Blizzard Responds to Diablo 3 "Online" Complaints

[whysobluepandabear]

[citation][nom]BluntObjection[/nom]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.[/citation]


Um, no. You're an idiot. You're not going to cap on this game, or run GB worth of data a month on it. It's equivalent to very light web browsing.

 

[whysobluepandabear]

[citation][nom]techguy911[/nom]Fact only 30% of the entire worlds population has internet.http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htmSo having an internet connection to play will prevent quite a few people from buying the game so what was blizzard thinking?[/citation]
Did you ever stop to think that maybe it's only 30%, because only 30% of the world even owns a computer to begin with? You can't have internet without a computer.


So, do a % on the people who actually own a computer, whom have internet, and you'll see that number A LOT higher.

Also, I'm pretty sure that number would be skewed in a lot of area (e.g. net cafes, people who share large WiFi networks and etc..)

 

[Guest]

Constant internet connection required for single player.. that sucks but the real beef I had was Blizzard holding off production for so long. They were not polishing the game content, they were figuring out how to milk the most money from the game. In house auctioning, with REAL money?? WTF kinda game is this... it makes it right because other people/companies did this with Diablo 2? So stupid.. There were some other beefs I had with them, but it Pi$$ed me off so much I pushed them out of my mind..

 

[ice919]

This is bullshit. They could have easily done an offline only mode along with a offline/online mode that requires a constant connection. They could have plainly explained the difference before you ever started. I know there are alot of people who will never play online and want it solely for the single player experience. There is absolutely no reason to require a constant internet connection. Torchlight 2 here I come.

 

[sp00]

I was looking forward to this game simply because I only wanted to play the single player experience. But requiring a online connection just to play single player is stupid. Just give us the option to create a single player character on the cloud or just create a single player character for the local PC only. Problem solved, the fact that they took that option out makes me question their motives.

 

[hetneo]

[citation][nom]brisingamen[/nom]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. anywaythe 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.[/citation]
I would like to buy Diablo 3 so that I would play it, only single player. And I want to play it at my place, on plane, on beach, on freaking Moon if I want because I payed for the game. Not so I could make possible for some South Korean nolifer to get rare item in multiplayer or to listen Blizzard's PR crap. Capiche?

 

[Guest]

Looks like I won't be buying this one. Starcraft 2 sucked anyway, major disappointment. Blizzard is a pretty useless company nowadays anyway. 1 release a year (usually an expansion for WOW) and they pull this crap. who cares anymore.

 

[Raidur]

WE AREN'T TALKING ABOUT MOVING OFFLINE CHARS TO B.NET. WE WANT OFFLINE CHARS TO BE ABLE TO PLAY WITH OTHER OFFLINE CHARS IN A LAN SETTING. JUST LIKE DIABLO II.

WERE WE MAD ABOUT DIABLO II???

BLIZZARD = CASH COW

 

[ericburnby]

I love it when the idiots get pissed off at something so trivial.

"I'm not going to buy Diable 3 just for this reason".

You know what? Go ahead and don't buy it. Who gives a f&*k? When D3 comes out it'll be a best seller with millions of people lining up to buy it. You whiners are in the minority and won't make a damn bit of difference with your "I'll show Blizzard - they won't get any of my money" attitude. You might as well call up McDonalds and tell them you decided to stop buying Big Macs. That'll teach them

 

[Guest]

Human nature is one of kind when it comes to whining about stuff.

Just admit it 98% of you who say "i am not gonna buy the game coz' i can't play it offline!!!1" will buy the damn game anyways =)

And besides you all whiners seem to get online just fine to write your crymore messages you can get online to play D3 too if you really want...

Just face it, not everything is always served the way you want it..

 

[wildkitten]

[citation][nom]Kamab[/nom]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.[/citation]
It's funny how the word 'choice' is used by people who don't like choice.

The fact is if D3 worked like the first 2 and players had the choice of playing a single player game without worrying about if the internet was available, it would affect people like you who wants to only play it with it connected to the internet.

Remember, it's people like you who supports the dumbing down of gaming by supporting developers DENYING choice, a choice that has always been available before, by forcing everyone onto a single, narrow path.

Of course I have a feeling you, and others like you, who want to ridicule people for wanting the same single player offline mode the first 2 had, will be the first to whine the moment your internet provider is down for a week o if Blizzard's network is hacked and the game is unplayable for several weeks because the server it connects to is down.

 

[wildkitten]

[citation][nom]ericburnby[/nom]I love it when the idiots get pissed off at something so trivial."I'm not going to buy Diable 3 just for this reason".You know what? Go ahead and don't buy it. Who gives a f&*k? When D3 comes out it'll be a best seller with millions of people lining up to buy it. You whiners are in the minority and won't make a damn bit of difference with your "I'll show Blizzard - they won't get any of my money" attitude. You might as well call up McDonalds and tell them you decided to stop buying Big Macs. That'll teach them[/citation]
I played World of Warcraft from launch until a few months ago. I am one of the nearly 1 million subscribers they lost because of inane decisions about game development. Many people said the same thing you said. "Oh if you leave it won't affect them" with a few choice obscenities thrown in like you tried to throw in in some failed attempt to sound like a big tough guy, when in fact it makes you sound like a whiner.

How about you go to Vivendi's shareholders and tell them losing a million subscribers for WoW doesn't hurt them, or the fact that the Guitar Hero franchise was destroyed because of bad business decisions. I am sure that reason and logic will go out the window and they will listen to you.

The fact is decisions like only being only playable online WILL affect them. Yes, the game will still be successful without mine and others dollars, but it will not be as successful and that will be noticed by the people who count the dollars.

 

[wildkitten]

[citation][nom]WhysoBluepandabear[/nom]Um, no. You're an idiot. You're not going to cap on this game, or run GB worth of data a month on it. It's equivalent to very light web browsing.[/citation]
That may be true where D3 is the only consideration. The problem is a LOT of games and other software are doing the same thing, requiring a constant, always on, internet connection. This in the day and age of providers putting in bandwidth caps. So while D3 alone won't get someone to cap, you combine it with other programs that needlessly need an internet connection to run and you see that takes a huge chunk of it, and for little reason.

And please explain your hatred for having an offline single player option. Did it somehow affect your ability to play Diablo or Diablo 2? If so please explain, because it seems that if it did include it, as the previous 2 did, you have the choice of not using it so it would not affect you in the least little bit but instead will make the umbrella larger for others to get under.

 

[f-14]

He went on to add that piracy and DRM really weren't a topic of conversation when discussing how the team wanted the connection to operate. Instead, they focused on the feature-set and storing the player character in the cloud.

"You're guaranteeing that there are no hacks, no dupes," he said. "All of these things were points of discussion, but the whole copy protection, piracy thing, that's not really entering into why we want to do it.

B.S. you can almost feel the puppet masters at activision dictating their wants and desires up thru this pinata's arse.
the single fact that LAN play was cut blows their whole argument and theories out of the water.
starcraft2 will never make it as long as the original has.
even with all the WOW'ing expansions online play is failing.
if anonymous wants to do some good, start displaying some real skill and intelligence and put out the hacks for private servers and ONLINE2LAN hacks.
oh wait, that's right they aren't hackers, just script kiddies.
LULZSEC on that.
instead these hackers will just hack blizzards user database for this very fact, they can't hack software for good, just for evil to make this guy eat his words

"You're guaranteeing that there are no hacks, no dupes," he said. "All of these things were points of discussion, but the whole copy protection, piracy thing, that's not really entering into why we want to do it.

if lulzsec really wanted respect and had a shred of noble intentions, they would have put out these hacks for starcraft already.
anon and lulz aren't and never will be worth more then the bullet that is allocated to pop thru their temples for being evil.

 

[dormantreign]

Skid Or Reload will figure away around that s.h.i..t. Theres always Titans Quest

 

[doorspawn]

First up, my opinion of Blizzard has gone from #1 to enemy #1 between WC3 and SC2 due to their complete reversal of caring for their customer.

However, there's something (quite off-topic) that I don't get.
What is it about a fixed-camera limited-player grid-map low-complexity RPG like D3 that is in any way superior to a MMORPG without those limitations, like WoW (not saying WoW is any good).

Is it just that you're tired of WoW? The lore / atmosphere? Or the dated graphics? Or is there something actually superior about the D3 format that I can't see?

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

^ Umm... LulzSec and Anonymous don't crack games. Other groups concentrate on that. Mentioning LulzSec and Anon in this discussion is irrelevant...

That may be true where D3 is the only consideration. The problem is a LOT of games and other software are doing the same thing, requiring a constant, always on, internet connection. This in the day and age of providers putting in bandwidth caps. So while D3 alone won't get someone to cap, you combine it with other programs that needlessly need an internet connection to run and you see that takes a huge chunk of it, and for little reason.

And please explain your hatred for having an offline single player option. Did it somehow affect your ability to play Diablo or Diablo 2? If so please explain, because it seems that if it did include it, as the previous 2 did, you have the choice of not using it so it would not affect you in the least little bit but instead will make the umbrella larger for others to get under.

Lol, thank you... another person who sees my POV about the subject.

And besides you all whiners seem to get online just fine to write your crymore messages you can get online to play D3 too if you really want...

Sure we do, but do you know how, when or for how long? And just because I'm connected to the net doesn't mean I want to connect to some dumbass online server to play my single-player. Hell, I should be able to play the game on the Moon, like somebody above said, if I want to!

So, it looks to me like the people who do not oppose this online BS:

1) like being connected to the Internet for no reason
2) will swallow whatever the game companies will give them without voicing the opinion of what they like or don't
3) like accusing others of piracy and "being cheap" instead of realising that not everyone is after online play instead of LAN
4) are in general ignorant fools who don't seem to know anything about what's going outside of their town... yes, we HAVE the internets in other countries, and we have gaming, just the two don't go well together; and by dismissing that, the game developers lose a lot of money...
5) refuse to understand that the "minority" who opposes the online BS isn't really a minority (just the rest of us will pirate or skip the game without even discussing anything, lol) and even if we would be, we'll still be smarter than you, because we actually try to understand the pros and cons of the new system...
6) probably have never had a good single-player game experience since they're so eager to get online...
7) are made up of WoW players by more than 70%, who obviously cannot even imagine any game without online (most likely, they are sure that WoW only works online, lol!)

You can't have internet without a computer.

Tablet, PDA, smartphone, netbook, weak non-gaming PC, Internet cafe... do I need to continue? (Wow, that's actually scary, lol.. the internet has infiltrated too many devices xD)

They were not polishing the game content, they were figuring out how to milk the most money from the game. In house auctioning, with REAL money?? WTF kinda game is this...

I know, huh? Pathetic, shelling out real money for virtual possessions. Kinda applies to buying the game itself, too... but that's alright, as long as it's the game or the good DLCs... but to actually buy in-game items for real money? Shows where this world is going - while some people struggle to find a job, others have enough money to waste them on virtual equipment Keep on, folks, this is entertaining, I wanna see just how ignorant and stupid this can get before the next degeneration step, when investing real money will be the only source of in-game money...

 

[whysobluepandabear]

[citation][nom]wildkitten[/nom]That may be true where D3 is the only consideration. The problem is a LOT of games and other software are doing the same thing, requiring a constant, always on, internet connection. This in the day and age of providers putting in bandwidth caps. So while D3 alone won't get someone to cap, you combine it with other programs that needlessly need an internet connection to run and you see that takes a huge chunk of it, and for little reason.And please explain your hatred for having an offline single player option. Did it somehow affect your ability to play Diablo or Diablo 2? If so please explain, because it seems that if it did include it, as the previous 2 did, you have the choice of not using it so it would not affect you in the least little bit but instead will make the umbrella larger for others to get under.[/citation]


I would suggest that if you're concerned about data capping, that maybe you stop downloading HD porn, and maybe use HD porn as a once-a-week treat.

Trust me, Blizzard isn't dumb enough to screw people over with data-caps. They know that if it crippled a significant amount of their consumer base, that it'd cost them a lot.

I have no hatred, I just have a sensible, reasonable mindset regarding the whole thing. It doesn't effect me whatsoever - my internet is always on, and I'm not some hippie who sits down on a marry go-round at the park, and try to play Diablo by myself.


Internet is about as common as a water faucet in a house. If you live in the sticks without high-speed internet, than your life already sucks, so D3 is just another slap, after the already 99 you've received daily for not being able to truly enjoy all that the internet has to offer.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

I have no hatred, I just have a sensible, reasonable mindset regarding the whole thing. It doesn't effect me whatsoever - my internet is always on, and I'm not some hippie who sits down on a marry go-round at the park, and try to play Diablo by myself.


Internet is about as common as a water faucet in a house. If you live in the sticks without high-speed internet, than your life already sucks, so D3 is just another slap, after the already 99 you've received daily for not being able to truly enjoy all that the internet has to offer.

Contradicting paragraphs, man. Not having the Internet connection doesn't make your life worse. On the contrary, sometimes you find more stuff to do IRL That just confirms my previous post about ignorance:

So, it looks to me like the people who do not oppose this online BS: 4) are in general ignorant fools who don't seem to know anything about what's going outside of their town... yes, we HAVE the internets in other countries, and we have gaming, just the two don't go well together; and by dismissing that, the game developers lose a lot of money...

I'm not some hippie who sits down on a marry go-round at the park, and try to play Diablo by myself.

Lol, hippies don't play violent games, it opposes their crappy mindset. But people with gaming laptops do... LAN parties, travelling (once had to wait in an airport for 8 hours... had a great WC3/Soulstorm/NWN session), etc. And before you say that "game developers don't care about the minority", this isn't just NOT CARING, this is DISMISSING.

 

[wildkitten]

[citation][nom]WhysoBluepandabear[/nom]I would suggest that if you're concerned about data capping, that maybe you stop downloading HD porn, and maybe use HD porn as a once-a-week treat. Trust me, Blizzard isn't dumb enough to screw people over with data-caps. They know that if it crippled a significant amount of their consumer base, that it'd cost them a lot. I have no hatred, I just have a sensible, reasonable mindset regarding the whole thing. It doesn't effect me whatsoever - my internet is always on, and I'm not some hippie who sits down on a marry go-round at the park, and try to play Diablo by myself. Internet is about as common as a water faucet in a house. If you live in the sticks without high-speed internet, than your life already sucks, so D3 is just another slap, after the already 99 you've received daily for not being able to truly enjoy all that the internet has to offer.[/citation]
You can throw out all the 'porn" insults you want. Fact is there is no reason to not have an offline single player option the way the first 2 did.

And you trust Blizzard not to screw over people? May i refer you to Real ID. Because of this Blizzard will make World of Warcraft the first pay-to-PAY-to-play MMO. That's right, if you want to make use of everything in the game client you have to pay above and beyond the monthly fee for extra premium services. Not to mention look at Starcraft 2's map pack store that was mentioned (although apparently hasn't happened yet).

Fact is Blizzard has made distinct changes for the worse since Bobby Kotic was named CEO of Activision Blizzard by Vivendi. The fact that they no longer care about their customers is one reason nearly 1 million subscribers have abandoned WoW in only 6 months.

And while the internet may be common, it is no where near as reliable as water service. Maintenance, weather, and other service interruptions are pretty common. And of you course you conveniently ignored the point about if Blizzard's network is hacked (a distinct possibility considering it's glaring weaknesses) that means people could possibly not be able to play D3 for weeks the way some Sony Playstation Network subscribers were unable to play some of their games.

And you still don't say HOW having an offline option for single player mode will affect you adversely? How about stopping with the childish insults and actually engage in a reasoned conversation. Because it's not just about data caps, though that is part of it, it's also about being able to play where and when someone wants with a game they paid their hard earned money for.

Sorry, but the more things go to the "cloud", the fewer choices we the consumers have.

 

[doorspawn]

[citation][nom]WhysoBluepandabear[/nom]I have no hatred, I just have a sensible, reasonable mindset regarding the whole thing. It doesn't effect me whatsoever - my internet is always on, and I'm not some hippie who sits down on a marry go-round at the park, and try to play Diablo by myself. Internet is about as common as a water faucet in a house. If you live in the sticks without high-speed internet, than your life already sucks, so D3 is just another slap, after the already 99 you've received daily for not being able to truly enjoy all that the internet has to offer.[/citation]

How many times, just in this topic, have people stated that Internet access isn't as common as most people think, and reliable access yet less so again. Are you forgetting people live in other countries?

Dismissing an argument because it's simply not relevant to you does not make you reasonable - it makes you either selfish or stupid.

(Apologies to wildkitten, I downvoted trying to upvote)

 

[whysobluepandabear]

[citation][nom]amk-aka-phantom[/nom]Contradicting paragraphs, man. Not having the Internet connection doesn't make your life worse. On the contrary, sometimes you find more stuff to do IRL That just confirms my previous post about ignorance:Lol, hippies don't play violent games, it opposes their crappy mindset. But people with gaming laptops do... LAN parties, travelling (once had to wait in an airport for 8 hours... had a great WC3/Soulstorm/NWN session), etc. And before you say that "game developers don't care about the minority", this isn't just NOT CARING, this is DISMISSING.[/citation]

If you have a computer with no internet, you fail. It's like driving a Corvette and only running 2 cylinders instead of all 8.


You also assume you have to choose between internet, and having a life. Why stop at the internet though? Hell, if we didn't have houses and all lived in a giant hut we'd find more productive, social things to do. Same can be said for cellphone and EVERY other piece of technology we enjoy.

Being on the internet IS real life. It's intertwined into our entire society at this point.


So yeah, I fail to see how it's contradictory at all - your life indeed DOES suck if you have a computer without internet; besides the entire: living so far in the sticks you couldn't get it if you wanted to, fact.


You honestly take too many points too seriously. The entire "hippie" part wasn't intended to be put under a magnifying glass to check for the validity. It was a figure of speech to describe the weird people who try gaming in parks and etc. Even at that, you can still have wireless internet - so of course the statement wasn't being literal.


I'd dismiss you dumbasses too. Can you blame them? They can't cater to EVERYONE - someone has to lose out and be unhappy. It just so happens to be you this time.

 

[whysobluepandabear]

[citation][nom]doorspawn[/nom]How many times, just in this topic, have people stated that Internet access isn't as common as most people think, and reliable access yet less so again. Are you forgetting people live in other countries?Dismissing an argument because it's simply not relevant to you does not make you reasonable - it makes you either selfish or stupid.(Apologies to wildkitten, I downvoted trying to upvote)[/citation]


Should we also cater to people who only have Pentium 2, Compaq computers?

What about those who still have Windows 98?


Yeah, you'd say FUCK NO to those people.

Just like Blizzard is saying FUCK NO to you people without internet.


A small minority of people have bad computers, JUST like a small minority of people have no internet access. We can't cater to everyone. Sucks to be you.

 

[doorspawn]

A small majority have poor internet access - enough to cause issues with permanent connections. Yes, that's right, a majority. A small majority, even, of those that can afford D3 have poor internet.

And I see you assume I am one. No, I have fine broadband (when not taking the train to work).

Reality != your version of it.
You are selfish, petty and clueless.

 

[whysobluepandabear]

[citation][nom]wildkitten[/nom]You can throw out all the 'porn" insults you want. Fact is there is no reason to not have an offline single player option the way the first 2 did.And you trust Blizzard not to screw over people? May i refer you to Real ID. Because of this Blizzard will make World of Warcraft the first pay-to-PAY-to-play MMO. That's right, if you want to make use of everything in the game client you have to pay above and beyond the monthly fee for extra premium services. Not to mention look at Starcraft 2's map pack store that was mentioned (although apparently hasn't happened yet).Fact is Blizzard has made distinct changes for the worse since Bobby Kotic was named CEO of Activision Blizzard by Vivendi. The fact that they no longer care about their customers is one reason nearly 1 million subscribers have abandoned WoW in only 6 months.And while the internet may be common, it is no where near as reliable as water service. Maintenance, weather, and other service interruptions are pretty common. And of you course you conveniently ignored the point about if Blizzard's network is hacked (a distinct possibility considering it's glaring weaknesses) that means people could possibly not be able to play D3 for weeks the way some Sony Playstation Network subscribers were unable to play some of their games.And you still don't say HOW having an offline option for single player mode will affect you adversely? How about stopping with the childish insults and actually engage in a reasoned conversation. Because it's not just about data caps, though that is part of it, it's also about being able to play where and when someone wants with a game they paid their hard earned money for.Sorry, but the more things go to the "cloud", the fewer choices we the consumers have.[/citation]
You can play WHERE and WHEN you want - you just need internet. That's YOUR problem if you can't obtain it. Just like it's YOUR problem if your GPU isn't powerful enough to run the game.

The first 2 games also were from a completely different era of the internet. First, they both were released when the internet was just gaining large traction, and second, most people have AOL dial-up.

We just so happen to live in the age of high-speed internet being $30 or less per month, and it being available to MOST people.


Want to know how it'll affect me? Cheaters. Yeah, some people like the idea of using a cloud as a way to stop a lot of cheating - AND PLEASE, I KNOW YOU WERE READY TO BUST OUT THIS LINE "LAWL, THE CLOUD WON'T STOP CHEATERS - THEY'LL JUST BREAK AND HACK THROUGH IT".

On the contrary, It'll stop A LOT of cheating. Not ALL of it. The AH would go to shit if people could just spawn a bunch of rare items.


A lot of you remind me of how old people are - unable to keep up with the times, and willingly reject progression. You expect everything to stay the way it was; even when out numbered by those whom want change.


The future of gaming is going to be online. We've already begun this with our phones, and likewise, we'll do it with more and more things in our lives. If you can't keep up, tough luck - because honestly, asking for a semi-stable, decent speed internet connection in 2011, isn't asking very much.