“We said fix it, not redo it”, that is the general thought from players who are currently testing the Diablo 4 Season 11 PTR.
The controversy keeps going, and this time over Blizzard’s complete rework of Tempering and Masterworking, two of the main crafting systems that were originally introduced to make endgame gear more meaningful.
But according to recent community feedback, the developers may have taken things too far. Across Reddit and the official forums, players say the new version feels like a step backward! It is less exciting, more repetitive, and frustratingly detached from what players actually asked for.
As one Reddit post put it bluntly: “We see that you hear us, but it seems like you are not listening.”
Tempering: Back to Affix Bloat
Tempering was meant to simplify loot by letting us add specific affixes rather than endlessly scrolling through random items for hours. But the PTR build reintroduces the affix problem we had at the start of the game, and players argue that it is exactly what tempering was designed to avoid.
“No one wanted a return to affix bloat,” one player commented. “We just wanted small fixes, like checkpoints or limited rerolls, not a full system reset.”
Basically, all players wanted was an unlimited number of reroll tries. Tempering was really good; you could add two affixes to your gear, and it would make your build much more powerful. And that also removed the endless items scrolling in your stash, looking for the perfect affixes. The issue was not the system itself, but the fact that you could only reroll a few times. All players wanted was the possibility to use an endless amount of reroll scrolls, and maybe some fixes to the same affix rerolling ten times in a row.
But what we now have is a complete overhaul that backtracks previous changes and makes things feel worse overall. It is now harder to get a perfect item, and the system itself has become boring.
Masterworking: “Boring, Bland, and Pointless”
The biggest backlash, though, targets Masterworking. Previously, it let you upgrade gear with meaningful upgrades that could land on your most important affix. The price was high, but the reward was as well.
The new version flattens that excitement (a lot) and removes power, too. It is turning upgrades into a series of minor stat boosts until the final level.
“It’s literally click 20 times for minor armor or resistance gains,” one of the top comments reads. “There’s nothing interesting until the end.”
Even those who support reducing power creep agree that the new approach is way too dull. “The reasons are valid, but the execution is boring.”
The Bigger Issue: The Community Is Tired
For many, this PTR is another example of Blizzard hearing feedback without understanding it, taking large redesigns instead of focused changes.
Out of all the Reddit posts we looked at for this article, one comment captures it best:
“All we asked for was masterworking checkpoints at levels 4 and 8. Instead, we got a completely new system nobody likes.”
With Season 11 still in testing, Blizzard has time to respond, but if this backlash continues, it might just be yet another chapter in Diablo 4‘s ongoing struggle to align player expectations.
Of course, you can never satisfy everyone, and there will always be players who do not like a decision. However, what players ask is for Blizzard to really listen and make more minor, impactful changes, instead of redesigning systems that work but just need one little fix.
