Diablo III Has Single Player Online

[Twilight_guy]

The points about can't pause is kind of bullshit. Lots of games don't take place online don't let you pause (for various reasons from it being counter to gameplay to bad planning). If an emergency happens and you haven't got a physiological problem where you value bits more then real life then you leave the game and say "fuck this I've got an emergency." If its not an emergency, then open a town portal go go someplace that has no monsters. This is Diablo, there are safe spots.

The one about username and password is also kind of bullshit. Remembering your password and name is handy nut not necessary. Unless your superlazy then its an extra 30 seconds. That's not really a valid argument since there are other far more egregious issues that could be noted. Also, security and convenience are at odds with on another you sacrifice one to get the other. It's up for debate weather this is a worth sacrificing but I'm not going to complain for minimally invasive security feature add-on after the shitstorm that Sony and other went through not that long ago.

I wonder how many people actually play using mods and how many make them? It'd be interesting to see the numbers. I suspect most people don't have the gumption to make mods but I don't know about people using them.

I also want to know how many people in Blizzard's potential customers don't have a reliable connection to the internet. Lots of people throw around that there internet sucks but I want to see what the numbers are and also see what connection speeds are tolerable. I really want to know whether this is the vocal minority or some notable portion.

Do you have Stockholm Syndrome from exposure to Ubisoft or 2K? Tell us on the doll where the bad GamesforWindows touched you.

Seriously, why do you come up with weak "it's not THAT bad" defenses for what are clearly an erosion of convenience and customer support? Why should WE put up with bullshit just because people like you don't mind having their time wasted?

And about the Internet, I tried Blizzard's Great Online-Only Experiment with Starcraft 2. I wouldn't touch Ubisoft's bull, but with SC2 I excused the online DRM by the fundamental degree to which the game's online integrity is vital to its survival as a competitive game.

That was before I found myself waiting up to several minutes for menus to load, stuck with 500-600 ping to my 'local' servers (which were in Singapore, apparently), and unable to play my single player game during 'maintenance' nights, which fell during my prime playing hours - and often just having the game lock up randomly and drop me out coz my ISP sneezed.

Since I have fibre-to-the-node Cable net access, with 20,000 kb/s downstream, I'm really not going to give them a second shot with Diablo 3, especially since ith as no epic online tournament scene to excuse the DRM.

I was going to write an angry comment here. Something along the lines of "That's my opinion" or maybe something about the antagonism to large companies, or maybe how I never made an argument for it not being wrong and instead saying I thought these were minor issue that were being nit-picked. Then I remembered this song and that you're entitled to your own opinion and it made me feel too happy to post anything else.
Shake... shake...

 

[Twilight_guy]

The points about can't pause is kind of bullshit. Lots of games don't take place online don't let you pause (for various reasons from it being counter to gameplay to bad planning). If an emergency happens and you haven't got a physiological problem where you value bits more then real life then you leave the game and say "fuck this I've got an emergency." If its not an emergency, then open a town portal go go someplace that has no monsters. This is Diablo, there are safe spots.

I have not played a single RPG that did not feature some kind of pause function. Even games like Oblivion have the decency to pause when you open a menu or your inventory. You do realise that the entire point of having a pause function in the first place is so that you don't have to inconvenience yourself by running or TPing to a safe spot every time the phone rings? People have every right to complain about the loss of this functionality. Would you rock up to a crowd who were angry about a bus not coming and tell them, 'You still have legs, start walking'?

I still think it's a minor issue for the article to complain about. Shamus generally has far better arguments. This is only annoying not the kind of "system is broke" argument that usually characterizes his articles.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

The points about can't pause is kind of bullshit. Lots of games don't take place online don't let you pause (for various reasons from it being counter to gameplay to bad planning). If an emergency happens and you haven't got a physiological problem where you value bits more then real life then you leave the game and say "fuck this I've got an emergency." If its not an emergency, then open a town portal go go someplace that has no monsters. This is Diablo, there are safe spots.

I have not played a single RPG that did not feature some kind of pause function. Even games like Oblivion have the decency to pause when you open a menu or your inventory. You do realise that the entire point of having a pause function in the first place is so that you don't have to inconvenience yourself by running or TPing to a safe spot every time the phone rings? People have every right to complain about the loss of this functionality. Would you rock up to a crowd who were angry about a bus not coming and tell them, 'You still have legs, start walking'?

I still think it's a minor issue for the article to complain about. Shamus generally has far better arguments. This is only annoying not the kind of "system is broke" argument that usually characterizes his articles.

In the grand scheme of things, it's a minor niggling annoyance. But those minor annoyances add up and create a system that causes multiple frustrations for the audience.

 

[Twilight_guy]

The points about can't pause is kind of bullshit. Lots of games don't take place online don't let you pause (for various reasons from it being counter to gameplay to bad planning). If an emergency happens and you haven't got a physiological problem where you value bits more then real life then you leave the game and say "fuck this I've got an emergency." If its not an emergency, then open a town portal go go someplace that has no monsters. This is Diablo, there are safe spots.

I have not played a single RPG that did not feature some kind of pause function. Even games like Oblivion have the decency to pause when you open a menu or your inventory. You do realise that the entire point of having a pause function in the first place is so that you don't have to inconvenience yourself by running or TPing to a safe spot every time the phone rings? People have every right to complain about the loss of this functionality. Would you rock up to a crowd who were angry about a bus not coming and tell them, 'You still have legs, start walking'?

I still think it's a minor issue for the article to complain about. Shamus generally has far better arguments. This is only annoying not the kind of "system is broke" argument that usually characterizes his articles.

In the grand scheme of things, it's a minor niggling annoyance. But those minor annoyances add up and create a system that causes multiple frustrations for the audience.

That'd be fine if there were more then 5 points here. Showing an overwhelming number of minor annoyances becomes a major issues is hard to do if I can count them on one hand.

 

[Sean951]

Lets add a point here.

Diablo 3 costs a finite ammount of money. Running online servers so that I can play my game for the rest of time costs an infinite amount of money. You don't need to be a math genius to see how that is going to work out.

The moment it stops being profitable is the moment they release a patch allowing offline single player and start shutting down servers.

Why would they release the offline patch? Once its not profitable anymore, there would be no money coming to pay for development of a patch. They don't need to release it, after all, the games would already have been sold, so there's no gain for them.

I meant it wouldn't be profitable to keep the servers up. Releasing a patch to make offline mode available means they can keep selling the game, keep a few servers up, and still make a profit.

 

[Vhite]

I can't see why everyone is bothered by no pause. Have you ever played Diablo 2?(dunno about the first one but I think it was there as well) You could just make a portal to town that cost you 1 penny and no one could do anything to you there and then you could just go back.

 

[Sir Broccoli]

I don't really see why the 'no pausing' thing is such a huge deal. Just create a town portal and you'll have all the time in the world.
Unless Diablo 3 has no town portals, in which case you can ignore this post.

 

[Continuity]

YAY Blizzard!!! innovating shitty end user experiances since Starcraft 2... we love you guys!

 

[Hugga_Bear]

Man, I love the look of this game, want it pretty bad but no pause/always on is just irritating, I still play D2 sometimes because I can whack it on and just doss around, I can play it while I'm baking some stuff or waiting to go out or something. Just pop it on, play around for a bit and then quit.

No pause is hugely irritating, granted we have towns but even if TP's are as common as in D2 it's still an annoying little thing to have to do. Always on is worse, I have a poor connection here and it can go through phases of dropping out over a couple of hours, fine for internet browsing etc but with D3 it would mean waiting for it to clear for a few hours, by which time I'll likely be off anyway because despite Blizz's best intentions we don't all sit on the computer all day every day.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Ok am I missing something (granted I haven't been reading every singles info on this game)? Yes I can get how not pausing in a single player online game can be quite inconvenient but again you can't pause in MMORPG (due to it being real time with other players). I guessing anyone who does buy the game would simple adopt "away from keyboard" scenario unless the player character is surrounded by monsters.

I'm abit confuse how does one save in the game due to if you leave the game, it won't save your progress? Is there a save/ check point or anyway to save inside the game at all?

By all means I'm NOT defending this game since I only buying it for the multiplayer purpose only although I wonder if this recent info will deter my hardcore mate from buying it which in term I won't get it as well.

 

[Jumwa]

Whenever I am playing a game I am never just playing a game I am always doing multiple things and getting interrupted by something.

Same here.

I find myself picking what games I play in large part based on how easy it is to get other stuff done during play. It means: can I pause at any time? Can I alt+tab out to answer this urgent work/personal email whenever I need to? Can I throw my attention to whatever random thing that comes up in real life in a moments notice without having to loudly shush someone or losing my progress?

There was a time when I used to be able to play games without considering such things, and I could even dedicate myself to a MMO for a while. But not anymore. Every time I try a new MMO I get quickly frustrated by the lack of forgiveness they have for my real life, and quit.

 

[Realitycrash]

All I want to know about Diablo III is this; Is it horribly short, as Diablo 2?
I don't buy games to play online (WoW not included, but I'v given that up as well), I prefer singleplayer, and when I ran through Diablo 2 (plus the expansion) in around 16 hours, I got pretty pissed.
So, is Diablo III restricted to five worlds as well? Five tiny, fucking levels that feature little to no variety? Or is it more "open world" (dare I say "Sandbox"?) that encourages exploring?

 

[AhumbleKnight]

I have been trying to convince myself for a while now that "online only" is something I could live with. Sure I have a connection that is sometimes a bit shitty, but thats not often... I can deal with that...
But no ability to pause is frelling huge. I am an adult gamer with a wife who would also love to play this game but a 13 month old baby who don't seem to understand what this whole Computer thing is and why the hell are Mummy and Daddy not giving me attention?

Life comes first, games second. Any dev that doesn't understand that needs to get their priorities sorted.

Blizzard, for shame.

 

[AhumbleKnight]

Personally I never had a problem with Diablo 2 where you couldn't pause either and I think pauses are kind of unnecessary because Diablo has towns.

Yes you could. Playing in single player you couple press the 'Esc' key on your keyboard (top left) and the game would pause.

 

[n19h7m4r3]

Well so much for me buying D3.

I didn't like the art style they showed, always online is a problem for me and now no pausing?

Sorry blizz I won't be buying this.

Hopefully Heart of the Swarm will be any good.

 

[Moeez]

These all sound like reasons why I should not ever play this game, even if it was any good. Thank you, politics!

 

[Baresark]

I actually don't mind because i'm an exclusively online player, ever since i've ventured into the world of MP years ago playing an offline game has always been a meh experience. Diablo imo is a one time purchase multi player online rpg, and the thing is there are millions of us out there who will play it like that and welcome it. Gaming is a social mainstream endeavor now and focusing on that crowd with the best experience possible is just the way things go; even if it means the exclusion of others.

There is nothing wrong at all with what you are saying. As a matter of fact, it's one of the more level headed arguments in this situation. There are millions of people just like me, who like a single player game with optional multiplayer. I don't have a problem with my internet connection or any such thing. I my ping tends to be in the 80 range. But, I don't care for having a compulsory online component. I love online games. I like WoW, I still play Rift, I love Battlefield 3. But they aren't offering me a single player experience while simultaneously demanding that I be online. My point is, there is no reason to exclude anyone at all. If they did it like Diablo 2, you would simply only make an online character and not bother with an offline character. I would probably make an offline character, then if I had a friend who was playing the game, make an online character at the same time as them.

OT: The whole problem with this misguided approach they have taken is they have divided their audience. They didn't make a game that appeals to everyone who likes Diablo. They didn't make a game that appeals to gamers in general I think. I know people who don't like to be always online, so they won't like this. I know people who don't want to support companies that do this kind of thing, so they won't buy it. Then, there are plenty of people who will love this game and have no problem. But, there could be more people... which is where their business model breaks down. Excluding people to "prevent piracy" or "protect your IP" or "Stop a single complaint from people who played Diablo 2" (that last one is the worst excuse I have ever heard, by the way) is just poor business. This will only increase the likelihood of people pirating it or not buying it. Some people have also been ballsy enough to say they are outright going to pirate it, which is brave. Also, you will probably get warned/banned for that.... so not a very smart move.

 

[Braedan]

I came to this article open minded hoping to possibly change my opinion on Diablo 3. Now it cemented in stone that I will never buy this game.

 

[darkonnis]

Theres many issues with this, but the one i'm going to bring up, is this:
Royalties (and other profits obviously)
Now, blizzard lost alot of money through starcraft because of the LAN function, due to the ToS etc etc it wasn't really all that necessary for tournaments to comply with any rules blizzard may state because the hardware its using is all your own. So alot of the korean tournaments didn't really generate a great deal, if any profit for blizzard despite that being the games only replay value in this day and age.
Next, comes Dota. Fantastic. The only real reason that kept me playing WC3 for as long as i did. I liked the campaigns sure, but did they and the skirmishes have unlimited replay value? no. It got old after the first play through real quick. So dota, and the endless other "melee" maps that came out kept me entertained until the expansion, and the next series of campaigns came out.

Dota, is now a game, infact its 3 games. By different companies.
The man who took up the reins, icefrog coupled with this own team made LoL or Dota 2, whichever one, and 2 groups of fans made up heroes of newerth and whichever one of the titles icefrog & co didnt make.
Now thats a lot of profit to be missing out on, considering the original creation was played on their servers, by their player base that they massed.
In this day and age of patent disputes and endless copyright agreements, blizzard seems to have taken the view of any security conscious administrator. Its locked down, until they say otherwise. DRM is probably just the beginning.

 

[Braedan]

Wow, people here are actually defending things that screw us over. Good job escapist. Good job.