Why's everyone mad about no offline Diablo 3 single player?

[BrionJames]

My thought? If they're going to make me authenticate every 15 days than this game better be worth the fucking hassle.

 

[psivamp]

How many people don't have internet connection? I could see if you use a laptop, but don't you go on the internet at some point? If you only have the do it for 1 min every 2 weeks it's not a big deal.

Deployed soldiers can sometimes bring their computers, but can't connect to the internet with them -- okay, I'm thinking mainly sailors because I know exactly what they go through.

 

[smeghead25]

Needing any sort of internet connection to play a game is baloney. In Australia only 50% of consoles have ever even been online even once. Fact is, we don't all have internet connections. In saying that, having to authenticate every 15 days isn't quite as bad on PC's as most PC's are connected (though really, what about those without internet still?), but it's an exercise in futility if they're doing it to prevent piracy. Pirates have gotten around much more difficult DRM before. They're gonna end up pirating and playing it without needing to connect to the net ever, while the rest of us legal consumers have to waste our time.

Also, I bet they make updates compulsory upon authentication as well. Anything over 50Mb and I'll be waiting for a whole day to download the damn thing, I have crappy wireless. And before you say anything, I live in the outer suburbs of Brisbane, and the net is still shitty and prone to dropping out. Rural areas would be even more hopeless.

 

[Dys]

Oddly, some people don't have a stable, or constant connection to, the internet. So anything requiring internet access is a bit iffy.

..Was a bigger problem back when steam did it, but I don't see the issue now. ...Other than the more rural areas of the US..maybe some other countries.

Steam is far from being accepted for many gamers, and even then it isn't as bad as requiring anything more than a single attempt at being briefly online once to activate the game.

I have many friends, who game, that, other than the university internet connection (which blocks games) only have (very limited) internet data via their mobile phones (between 50mb and 2gb of data), as such, going online every 2 weeks to re-authenticate a game is a royal pain in the ass (phone data in Australia is a joke, as well. Even with the "premium" telstra service that I run, it's common for me to have little/no internet connectivity even whithin city limits).

Ultimately, it creates a whole bunch of hassle for a whole bunch of legitimate gamers, while all pirates need to do is write a bit of code that misleads the games ability to read the date and they play unhindered....It's stupid, a true testament to just how far blizzard have fallen.

How about "because there's no direct consumer benefit to requiring a paying customer to check in every fifteen days?" Because it smacks of control issues? Because requiring an Internet connection for a single-player game is a ridiculous burden? Because it likely involves an auto-patching system, and not all patches in all games have been enjoyed by their user base, and someone who plays such games solo in particular should have a right to choose how they play? Because some people travel with their notebook computers for more than two weeks at a time, and no, there is no guarantee that they'll have Internet access? Because software companies in general have a bad reputation for keeping validation servers online in the long-term, this company's bottom line is being overseen by Bobby Kotick, and there are people still playing Diablos 1 and 2? Because there's no good reason that a customer should have to continue to prove their legitimacy over and over again, having proved it in the first place? Because Activision-Blizzard seems to have an ever-increasing desire to have constant oversight over everyone who's playing one of their games, and the "Big Brother" approach needs to be slapped down before someone decides that's the industry norm?

[contempt]Oh, I'm sure the only people concerned about any of that are pirates.[/contempt]

Impressive rant, one that I feel should be followed by a quote with some goon saying /thread. Today, I will be that goon.

/thread.

 

[Gutkrusha]

I'll buy the game, then I'll get a crack for it.

If I wanna play offline forever, it's my damn prerogative. I like to cheat and modify the product I paid for, and i'll keep doing it. The same thing I said when Blizzard started suing the people cheating their single player in Starcraft 2 applies here. You're just forcing us to different avenues, avenues we're more than happy to go to when we feel wronged. I will enjoy the product I paid for my way. I don't give a flying fuck if you think my account's achievements are important, cause I could care less about them. Lock my achievements at 0, but let me play my game my way.

The more you try to force this totalitarian way to making games on us, the more we're going to find ways around it.

If game companies keep pushing these stupid rules on people, the world is going to have a whole lot more pirates.

 

[steverivers]

While it doesnt bother me much, and wont affect my experience with the game itself, it's a niggling annoyance at the back of my mind.

Because they do it to stop pirates.

But within 2-5 days of the game being released, you KNOW 100% for certain that you can google the word "Diablo 3 torrent" and find valid, virus-free torrents for the game (any game) that work perfectly.

This proves it doesnt bother the piraters or hackers who make the pirates one bit. They have to crack the game files ANYway, so doing a bit extra seems to take them at worst a day or (at worst) a week more.

And if someone is that desperate NOT to pay, then waiting a week more than paying customers will not bother -them- in the slightest either.

So,... remind me again why they waste money and time (that we then pay them for in the end) on piracy protection that 100% provably doesnt stop the pirating of their games?


Dont get me wrong, i WANT them to include piracy protection.... but when its as pointless and meaningless as the current crop of useless offerings, it seems like their time would've been much better spent polishing the bugs for those of us that pay them that cash and money they waste on this stuff in the first place.

 

[oplinger]

I think it may be worth noting that it's not your prerogative, since you're paying to agree to the EULA not to own the software and blah blah blah you do what we say or you don't play. All that sort of thing.

Also worth mentioning that they aren't doing this to be assholes. It's a reasonable thing to do to protect their assets. No, it won't work. Yes it has it's drawbacks. No, Blizzard has not done anything horrible by doing this, thinking about doing it, or saying it with a straight face.

The fact is they're looking for a way to combat piracy. We still can't do it effectively. So my hat is off to Blizzard, for trying and being at a reasonable grey area between the super hardcore DRM (see: Starforce. or Ubisoft) and throwing in the towel (See: Stardock)

In reality piracy is not the huge problem the industry makes it out to be, so all the "unhindered" players are a very small number in comparison. Plus not many people even know -how- to pirate.

Lastly, I'd like to say, Blizzard may be greedy assholes, but if it's one thing they know how to do, it's give in to fan pressure. So whine a lot, it'll change. Or better yet remember they're pretty reasonable about these things. I'm sure authing online every 15 days will be quick, painless, and you won't even know it's happening and it may just happen every time you run the game, so it's not like you get 15 days of game time then you have to fill out a survey and call up tech support. ...Though is say stick to whining, its always worked in the past...

 

[Red Right Hand]

If it's just that you have to authenticate every 15 days, I don't really think it's that big of a deal. Let's be honest here, if you're a PC Gamer, you have internet sometimes. It might not be a strong connection, but I can't imagine that there are many people who game on a PC and NEVER have the computer hooked-up to a line. Even if you game on a laptop that you like to keep portable; you put it online from time-to-time. Especially if the authentication is automatic; unless you go for more than 2 weeks without putting your computer online, then you probably never even have to think about it.

Mind you, I base this on what I've read in this topic, feel free to give me specifics if my chain of logic isn't accounting something.

Edit: Mind that I'm generally against DRM, but if it's on the sidelines so that I can ignore it and doesn't otherwise hinder me, then I'm willing to give a little slack on the issue.

actualy, i use my laptop for internet and my pc for gaming, and my pc has no internet connection at all, so this is a huge problem for me if it wont play on my laptop

Exactly, and i'm sure you're not alone in that.

Also, what about people in university halls. Mine, for example, block steam and battlenet. What am I supposed to do?

 

[bloodychimp]

I'll buy the game, then I'll get a crack for it.

If I wanna play offline forever, it's my damn prerogative. I like to cheat and modify the product I paid for, and i'll keep doing it. The same thing I said when Blizzard started suing the people cheating their single player in Starcraft 2 applies here. You're just forcing us to different avenues, avenues we're more than happy to go to when we feel wronged. I will enjoy the product I paid for my way. I don't give a flying fuck if you think my account's achievements are important, cause I could care less about them. Lock my achievements at 0, but let me play my game my way.

The more you try to force this totalitarian way to making games on us, the more we're going to find ways around it.

If game companies keep pushing these stupid rules on people, the world is going to have a whole lot more pirates.

Thats precisely what the built in cheat codes in SC2 do. There is a whole list of them. They banned people who used the trainer to get achievements as well.

Looking just at your posting history, you're on a computer connected to the internet at least every two weeks, which means you're just complaining to be self righteous.

I personally like the advantages that come with non restrictive DRM like Battle.Net and Steam. The ability to download my games wherever and whenever I want, having achievements and unified friends lists with robust community features, and getting fast updates for my games makes up for the HORRIBLE inconvenience of having to log onto the internet once every two weeks (anyone who was a PC gamer 10 years ago knows what I'm talking about with the updates thing, if you got Tribes 2 to patch right on the first go you get a cookie, and the same applies for a lot of other old school PC games)

 

[zauxz]

Yeah, this stupid thing will be hacked in 3 days and pirates will live happily ever after.

 

[bloodychimp]

If it's just that you have to authenticate every 15 days, I don't really think it's that big of a deal. Let's be honest here, if you're a PC Gamer, you have internet sometimes. It might not be a strong connection, but I can't imagine that there are many people who game on a PC and NEVER have the computer hooked-up to a line. Even if you game on a laptop that you like to keep portable; you put it online from time-to-time. Especially if the authentication is automatic; unless you go for more than 2 weeks without putting your computer online, then you probably never even have to think about it.

Mind you, I base this on what I've read in this topic, feel free to give me specifics if my chain of logic isn't accounting something.

Edit: Mind that I'm generally against DRM, but if it's on the sidelines so that I can ignore it and doesn't otherwise hinder me, then I'm willing to give a little slack on the issue.

actualy, i use my laptop for internet and my pc for gaming, and my pc has no internet connection at all, so this is a huge problem for me if it wont play on my laptop

Exactly, and i'm sure you're not alone in that.

Also, what about people in university halls. Mine, for example, block steam and battlenet. What am I supposed to do?

I've never heard of a dorm blocking certain things on the internet around where I live, but this is the first actually valid concern anyone has brought up in this thread.

My suggestion would be to set up a VPN on the router at your parent's house (or a mate that lives off campus), and do your authentication through that once every two weeks. I had to do something similar to watch ESPN360 before the ISP I have at school started paying for the service.

 

[Woodsey]

Some people don't game on PCs with 'net connections, and some have highly unstable connections.

It's singleplayer, so there should be no need to maintain any sort of 'net connection. One time activations are acceptable, but why would you need to keep proving it after you already have?

And if you mostly game on a laptop whilst travelling (people do do that you know) you're screwed.

To suggest that it only angers pirates is ridiculous; pirates don't care, it'll be cracked and everyone knows it.

 

[NuclearPenguin]

What if you wanted a LAN party, which isn't wholly uncommon among my friends? Now we have to rely on what will swiftly become an overloaded internet connection if we want to play in the same house.

..So.. You would want to play Diablo 3 Single Player during a lan player?
I think you're doing it wrong.



On topic, it isnt a big deal.
Its once every 15 days.
Its not constant.
Its a once every 2 weeks verification
If you cant deal with that dont get the game.

 

[A Pious Cultist]

Why on earth do you need a 15 day repeating authentication?

I mean, have I suddenly stumbled into a reality wherein legitimate copies of games periodically just become pirated copies, and so need to be checked every 15 days to make sure they're still legitimate?

I think the worry is that the user will authenticate the copy then copy the files and registry keys to a zip folder and on the pirate bay it goes. Of course I'd think its pretty likely that you could similarly just alter it so that the game never knows that 15 days have passed and thus never authenticates.

 

[Rack]

Scenario. I'm playing Guild Wars 2 when my Internet goes down. I can't play that any more, but that's okay the game just wasn't designed around offline play whatsoever. So I load something else up, I'm in the mood for a hack and slash so how about Diablo III? Haven't played that in a while.

**** DRM. Should have bought Torchlight 2.

Fortunately in this one instance foresight is 20/20.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well I guess this isn't the worst DRM out there, but it's a dick move either way.

If it will really bother you just find a crack and patch their shit, thank god PC still has this option.
I had the same issue with HL2, bought the damn game then every time the connection went out the next map wouldn't load... crack it is then, not only did it then load faster but it also ran smoother.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

With Diablo 2, I think lots of people liked the single player because they could use mods and hacks to their hearts content, without worry of temp or permabans from battle.net. Thats one reason they may complain about no single player mode.

I liked it because I was guaranteed there wouldn't be any hackers/griefers/dupers et cetera...

You encountered hackers in single player?