Goddammit, Jim.
I was eating chocolate ice-cream during that 21 consecutive seconds of images of shit.
I was eating chocolate ice-cream during that 21 consecutive seconds of images of shit.
Jimquisition: You Should Be Mad at Diablo III's Always Online DRM
- Thread starter Jimothy Sterling
- Start date
I rarely watch Jimq, and less often like or agree with him, but on this point, he is 100% right.
We paid good money, Blizz have the expertise and time to prepare for what was coming..........yet they still fucked up.
The worst bit is it will probably come down to one senior prick at Blizz who ignored all the engineers and testers and decided to limit how much to invest in the hardware simply so he could brown nose his way up into a higher position or get himself a bigger yacht.
Sorry, but that is just crap.
And more log-in servers would have resolved the problem as long as they were not using some archaic shitty server software...but seeing that D3 is clearly using a mod'ed WoW engine, I think they need to get some new employees who know how to use modern coding techniques or stop being so fucking tight on the purse strings.
The only reason there are always problems is due to lazy devs. They know they can get away with fucking up with their servers, where as companies like MBNA, Fbook, or Google(who lets not forget, also have vast numbers of servers) can never afford to screw up, thus don't. The expertise and hardware is out there, it all depends on if the devs want to pay for it.
We paid good money, Blizz have the expertise and time to prepare for what was coming..........yet they still fucked up.
The worst bit is it will probably come down to one senior prick at Blizz who ignored all the engineers and testers and decided to limit how much to invest in the hardware simply so he could brown nose his way up into a higher position or get himself a bigger yacht.
Do you really think that a company with almost 2 decades of experience, a wealth of knowledge and cold hard cash simply "had an error which they did not expect"?Skratt said:I'm not saying they didn't plan properly, but having first hand knowledge of large scale deployments of servers, the answers aren't always "throw more money at the problem to make it go away". If the problem is code related or configuration related, adding a billion login and play servers would not change anything.trollpwner said:I like the trigger finger joke at the end. I've had something similar with Serious Sam. (A game in which the name "Jim Sterling" incidentally shows up in the credits.)
OT: Looking forward to the arguments used to justify why you can't use a game you paid for when you bought it. Should be good.
EDIT: is this relevant?
I sincerely doubt there were anything less than all hands on deck trying to get everything working. Why do you think publishers and developers have a policy of launching at the beginning of a week? They expect shit to go wrong. It's no different in a non-video game corporate environment - shit can go wrong. Sometimes its piss poor planning, sometimes its just an alligator you didn't see.
I can't honestly remember ANY multi-player game launches going off with zero downtime. In fact most of them end up with thousands of pissed off "can't play on day one" players. But it's good to see the Oracles of Information spewing forth their discontent in the form of sage advice from the cheap seats about this or that could have fixed the problem. Hey, I have an idea!
http://jobs.blizzard.com/
Feel free to amaze the world when the Starcraft MMO comes out and the planet doesn't grind to a halt because you were there to make sure they were ready at launch. While you are at it, can you fix global warming and world hunger? k thx bye!
I'm not saying Blizzard couldn't have done better, but why do we as players go through this every goddamn game launch? There are always problems at game launch. ALWAYS. This is not news. And yet, time and again people take the day off of work and don't get to play because *gasp* the company failed to properly get everything working on launch day.
If this game launch was your first, congratulations! Consider your virginity taken. It's pretty much like this from here on out.
Sorry, but that is just crap.
And more log-in servers would have resolved the problem as long as they were not using some archaic shitty server software...but seeing that D3 is clearly using a mod'ed WoW engine, I think they need to get some new employees who know how to use modern coding techniques or stop being so fucking tight on the purse strings.
The only reason there are always problems is due to lazy devs. They know they can get away with fucking up with their servers, where as companies like MBNA, Fbook, or Google(who lets not forget, also have vast numbers of servers) can never afford to screw up, thus don't. The expertise and hardware is out there, it all depends on if the devs want to pay for it.
The point is that there is absolutely no reason that you shouldn't always be able to play a game you've payed for, if you've met the requirements to play it. All the world's servers should have been stable from the get go. If you need to always be online to play the game, the servers should always be online for you to play it. Henceforth, Blizzard should have made sure that the servers would be ready to go on Day 1. I know that big traffic is going to be a strain on servers, but why didn't they test out the servers before hand to make sure they could handle the traffic, or just turn them on before launch day?sinn3r said:
You seem to be saying most people lack patience. I think this reflects a point made in the video (with a very distressing analogy involving shit). It's this whole idea of consumers being willing to accept any problems, while just being happy to get anything at all. It's one thing if that's directed at a problem like "a poor ending" which is simply a problem with the game story that you can't expect to do anything about, but if the game can't even be played upon release because of some stupid DRM guidelines, that's a different story.
You're citing leftover goodwill from Diablo II as a reason to accept whatever Blizzard puts you through. Just because you're willing to accept those problems doesn't mean everyone else is, and that certainly doesn't reflect a lack of patience. If Blizzard had delayed the launch for one week to get the servers ready, and people were getting this angry, that would be a lack of patience, but this is happening after launch, after Blizzard said the game was ready to be played, and it wasn't. Normally I don't side with the inevitable big release launch day hate mob (remember Mass Effect 3?), but In this case, they're completely justified, and I don't think nostalgia is the best defense.
Oh, and apparently the entire idea of the always-on DRM is to stop hackers, which they're doing a masterful job of. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.375850-Diablo-III-accounts-are-getting-hacked-and-relieved-of-all-items-because-of-Real-Money-Auction-House/]
I'm past mad. I was mad when they announced it way back when in the foggy mists of game's past. I won't spend a penny on it. It's sort of upsetting because I didn't mind D2, but particularly upsetting because my friends wanted to play D3 online with me. But given the single player restriction and the fact that bandwidth isn't free there's not a an ice cube's chance in a Christian's hell I'll play never mind buy it.
As for their auction house feature. It seems to me there were rumours Chinese prisoners were being forced to farm gold in D2. Things you allow, never mind force a Chinese prisoner to do, don't sound like 'fun' in any conventional sense to me. So fuck them, fuck the auction house and fuck single player modes that still require me to chew through bandwidth. Think that was a clear rebut of the product.
And fu... Oh sorry, got caught up in the f word there. Thank Gozer for Jim.
As for their auction house feature. It seems to me there were rumours Chinese prisoners were being forced to farm gold in D2. Things you allow, never mind force a Chinese prisoner to do, don't sound like 'fun' in any conventional sense to me. So fuck them, fuck the auction house and fuck single player modes that still require me to chew through bandwidth. Think that was a clear rebut of the product.
And fu... Oh sorry, got caught up in the f word there. Thank Gozer for Jim.
I agree: hacking, cheating, duping are Blizzard's problems. I agree that Blizzard's method handling of them potentially ruins the gameplay experience. I agree people have a right to be furious. But...
Well, people PAID FOR IT. They went out and bought the game. Blizzard didn't keep the internet connection requirement a secret. They didn't hide it before release and it was part of the system requirements at release. And people PAID FOR IT. And that undercuts any and all arguments anyone can level. Because this is what Blizzard hears: "We're really pissed off! This is completely unacceptable! Its so bad I'm not going to buy... oh, who am I kidding. Here's $60."
Blizzard is entirely right to walk away from this thinking: "sure, people are mad, but not mad enough to hurt our sales. I guess doing this is okay." Or else thinking, "people aren't mad about the 'always on' component. If they were, they wouldn't have bought the game. They are just mad about the launch day implementation problem. Once we get that ironed out, it'll be cool."
And more importantly, OTHER PUBLISHERS are watching this and probably thinking the same things. "Blizzard did this. People were mad, but the game still sold a metric butt-ton of copies. We could probably do the same thing."
Long story short: it's too f$&%ing late. Diablo III, Blizzard, and client-server single player already won this round. Because however right the irate people were to be irate, they put their money down on the counter and bought the thing anyway.
Well, people PAID FOR IT. They went out and bought the game. Blizzard didn't keep the internet connection requirement a secret. They didn't hide it before release and it was part of the system requirements at release. And people PAID FOR IT. And that undercuts any and all arguments anyone can level. Because this is what Blizzard hears: "We're really pissed off! This is completely unacceptable! Its so bad I'm not going to buy... oh, who am I kidding. Here's $60."
Blizzard is entirely right to walk away from this thinking: "sure, people are mad, but not mad enough to hurt our sales. I guess doing this is okay." Or else thinking, "people aren't mad about the 'always on' component. If they were, they wouldn't have bought the game. They are just mad about the launch day implementation problem. Once we get that ironed out, it'll be cool."
And more importantly, OTHER PUBLISHERS are watching this and probably thinking the same things. "Blizzard did this. People were mad, but the game still sold a metric butt-ton of copies. We could probably do the same thing."
Long story short: it's too f$&%ing late. Diablo III, Blizzard, and client-server single player already won this round. Because however right the irate people were to be irate, they put their money down on the counter and bought the thing anyway.
No they are not stable yet, just finished playing the end of Act 2 and the first half an hour was nothing but lag, which ever way you slice it that's not stable.
Saying that the folk saying that from day one the servers should have been stable, tested, etc. Well no sorry but that was to be expected. Anyone who thinks that it is possible to do a stress test on the servers at the magnitude that the last week has seen literally has no idea about product development. The reality is it would have been physically impossible for them to stress test the servers in that way. The only way to test them was to release the game and surprise surprise it failed and to target Blizzard specifically for this is pretty poor. Origin went tits up when BF3 was launched, Steam still goes tits up when major games get released. As much as we would love to think that the developers will lay on enough resource to deal with whatever happens the reality is they will provide enough server power to deal with the mean plus an offset for launch,m they aren't going to stick a million active servers on line just in case million folk want to play the will stick whatever they think they can get away with and if it isn't enough THEN and only then will they add to it.
Not that that is an excuse, D3 could have very easily been made to run off off line. The protection of the AH is a bullshit excuse. If you want to play on line you create a game and go on line, that game is tagged and the items in it are tagged and you can only sell those items. If you play the game in single player (as I have) then my items, my character are tagged so that I cannot use them on line. Simple really I get to play the single player without an always on system and better yet without fucking multi player style lag.
So if you want to be mad, don't be mad about Blizzard not providing server support for a huge day one release, the issues they had could have been seen a mile away, instead be mad that they decided to use the DRM when they could have just as easily made the single player and multi player separate
I'm sorry but Jim's rant is spoiled and entitled. You buy a game knowing it is going to be always online and that millions of people will buy it day one and get upset because the login servers can't handle the load (which is a common problem for games like MMOs on launch). If you don't like the always online then don't buy the game. If you don't have the foresight to expect lag and login errors on a day one launch of this size then you obviously aren't familiar with Blizzard's other titles.
Yeah not being able to login on day one sucks and you have the right to complain to blizzard about that but what Jim is doing isn't making a intelligent complaint but having a temper tantrum like a child. Companies ignore whining because its all hot air and it discredits you as a voice of logic and reason. I have a 3 year old kid and when he is whining I ignore it because its illogical and annoying. When he calms down and speaks in a rational manner then I gladly address the problem and if its possible/reasonable will fix it. Its the same thing with the whole ME3 ending. You have people upset about the ending voicing their complaint with valid points and in a rational manner then you have others who go on a rage bender making BBB complaints and acting like the world is going to end. Sadly the ragers outnumber the rational people (or at least get more attention) and the community as a whole looks like an ass because it seems like we are all a bunch of children.
On the point of always online play if you don't like it then don't buy the game (DO NOT PIRATE). Yes voice your concerns in an intelligent manner but if you buy the game knowing its always online and still get butt hurt over it then you only have yourself to blame.
Yeah not being able to login on day one sucks and you have the right to complain to blizzard about that but what Jim is doing isn't making a intelligent complaint but having a temper tantrum like a child. Companies ignore whining because its all hot air and it discredits you as a voice of logic and reason. I have a 3 year old kid and when he is whining I ignore it because its illogical and annoying. When he calms down and speaks in a rational manner then I gladly address the problem and if its possible/reasonable will fix it. Its the same thing with the whole ME3 ending. You have people upset about the ending voicing their complaint with valid points and in a rational manner then you have others who go on a rage bender making BBB complaints and acting like the world is going to end. Sadly the ragers outnumber the rational people (or at least get more attention) and the community as a whole looks like an ass because it seems like we are all a bunch of children.
On the point of always online play if you don't like it then don't buy the game (DO NOT PIRATE). Yes voice your concerns in an intelligent manner but if you buy the game knowing its always online and still get butt hurt over it then you only have yourself to blame.
Making a video
Making a video with multitude of images of shit and encouraging others to whine IS whining. You can be upset about the login servers being down and make complaints to blizzard but do it in a manner that doesn't sound like a small child. Jim's video reeks of child tantrum. If you feel that the service they provide isn't up to par then tell others that you don't think the game is worth getting because of X Y Z.... Be adult about it instead of going into a rage tantrum.The Cool Kid said:
Woah now, Slim.RazadaMk2 said:
First of all it's a matter of fact that the real money auction house is the only reason why single player content is online.
Why are you saying people are claiming D3 is a single player game, it isn't. However it has single player content, there is no reason other than the aforementioned auction house that requires internet access for that to be online.
Deny it, go on.
D2 catered to both, there is no justifiable reason that people should pay for a top quality title and not have the ability to play it offline when it offers single player content.
Never Winter Nights for example offered a similar setup where you could play single player story or you could play it online with your friends, the single player content however was not locked to an online arena.
Hacks not getting into the game? So what part of "locking single player content to online" will stop hacks from getting into a game?
You already have bots afking stealing IDs and taking peoples gold and gear, so let's be honest it hasn't done anything at all. Already it has been proven to be a weak system in terms of third party access, so what does your argument say now?
Also, I never came close to supporting your argument, don't make ridiculous statements.
As for the "people have crap internet argument" people probably do but there's still no reason to cut them out and deny yourself a few sales.
Regardless of how small percentage of sales only want the game for offline content.
To cut a long story short, Diablo 3 HAS the ability to do both offline single player and online play yet it simply refuses to do so because of one feature.
Already cracks are showing and third party programmes are being used.
You realise how condescending this is right? (Edit: In my sleepiness I left this in, but it refers to your entire post and not just this snippet)Vankraken said:
Also the "whining" as you called it is no more than dramatic exaggeration to emphasize a point. Have you been keeping up with his usual rants or is this coming out of left field for you?
As fun as this game looks, im simply not buying it for this one and simple reason: always online annoys the hell out of me.
Blizzard may not need my money, but that doesn't mean im throwing it on their money pile, either.
Blizzard may not need my money, but that doesn't mean im throwing it on their money pile, either.
Jezzascmezza said:
Yeah, I've kinda learned it's best not to eat when watching his videos because you never know what kind of shit he'll be posting in them. LONG LIVE JIM STERLING!
If all this is to prevent people from cheating to keep the money market pure, there is still the major issue that the money market won't even start until, if everything goes right, a week from now.
However, there are already level 60 players, and everyone has had plenty of time to get a good chunk of the way through the game, I just don't think it is going to work. magical items are incredibly easy to come by, and i am reaching a point where even my rares are going to be scrapped. Why is anyone going to spend any money on something that is so easy to get, unless it is perfect? I doubt i will be able to make even a dollar from the money market once things finally start up because of the MASSIVE number of players. Ah well, here's hoping my 200 essences are worth a few bucks in someones eyes.
(The gold market has already begun, but i was hoping to sell for cash)
However, there are already level 60 players, and everyone has had plenty of time to get a good chunk of the way through the game, I just don't think it is going to work. magical items are incredibly easy to come by, and i am reaching a point where even my rares are going to be scrapped. Why is anyone going to spend any money on something that is so easy to get, unless it is perfect? I doubt i will be able to make even a dollar from the money market once things finally start up because of the MASSIVE number of players. Ah well, here's hoping my 200 essences are worth a few bucks in someones eyes.
(The gold market has already begun, but i was hoping to sell for cash)