D4 Devs - are you actually paying attention regarding mythics?

I’m a day 1 player, I’ve held on through a lot of bad design choices, and in general, I’ve been pretty happy with the last year or so.

I’ve seen changes come and go, and most of them have been well received, despite the unending stream of complaints. Most of the changes were progressive ones, quality of life or relative balance improvements. Some of them were hilariously benign, some of them overreaching, some of them great.

This mythic situation is just confusing, and the response seems near universal. I’m not even going to touch on the “one crafted mythic” restriction, because frankly, I don’t have a problem with it. I’m fine with drops being where rarity and strength come from (why you haven’t created an alternative dump for sparks is a mystery, however).

It’s the framework of them that boggles my mind, and it’s reminiscent of the terrible, terrible design and itemization issues of early D4.

I just saw a post from someone who upgraded a 4ga mythic and bricked it. Granted, they should’ve done some reading, but genuinely, why should they have to guard against something that seems like it should be an obvious upgrade, a reward for effort, only to find themselves throwing away a rare and valuable item?

If crafted mythic are limited to one slot, why on earth would they not retain the base item stats and identity? Why can’t it be a sensible upgrade for that one-in-a-million find?

I thought you got away from this player punishment mentality. I thought maybe you moved on from the development team that was caught on stream fighting mobs with basic attacks, no build or core skills and no idea how to play the game?

Do you REALLY believe that the frustration of RNG punishment results in longer game engagement? Is that genuinely an outcome you want that you’re parading to Blizzard leadership as a success?

You had a full PTR cycle to understand this. You have endless player feedback.

Why, as professional game developers, are you getting something this basic (player reward and psychology) so absurdly wrong?

Why is Umbacrux still dominating Tower with a bug? It undermines an entire aspect of the endgame.

Why are your two newest classes sitting at the bottom of the pack with terrible build nerfs and clunky play? It reduces the system to a FOMO environment where people are just desperately rolling barbs or passively sitting in parties while they solo clear 120+ pits.

I’m a chef and a director. I’ve worked hard my entire life, and I’ve never been allowed excuses with product I create. If it’s bad, I hear about it, I correct it. I recognize my responsibility to the guest who’s paid me valuable money and time. I feel a sense of responsibility, obligation, and gratitude towards them.

Maybe that’s it - maybe your team genuinely doesn’t understand the scope of what you do, the contract you’ve undertaken when you take money for a product and a service.

No idea, but I genuinely am bewildered at the 180 degree heel turn from last season.