Diablo III Launch May Get Messy

The Wooster

King Snap
Jul 15, 2008
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Diablo III Launch May Get Messy


Blizzard may enforce 40 second login delays to manage the tide of Diablo III players.

"It's possible we'll need to adjust the rate at which we're logging people in to ensure a stable experience, and if we do you may see a delay when attempting to login," Blizzard prophesied in a launch day update. [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/5338015/Launch_Day_Preparation_Guide-5_7_2012#blog] "Please be aware that a delay of up to 40 seconds is possible while the game attempts to connect you. If your connection doesn't succeed in 40 seconds, you'll be presented with an Error 37 message and asked to try again."

Grand launches like this are almost invariably absolute chaos, as hundreds of thousands of players trying to log in at once tends to break servers, which leads to vast hordes of players complaining on forums.

"If you see this error it does in fact mean that you should try again. We'll be working around the clock to keep you informed of any issues that are occurring through the in-game breaking news window, as well as the official forums."

Of course, players who don't want to play online will still be subjected to these log in delays, since the game lacks an offline play mode and all that. Grr, etc.

Blizzard recomends players go and register their BattleTags right now [http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/battletagfaq#q1] to avoid the inevitable new user rush, and presumably to ensure you score that hilarious "HarryPothead420" user name before anyone else thinks of it.

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GaryH

New member
Sep 3, 2008
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I don't think Blizzard are enforcing 40 second delays, it seems like 40 seconds is just the maximum time the client will wait before timing out and needing you to try again.
 

Scarim Coral

Jumped the ship
Legacy
Oct 29, 2010
18,157
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Well I got nothing to worry about since I will be too busy at work to install it on the same day and even then since I didn't want to pay the release date delivery, it will arrive a day or so later after May 15 (which is fine since I'm not too hype for the game anyway).
 

Soviet Heavy

New member
Jan 22, 2010
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Oh goody, another insane launch because they underestimate the demand. Just like TOR trying to limit how many people could play at launch and failing utterly.
 

Worgen

Follower of the Glorious Sun Butt.
Legacy
Apr 1, 2009
14,415
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Whatever, just wash your hands.
Its a good think they made sure you could only play it online, it would have been a stupidly smooth launch otherwise.
 

Baldr

The Noble
Jan 6, 2010
1,739
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At least they are given a weeks notice in advance. The servers can't handle the demand with out spending insane amounts of money for 1-2 days when the login servers are going to be hit the hardest. Under 5-minute delay is still pretty reasonable.
 

Kross

World Breaker
Sep 27, 2004
854
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Their silly battle tag system gives everyone a uniquely hand crafted number after their username. But due to using the handle as part of the key, you only have to remember a 4 digit number instead of the much larger number they use internally. Hrmf. :(

<- Kross#1743 BTW

Grey Carter said:
"If you see this error it does in fact mean that you should try again."
That's a relief, I was worried for a moment.
 

Soods

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Jan 6, 2010
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Soviet Heavy said:
Oh goody, another insane launch because they underestimate the demand. Just like TOR trying to limit how many people could play at launch and failing utterly.
Don't worry, I bet they learned their lesson from WoW.
 

Eric the Orange

Gone Gonzo
Apr 29, 2008
3,245
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And this is why I wont be doing a midnight release, can you imagine the traffic when the flood gates open.
 

Nurb

Cynical bastard
Dec 9, 2008
3,078
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Blizzard is creating their own damn headache just to have complete control over customers. If they had a regular game with offline mode and reasonable drop rate that isn't manipulated to increase demand on their auction house, people could just play the damn thing without accounts or logins or all other sorts of corporate money grubbing bullshit.

I might not be giving them money, but the way they and others do business now just drives me nuts.
 

Denamic

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Aug 19, 2009
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Soviet Heavy said:
Oh goody, another insane launch because they underestimate the demand. Just like TOR trying to limit how many people could play at launch and failing utterly.
They're not underestimating it, as they're perfectly aware of what's about to happen.
I and no doubt many others suspected this as well.
I mean, it's Diablo 3. The demand is going to be insane.
You could double the number of servers, but once the launch spike settles, the extra servers would be a liability.
In the end, there's really nothing to do about it other than just toughing it out until it's over.
 

Loop Stricken

Covered in bees!
Jun 17, 2009
4,723
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cursedseishi said:
Soviet Heavy said:
Oh goody, another insane launch because they underestimate the demand. Just like TOR trying to limit how many people could play at launch and failing utterly.
Well, like the melon-helmed cat Nurb said, while it's happening because of an underestimation of demand, that's only the symptom. The disease itself is festering from Blizzards own loins, fresh from the completely idiotic decision to enforce an online-only DRM policy on a game that didn't need it.


Heck, I hope their servers crash and burn from the stress, locking everyone out of the game for a week or two, maybe more if we're lucky. Then as soon as they manage to get them back up, every would-be hacker in the world (essentially all of Anonymous) hammers the authentication server to the point it gets taken out for another few weeks.
So maybe after months of people not even able to play the single-player portion of the game, Blizzard either gets a lawsuit smacked on them (unlikely as that would be), or hopefully grows a few brain cells and promptly patch out the online requirement (if that's even possible).
Or you could just not use the RMAH.
 

evilneko

Fall in line!
Jun 16, 2011
2,218
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I'm so glad I'm not getting this game.

And y'know, 16 years later, I can still install and enjoy Diablo (and in fact, do have it installed). Doubtful D3 will have a lifespan that long.