id Software Praises "Always On" in Diablo 3

[CopperBoom]

Ah, Penny Arcade. Always missing the point (yet again someone forgets that the servers you have to connect to can go down) and always not funny. Why do people read these things?

The PA has NOTHING to do with those things you mentioned yes, but it also does not PRECLUDE what you are talking about either so that is not the point. You may not think it is funny but I do.

That is why people read it, because they enjoy it; as I do; just as you do not.

 

[thehorror2]

I'm sure these guys don't all have perfect internet connections at home, and I'm sure a few of them even like gaming on laptops on journeys. What the fuck is wrong with these people?

"Imagine picking up a game and it's automatically updated."

Gee, I wonder if there'S anoThEr service thAt does this but still has an offline Mode and doesn't boot you out of a game if your connection drops.

A bit off topic (and really, I can't stay on topic. Everything I was going to say has already been said, except maybe "IS THIS REALLY WHERE PC GAMING IS HEADED?! ARE WE AS A DEMOGRAPHIC REALLY THAT SHEEPLIKE?!") but I couldn't help reading that last line in the G-Man voice. "Wake UP, Missster Carmack..."

 

[blindthrall]

Probably. But, and I've said this a lot, that future is inevitable. Personally, I would much prefer to ride the wave of destruction that to stand against it and be demolished.

Isn't that what the French said?

As far as Blizzard, I've known I'm not their target market since Warcraft 3's shitty campaign. But id? Man they've got some balls, haven't made a decent game without Raven in a long time. I now have no moral objection to piracy of id games. Not that I'm going to do it, just like I'm not going to play Rage (racing sections? WTF id!), but I'm not going to look down on those who do.

If this is the future, Onlive's not looking bad.

 

[Username Redacted]

So, here's the conditions under which I'd be OK with 'always connected' DRM:

-Publisher can guarantee that bar world ending level calamity that server service will be uninterrupted on their end.

-Publisher agrees to release a patch removing DRM if/when they decide to shut the games servers down.

-If player had a connection when they started playing (offline modes, obviously if you're online and your connection drops you're fucked anyways) and it was interrupted then the DRM does not stop the gameplay.

So, how about it publishers. That seems like a set of demands that are at least as, if not more so, reasonable as yours.

 

[znix]

Arr mateys, there be other solutions to this here conundrum

The most obvious and penny pinching method aside, there are plenty of other great games coming out in the near future.

I think I'll have my hands full with Skyrim, Reckoning, Guild Wars 2, Rage, Bioshock 2, to name but a few. No single player game should need to be online. It serves absolutely no purpose what-so-ever, aside from trying to push more players into the auction house.

Anyway, let's see what happens once a couple of hacker collectives decide this kind of excrement action is annoying and they bring down blizzard's data center. Will everyone still think having to be online in order to enjoy their single player game is great?

Those who argue that requiring single player to be online is ok, by saying most will be multiplayer anyway, really should realize how incredibly dumb they sound. It also underscores why so many people DON'T go online - namely to avoid those same oblivious idiots.

 

[antipunt]

Also, this comes to mind:

I probably wasn't going to get this game in the first place.

Pretty much my thoughts. 'Tis la vie'. Life goes on, Blizzard wins. Inevitable.

 

[Antari]

If your paying $60 for a game, you should have the choice to play it however the fuck you want.

If this is the future, then I may have to stop playing games. Not because I want to stop, but because the publishers/developers will not let me play the games I buy.

And the reason for it is just fucking stupid. They doing it just because it lets them update automatically? What's wrong with simply having the launchers have a "check for updates" button? Why can't I decide what the game does on my system? The last thing I want are programs updating themselves without my knowledge.

But Blizzard will get away with it. Diablo 3 will sell like hot-cakes, just like all of Blizzard's other games. Sure people will complain, but chances are they'll just buy it anyway.

Hey your starting to sound like me! Keep it up! Ya this plan is pretty much forcing me into a new hobby. If this is the way games are going ... than whoever is willing to pay for that sort of treatment is welcome to it.

 

[devotedsniper]

I was never planning on getting this anyway but always online games suck, now my internet is stable the majority of the time but then theres times were it completely screws up or goes down for maintenance...oh i know i'll kill time by playing a game...oh wait!...ahhhhhh i can't play any of my games cause Ubi and Blizzard forced us into always being online.

And i know i'm not the only one where the internet drops out randomly on occasion and i know for a fact all ISP's go down for maintenance at times (or at least they do in the UK).

 

[leady129]

I don't know "force" was necessarily the right word to use here. Perhaps "ease people into it" may have been slightly better wording. I've already asked about dial-up and got answers which were, not brilliant, but acceptable so I'm gonna take this on a game by game basis. Ubisoft's system all but completely destroyed my experience playing Splinter Cell 5 as I spent more time staring at a box saying "Connection lost" than I did actually stalking people. Perhaps Blizzard will have a better system.

 

[ryo02]

as Wrex would say "dont piss in my ear and tell me its raining"

 

[robert01]

Who says it will be crackable? How much information comes on the disc/download compared to what is fed to the client via their servers. The could simply leave the important data on their servers that you need to play. MMOs do this same tactic, this is the reason why finding stable private servers that have all the same features as the official ones is really hard. I won't be buying the game to find out anyways.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

If this is the future, my future is rampant piracy.

Go fuck yourself, buddy.

Edit: and I give full moral support to any hacker collectives who decide to fuck with Blizzard at this point. You can say "hey, just don't buy it", but companies like Blizzard have enough muscle to change my favorite hobby - in this case, for the fucking worse. I wish them nothing but ill will for that, and I don't think it's remotely unreasonable for me to do so.

Morbidly curious to see just how far consumer rights will inevitably slide in a world run entirely by corporations.

 

[Inkidu]

Pardon my French, but fuck you Ted Willis! That has got to be the most idiotic thing I've ever read from a video gaming professional, and you should be damned ashamed of yourself. What magical world do you live in where everyone has perfect high-speed internet. I don't, I can't get online, I can't get Xbox Live, I still play vanilla New Vegas for God's sake, and I don't complain. I still buy games I want new even though I should wait (because I can't use the ten-dollar DLC that most come with) and buy them used.

You know why? Because I believe in supporting the art form, the entertainment, and the industry. I've put up with your DRM, your trying to defeat used game. However, I will not have you say that always online is a good God-damned idea. You know why? Because it's not fair, and in the long run people who want to play your game are left out because they're not the Ethernet elite.

I'm seriously thinking about not getting Rage for my 360 until I find a used copy now. (I'm going to still get it because they're not punishing the 360 owners, but I feel for those with crappy internet)

 

[cikame]

Stuns me how people completely miss the reason why veteran pc users hate drm or copy protection.

Remember Starforce?
Remember idiotic little stupid pieces of software which made you have to buy new cd/dvd drives?

We don't hate drm, we hate forced violent drm, this is nothing like that.

 

[Something Amyss]

Also, this comes to mind:

I probably wasn't going to get this game in the first place.

As amusing as that is, it's easy for their servers to go down and even easier for your connection to be lost. This was a problem with Ubisoft and probably will be a bigger problem with Diablo.

That being said, D2 bored me, so I won't buy it, but not in protest.

With my internet connection, though, being only broadband in the most technical sense, ifthis becomes the norm, all it will "force me to" do is not buy games I can't play because my ISP would rather waste my time on tech support calls than actually lay cable younger than your average Charlie Chaplain fan.

Am I the norm? Almost certainly not. But I do wonder how many people will get screwed by it. Even the ones who are "always online." XD

 

[blindthrall]

Again; I'm always online anyway. It doesn't hurt me (nor the majority of the people).

What a noble stand, and right under a post pointing out how Canadians can't even rely on persistent connections. Way to think about anybody that isn't American. I fail to see how it doesn't hurt a majority of people, especially since the majority of people on this thread are against it, and those it it really hurts can't very well get online to express their disapproval now can they? Do you pay for your internet? Lots of ISPs are moving toward bandwidth caps, that will charge you extra or disconnect you if you go over. How much bandwidth do you think Blizzard's spyware will consume?

I'm amazed anyone heard this announcement over the sound of LulzSec sharpening their knives.

 

[malkavianmadman]

I was going to buy Diablo 3. I liked D2 and thought D3 would be equally fun. Now I aint gonna go near the damn thing. This isnt because i want to pirate it or anything. I just think this sort of measure is a 'dick move' like many have pointed out your just making everyone feel like a crim for wanting to play the game. Also who cares what some Id software person says, i usually forget Id even exists. In the end people looking at D3 will do one of three things.
1- They will buy the game and put up with Dickmove DRM
2- They wont buy the game.
3- They wont buy the game they will pirate it.

Personally im going to be in camp 2.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I will probably get this game, once an offline crack is out in the wild. Just to say "Screw you Blizzard and your forced socialism!"

 

[chuckman1]

I refuse to buy a game with always online drm especially sine my internet is terrible.