Diablo 3 "Always Online" Requirement Helps Fight Hackers, Says Blizzard

[Exort]

At least i have heard 0 info about the story or the gameplay itself.

They say they want to keep it a surprise every time they are ask in a interview or Q&A.
From what is revealed we do know the storyline is about hell invading, and Nephalems.

Also the we will face two major demon which one of them, Belial, is comfirmed. The most popular guess for the second is Azmodan. Since out of the Great evils only these two is still alive. Great evil consist of three prime evil which are Daiblo (Lord of Terror) , Baal(Lord of Destruction),and Mephisto(Lord of Hatred) and four lesser evil which are Andariel(Maiden of Anguish), Azmodan(Lord of Sin), Belial (Lord of Lies),and Duriel (Lord of Pain).
Diablo, Baal, Mephisto, Duriel,and Andariel all died in Diablo 2.

You can read about some of what we know there. http://www.diablowiki.net/Story_line

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Nope, Hackers use single player to learn how the game works, and develop ways to hack it. You simply can't know how something work since you don't have the code. Therefore, they have to learn by the data that is pass from the server, which is a lot harder.
As long as, Blizzard keep update their code it is very hard to dupe items etc.
It is a similar idea to http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/7467-Experienced-Points-Impossible-to-beat-DRM.

Then make offline and online two completely separate things?

 

[Mythrignoc]

So now blizzard is dipping their hands into our game and telling us that "We're not playing it right if we're playing it offline?" Wonderful!

Wait ... OUR game? Seriously?

Yes, OUR game. Blizzard made it, but once we buy it, it becomes OUR property to do what WE as consumers wish with it.

It's basic ownership rights. Someone may have invented the shovel at some point but does that mean when I buy it I need a construction worker to stand by me at all times to verify that it is indeed my shovel, and THEN tell me how to fucking use it?

 

[SonofSeth]

You know what people really enjoy about Diablo, and other games?

Game play?

 

[Torrasque]

The only argument I hear against D3's "always online" policy, is "my internet is shitty".
Well, get better internet then.
If you lag in a game and can't enjoy multiplayer, get better internet.
If you constantly disconnect and can't play a full match, get better internet.
If you drop from a game lobby because your connection is choppy, get better internet.

It applies for every single online multiplayer game ever, so I don't see what the big problem is when Blizzard does it.

If this were an exclusively multiplayer game, those would all be excellent arguments.

It mind as well be.
Single player Diablo is fun and all, but only for the first difficulty. And even then, anything after the first act just gets really irritating.
Especially fucking Act 3... ugh...

 

[Torrasque]

At least i have heard 0 info about the story or the gameplay itself.

They say they want to keep it a surprise every time they are ask in a interview or Q&A.
From what is revealed we do know the storyline is about hell invading, and Nephalems.

Also the we will face two major demon which one of them, Belial, is comfirmed. The most popular guess for the second is Azmodan. Since out of the Great evils only these two is still alive. Great evil consist of three prime evil which are Daiblo (Lord of Terror) , Baal(Lord of Destruction),and Mephisto(Lord of Hatred) and four lesser evil which are Andariel(Maiden of Anguish), Azmodan(Lord of Sin), Belial (Lord of Lies),and Duriel (Lord of Pain).
Diablo, Baal, Mephisto, Duriel,and Andariel all died in Diablo 2.

You can read about some of what we know there. http://www.diablowiki.net/Story_line

My friends and I were guessing that the evil that spawned the Primes would be the main evil force in this game.
We played with the idea that Diablo might come back again, but his soul has been shattered at the soul forge, so it shouldn't be able to come back.

 

[AhumbleKnight]

Trading offline play for fewer cheaters is fair, right?

2) I don't care if someone wants to cheat, as he's only ruining it for himself.

Tell that to the asshole who killed my friend's lvl 94 sorc in hardcore with a hacked ring that did infinite damage.

The only argument I hear against D3's "always online" policy, is "my internet is shitty".
Well, get better internet then.
If you lag in a game and can't enjoy multiplayer, get better internet.
If you constantly disconnect and can't play a full match, get better internet.
If you drop from a game lobby because your connection is choppy, get better internet.

It applies for every single online multiplayer game ever, so I don't see what the big problem is when Blizzard does it.
Sure you can play campaign and firefight in Reach without an internet connection, but you can't get commendations and experience to rank up.
Sure you can play campaign and spec ops in MW2 without an internet connection, but multiplayer is where the real fun is.
Sure you can play TF2 against bots for the rest of your days, but you're kind of missing the point to playing it in the first place, if you don't play against humans.

I stand by what Mr. Wilson said:
internet connections were hardly rare
I don't care about his justification for this being "them damned hackers!", but that doesn't even matter to me.

Not everybody lives in a city in a first world country. A lot of people have to deal with shitty internet because there is no other option. This would not be the problem it is if they were to try it in say, 10 years time. But now, with internet accessability as it is, it is a problem. Unless you live in a city or are one of those lucky countries that have good internet everywhere. Not everybody does. And for these people, of which there are many, always on DRM is a legitimate problem and grounds for serious complaint.

 

[oldtaku]

So does this mean no mods?

No mods. The single player game has been almost completely sacrificed to the multiplayer game.

 

[reckoner09]

As someone who travels 6 months of the year, often to places with little or no internet connection, Blizzard have totally removed any possibility of me buying the game.

They honestly didn't even think about people that can't always be online. I was in the Navy , and during our 2003 cruise, offshore for Operation: Fun in the Sand over there, I played Diablo 2 during my extensive downtime. I leveled several chars, and obviously we have no access to constant net. But apparently I wrong in thinking that because I was enjoying it, that I was playing it right. Imagine my surprise.

Exactly, how dare you enjoy a single player game OFFLINE! I've logged countless Diablo 2 hours in hotels with no connection, on long haul flights and train journeys.

Oh well... Torchlight 2 it is then

 

[Silva]

Nice try at covering your backsides using public relations to bend the truth, Blizzard. I'm still not buying another game published or developed by you as long as you continue to use always-online requirements in single player games.

I don't care who you're trying to stop, hackers or pirates. This is too big an inconvenience to anyone with an unreliable Internet connection.

What really irks me about this kind of situation is that it's painted as some kind of noble protection against imbalanced gameplay when it actually gives the rich players and people who live in the city (the people with better Internet) an advantage over the poor and those in rural areas. As if these two groups didn't already have a terrible balance issue in gaming socially and educationally as it is!

I find this whole approach completely unacceptable.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I guess the only answer I can think of is to make a seperate single player mode that can be played offline, but you cannot take that character online. However, that may involve investment of time and money that may not be worth the small percent of players who wish to play single player and offline.

Also, you can guarantee that if they announced that, there'd be an army of people, probably mainly made up of people who play COD and just like bashing the guys who made WOW, saying how it's a terrible idea and it's restricting player freedom and we should boycott not only D3, but WOW and anything made by Blizzard or any other company beginning with B.

Honestly, I'm on the side of the minority who only want to play single player, and don't have a capable online connection, but I do believe the complaining masses are made up of far more than that group, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's a fair number of WOW haters leaping on an anti Blizz bandwagon.

I guess, in short, I see D3 as mainly a multiplayer title, and as such, not far off expecting WOW players to have an internet connection. I know there's a single player element available, but this is not in the same league as say, Assassin's Creed.

I would also suggest unhappy Diablo fans do try out Torchlight and let the devs know why they're skipping D3 so Torchlight 2 isn't saddled with any such restrictions.

 

[john_nova]

Plain and simple we deal with this with steam we can deal with this in blizzard. If you lose progression cause you didn't save not anybodies fault besides yourself.

 

[GrimSheeper]

I can remember a patch for Diablo 2 that was supposed to make the game hacking secure and free of cheaters. 2 Weeks laters the same hacked and beefed up classes were back, using super items and broken skilltrees with 99 points in every slot instead of the maximum 20.

If anything, this is a red blanket for hackers to try their luck. Maybe a fewer amount, but not noticeably effective.

 

[Doom972]

Trading offline play for fewer cheaters is fair, right?

2) I don't care if someone wants to cheat, as he's only ruining it for himself.

Tell that to the asshole who killed my friend's lvl 94 sorc in hardcore with a hacked ring that did infinite damage.

The only argument I hear against D3's "always online" policy, is "my internet is shitty".
Well, get better internet then.
If you lag in a game and can't enjoy multiplayer, get better internet.
If you constantly disconnect and can't play a full match, get better internet.
If you drop from a game lobby because your connection is choppy, get better internet.

It applies for every single online multiplayer game ever, so I don't see what the big problem is when Blizzard does it.
Sure you can play campaign and firefight in Reach without an internet connection, but you can't get commendations and experience to rank up.
Sure you can play campaign and spec ops in MW2 without an internet connection, but multiplayer is where the real fun is.
Sure you can play TF2 against bots for the rest of your days, but you're kind of missing the point to playing it in the first place, if you don't play against humans.

I stand by what Mr. Wilson said:
internet connections were hardly rare
I don't care about his justification for this being "them damned hackers!", but that doesn't even matter to me.

That's my point, my internet connection isn't even that shitty. I play online frequently and enjoy it. every once in a while (not every day) I might have to disconnect and reconnect because my connection suddenly "dies" for whatever reason (not really that much of a problem to do anything about it). The problem is that from my experience, even having it happen once can ruin a game for me (happened to me with Assassin's Creed 2).
When I lose hours of gameplay in a single player campaign because my connection died while playing and I didn't notice it's a lot more frustrating than having to quit in the middle of a Team Fortress 2 match.

 

[darkknight9]

Blizzard has joined Ubisoft in a competition for "most anti-consumer gaming company", and I guess I can only say: best of luck?

Indeed. I'm still going to hold out until someone who plays through it a couple of times when they get bored will post the in game movies on youtube so I can stay hip to some of the storyline. If this is truly their intention I hope they kill off the IP and never consider making a Diablo 4. Let me live with my memories of 2 outta 3 ain't bad.

 

[escapador]

So now blizzard is dipping their hands into our game and telling us that "We're not playing it right if we're playing it offline?" Wonderful!

Wait ... OUR game? Seriously?

Yes, OUR game. Blizzard made it, but once we buy it, it becomes OUR property to do what WE as consumers wish with it.

It's basic ownership rights. Someone may have invented the shovel at some point but does that mean when I buy it I need a construction worker to stand by me at all times to verify that it is indeed my shovel, and THEN tell me how to fucking use it?

The ultimate goal is to make games as services and not tangible products. Games will not be OURS anymore. Look around you, this is already starting to show; companies want to dictate how you play the game, with the excuse of "inovation" and "security". I can't blame them, you spend 3 years and a couple million coins developing a game just to sell it for 60$ when you could be renting it for the same price? I can't accept this as a gamer. I do own my share of DLC games, but the majority and the ones I really care about are still boxed copies and I intend to keep it that way.

Say no to games as services.

 

[Xannieros]

Tell me about these hackers ruining my single-player, off-line experience, Blizzard.

Oh man... I wish they'd respond to that. Seriously, I don't think they'd be able to, or try to talk around it like they have been about any issue.

 

[Atmos Duality]

You're not being told that single player gaming is bad at any point here, read the whole interview people, lol.

No. They're only claiming that it's better because it's online-only.
Which is provably false.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

I love all the double-speak. In the end, it's not about piracy or cheaters or modders, it's about protecting Blizzard's bottom line. If there is a chance in hell that a player could create a high-level item without waiting for it to drop, Blizzard will lose the money they have their hearts set on.

This.

Stop making it for the money, make it for the love.

 

[camazotz]

Ah, this is making me look more and more forward to Torchlight 2 every day.