Butterfly.archive

25/02/2026 - To Stand Apart

=== Thoughts ===

(Note: I haven't played Vessel of Hatred and I'm not massively into the lore of Diablo, so if I'm missing something from the rest of the material, that's why. Also spoilers for Diablo IV 's main story.)

I think about the Donation Bowl in Diablo IV's Gea Kul a lot. Normally as my Necromancer, Svea, jingles past at the speed of an all-terrain vehicle in sixth gear, because they have a 200.00% movement speed buff.

Svea has 791,894,073 gold coins to their name. 20 seconds previously, Svea pulled a handbrake turn in front of the blacksmith, handed over 20,000,000 gold coins, and crafted four (4) Smithy's Caches, containing 15 pieces of legendary equipment each worth between 20,000 and 80,000 gold coins. Disappointed, Svea handed each of those legendary equipment pieces back to the blacksmith, grinding them into the assortment of crafting materials required to get Smithy's Caches.

Svea speeds past the donation bowl. The dialogue box explains:

If there were coin, the Zakarum priests would distribute it to the poor and lame. As of now, it stands empty.

21 hours ago, Svea was a shivering wretch stumbling into the hearth of Nevesk, barely a gold coin to their name. I was apprehensive about playing Diablo IV, but stumbled into a copy via PS Plus and was in a dopamine-seeking moment of weakness, so I gave it a try and was... pleasantly surprised by the campaign.

My experience of Diablo prior to this latest always-online, live-service instalment was playing Diablo II as a kid, Diablo III in my early twenties, and Diablo II: Remastered a couple of years ago. I always play Necromancer, and I consistently enjoy playing Necromancer. I love making little skeleton lads and tearing through the battlefield.

The story fairly consistently takes a back seat when I play, but in Diablo IV it is front and centre - and with good reason. Despite myself, I found myself picking up what the game was trying to put down. Villains with a sympathetic cause? The failure of the old orders of power that guarded secrets that might better serve society if they were known? The tragedy of the next generation thinking themselves wise and strong enough to repeat the same mistakes without consequence? Excellent.

And then I beat Lilith, the credits rolled, and now I have 791,894,073 gold coins. Like Elon Musk, I have enough wealth to end world hunger and directly impact every single life in Sanctuary. Instead I slap a blacksmith with 20,000,000 gold coins for equipment that might (MIGHT) make my numbers go up, and feed it back into the millstone when it doesn't.

It's the kind of thoughtlessness that really peels back the veil of art that covers the product. Diablo IV is a gorgeous experience (except when they forget to replace Placeholder-Purple item images with actual weapon art), and is a very fun power fantasy, but all of that so readily divorces itself from the narrative in favour of dragging out your play time. Your character is a vehicle to ferry from Helltide to Nightmare Dungeon, addressing the symptoms of this suffering world but never the cause.

So I walk past the donation bowl.

If there were coin, the Zakarum priests would distribute it to the poor and lame. As of now, it stands empty.

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