Surprise, short-lived events
Blizzard wants the world of Sanctuary to feel like a living, ever-changing world, and one way it's attempting to achieve this is with seasonal live events [1]. These events will pleasantly surprise players in the middle of play and last for a short time window, such as a day or two:
"An example live event might be an impending invasion of the Drowned, which can last a weekend, or an arrival of a strange peddler in the crags of the Dry Steppes."Joe Piepiora · Diablo IV Associate Game Director ·
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Can't retroactively participate
From Blizzard's language, it seems players have to partake in a live event while it's being offered and therefore can't go back and play it after the event's time window ends. This encourages players to log in frequently to see if an event is active.
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Multiple live events per season
Players can look forward to new live events each season. Blizzard didn't specify how many to expect, but if we had to speculate, we'd guess in the 3-5 range.
"Attentive players can be on the lookout for live events that will crop up every season."
Live event rewards
Details of the rewards players will receive from live events are scant, but it seems each event will have a questline of its own that likely ends in compensating players with desirable items (like Legendaries?).
"The events provide gateways to unique rewards and new adventures."
Difference from local events
Diablo 4 will also contain what are called local events. These differ from live events in that they:
- Can spawn anywhere and aren't in a set location
- Are in the form of a short story segment and are less involved
- Allow random players to join from the open world
- Likely have much shorter time windows (minutes or hours?)
Xiphoid has been playing Diablo since the original's release in 1997. He made one of the largest Age of Empires sites in the late-'90s and early-'00s. Now, he runs MythicDrop.com, a premier Diablo 4 fansite.
Sources
| Article | Source | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Diablo IV Quarterly Update 2022 Q3 | Blizzard |
Changelog
| Ver | Change | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Alpha | Published original |
