Blizzard Responds to Diablo 3 "Online" Complaints

[DaveUK]

It's apparent to me that a vast proportion of the internet like to get annoyed for the sake of being annoyed.

By that, I mean the overwhelming majority of people complaining about this will have an active internet connection anyway. So, they're not complaining about a real problem - just an imagined one.

It would be a very small proportion of gamers who would want to play the game who do not have an internet connection, or those who want to play without a consistent connection (for example, on the train), and there are plenty of other games for them to play.

As an experience, Blizzard have made it quite clear that 'single player' is a small piece of their plans with Diablo 3, and personally I don't think design decisions should be made to suit a minority of gamers.

I will enjoy playing Diablo 3, enjoy taking my single-player character online (may just play it online permanently for the lulz), and enjoy the social integration aspects. I really don't care about online authentication because I have a business-grade ADSL connection which is never down, and if it ever did fail I have a HSDPA mobile broadband modem with 10GB/month.

Why should I lose out on Blizzard's desired functionality because people have nothing better than to QQ about it?

And yes, I do understand that some users may be inconvenienced by this but anyone with a shred of maturity will know that the VAST majority of users complaining about this are doing so for the sake of it or because they wanted to play a cracked version, NOT because they are actually going to lose out.

Just my two cents anyway, feel free to flame me as much you want just like everyone has been flaming Blizzard. Caremode /off

 

[tinmann]

Booooo! Booooo!

 

[zilnicra]

[citation][nom]amk-aka-phantom[/nom]It's not about having the Internet or not, it's about not wanting to use it for single-player, because why should we?[/citation]

really? honestly if your on here posting about something, you're connected to the internet. I mean SC II you are "connected to the internet" to play single player (not required), and it tracks all your goodies. battle.net is a very good service for online community, its pretty much steam, but just for blizzard games (i play mine through steam anyway, so i get the best of both worlds).

[citation][nom]BluntObjection[/nom]Dunno, but maybe someone would want to play a SINGLE player game without running up their monthly bandwidth limits. -Of course this only applies to people with an ISP that has such limits.-[/citation]

you do realize that the "online" part of d 3 wont be anymore of a bandwith hog than an im client... aka dial up will handle it just fine.


Honestly all of the complaints about "having to be online" stem from people who are broke (if your broke do something to fix your situation instead of wasting time playing video games) and want to pirate, just want to pirate, or somehow thing when you buy anything digital its yours. Its not, look at the laws we have in this country. It doesn't matter what your personal belief on that matter is, the laws in this country are such that if you own the ip, you can do with it as you please, and you have every right to defend it. So when you buy any piece of software you are just licensing it like a rental fee. complain to your congressmen and women instead of qq'ing about it on a forum.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but at the end of the day, its not a bad system, it effectively protects their ip without some intrusive software running (i just logged in, it took all of 10 secconds), and it provides them ways to add new content to the gamers experience.

and ps
for all of you who live in rural America (or other places similar) I am sorry that the infrastructure in this country is about making a corporation as much money as possible, instead of actually serving the citizens of America. I understand it sucks, but again, you need to complain to your congressmen and women so they understand what a travesty it is that we are Flipping America and 3rd world countries have better internet connections than we do, and we get essentially held hostage for it by paying excessive monthly fees for it, and if they don't do something about it elect someone who will.
/steps off soap box

 

[tinmann]

I guess I'll just have to keep playing torchlight. If Diablo 3 turns out to be anything like StarCraft 2 then Blizzard is doing me a favor by turning my business away.

 

[JDFan]

[citation][nom]tinmann[/nom]I can't understand all the fuss, unless you just wanted to cheat your way through, or you're too broke to have internet (then why are you here typing?) or just wanted to pirate the game, I don't see a valid reason why they shouldn't, I mean, so many other games are only playable online. Your not getting anything free for sucking up to the man.[/citation]

The Fuss is the fact that some people like to play through a Single player campaign without the interference of having to be on a system that is connected to the internet - this requirement adds running processes to the system slowing gameplay - makes it impossible to play at times (when on the road traveling) so why if I am playing a single player game should I have to be connected ?? I do not play multi-player games and as long as companies are providing single player campaigns in the game then do not require that portion to be connected (If you want to make it a requirement that only characters that have been developed while connected in order to use them in multi player campaigns that's fine but don't stop the players that never play online from being able to enjoy the single player campaign at any time they want -- Or release a separate version of the game that is just the single player campaign and charge less for it !!
In addition why did they wait so long to announce that this was going to be a requirement ?? possible because the wanted all o those pre-orders to be placed before they let the users know they were requiring it ? ANd are they planning on charging a subscription fee for connecting to their server (and storing your character there) in order to play the single player campaign ?

 

[tinmann]

I didn't write that I was responding to that.

 

[omnimodis78]

The more that publishers/developers try to justify this model, the more I disagree with it. But of all the excuses offered by Blizzard, the more it seems that the only single reason for doing this is to curb "piracy" (I hate the term, but I'll use it for conventional reasons).

 

[dread_cthulhu]

...This complaint has already been raised against other companies doing the same crap. Ubisoft got b-d out over the constant internet connection thing with Assassin's Creed II and they released a patch to change that. Then with Brotherhood, it didn't even require it. I'm betting Blizz will fall to the same fate.

 

[Guest]

This is pure rubbish. this will increase the amount of piracy, i really want to be okay with this but this is just a stupid idea.

they say that piracy had nothing to do with it. bullshit. and for that i hope that it increases. they wont have my money.

 

[tinmann]

JDFan I was responding to that comment I didn't post it my post was at the bottom I guess it just wasn't formatted correctly in my haste to comment but it went as follows:

"Quit sucking up to the man"

I was totally against the idea from the moment I heard it and posted my feeling on the forum last night.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=13&post=112834&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0

 

[flacoman3]

[citation][nom]JDFan[/nom]The Fuss is the fact that some people like to play through a Single player campaign without the interference of having to be on a system that is connected to the internet - this requirement adds running processes to the system slowing gameplay - makes it impossible to play at times (when on the road traveling) so why if I am playing a single player game should I have to be connected ?? I do not play multi-player games and as long as companies are providing single player campaigns in the game then do not require that portion to be connected (If you want to make it a requirement that only characters that have been developed while connected in order to use them in multi player campaigns that's fine but don't stop the players that never play online from being able to enjoy the single player campaign at any time they want -- Or release a separate version of the game that is just the single player campaign and charge less for it !! In addition why did they wait so long to announce that this was going to be a requirement ?? possible because the wanted all o those pre-orders to be placed before they let the users know they were requiring it ? ANd are they planning on charging a subscription fee for connecting to their server (and storing your character there) in order to play the single player campaign ?[/citation]

lol
Adds running processes to the system, slowing gameplay, really? Being connected to the internet doesn't slow your computer. Are you thinking of running this on your atom netbook?

 

[electrontau]

And this is exactly why I won't bother with it. I don't want to have my every online thing tracked. Have you ever heard of a funny little thing called Privacy? just because others choose to throw it away doesn't mean I am going too.

Then you should stop using the internet since everything you do is tracked, stop using credit card, no bank account, no SSN. All these things track your daily life. Live off the grid. Or in some cave. Then your life is untrackable.

 

[BluntObjection]

[citation][nom]dannypwnsall[/nom]If they're able to go anywhere near their cap by playing a few online video games here and there, the ISP needs to be shot. I know a few people with a 10gb per month and they barely hit that with casual youtube and Hardcore Raiding.[/citation]

[citation][nom]zilnicra[/nom]
you do realize that the "online" part of d 3 wont be anymore of a bandwith hog than an im client... aka dial up will handle it just fine.[/citation]

I'm aware that the initial numbers would be minimal. However bandwidth usage does add up over time and multiple application usage. Even just a few KBs can add up to a few MBs in a matter of hours which can just as easily turn into the GBs area where bandwidth is capped.

 

[Guest]

Geeee Thanks Blizzard! I spend over 250 day a year on the road and most times away from a internet connection. What i great idea i can't even play single player!!!!!! EPIC FAIL BLIZZARD!!!!!!!! I will not be getting this game!

 

[ericburnby]

Blah blah blah. There are NO VALID excuses for not being connected to the Internet to play a game. It's just the pirates & cheaters who are whining and coming up with the most ridiculous arguments to try and prove their point.

That's what really shows how stupid these people are. Using bandwidth? Lame. Slowing your system down? Also lame.

Being on the road without Internet? Really lame - what are you doing, sleeping in the back of your car? I've never stayed at a hotel that didn't have internet access. But I do suppose there are some fleabag motels that might not have it. If you're staying somehwere that cheap maybe you need a new line of work. Hell, I even get internet at campgrounds when I plug in my trailer.

 

[realpetrolium]

In the age of social media why do people expect that a premier game dev like Blizz would even consider building a game without a continuous connection to the internet.

They want to be pioneers in the realm of social media mixed with gaming, and aren't going make the game single playered just because some people think its their right to pirate, hack, cheat, and otherwise undermine the fun for the rest of us.

 

[Supertrek32]

After I get the game, I'm most definitely going to have to get a crack to play offline. I'm going to be travelling quite a bit in the future, and between long plane flights and shoddy hotels, I'll be spending a large amount of time without a connection.

 

[wildkitten]

While I do not like the always online requirement and this will be the secondary reason (the primary being the real money auction house) that keeps me from buying Diablo 3, as a former WoW player for 6+ years I have little doubt their partner in Real ID, Facebook, played a large part in this decision, moreso than then no cheating and no duping.

Blizzard has been very schizophrenic with this Real ID feature and it is even the feature that will soon lead WoW to become the first pay-to-PAY-to-play game.

With the death of long time franchises like Guitar Hero, the next Call of Duty being done without the involvement of any of the Infinity Ward people, with the screwing up of the Blizzard division, vivendi needs to open their eyes and replace Bobby Kotick before he destroys their games division.

 

[bak0n]

I'd prefer to have a separate LAN/Single player vs. Multi-player set up than a dedicated connection one. I play a number of games like that. I play no game with dedicated connections that aren't mmo's (Lotro is about it, and don't play that often).

 

[sfergu03]

If WoW is any indication of how well protected you are online or how protected Blizzard servers are from being botted/exploited than I think we have our answer. Going to be a botfest, especially with real money involved. This is turning into a very weird hack n slash game. As well with videogames becoming more and more mainstream they seem more and more generic. They should be focusing on the game, taking consumer advice instead of scaring people away with redundant useless features. Honestly their reasoning is lacking, have to make a new char to go online if they don't, so what everyone is going to make more than one char, let them choose. Lets you chat to other battle.net friends, that's what chat programs are for... Provides a level playing field. Cause no one gets away with botting on Blizzards online games.... I think Blizzard peaked with Warcraft 3, it's been $$$ signs in the eyes ever since WoW.

 

[demonhorde665]

my question is how does this impact the modding community ? ,

seriously this kind of set up sounds like you completely toss out suer made armors weapons and many otehr kind of possible mods that would otehr wise be available , really tired of dev's kiling the NUMBER 1 reason for pc games over consoles , and that is community modding.

 

[wildkitten]

[citation][nom]demonhorde665[/nom]my question is how does this impact the modding community ? , seriously this kind of set up sounds like you completely toss out suer made armors weapons and many otehr kind of possible mods that would otehr wise be available , really tired of dev's kiling the NUMBER 1 reason for pc games over consoles , and that is community modding.[/citation]
They have already said no mods of any kind, or addons.

 

[GNCD]

Why not make an offline and online mode? Two characters for each mode. Some people do want to play offline.
To all those people who are saying this is about piracy, it is not. Blizz wants to keep generating income even after the game is sold. This is done through the auction house where they get a cut of the sales from in game items sold by players.

 

[jimmysmitty]

[citation][nom]BluntObjection[/nom]Dunno, but maybe someone would want to play a SINGLE player game without running up their monthly bandwidth limits. -Of course this only applies to people with an ISP that has such limits.-[/citation]

Which is in a lot of places around the world.

 

[DroKing]

All of you assuming people who whine about constant connection keep assuming they are bunch of pirates or cheaps. Yourselves are bunch of morons because d2 had a fantastic system of open/closed battle.net. They are too lazy to implement that in d3. Blizz is getting stupid and greedy period.