This seems like a weird decision. The battle pass and substantial, frequent, interesting content updates coexisted for years and I can’t help but feel this bodes poorly for the effect TI will have each year.

BUTTT it seems like the game itself will receive more love so who knows maybe it’ll work out.

The best games which feature an open world and the best games for their open world are a very different list, imo.

For example, the Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk share a really awesome story-based rpg that happens to play in an open world but I don’t necessarily believe their open world is among the best in the industry.

I’d probably have to say that the Witcher 3 is my favorite game which features an open world and my favorite open world in any game has got to be Terraria. You could argue it’s a different class of game, but I feel that the tendency the game has to force you to explore and then introduce new stuff to the world that allows you to re-explore the same places is a really excellent take on the open world formula. Terraria really has very excellent exploration and reexploration which I think are the hallmarks of open world games. Not just inviting you to get to know the world, but changing it over time and asking you to get to know it again.

I’m not sure I can change your view but will say that PoE was one of the most frustrating, clunky experiences in gaming I’ve ever had. I can’t remember how far I got but I remember ultimately feeling like the game was ugly and the story was boring and gameplay was irritating.

I like crafting my own builds and trying to mess with things on my own and PoE actively seems to prevent you from doing that effectively. The skill tree is so bloated and convoluted that to try and make something on your own with having an immense amount of experience in the game would be an exercise in futility.

For me, Diablo IV has been a great experience. At worst, it’s about as good as Diablo III, which I also happened to enjoy a lot. There’s no comparison on my end. I enjoy one of the game and wouldn’t download the other again unless I had a gun to my head.

It will use ActivityPub.

Doesn't this mean I can interact with the entire ecosystem without ever touching their app (ie from Mastodon or any of them)? Or have I misunderstood the systems in place here?

Yea, probably. Especially for the bigger subreddits. But something like most of the entire website is going to experience suddenly shifting to a moderation force with little to no experience as Reddit just tries to get things online again. If we all thought moderation was a shitshow now...

Worth the read all the way through

My man just can't stay away, can he

Reddit as an entity is just frustrating. Not just the recent debacle, but the pattern of getting slightly more awful with each passing minute. I'm hoping I enjoy my stay here well enough that I never feel the urge to go back. Unfortunately, it's less about what Reddit can do to get me back and more about what the Fediverse can do to keep me.

I liked seeing and engaging with unlimited new things with each passing moment. It would not be very satisfying for me to lose that. Time will tell.