Blizzard Responds to Diablo 3 "Online" Complaints

[DroKing]

oh and I def wont be buying this. I am looking forward to TorchLight 2 which was made by people who developed d1/d2. LONG LIVE OLD BLIZZZ

 

[christop]

tinmann 08/06/2011 4:11 PM
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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.


For you to assume people that don't like the fact you have to have a internet connection are cheaters and pirates makes you look stupid. I for one don't cheat and pirate anything and prefer single player over multi player. Maybe I want to play d3 on a road trip or any where I don't have internet. Do you recall Diablo and diablo2 single player having to have a internet connection. No because you didn't.

 

[tinmann]

As another member mentioned, Why implement this at this stage of the game? man I'm glad I didn't pre-order this title. 11 years of promises and anticipation, I don't know if I can take more disappointment. First Crysis 2, then Duke, now this. It's like they're trying to kill PC gaming. Maybe there is still hope. Torchlight 2, Skyrim and Rage are still on the horizon. But as far as I'm concerned the Buzzards at Blizzard can do whatever they want with their title , your not gonna pick this carcass clean you behind the back, money hungry scavengers. Is that a pirate ship I see on the horizon? Maybe I can stowaway and hitch a ride.

 

[griffed88]

This is absolutely ridiculous. Why do they give a rat's ass if I have to create two different characters? Big deal! Let me play offline or on a lan with my friends! I'm in a touring band and I don't have internet on my laptop when we're on the road, was hoping to play offline during the long car rides and waiting around at venues. Guess that is a no sale for me! Torchlight 2 here I come!

 

[Guest]

The pirates will just reverse engineer the thing and create a fake server to bypass the online requirements. It is the faithful, loyal customers who get screwed when they (1) get throttled by ISP and get laggy gameplay (2) has unstable ISP and constantly timeout from the online session when playing single player (3) unable to play Diablo3 on the road while they don't have a mobile internet connection (4) etc etc whatever reason you can think of.

The arguments about cheat/hack for a single player game is moot. Single player character is not even allowed online during the time of Diablo2 so Blizzard has already sorted out the problem a long time ago. This response only shows that either the current staff is (1) clueless (2) or just trying in vain to do a PR job and hoping the customers have low IQ

 

[techguy911]

Fact only 30% of the entire worlds population has internet.

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

So having an internet connection to play will prevent quite a few people from buying the game so what was blizzard thinking?

 

[geotek]

I like blizzard, I really do, But their thinking doesnt make much sense here. Diablo 2 HAS exactly what they are talking about, its called closed bnet. So for people who want all the online shabang of friendslist and chars stored securely on their servers can have that. But d2 also has the ability to play offline single player only for people who want to do that, if it doesnt affect anyone else, whats the harm? Heres an idea, have a single player offline AND a closed bnet option. Whats wrong with having the two options? They make it sound like the game has to have one or the other which is odd considering the 10 year old diablo 2 has both options....

 

[Guest]

I avoided steam for years because only dial-up was available where I lived when I bought HL2. Even though I bought it the day it came out I couldn't play for two days because I had to wait for online validation and updates in order to play the first time. There are still many areas in this country do not have reliable high speed internet. Many more cannot afford or have unreliable service. My internet at this current house was down 3 days out of five for a year and a half. I won't be buying this game despite being intrigued for a while.

 

[professorprofessorson]

That bullshit coulda been optional then, play offline and that offline character wont have jack on their servers. They know thats a copout excuse, not even a good one at that. Oh well, not a game I plan to buy then.

 

[theguy82]

I am just throwing my 2 cents into this. I don't plan on buying this game as I am not a big RPG fan. I have to lean towards the ppl that don't like this idea of constant internet connection.
There are too many variables that come into play that could potentially not allow me to play a game anytime I want that I purchased.
What if I am having internet problems with my ISP? What if I am travelling and don't have access to an internet connection? What if...what if...what if...
I don't agree with these decisions these companies are starting to make. They are making it potentially very restrictive on how someone who purchased a game that they own now, play their game that they bought legitimately. Thumbs down to this idea!

 

[Montezuma]

[citation][nom]DaveUK[/nom]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[/citation]

I am not imagining anything. Where I live, I do not have access to land-line broadband. As such, it is either dial-up, though none of my computers have a dial-up modem. My only other option, which I currently use, is Verizon Wireless's "mobile broadband", which is really expensive and anything but "broadband". At 5GB per month, for $50 USD, then $10/GB afterwards(or 10GB for $80 USD, which is too much money), I am severely limited to what I can do.

I must also take into consideration that the main reason I got the mobile broadband device was to allow my girlfriend to work from home, when her employer requires her to. Ironically, she works for AT&T, and that company offers neither DSL or UMTS/HSDPA coverage for its "mobile broadband" service, both of which would be free.

So, you can spare me, and the rest of us, your pretentiousness on the issue. Perhaps broadband offerings are at 100% population coverage, where you live(which, by the name, my powers of deduction leads me to believe is the UK), but that is not the case where I live(Haralson County, GA, USA). So, yes, this is a huge issue for me.

I also know that I am not alone.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

@ all of you who claim this is good protection against piracy: No, it will just FUEL it even more. Even World of Warcraft is piratable, allowing you to play it on your own server. So I guess there'll be a crack released within maximum 2 weeks when the game will be out...

What I REALLY think is that it's just another move from the alliance of IT/gaming corporations towards the dumbass cloud. Call me a conspiracy freak, but cloud is much more profitable for them... and who cares that the user suffers in the end?

 

[Guest]

Blizzard can go shove this game up THERE A$$. Bethesda makes Skyrim so that there is no control over the gamer, you can roam and do what you want. Blizzard is doing the opposite and I just want to say, "fu** diablo 3 im playing SKYRIM!"

 

[nekoangel]

Probably one of the reasons they dont want players to "hack" their characters is because than they cant make any money off their new real money auction house.

 

[MrBig55]

Using steam we can play single in offline mode. If blizzard don't do something similar, I'm not sure as much people would buy Diablo as it would if a single player and LAN mode were possible. What if the player wanted to keep those powerful solo caracters to a specific game version, before blizzard screw everything like they did dozens of time?

Anyways I've played about the same quantity of time on battle.net and on the LAN using of own version of the game. Never we would have wanted our 1.07 or 1.09D caracters to become 1.10+ as it would screw everything. We weren't creating cheating software or hacking the network to bring our caracters on the net... Blizzard is taking the strategy: "We'll cut you all people one hand just in case you wonder if you should do it."

A hacker shall be a hacker, the player is now playing so he doesn't care...

 

[Guest]

Seriously ppl? who cares if it requires internet, i cant go a day without it anyway. Its pretty sad if in this day and age you still dont see the requirement for an internet connection. Single player sucked in that game, i mean how many people can honestly say they sat there and played single player for more than a few hours in the previous games anyway. Diablo is meant to be online, its meant to be enjoyed with friends, half the people bitching were prolly just gonna try and borrow a friends copy and play singleplayer anyway cause they were too cheap. I get paid to close to minimum wage and pay all my bills, and still have the budget for internet and will be picking this game up on release day. I feel for people out in the middle of no where that dont have a consistent connection but hey buddy, you obivously wanted to live in the woods. What i dont want is a bunch of duping and bugged items all over the place so if this somehow helps deter that than i am all for it. Go Blizzard!

 

[hetneo]

[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]
Yep, and they don't even have to release two versions, just give to players ability to chose what kind of SP they will play. If one wants to be able to play SP and MP with same character let them have option for their character to be stored on your server. But first of all let people chose that road. These type of thing is limiting people where and when they can play, that's not fair toward your customers.

 

[wildkitten]

[citation][nom]sad sad people[/nom]Seriously ppl? who cares if it requires internet, i cant go a day without it anyway. Its pretty sad if in this day and age you still dont see the requirement for an internet connection. Single player sucked in that game, i mean how many people can honestly say they sat there and played single player for more than a few hours in the previous games anyway. Diablo is meant to be online, its meant to be enjoyed with friends, half the people bitching were prolly just gonna try and borrow a friends copy and play singleplayer anyway cause they were too cheap. I get paid to close to minimum wage and pay all my bills, and still have the budget for internet and will be picking this game up on release day. I feel for people out in the middle of no where that dont have a consistent connection but hey buddy, you obivously wanted to live in the woods. What i dont want is a bunch of duping and bugged items all over the place so if this somehow helps deter that than i am all for it. Go Blizzard![/citation]
If that's what you believe, then you really don't know much about Dialo and the series.

Playing the single player component was always an incredible pasttime for many people. Yes, playing over battle.net is incredibly popular to, but that doesn't take away from the incredible single player experience.

What this move does take away is the ability to enjoy it where you want. And let's not forget the recent hacking of Sony's Playstation Network that caused their games that require online connections to be unplayable. If Blizzard is attacked, and considering the popularity of WoW and the seeming security holes on it's web site, it is a possibility, how long will Diablo 3 be unplayable for under such a circumstance.

The fact is this takes away choice. I never understood the defense people have for having FEWER options. Will it hurt you in any way to have a single player option in D3 like the first 2 had? No, it won't. Not to mention people are getting sick of being forced into the cloud.

 

[Marthian]

Its always online for WoW BECAUSE IT IS A ONLINE-ONLY GAME!! Diablo had the option of not going online for SP, it is NOT the same thing.

 

[brisingamen]

People need to realize the upside to a legitimized diablo 3 economy.

OK some some kid spends 600 dollars on windforce,
(yes windforce six months after diablo 2 came out was sold online for 600 dollars US.) and with more players and inflation i expect to see extremely rare items in diablo 3 go into the thousands as popularity increases and this is one reason blizzard needs to look at making the item generation system with literally a googol amount of possibilities. and expand on the rune skill customizeablitiy, thier was talk of dumming this down for the casual user but long term players will not be swayed by the later complexity. have the game start off with fewer options but i encourage as much diversity and elaboration on the customization of skills not just for playability and fun, but the integrity and longevity of the game to sustain a long term player base sustaining the economy. also blizzard should really work on the lowest taxes on this service to encourage as many people to play without restraint due to profit gouging. anyway

the larger the diablo 3 economy and the more people that play it regardless of you not having or selling the highest valued items does not matter because if the strength of the community is high, your other items of non value, now have some value albeit small,and then can be used to trade plus cash or purchase those things or find them yourself.

diablo 3 will be the greatest game. imagine you getting a check every month for 50 bucks, or more depending on time spent, all because your selling your spare stuff.

all because the economy allowed for someone to spent vast amounts of money in something that is connected to what your doing. allowing you part of those funds. the value of integration is not seen by some old school purists im afraid.

having the maximum amount of security to this economy will be required for any kind of long term economic stability. not to mention after long enough, a completely unconnected version will be released by hackers. and the lan groups and the pirates can be satisfied with that.

 

[Kamab]

At the end of the day, if you REALLY don't like it, don't buy it. You are always going to hear complaints from the vocal minority.

You always have the choice not to play the game. If you were looking forward to playing D3 single player from a remote location with no internet you probably belong to a small group that Blizzard does not care about. If it turns out to be a huge group, I'm sure they will adjust their development plan to meet business goals.

 

[michalmierzwa]

This news comes to me as a shock and in a way I am not surprised by the greed which comes from running WOW. Developers hope to cash in on the WOW craze with these online requirements. Fair enough, you do want to curb piracy, but for fcuk sake don't make single player using cloud! Who the hell would be using it if they can as easily play multiplayer! Its irrational.

You guys remember playing D2 over LAN's... how fun was that! Cheating is your personal choice not to be enforced upon BIG BROTHER. Just like drugs, cigarettes or alcohol. Imagine if you could only do it within specific boundaries, like only at home! I say WTF is wrong with Blizzard da Wizzard!

 

[michalmierzwa]

@gmoney549 , valid point. She is beautiful and you can do all things as you please... I've been a die-hard Diablo fan since '96, but all good things come to the end and there is always a new girl ;-) Her name is Skyrim LOL

 

[Seikent]

just let me choose "Want to play offline? warning: the character will not be allowed to be used online, do you wish to continue?".

 

[brisingamen]

i played diablo 2 LOD over the lan this week with level 88 chars now. i loved everything about diablo 2, however this new model will be superior. and the fact that it is integrated has no reason for spammers like a wow auction house. you can report spammers, have recipient options in chat, only allowing messages from desireable player, or window minimizers to detect spammers. so you can quickly sort through the lamezors vendors, just go to the auction house, your advertising and purchasing one stop shop.