Blizzard Says No to Console Cash-in Games

[Redratson]

I wish these people had competition.

Oh dont we all. dont we all.

 

[Ashsaver]

Oooh, let's us hope nothing bad [http://www.pcworld.com/article/128337/earthquakes_disrupt_internet_access_in_asia.html] happens to our precious internet cables then.

 

[rapidoud]

Real Reason:

We have our intrusive DRM that monitors your internet and RAM activity. With consoles, people will just pirate the games and give us no money because we love charging $80 for games years after release. Unless we used online passes, then you'd all *****.

In other words, we're money-grubbing bastards. Just like valve now!

 

[aescuder]

Does this mean no Diablo3 in consoles?


..not that it matters to anyone I suppose..

 

[Bluecho]

Who says PC gaming is dying off? There's still a market for PC titles, especially given many people are already online all the time anyway.

 

[floobie]

Makes sense. I can't see any current or upcoming Blizzard game being any good on a console, at least without a keyboard and mouse. Maybe Diablo 3 could pull it off... but... I don't think there's much point to it. (This coming from a 90% console gamer).

AND, Blizzard's games seem to be really scalable. You don't need to be a PC gamer with a powerful desktop to play Blizzard games on your computer. So, there doesn't seem to be much reason to release a console version when basically anyone can play their games on PC (and Mac!) anyway.

 

[Sean951]

but they say "Yes" to releasing SC2 in three pieces?

Yup, and each one has 25-30 missions, which is roughly the same as all 3 campaigns of the original combined. Then you have the pricing of the next 2 as "expansions" which is rather nice for my wallet.

Real Reason:

We have our intrusive DRM that monitors your internet and RAM activity. With consoles, people will just pirate the games and give us no money because we love charging $80 for games years after release. Unless we used online passes, then you'd all *****.

In other words, we're money-grubbing bastards. Just like valve now!

As far as I know, B.net doesn't monitor anything but whether or not you are online and not cheating, and since I've seen people fall from the sky or mining under ground in WoW, I skeptical about that last part. They also have never charged more than $60 for a new game, unless you mean buying old expansions for WoW, which I agree is getting a tad expensive. They should just put the old ones in a box set for $30 and call it good.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

Says no to console game cash ins.

Says the company that, if you want to change a feature such as your horns or gender, you'll have to pay $25. Or, if you're friends have the gull to start playing on a different server (or if you meet new people who play), you're going to have to pay $25 to change servers. Are they Alliance, and you're Horde? That one runs you $30. Hey, lets not forget. Tauren players are SO 2006. Want to play a Troll? $25. I'd also like to mention the ingame pets, which will run you $15 per pet (but they throw snowballs, so its ok). Or if you want a shinier version of a horse, you guessed it, $25.


All fairly legitimate things, that customer service usually does for free (or a very low cost, such as $10 for a faction change/race change). This is the company that make money by milking its customers already. They are legitimately killing Diablo 3 just to make a few extra dollars (because who wants balance).

Now you're gonna tell me you have integrity for not making shitty console ports?

You, sir, have grapefruit sized balls.

There's a fine line between charging for a service that fans of the game were clamoring for, and tossing-out a quick-and-lazy port onto a console that can't even properly play it.

 

[ccggenius12]

Honestly, if blizzard had included a single player/LAN function for D3, they'd have to make it separate from the online multiplayer to help prevent hacking. And then you'd have a bunch of casuals whining about how they can't play online with the character they'd been using in single player. I'm not gonna say it's the bestest way to handle this ever, but it's definitely a serviceable way to produce a quality product.

Also, yay for saying that they will still do non-PC games in the future. I wants me a Rock'n Roll Racing sequel with the actual songs, we have the technology. Also, Lost Vikings. Just sayin'.

 

[maxmanrules]

The guy makes a great point. They are making PC games of high quality and their competition is not really taking PC market seriously. So they reign with very little serious competition.

Sooo... why exactly are they stuffing Diablo III with always online DRM? Eh, it'll still sell like hotcakes.
And if you truly have a philosophical reason why you dislike any form of DRM? Don't let any friend coerce you into buying it. Ubisoft still thinks their DRM method is good. Why? Well, it did not hurt their sales at all.

We don't NEED a PHILOSOPHICAL reason. DRM screws with a game. It's purpose is to stop pirates. It doesn't. It restricts how the game will operate on a machine, and stops it being used to its full purpose and potential. That is one reason why I do not like DRM
Another reason is that it locks me (A legitimate user!) out of my game because it is badly made half the time, or because my system just doesn't have God watching over it 24/7

 

[lowkey_jotunn]

Thank goodness. This means they won't have to be constrained by maintaining backwards compatibility for 5 year old hardware running nearly 10 year old software.

Looking at you, DX9.


It also means they can design the interface without making sure that someone with a joystick and 4 buttons can operate it.

 

[lowkey_jotunn]

The guy makes a great point. They are making PC games of high quality and their competition is not really taking PC market seriously. So they reign with very little serious competition.

Sooo... why exactly are they stuffing Diablo III with always online DRM? Eh, it'll still sell like hotcakes.
And if you truly have a philosophical reason why you dislike any form of DRM? Don't let any friend coerce you into buying it. Ubisoft still thinks their DRM method is good. Why? Well, it did not hurt their sales at all.

We don't NEED a PHILOSOPHICAL reason. DRM screws with a game. It's purpose is to stop pirates. It doesn't. It restricts how the game will operate on a machine, and stops it being used to its full purpose and potential. That is one reason why I do not like DRM
Another reason is that it locks me (A legitimate user!) out of my game because it is badly made half the time, or because my system just doesn't have God watching over it 24/7

Tell you what, before you froth and rage TOO much about how Blizzards crappy DRM prevents you from playing, lets examine 2 things.

1) Has Blizzard ever used always-on DRM before? Yes. It's called WoW. And has there been a great commotion or ruckus over all the time lost because of it? No. Server outages here and there, but extremely minor in the long run. WoW certainly isn't "screwed" as you so eloquently stated.

2) How's your internet connection? If you're still rocking a 56k modem, you might be due for an upgrade. If it's just a flaky connection, that's your ISPs fault, not blizzard. You should take it up with them.


P.S. DRM isn't to stop pirates. It's to limit them. slow them down a bit. No company has delusions of stopping game piracy 100%. They just need to make it less attractive than spending $50 to buy the game outright. "I could spend all night torrenting something that claims to be Diablo3, and scour the internet for a key, and hope neither of those are all virusy... or I can just spend the money and not worry about it.

 

[SinisterGehe]

Sooo... why exactly are they stuffing Diablo III with always online DRM? Eh, it'll still sell like hotcakes.

My friends will probably pressure me into buying it anyway.

Maybe because you will be loging in using your B.net account and it has lot of online based funtions and systems. Also Offline mode can compromise your B.net account security, that is hwy they added the new launcher system to WoW and SC2. Staying online keeps you safe from getting your account stolen (well safer at least). Also if they put achievements in to the game the same way they put them in to SC2, it must be online in order to make sure you don't cheat.

This is what I. I honestly don't mind online DRM, long as it isn't the same caliber as the assasin greed fiasco or From dust was. But I trust on Blizzard for not being total fucking morons and making a system that requires you to log-in online and not to cut the session because a short disconnection.

But, maybe they will open this subject more later on.

Also on topic:

I respect you a bit more now Blizzard. Even tho I respected you a lot to begin with and my faith has been shaken by your stupid decision in wow, but I still follow you because you are not falling in to the stupidity that has driven many games and companies to produce bad games.

 

[PingoBlack]

We don't NEED a PHILOSOPHICAL reason. DRM screws with a game. It's purpose is to stop pirates. It doesn't. It restricts how the game will operate on a machine, and stops it being used to its full purpose and potential. That is one reason why I do not like DRM
Another reason is that it locks me (A legitimate user!) out of my game because it is badly made half the time, or because my system just doesn't have God watching over it 24/7

You my friend are spewing philosophy. What seems to upset you is my realism.

As I said, if you do not accept DRM in any form, do not buy a product. That way you are not affected by DRM, you are then NOT a user, thus you are completely free of the scourge.
But in reality, you are disliking my point because you want your cake and you want to eat it.

You cannot accept that only way to protest DRM is to not buy a product. You are unable to make an educated decision what level of DRM is acceptable and weather it brings enough added value to the customer.

And most of all ... You are not making a clear argument. Blizzard have so far made well working, stable online authentication systems and have always made any always online requirements clear way before anyone payed for it.

But we are off topic now. What this article is about is why it doesn't pay to license XBOX Live or Sony PSN to Blizzard. And ... tbh ... I prefer Battle.Net to PSN any day. At least Blizzard seems to understand how to build infrastructure better.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

What about Diablo for PSX and Starcraft 64!? Those weren't greedy console cash-ins!?

 

[Phishfood]

PC gaming is not dying.
If anything, PC gaming is being killed by publishers with crappy console ports *cough* dead island*cough* and always on DRM that fucks you up the ass *cough*ubisoft*cough*.

Heres my impression of publishers:
"Theres a chance this user group might pirate our game! Lets treat them like shit!"
*later*
"OMG! those customers we treated like shit aren't buying our stuff, WTF?!?"

 

[Moromillas]

Wait, what?? "I'm not gonna buy the game, because: Always online, and no LAN" what the dick?

You guys do realize this is Diablo 3 we're talking about, right? Its core is as a multiplayer game, why complain that it doesn't have inferior features. Singleplayer? For Diablo? No, that makes no sense, it would be the same as the multiplayer, only no one is allowed to join. No you don't need a LAN option, you can do the exact same thing on bnet.

 

[Aeonknight]

Wait, what?? "I'm not gonna buy the game, because: Always online, and no LAN" what the dick?

You guys do realize this is Diablo 3 we're talking about, right? Its core is as a multiplayer game, why complain that it doesn't have inferior features. Singleplayer? For Diablo? No, that makes no sense, it would be the same as the multiplayer, only no one is allowed to join. No you don't need a LAN option, you can do the exact same thing on bnet.

Because your way of playing the game is the only way of playing it.
/sarcasm

Plenty of people LAN'd Diablo 2 back in the day. There's a thread full of them bitching @ this move when this "feature" was announced somewhere around here.

And it's not even for a good reason. It's to force DRM down your throat with no say in the matter, completely cut out the modding community, and force you into interacting with the Auction House, thus netting them more money out of your pocket through Fee's for using it.


And this multiplayer thing you're so fond of? Expect to get destroyed repeatedly by a kid wielding the most powerful weapon of all: Mommy's Credit Card! Cause buying power in a game that has PvP is ALWAYS a good idea (as long as it makes Blizzard more money.) That's the Diablo 3 experience you're so anxious for.