A Tale of Two Failures

[Superlative]

/rant

What a day yesterday was.

I buy Diablo 3 from the store, go home, do some work and open the box...only to find Gamestop sold me the box from the store shelf...with no disk in it (its about midnight).

but thats ok, i'll just use one of the friend codes that came with the box without a disk in it to at least start playing.

and then i get error 3005 over and over because aparently their severs can't tell the difference between a college campus and a DDoS attack. I called Blizzard support at about 10:00am today to try and talk to someone who an fix the problem. two and a half hours later I talked to someone who told me i would have to get my University's ITS to get access to the game.

getting my University's ITS to make allowences for ports (no clue how that works) just so that one student can play a game is pretty low on their priority list and would more than likely be seen as a waste of manpower (it took a small upraising to make them let WoW though).

I get the feeling i'm just going to have to ask for a refund.

 

[DoPo]

getting my University's ITS to make allowences for ports (no clue how that works) just so that one student can play a game is pretty low on their priority list and would more than likely be seen as a waste of manpower (it took a small upraising to make them let WoW though).

No clue how long you've been in Uni but that's pretty standard. Well depending on the university network, too. But ours is heavily firewalled - only the essential ports are allowed with anything else needing special request to be opened. I don't think there is any way for a game to not use ports, Well, unless you route the traffic through one of the open ones but that's still a bit sketchy.

Anyway, I don't think you have any reason to complain that the developers aren't trying to break and remake the Internet protocol just so you can have some fun. Firewalls are there for a reason - the university networks are huge, with thousands of people behind them, who knows how many of them are malicious users or just morons (mostly morons, though) but the percentage is high. Having to spend an extra little bit of time to play a game is a small price to pay for having this network up and running (as opposed to "smoking in crumbles").

 

[Smooth Operator]

You pay only $60 and expect the game to work?! How dare you heathen! Lads get your pitchforks and torches we got another one for the gallows.

But on a slightly less mental note, as part of the PC master race you always got extra options, not sure of the specifics of your network but you are most surely not the only one on campus with a desire for Diablo 3 so ask on local forums what magics they use to make it happen.

 

[viranimus]

Hrm, after everything that has happened with Diablo 3... and as much talk as there has been about it both before and after its release, people are still willingly purchasing this?

Great.. well It was a fun hobby while it lasted. Thanks.

 

[Superlative]

Does your university allow for a VPN? Try that.

Virtual Personal Network? don;t you need access to another fast computer for that to work?

 

[Something Amyss]

as part of the PC master race you always got extra options,

Isn't being part of the PC master race what got him into this in the first place?

 

[Superlative]

Does your university allow for a VPN? Try that.

That vpn idea worked like a charm. I installed hotspot sheild and run it whenever i want to play, then disable when I'm online. the adds don;t show up on diablo. thanks for the tip

 

[Ryotknife]

getting my University's ITS to make allowences for ports (no clue how that works) just so that one student can play a game is pretty low on their priority list and would more than likely be seen as a waste of manpower (it took a small upraising to make them let WoW though).

No clue how long you've been in Uni but that's pretty standard. Well depending on the university network, too. But ours is heavily firewalled - only the essential ports are allowed with anything else needing special request to be opened. I don't think there is any way for a game to not use ports, Well, unless you route the traffic through one of the open ones but that's still a bit sketchy.

Anyway, I don't think you have any reason to complain that the developers aren't trying to break and remake the Internet protocol just so you can have some fun. Firewalls are there for a reason - the university networks are huge, with thousands of people behind them, who knows how many of them are malicious users or just morons (mostly morons, though) but the percentage is high. Having to spend an extra little bit of time to play a game is a small price to pay for having this network up and running (as opposed to "smoking in crumbles").

(pulls out a rocking chair)

back in MY day, people didnt need to do any of this fancy computermancy to get a MMO working in an university. Also our educational system was better, and people understood values and traditions. None of this pookey with those dern smartphones, Virtual potato networks, and other nonsense.

 

[Smooth Operator]

as part of the PC master race you always got extra options,

Isn't being part of the PC master race what got him into this in the first place?

Nope that was his extremely poor choice in games, the platform sadly does not remedy stupidity.

 

[DoPo]

getting my University's ITS to make allowences for ports (no clue how that works) just so that one student can play a game is pretty low on their priority list and would more than likely be seen as a waste of manpower (it took a small upraising to make them let WoW though).

No clue how long you've been in Uni but that's pretty standard. Well depending on the university network, too. But ours is heavily firewalled - only the essential ports are allowed with anything else needing special request to be opened. I don't think there is any way for a game to not use ports, Well, unless you route the traffic through one of the open ones but that's still a bit sketchy.

Anyway, I don't think you have any reason to complain that the developers aren't trying to break and remake the Internet protocol just so you can have some fun. Firewalls are there for a reason - the university networks are huge, with thousands of people behind them, who knows how many of them are malicious users or just morons (mostly morons, though) but the percentage is high. Having to spend an extra little bit of time to play a game is a small price to pay for having this network up and running (as opposed to "smoking in crumbles").

(pulls out a rocking chair)

back in MY day, people didnt need to do any of this fancy computermancy to get a MMO working in an university. Also our educational system was better, and people understood values and traditions. None of this pookey with those dern smartphones, Virtual potato networks, and other nonsense.

Yeah, but everything was simple back then. Like, depending on when exactly you were a student, you may or you may have not had the wheel. And everything had to be simple - you had all those dinosaurs, the Huns, and the Spanish Inquisition running around. I don't think you'd have the time to go over to the firewall (I'd assume it was made of actual fire back then) and open some ports when all the time you could have been eaten by a pterodactyl or killed by Gengis Khan or something. That's why you were given the opportunity to enjoy some World of Stonecraft in the mean time instead.

Well my time periods may be a bit off, but I'm working off memory here but I always sucked at history, it should be mostly correct though.

 

[DoPo]

The other option is to do some research into TOR (The Onion Router) but honestly that's some dodgy shit if you can't work out how to use it.

Erm, TOR is slow. That's like the second thing, when you describe it, after "secure". It's awfully slow, hence not exactly useful for playing the already dodgy connected Diablo 3.

as part of the PC master race you always got extra options,

Isn't being part of the PC master race what got him into this in the first place?

No, consoles still need ports to operate. Which means that you still need to open them. Unless the university network has them unblocked but I kind of don't see that happening - the sysadmin going "Well, chaps, let's expose our network to the world, just in case somebody wants to play some God of War". Sysadmins don't like God of War, you see, they still play their NES.

 

[Something Amyss]

Nope that was his extremely poor choice in games, the platform sadly does not remedy stupidity.

right, I forgot about all those always online games on console, like...

Ummm...

...Uhhhh...

Well, you're the one arguing the platform doesn't matter, perhaps you can tell me some single player games on consoles that only work if you're constantly logged in.

 

[EternalFacepalm]

Hrm, after everything that has happened with Diablo 3... and as much talk as there has been about it both before and after its release, people are still willingly purchasing this?

Great.. well It was a fun hobby while it lasted. Thanks.

The video game industry is dead because people are purchasing a video game that viranimus doesn't like! Oh, the humanity! All thee who enjoy this game shall be burnt alive!

On a more serious note, Diablo 3's DRM is terrible, but that doesn't mean it's ruining the game industry. It's not dead. Stop being so overly melodramatic, it serves no one.

 

[Superlative]

Hrm, after everything that has happened with Diablo 3... and as much talk as there has been about it both before and after its release, people are still willingly purchasing this?

Great.. well It was a fun hobby while it lasted. Thanks.

The video game industry is dead because people are purchasing a video game that viranimus doesn't like! Oh, the humanity! All thee who enjoy this game shall be burnt alive!

On a more serious note, Diablo 3's DRM is terrible, but that doesn't mean it's ruining the game industry. It's not dead. Stop being so overly melodramatic, it serves no one.

The DRM sucks, but my mage kicks ass in five lanugages so I'd say its an even trade.

 

[viranimus]

Hrm, after everything that has happened with Diablo 3... and as much talk as there has been about it both before and after its release, people are still willingly purchasing this?

Great.. well It was a fun hobby while it lasted. Thanks.

The video game industry is dead because people are purchasing a video game that viranimus doesn't like! Oh, the humanity! All thee who enjoy this game shall be burnt alive!

On a more serious note, Diablo 3's DRM is terrible, but that doesn't mean it's ruining the game industry. It's not dead. Stop being so overly melodramatic, it serves no one.

No it has nothing to do with what I like or dislike. It has Everything to do with looking at what was being proposed with this game and evaluating what sort of impact that would have.

Real money transaction - give it a foot hold and eventually it becomes standardized
Always online requirement - Give it a foot hold and eventually it becomes standardized.


I dont want always on. I dont want Real money transactions, So ANY game that tries to push them I will push back and everyone else should be too because there are entirely too many people today complaining about DLC, DRM and all this other nonsense that should have been complaining about it in 2002 but didnt because all the pretty trees kept getting in the way of the forest.

Yes peoples complacency is allowing these precedents to happen and precedents grow to become industry standard operating procedure.

 

[EternalFacepalm]

No it has nothing to do with what I like or dislike. It has Everything to do with looking at what was being proposed with this game and evaluating what sort of impact that would have.

I've heard several praise the auction house. You're the one disliking it, even if you are in the majority. While I dislike it as well, such a system has its place in the industry.

Real money transaction - give it a foot hold and eventually it becomes standardized
Always online requirement - Give it a foot hold and eventually it becomes standardized.

And eventually it'll stop being standardized. The thing is, people won't stop buying the games they like just because of always-online DRM. The same goes for the auction house. It might become standardized at one point, and then it'll stop being standardized. What you're claiming is that this will literally kill the video game industry, which is ridiculous.

I dont want always on. I dont want Real money transactions, So ANY game that tries to push them I will push back and everyone else should be too because there are entirely too many people today complaining about DLC, DRM and all this other nonsense that should have been complaining about it in 2002 but didnt because all the pretty trees kept getting in the way of the forest.

You are not everyone here. Everyone else should too because... what, exactly? You say so?

Yes peoples complacency is allowing these precedents to happen and precedents grow to become industry standard operating procedure.

Right now publishers are consistently pushing the boundaries to see where customers will stop buying their games. Right now, most people don't actually care about always-online DRM, even though discussion on these forums would suggest otherwise.

 

[viranimus]

snipped the dissection

Yes, ^totally^ because I say so. I .. being someone who has studied economics. I who has studied sociology, human and corporate psychology, I who has been entrenched in this industry for nearly 40 years and seen how this industry mirrors the actions of what occurs in other industries.


I am saying this as someone who has connected the dots. Its not going to kill the industry. If it were the industry would never have gotten to this point because this is just taking it back closer to its roots. Its simply expecting people who have no sense of value, worth for the concept of ownership to not allow that disrespect for the structure of economics to adversely hurt others.

If you put money into a real money auction house, you just gave away your money in exchange for NOTHING. Your purchase can be removed at will with or without reason and if youve gotten this far in the process you completely agreed to all of this and consented willingly.

Im trying to speak reason to the masses but its clearly falling on deaf ears. So I kindly thank everyone who has rewarded this detriment for screwing me and future generations over and leave it at that.



OT: I think you might not be quite getting the point of what standardization means. And there is absolutely NO place in the industry for real money transaction, and that is just a small chip of an iceberg of another conversation all together.