition for Season 8, as several other ARPG will also release major content updates in the same month.

Path Of Exile 2

First is the familiar opponent - Path Of Exile 2, whose patch 0.2.0 Dawn of the Hunt has been announced to be released on April 4. This time may be less than a month away from the release of Diablo 4 Season 8. What's more fatal is that this will be a very large patch, bringing rich new content: a new Huntress class, a new endgame boss battle involving Tetzcal, Blazing Guardian, and a weapon lock feature, etc.

It is worth noting that before this, many players who were dissatisfied with the development trend of D4 have already turned to play POE 2. The increase and decrease in the number of players of these two games also shows the fierce competition between the two.

Last Epoch

In addition, April is not just about Path of Exile 2 and Diablo 4. They have major updates. Another ARPG, Last Epoch Season 2, will also be launched.

The official name of Last Epoch Season 2 is Tombs of the Erased. It will introduce a new faction called Woven, alongside some new endgame content and an overhaul of Sentinel class.

In order to avoid colliding with Path Of Exile 2, the release date of Tombs of the Erased has been postponed to April 17, which is about two weeks later. This time arrangement is very interesting - when players have experienced the new content of POE2, they can just experience the new fun brought by Last Epoch. After that, there is still a Diablo 4 Season 8 update that has not yet been clearly updated.

This kind of relay update is not common in the past. Last Epoch developer even claimed that they want to create an April carnival for ARPG players. It is not difficult to imagine how fierce competition Diablo 4 will face this time.

Other Speculations

Faced with such a challenging situation, postponing D4 Season 8 update may be the best solution. According to experience, if the interval between content updates of similar games is less than 21 days, the player conversion rate of the delayed game will drop significantly. Especially considering that PoE2 and Last Epoch both adopt the model of free main body + season pass, the developer of D4 need to think carefully about the business strategy of Season 8. Perhaps after the update, players can be given some benefits, such as Diablo 4 Gold.

Perhaps what Diablo 4 needs most right now is not new content, but time to breathe. Postponing the season to mid-May can not only avoid direct conflict but also take advantage of the player fatigue period that may occur after the update of competitors, and this peak-shifting strategy has been proven to be effective in the past.

This may be the most critical one since the birth of Diablo series. Because three major isometric action RPGs will launch large updates one after another this month, D4 Season 8 may be difficult to attract a large number of players as usual. But for players, this is undoubtedly a carnival.

DLC Vessel of Hatred introduced some interesting new endgame modes to Diablo 4, including Dark Citadel. But now, according to official data, the retention rate of this optional quest began to plummet in the third week, far lower than the single-player mode Abyssal Verges launched in the same period. And some players think this forced multiplayer mode is boring and expressed the hope that it can be improved.

Therefore, as Vessel of Hatred’s iconic endgame mode, Dark Citadel quickly became the focus of players’ debate. This PvE mode, which requires mandatory teamwork, not only challenges Diablo series’ tradition of single-player priority over the years, but also triggers a philosophical debate about the experience of the game - should we stick to enjoying it alone, or embrace the social wave?

Compared with previous works, Diablo 4 has more MMO elements, and it has become more common for players to team up to complete goals together, but this kind of cooperation is more short-lived than other MMO games. Once the task is completed, this cooperative relationship will be disbanded immediately. And more players will choose to continue to explore the game alone and obtain Diablo 4 Gold and other resources to improve their strength.

In fact, most endgame modes before Diablo 4 were designed around this style of play. For example, although Nightmare Dungeons allow team formation, a single player can complete it.

But it is a special case for Dark Citadel, which focuses on team action. This mode requires players to form a team of two or four to join, and the system also sets a strict team verification mechanism. This is a good change for players who like to play Diablo 4 with friends. But for most solo warriors, the situation is just the opposite. Many people think that this setting has changed their original fun and calls for a return to the beauty of the game before.

See More: Diablo 4 Season 8 Mighty Throw Barbarian Endgame Build: How To Make The Most Of This Powerful Build In The New Season?

Opposition

In the community, you can see many different opinions. Many people are more dissatisfied with this. They think that many players of Diablo 4 like to enjoy the game alone. Therefore, many times, especially at the end of the season, no one can be found in Social Hub. They are frustrated that they cannot find enough people to participate in this activity. Some players recorded that in the last two weeks of the season, the average time required to match the team even exceeded the time-limited challenge time of dungeon itself.

Many people, who believed that this was the only part of the game that must be cooperated agreed this statement, and it had no meaning. Because Diablo franchise has always been dominated by single-player mode, cooperation has never been required before. The charm of this game lies in the fact that it is based on a powerful fantasy, which is very suitable for players to experience by themselves. Cooperation with other players greatly reduces this experience.

At present, some players in the community suggest that developers can allow single players to bring their Mercenaries, which can still be counted as a two-person team; some people call for a single-player option for this mode. Both methods are suitable. We don’t know if the game developer will improve it later.

Support

Of course, some people think that it great to add this element, and the team mode makes the game more interesting. Some people are looking forward to more team content. Cooperative combat makes the game easier, and the addition of team elements reminds many players of traditional MMO games. It is a good way to have a nostalgic experience with less time cost.

Some players even said that he always preferred single-player games in the early stage of the game, but gradually began to use social tags to change the rhythm in the later stage. The team experience is very comfortable because no one screams into the microphone or forces the microphone to open, and it is much more fun than you can imagine. This stress-free social experience is because of the Action Wheel and Emotes. Players can complete basic communication through these, avoiding the embarrassment of voice chat.

Although Dark Citadel caused controversy in Diablo 4, this endgame mode can also be a refreshing change for players who have done everything else. Maybe the best way is to give the choice to the players? Looking forward to the developers can find a balance between solo and cooperation.