Jimquisition: You Should Be Mad at Diablo III's Always Online DRM
- Thread starter Jimothy Sterling
- Start date
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OK I do feel that the "cheater" problem with single player games which cannot be transfered to multiplayer... yeah... non issue.
You shouldn't need to be online to play on single player... you could be connected however it's not essential. However needing to be connected when playing online.. I think that is far, however I also think they are fucking morons for not being able to count... we have XXX servers and XXXXXXXXX people and if X server can only handle XXX people... we may have a lack of servers...
ddddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerp
You shouldn't need to be online to play on single player... you could be connected however it's not essential. However needing to be connected when playing online.. I think that is far, however I also think they are fucking morons for not being able to count... we have XXX servers and XXXXXXXXX people and if X server can only handle XXX people... we may have a lack of servers...
ddddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerp
Wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong Jim.
You are wrong because no one forced games to go out and buy this game. You are wrong because this was long announced before the game released, people knew this was the way it was going to be. So they knew this, dropped 60 bucks, and now whine because they bought a product without doing the research, without remembering what's been said about the game since it was announced... that is ONLINE ONLY. if you don't want ONLINE ONLY don't buy it. The entitled pricks are the ones who buy it and expect something they were told that they WERE NOT going to get.
Edit: I've had it since beta, I installed it before it went live, i was in and playing within an hour of release and you know what. i was happy that I could log in and play with other people who weren't hackers, dupers, assholes, farmers etc. I was happy that I can play in a random group with random people and know that they got their gear legitimately. I'm happy with my purchase, i'm happy with the game and I like always on DRM. I like support from one of the greatest developers of all time.
You are wrong because no one forced games to go out and buy this game. You are wrong because this was long announced before the game released, people knew this was the way it was going to be. So they knew this, dropped 60 bucks, and now whine because they bought a product without doing the research, without remembering what's been said about the game since it was announced... that is ONLINE ONLY. if you don't want ONLINE ONLY don't buy it. The entitled pricks are the ones who buy it and expect something they were told that they WERE NOT going to get.
Edit: I've had it since beta, I installed it before it went live, i was in and playing within an hour of release and you know what. i was happy that I could log in and play with other people who weren't hackers, dupers, assholes, farmers etc. I was happy that I can play in a random group with random people and know that they got their gear legitimately. I'm happy with my purchase, i'm happy with the game and I like always on DRM. I like support from one of the greatest developers of all time.
Complaining about D3 is fine and complaining about server issues is fine, but Blizzard doesn't owe us any more than they are providing. We pay for a license to play, but we're not guaranteed 100% availability - that's impossible to provide, even for something like Google. Launches have problems, and the 24 hours of hell that was May 15 was a reasonable failure. Approximately half of the first 24 hours the game was available to play, and in the first week it's been available roughly 80-90% of the time. There is some lag and other issues, but the game's new. If you bought the game, you have years to play it without any additional cost. If you can't handle launch problems, then simply buy the game a week or two after launch.
Sorry, I'm having a hard time keeping up with what you're saying over D3's current 8 hour downtime...for a single-player game.vileguy said:
I actually was forced by friends to get Diablo III.
Anti-consumer stupidity is everywhere. The servers are now down for 8 hours, just like that - what, I'm euro? Well my friends aren't, so I have to play on the US servers. Which I didn't know existed, since it's hidden in the options menu, forcing me to restart over.
Since server transfers don't exist, likely due to the AH nonsense.
Compare this to GW2. A feature to play on other servers is part of the game. Playing with american friends is a non issue. THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD ACT IN 2012.
Always online for games like this is nonsense, plain and simple. No option to play with your character with anyone is nonsense, too. Why the heck can I not have one character and play with americans AND europeans?
The entire thing is terrible. If I had known it was THIS bad, I'd not have bought it even with friends. I'd have waited for GW2 for that. Foolish, foolish me. Seems Blizzard joins the list of developers to avoid. Bioware, EA and Ubisoft are already on it.
Anti-consumer stupidity is everywhere. The servers are now down for 8 hours, just like that - what, I'm euro? Well my friends aren't, so I have to play on the US servers. Which I didn't know existed, since it's hidden in the options menu, forcing me to restart over.
Since server transfers don't exist, likely due to the AH nonsense.
Compare this to GW2. A feature to play on other servers is part of the game. Playing with american friends is a non issue. THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD ACT IN 2012.
Always online for games like this is nonsense, plain and simple. No option to play with your character with anyone is nonsense, too. Why the heck can I not have one character and play with americans AND europeans?
The entire thing is terrible. If I had known it was THIS bad, I'd not have bought it even with friends. I'd have waited for GW2 for that. Foolish, foolish me. Seems Blizzard joins the list of developers to avoid. Bioware, EA and Ubisoft are already on it.
Exactly.
Here is what I see on both sides of the coin.
(TL
R Browsers - See the bottom of the post)
Cry-Baby #1
"WAAHH, I can't play because there's no option for offline mode!"
"I paid for this game with hard earned money and I deserve to play it whenever I want, however I want!"
Cry-Baby #2
"Online is the answer to hackers, cheaters, dupers. So shut up and play!"
"And your banking account which has more money in it is directly connected to Blizzard, and this is their answer for your protection!"
Ok, seriously. Both sides have legitimate arguments for a debate. But quit all of your belly-aching and whining. I don't care what side of the coin your on and lets actually break this down.
Offline Play complainers.
IF YOU WERE BLIZZARD, How would you make it OFFLINE AVAILABLE?
- First of all, the Character Information would have to be stored locally on the computer. So your first step would be to somehow encrypt the player files, to prevent hackers from finding ways to cheat the system. This means, being able to identify when a HEX-Code Editor has been used on the file or other similar means.
- HOWEVER, preventing Character Hacks would ONLY come into play when the character goes ONLINE. So now the real problem for the original question comes into play. What can BLIZZARD do to identify what character files have been hacked or not when the character is registered to be played online?
My Answer:
OFFLINE Play would be made available by having the player CHOOSE during CHARACTER CREATION whether the Character is OFFLINE or ONLINE. Now, in order to SELECT "Online" the player MUST be ONLINE at the time, AND LOGGED INTO BATTLE.NET. What this will then do is your ONLINE Character Files would then be SAVED on the BLIZZARD Servers. This way there is NO possibility for an OFFLINE character to go ONLINE. Hackers, Cheaters, and Modders can all then enjoy what it is they do, to OFFLINE characters. But when it comes to utilizing ANYTHING that requires the internet, you have to go through your ONLINE account.
I have systematically SOLVED BOTH ISSUES.
"BUT I WANNA USE MY OFFLINE LVL 69 CHARACTER, ONLINE!" - Random Crybaby.
Look, if that were possible than you might as well say Good Bye to BOTH auction houses, and if anyone out there was planning on trying to make any real income from the RMAH. Sorry, You are now shit-out-of-luck because of this Random Crybaby.
Look by allowing Character Files that will eventually be hacked, cracked, and modded to go online and utilize the Online Functions. You are essentially allowing the dishonest people in the world to flood the online community with the "Best" End Game Equipment, Gold, Forging Items, etc. We would all be pissing Gold by the MILLIONS within a week. While this may be what some out there want, I'm willing to bet a GREAT deal more do NOT want that.
I've been anticipating this game just as long as everyone else who grew up playing Diablo 1, Hellfire, Diablo 2 & Lord of Destruction. To the guys who are already walking around with maxed out characters, congratulations! You just spent 1 - 1.5 weeks playing a game that took 12 YEARS to produce. I hope you enjoyed it. Because by MY MATH, if the Diablo Series continues down this same release pattern, Diablo 4 won't be released until ... 2040? Hope you enjoyed the game!
So Online play with Offline Characters is just not possible. HOWEVER, and this idea did just occur to me now, When a Character is selected to be an Offline Character, they get the option to be played via LAN with Family and Friends. Making it "Possible" to experience that "Multi-Player" Feeling without "tainting" the Online Community. Because Online Characters would not need to be made available for LAN, since those Character Files are kept on the Blizzard Servers. AND Since the Offline Character Files are saved locally on the machine, there's no need for further "protection" against such possibilities.
Now about the Online Community. Ok, yes you guys are correct when you talk about how the "Always Online DRM" is for your (As in you, the consumer's) protection. Especially when you start talking about the Real Money Auction House. I don't like my Credit Card attached to websites. I usually use Cash Cards, that I have to refill. This way if the Website/Servers get hacked, there's no connection between that website or server and my banking account. I don't even have my information on my PS3, I just buy PSN Gift Cards and call it good. So, believe me when I say, yes. I understand the need for the "protection". But here's something for you to wrap your "fragile wittle minds" around.
Gold Auction House. When Playing with your Online Character, EVERYONE has the option to use the Gold Auction House. Using the In-Game Gold as the means to buy and sell items in an Auction House. HOWEVER, only those accounts who have AUTHENTICATORS attached to them can access the Real Money Auction House. The purpose for this is two-fold. First of all, when you go to post an item in the Auction House OR purchase an item, it will ask you to CONFIRM YOUR ACCOUNT by entering in your Authenticator Code. This ensures that NO ONE ELSE can have access to the REAL WORLD Money you have uploaded into your account EXCEPT YOU! Second, When transferring the funds To or From your Blizzard Account, you have to yet again, enter in you Authenticator Code. Now, If the Diablo 3 Servers get hacked, No One can use the money you have uploaded to your account in the Auction House AND They can not transfer the money to some other account, stealing your money from you, because YOU have your Authenticator.
"But Authenticators cost money!"
Yes and No. If you think $4.99 (or is it $7.99...) is too much money to be spending for more than enough sufficient protection, then you are dumber than my rock collection. First of all, to those with Smartphones, the Blizzard Authenticator is FREE. F. R. Double-E, FREE. Or you can get the Key Chain, doesn't matter. Especially when you start looking at what the FEES are for USING the RMAH.
FEE: $1.00 (USD) to POST Equipment
FEE: $1.00 (USD) IF the Equipment Sells
FEE: 15% of Sell Price for Non-Equipment Items
FEE: 15% of Total Money Transferred to a Checking Institution
This means that for you to make ANY profit off of Equipment, It HAS to be sold at a MINIMUM of $2.01. And you will make a penny profit (literally). And 15%... For EVERY DOLLAR you put up, Blizzard gets 15 Cents of that, giving you an 85 cent profit. And then, to Transfer that 85 cents to your Checking Account they will take another 13 (12.75) cents, putting 72 cents into your account. FURTHERMORE, If this becomes a Source of Income, these Fee's that you've paid to Blizzard, do NOT count towards paying your State and Federal Taxes. So now you've lost even more money out of that $1.00 Non-Equipment Sell.
So if my math stands correct, you most likely will not see anything in the RMAH for less than $3.00, which is basically the price of the Key Chain Authenticator to begin with. If FREE is just too hard for you to get. (Some people don't have Smartphones, so the Key Chain version is perfectly suitable as a substitute.)
Now you can have those who want to play the game Offline or via LAN, those who want to hack and crack and mod the game. And Online Players, but who choose not to use the RMAH. Or those who choose to play Online and use the RMAH. And everyone can QUIT whining, and let me get back to playing the game!
:::::::::::::::::::::
TLR Browsers,
Offline Character Save Files should be saved locally on the Machine and are only available to be played Offline or via LAN Connections.
Online Character Save Files are saved on the Blizzard Servers, and only the Online Characters can access both versions of the Auction House, with those who want to use the Real Money Auction House only being those accounts who have an Authenticator attached to their account.
(TL
R Browsers - See the bottom of the post)Cry-Baby #1
"WAAHH, I can't play because there's no option for offline mode!"
"I paid for this game with hard earned money and I deserve to play it whenever I want, however I want!"
Cry-Baby #2
"Online is the answer to hackers, cheaters, dupers. So shut up and play!"
"And your banking account which has more money in it is directly connected to Blizzard, and this is their answer for your protection!"
Ok, seriously. Both sides have legitimate arguments for a debate. But quit all of your belly-aching and whining. I don't care what side of the coin your on and lets actually break this down.
Offline Play complainers.
IF YOU WERE BLIZZARD, How would you make it OFFLINE AVAILABLE?
- First of all, the Character Information would have to be stored locally on the computer. So your first step would be to somehow encrypt the player files, to prevent hackers from finding ways to cheat the system. This means, being able to identify when a HEX-Code Editor has been used on the file or other similar means.
- HOWEVER, preventing Character Hacks would ONLY come into play when the character goes ONLINE. So now the real problem for the original question comes into play. What can BLIZZARD do to identify what character files have been hacked or not when the character is registered to be played online?
My Answer:
OFFLINE Play would be made available by having the player CHOOSE during CHARACTER CREATION whether the Character is OFFLINE or ONLINE. Now, in order to SELECT "Online" the player MUST be ONLINE at the time, AND LOGGED INTO BATTLE.NET. What this will then do is your ONLINE Character Files would then be SAVED on the BLIZZARD Servers. This way there is NO possibility for an OFFLINE character to go ONLINE. Hackers, Cheaters, and Modders can all then enjoy what it is they do, to OFFLINE characters. But when it comes to utilizing ANYTHING that requires the internet, you have to go through your ONLINE account.
I have systematically SOLVED BOTH ISSUES.
"BUT I WANNA USE MY OFFLINE LVL 69 CHARACTER, ONLINE!" - Random Crybaby.
Look, if that were possible than you might as well say Good Bye to BOTH auction houses, and if anyone out there was planning on trying to make any real income from the RMAH. Sorry, You are now shit-out-of-luck because of this Random Crybaby.
Look by allowing Character Files that will eventually be hacked, cracked, and modded to go online and utilize the Online Functions. You are essentially allowing the dishonest people in the world to flood the online community with the "Best" End Game Equipment, Gold, Forging Items, etc. We would all be pissing Gold by the MILLIONS within a week. While this may be what some out there want, I'm willing to bet a GREAT deal more do NOT want that.
I've been anticipating this game just as long as everyone else who grew up playing Diablo 1, Hellfire, Diablo 2 & Lord of Destruction. To the guys who are already walking around with maxed out characters, congratulations! You just spent 1 - 1.5 weeks playing a game that took 12 YEARS to produce. I hope you enjoyed it. Because by MY MATH, if the Diablo Series continues down this same release pattern, Diablo 4 won't be released until ... 2040? Hope you enjoyed the game!
So Online play with Offline Characters is just not possible. HOWEVER, and this idea did just occur to me now, When a Character is selected to be an Offline Character, they get the option to be played via LAN with Family and Friends. Making it "Possible" to experience that "Multi-Player" Feeling without "tainting" the Online Community. Because Online Characters would not need to be made available for LAN, since those Character Files are kept on the Blizzard Servers. AND Since the Offline Character Files are saved locally on the machine, there's no need for further "protection" against such possibilities.
Now about the Online Community. Ok, yes you guys are correct when you talk about how the "Always Online DRM" is for your (As in you, the consumer's) protection. Especially when you start talking about the Real Money Auction House. I don't like my Credit Card attached to websites. I usually use Cash Cards, that I have to refill. This way if the Website/Servers get hacked, there's no connection between that website or server and my banking account. I don't even have my information on my PS3, I just buy PSN Gift Cards and call it good. So, believe me when I say, yes. I understand the need for the "protection". But here's something for you to wrap your "fragile wittle minds" around.
Gold Auction House. When Playing with your Online Character, EVERYONE has the option to use the Gold Auction House. Using the In-Game Gold as the means to buy and sell items in an Auction House. HOWEVER, only those accounts who have AUTHENTICATORS attached to them can access the Real Money Auction House. The purpose for this is two-fold. First of all, when you go to post an item in the Auction House OR purchase an item, it will ask you to CONFIRM YOUR ACCOUNT by entering in your Authenticator Code. This ensures that NO ONE ELSE can have access to the REAL WORLD Money you have uploaded into your account EXCEPT YOU! Second, When transferring the funds To or From your Blizzard Account, you have to yet again, enter in you Authenticator Code. Now, If the Diablo 3 Servers get hacked, No One can use the money you have uploaded to your account in the Auction House AND They can not transfer the money to some other account, stealing your money from you, because YOU have your Authenticator.
"But Authenticators cost money!"
Yes and No. If you think $4.99 (or is it $7.99...) is too much money to be spending for more than enough sufficient protection, then you are dumber than my rock collection. First of all, to those with Smartphones, the Blizzard Authenticator is FREE. F. R. Double-E, FREE. Or you can get the Key Chain, doesn't matter. Especially when you start looking at what the FEES are for USING the RMAH.
FEE: $1.00 (USD) to POST Equipment
FEE: $1.00 (USD) IF the Equipment Sells
FEE: 15% of Sell Price for Non-Equipment Items
FEE: 15% of Total Money Transferred to a Checking Institution
This means that for you to make ANY profit off of Equipment, It HAS to be sold at a MINIMUM of $2.01. And you will make a penny profit (literally). And 15%... For EVERY DOLLAR you put up, Blizzard gets 15 Cents of that, giving you an 85 cent profit. And then, to Transfer that 85 cents to your Checking Account they will take another 13 (12.75) cents, putting 72 cents into your account. FURTHERMORE, If this becomes a Source of Income, these Fee's that you've paid to Blizzard, do NOT count towards paying your State and Federal Taxes. So now you've lost even more money out of that $1.00 Non-Equipment Sell.
So if my math stands correct, you most likely will not see anything in the RMAH for less than $3.00, which is basically the price of the Key Chain Authenticator to begin with. If FREE is just too hard for you to get. (Some people don't have Smartphones, so the Key Chain version is perfectly suitable as a substitute.)
Now you can have those who want to play the game Offline or via LAN, those who want to hack and crack and mod the game. And Online Players, but who choose not to use the RMAH. Or those who choose to play Online and use the RMAH. And everyone can QUIT whining, and let me get back to playing the game!
:::::::::::::::::::::
TL
R Browsers, Offline Character Save Files should be saved locally on the Machine and are only available to be played Offline or via LAN Connections.
Online Character Save Files are saved on the Blizzard Servers, and only the Online Characters can access both versions of the Auction House, with those who want to use the Real Money Auction House only being those accounts who have an Authenticator attached to their account.
Jim is right and you are wrong. Sure, we bought the game, but that doesnt excuse it of not working right. Consumer rights don't end at purchase.Digitaldreamer7 said:
I also play a demon hunter like Jim, and latency issues with her are a goddamn pain in the ass. Especially the tumble ability is seriously affected by it. I get stuck in walls or enemies or she simply rolls back to the starting location.
"its not a singleplayer game"
but i have played diablo always as a singleplayer game and was damn happy with it. My question would be, why o why dont they have the same system as in diablo 2 were you could play offline, but didn´t have access to battle.net with those offline characters? (before anyone brings it up, yes... i know there is an seperated open network for those offline characters)
The simple answer to that would be: Money, cause everyone who has characters locked out of the online part of the game would be a potential lost customer for their auction house. While i kinda learned to live with the idea of an real money auction house, i really hate it, when money grabbing fools not only prevent players from playing, but also shut out all diablo fans who dont have an internet connection (or a bad one, or limited use, ...).
but i have played diablo always as a singleplayer game and was damn happy with it. My question would be, why o why dont they have the same system as in diablo 2 were you could play offline, but didn´t have access to battle.net with those offline characters? (before anyone brings it up, yes... i know there is an seperated open network for those offline characters)
The simple answer to that would be: Money, cause everyone who has characters locked out of the online part of the game would be a potential lost customer for their auction house. While i kinda learned to live with the idea of an real money auction house, i really hate it, when money grabbing fools not only prevent players from playing, but also shut out all diablo fans who dont have an internet connection (or a bad one, or limited use, ...).
Yeah, and I believe it would solve MOST of the complaints people are having with the game.lapan said:
As for the "Region-Lock" ... Guild Wars solved that issue back in 2000. So whatever they did to make the game "Non-Region-Locked" ... What's taking the rest of the world so long to catch up?
EC said basically the same thing in their episode on this topic a while back. Blizzard could very easily have implemented a separate offline single player for Diablo 3 (a la Diablo 2), but they simply chose not to, and that decision is fucking retarded whichever way you look at it.lapan said:
RazadaMk2 said:
The ignorance in these posts is frightening quite honestly, whilst I understand you all have your professional opinion to share on the matter you're still quite wrong.PingoBlack said:
The game is online only to support it's real money auction house scheme, that's it. The cost of having that one feature in the game is that players regardless of intent have to play with a stable and secure connection.
This is wrong, a single player game has no need of an auction house at all and certainly no use for a real money auction house.
This is why people are pissed, for a feature nobody asked for people are now suffering and can't play the game offline.
There is no sense in that decision at all.
The biggest mistake that Blizzard made with Diablo III was adding a solo-play option to it. It is a nice idea for people who don't want to group up but at the same time it is a bad idea for a game that is always online. Blizzard should have made Diablo III multiplayer only right from the start. Yes, it would have made people angry. It would justify why Diablo III would need to be always online. That is just my opinion on the matter.
The closed battlenet was mostly hack free, besides maybe map hacks, but even those users were regulary banned. And as recently seen not even diablo 3 is save from hacks.RazadaMk2 said:
Not every country has a perfectly stable internet connection. Even large parts of america have horrible internet service. Many people use their laptops too, and wifi networks aren't always 100% reliable.
And even if they were, blizzard themselves can't keep up with the traffic either way and a large part of the latency issues is on their side.
Mmmmmh idk... It shouldn't be there, and everyone is right to complain about it being there, but those that bought it kinda lose a bit of complaining power in my eyes =p. In most cases it would be considered too late to complain about the taste once you've already swallowed the shit. My friend works in a resturant, and he'd never give out a new steak someone claims is "too red" after they already ate the damn thing!
GOD how it pisses me off that BF3 doesn't allow for offline singleplayer or MUCH MORE IMPORTANT, LAN... Wtf?! I was so looking forward to playing some LAN games on BF3 with my friends, it's always loads more fun to shoot your friends in the face rather than random people, so why can't I do this without finding a random empty server and HOPING that nobody else comes in to join us? ... And the best part about LAN in the past is that your statistics remain unaffected regardless so you may fool around without feeling like your letting your K/D down X3.rembrandtqeinstein said:
The problem here is that people ARE entitled.
Gamers are entitled to buy a game, especially at $60 American, that WORKS ALL OF THE TIME. And we're not talking about bugs. We're not talking about flawed coding in the game. We're talking about a game which is periodically UNAVAILABLE FOR PLAYING AT ALL because the servers are down. Or overloaded. Or being inundated with angry messages by from people who've bought the game and don't like what they're finding.
But that's the point. These are things Blizzard had a LONG damn time to find solutions to. They didn't. They didn't prepare for any of it, despite knowing full-well what can happen when you do this and how popular the franchise is.
If they're forcing players to be playing online, all the time, then the least they should fucking do is ensure that their game works -as well as- their MMO. Again, we're talking 'IS ACTUALLY PLAYABLE' here. Not 'WORKS FLAWLESSLY'. Or better yet, here's a novel idea, how about just silently swapping all the information over to ANOTHER SERVER when there's maintenance and letting people PLAY YOUR GAME!
Blizzard, honestly. You have fans literally BEGGING you to let them throw their money at you. Have you really become so rich and bloated as to think your current wealth means you're immune to bad decisions? I know you've got WoW going for you now, but... honestly... don't go shooting yourselves in the foot. You may very well need more than just your MMO to stand on. If people lose confidence in amazing games like Diablo and Starcraft, you're going to lose a lot of money to other game studios who will actually give players what they want.
I bought Diablo 3 on the principle of customer loyalty. When I can play it, you guys... it's great. It's amazingly fun. I'm not entirely sold on the lack of real, proper skill trees... but I think what you've done is interesting. I'm glad to see you changing up the formula a little. Except for the lack of basic attacks being useful. That blows. Hard.
Oh, and the fact that normal non-magical items are all worthless. That's wonderful. Then why have them at all? They're supposed to be for filling empty equipment slots and selling. You've made selling them pointless. So now the only reason to have them there is to make me accidentally pick them up and waste time tossing them out again.
Not cool. But it doesn't matter. The point is...
Always Online is nonsense. It's unnecessarily preventing a massive portion of your target audience from being able to play the game you made. Worse, it's actually preventing the people WHO DID BUY YOUR GAME from playing it!
And you're going to be hearing a LOT of complaints. Try to remember that, because for every who decides here and now that they're through with you... that's a sale lost. And it's a higher risk than piracy or used games will ever be.
Gamers are entitled to buy a game, especially at $60 American, that WORKS ALL OF THE TIME. And we're not talking about bugs. We're not talking about flawed coding in the game. We're talking about a game which is periodically UNAVAILABLE FOR PLAYING AT ALL because the servers are down. Or overloaded. Or being inundated with angry messages by from people who've bought the game and don't like what they're finding.
But that's the point. These are things Blizzard had a LONG damn time to find solutions to. They didn't. They didn't prepare for any of it, despite knowing full-well what can happen when you do this and how popular the franchise is.
If they're forcing players to be playing online, all the time, then the least they should fucking do is ensure that their game works -as well as- their MMO. Again, we're talking 'IS ACTUALLY PLAYABLE' here. Not 'WORKS FLAWLESSLY'. Or better yet, here's a novel idea, how about just silently swapping all the information over to ANOTHER SERVER when there's maintenance and letting people PLAY YOUR GAME!
Blizzard, honestly. You have fans literally BEGGING you to let them throw their money at you. Have you really become so rich and bloated as to think your current wealth means you're immune to bad decisions? I know you've got WoW going for you now, but... honestly... don't go shooting yourselves in the foot. You may very well need more than just your MMO to stand on. If people lose confidence in amazing games like Diablo and Starcraft, you're going to lose a lot of money to other game studios who will actually give players what they want.
I bought Diablo 3 on the principle of customer loyalty. When I can play it, you guys... it's great. It's amazingly fun. I'm not entirely sold on the lack of real, proper skill trees... but I think what you've done is interesting. I'm glad to see you changing up the formula a little. Except for the lack of basic attacks being useful. That blows. Hard.
Oh, and the fact that normal non-magical items are all worthless. That's wonderful. Then why have them at all? They're supposed to be for filling empty equipment slots and selling. You've made selling them pointless. So now the only reason to have them there is to make me accidentally pick them up and waste time tossing them out again.
Not cool. But it doesn't matter. The point is...
Always Online is nonsense. It's unnecessarily preventing a massive portion of your target audience from being able to play the game you made. Worse, it's actually preventing the people WHO DID BUY YOUR GAME from playing it!
And you're going to be hearing a LOT of complaints. Try to remember that, because for every who decides here and now that they're through with you... that's a sale lost. And it's a higher risk than piracy or used games will ever be.
Age or corporations is upon us, soon Eurocorp will be a reality. Legal entities known as corporations continue to strip the rights of us monkeys and they do it so easily by dangling sparkly objects in front of us, wads of cash in front of our leaders.
Video Games industry has joined the ranks of our corporate masters, bow now to your gods and let any heathen who dare challenge their ubiquitous authority be cast aside by their peers and exiled.
Wave good bye to your liberty, embrace your slavery as your mindlessly walk down a cloned high street. Ignore the cries of your fellow herd ahead and walk blindly into oblivion.
Video Games industry has joined the ranks of our corporate masters, bow now to your gods and let any heathen who dare challenge their ubiquitous authority be cast aside by their peers and exiled.
Wave good bye to your liberty, embrace your slavery as your mindlessly walk down a cloned high street. Ignore the cries of your fellow herd ahead and walk blindly into oblivion.
I never said it was any of us consumer's right to protect the security information (though if we make the stupid mistake of posting our account information to a 3rd-party fan site that is run by malicious users, then the blame should go to us), but I don't think this auction house is a bad thing either. Gold farming and other e-commerce problems have been a nuisance to game designers of online games for awhile, and this is Blizzard's attempt to say "if you can't beat them, join them" with the Auction house. I really respect that move as fighting against gold farmers does and will cost a lot of money, yet here this legalizes while keeping the game fair.Crono1973 said:
Even if there was no auction house, something like this would've happened anyways given the online game portion. Blizzard would see their virtual assets being sold through Ebay or by malicious users to legitimate customers, which could in turn ruin their business practice because a small group of 3rd party people play the game as a job to make some money off ignorant users. This might still happen with some malicious users that don't want to share some of their profits with Blizzard, but at least this is Blizzard's attempt to legalize their "playstyle" without discriminating against them. That's the point I see this auction house is for.