Revenge of the Metacritics: Diablo III Getting Review-Bombed

[Rooster Cogburn]

Well actually it is an online game. All the items and enemies are handled server-side.

That is true, but it's a very minor obstacle to implementing an offline single player mode. They could just handle them client-side for that mode. You would probably have to restrict those characters to offline and 'Open B.net' play, like Diablo II did. I have heard it said this would confuse or restrict players, but I find that to be an unconvincing deflection. Surely not having the option is the more restrictive alternative.

This is going to sound callous, but I used to live in a place that had crappy internet, and one of the key reasons that I moved was because I wanted a better internet connection. I don't think that the DRM is bad.

In fact, you know what? I like always-on DRM.

I like it.

I pay for my games. It infuriates me that others don't. The DRM in Diablo 3 is an effective way to stop others from gaming the system. And I like that. If I can't get it for free, neither should anyone else. If there is some collateral damage there, so be it.

Also, I will admit there is a sense of schadenfreude from seeing people whine on the internet.

I also pay for my games, and I share your pain. I think Diablo III's DRM may actually work for a change, because of the way the game relies on the server for actual game play. My disagreement arises because I feel like I am the collateral damage, as you put it. I do mind the inconvenience, especially when I strongly suspect controlling player behavior, killing third party mods, supporting the RMAH, and exercising silly degrees of control through copyright ownership are stronger motivations than actually stopping pirates.

I'm chuckling at that last part. You admit to your schadenfreude, but you're also mature about it. I can definitely respect that.

EDIT: I just wanted to add that I played Diablo II and Titan Quest both online and offline, so this is not a theoretical discussion for me. It actually impacts my ability/desire to play the game. I find single player and coop modes to be different experiences even within the same game, no matter the genre, and I usually take advantage of both when offered. I have not purchased Diablo III and doubt I ever will because of issues like the permanent connection DRM and real money auction house (I'm waiting for some post-release appraisals on that point). Do you think that's how I wanted things to turn out? Well, do you?!?!?!

 

[Pandabearparade]

gaming culture has a certain measure of entitlement issues

I'm so sick of that fucking word, it's almost always misused.

Diablo 3 is a great game and does not deserve a 3.3, that's ridiculous. That said, a customer being angry about not being able to play the game they payed for is not 'entitlement'; at least not in the ridiculous re-defined way shills use the term.

 

[TaintedSaint]

I don't care about the drm. What i do care about is only being able to play for 3 hours in the 24 hours since releasw . you would think they would have this down by now.

 

[Antari]

Yes, Blizzard has screwed up, BIGTIME. Meaning worse than they ever have before. As for any of this affecting sales, I have to agree with you there. They will still make money on it, regardless of how badly they screw up.

Well you're using a creative definition for "screw up," then, at the very least. If we agree that they'll make tons of money, and continue to make tons of money, in what way are they screwing up, really?

Every single launch of WoW and its expansions has been plagued by crashes, disconnects, and lag spikes. We're talking about a fairly routine event since 2004. Despite this, SC2 enjoyed tremendous critical success and sales, as did Diablo 3.

Clearly people don't perceive server instability at launch to be the precursor of a company's downfall. Or did you have something else in mind?

They screwed up the release on multiple levels. As well exploiting the fact that most of the customers are kids who had parents paying for the game, doesn't make them a success in my eyes. The industry as a whole can only keep this sort of stuff up for so long until it comes back to bite them. Not that it will happen next week or because of this. But this is atleast a push in the right direction. If we're going to hit bottom for customer service, the only hope I have is that we hit it soon. Then maybe we can start to see some improvements. Instead of a constant line of disasters.

 

[Frostbite3789]

I think it's sad that the zeroes will probably be deleted even though people have a right to be angry about not being able to play a single-player game offline. They warned about this before release! I don't care, people should be able to use whatever they purchased.

This does not justify a zero score. Especially since it is NOT news. Especially since D3 is obviously NOT an offline game.

They instituted always online. Their servers weren't working over 12 hours after the game launched.

That's faulty.

 

[Funkamander]

Whiny overreacting crybabies, what do you expect?

I've been playing seamless four-man co-op ever since I got off work, dropping in one group and jumping in to play with other friends. It works phenomenally well, and the game is a blast. You just have these guys getting their boxers in a twist because the game is not catering to theeeeeeeeeem waaaaaaaaaah.

This is so, SO stupid.

Do I get why people are upset? Sure. Do I think their complaints are valid? Sometimes. Is the game fucking awesome? Yes, yes it is.

I mean, we're less than 24 hours out from the launch of a game we will be playing, and Blizzard will be supporting, for *YEARS*. Holy shit, calm down people. It'll be fixed. It's like you've never played the launch of a big online game or something before...

 

[KefkaCultist]

Game works fine for me. I'm on act II with a Demon Hunter and almost done with act I as a Monk, so I don't know what people are bitching about. Yeah, the launch had some issues due to server overload, but you must be at least half retarded if you expected there to be no issues.

"B-b-but KefkaCultist, we need internet all the time to play!"
-So what? It's the 21st century. I mean, I don't wanna be an ass, but it's actually pretty uncommon in this day and age to not have a decent internet. (EDIT: Although I do sympathize about not having an offline single-player)

"B-b-but KefkaCultist, the Real Money Auction House is pay-to-win!"
-And you know what? It was like that in Diablo 2 with the unofficial market. Deal with it.

"Well what do you have to say about them changing a lot of stuff from the 2nd game?"
-Shut up. No one really liked having their inventory taken up with scrolls of TP and identify (which became useless after getting Decard in Act 1 anyway), so removing them was non-issue for me.

 

[KefkaCultist]

Whiny overreacting crybabies, what do you expect?

I've been playing seamless four-man co-op ever since I got off work, dropping in one group and jumping in to play with other friends. It works phenomenally well, and the game is a blast. You just have these guys getting their boxers in a twist because the game is not catering to theeeeeeeeeem waaaaaaaaaah.

This is so, SO stupid.

Do I get why people are upset? Sure. Do I think their complaints are valid? Sometimes. Is the game fucking awesome? Yes, yes it is.

Preach!

But seriously, is it just me or has the gamer population been really whiny during these last couple years. I swear, every time a new game comes out people start immediately start bitching left and right. I just don't recall it ever being this bad before.

 

[Sexy Devil]

rofl

The servers were literally not working for two hours, and people are still review bombing it over that.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

The game is outstanding, easily a 9 out of 10.

The servers and launch day fiasco... ugh. Horrible. The people review bombing D3 are still idiots, but I can understand their frustration, even if I can't understand how review bombs help anyone.

We'll all forget about today in a week anyways when we're all happily farming Inferno Mode for l33t armorz.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Could this be the cause of always on DRM? Maybe Blizzard taking a share of the dough from user-traded items?

Tune in tonight to find out.

...

Op, that is an awesome Adachi-murder avatar. May I suggest you pop your head into the Persona user group and take a look around?

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Shin-Megami-Tensei-Persona

We always enjoy getting new members.

 

[Kurt Horsting]

lets just get something out of the way first. D3 is not single player and was not built to be played only with single player. Please stop fucking talking about this as some sort of tragedy like an entitled little shit about a game that wasn't even trying to be single player.

2nd, it is complete bullshit that it is taking this fucking long to have the game run normally. It is complete hubris to assume that they should only go with "just enough" approach to server load. especially with numbers coming in that where saying this was going to be one of the most popular games of all time. They should know better. <--- this is the problem.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

Clearly those people should have checked with YOU to see how many points should be knocked off for Day 1 DLC and server problems that prevent them from playing a $60 game.

No, it prevents them from playing it ON THE FIRST DAY... and only intermittently at that. I've still managed to play over 8 hours even with all the maintenance and crashes.

People review-bombing and asking for refunds are just acting like children. It's a GIGANTIC online global release. If you didn't expect problems, then you're a bigger fool than I thought... and that's saying something!

 

[lovest harding]

And it is minor. You're going to have this game forever. You can play it for years. One day's worth of server crashes is beyond miniscule in comparison.

I'm not going to disagree with any of your points but I want to correct one thing:
You're going to be able to play this game until Blizzard decides the servers aren't worth it.
Whether the servers last for 1 year or 50 years, the game is entirely reliant on their servers. So the consumer has no say in how long they can play the game. It's the same thing with MMOs.
Sorry if someone pointed this out to you already. xD

 

[martyrdrebel27]

There is no story in a single player environment, where you are completely segregated from other players. There is no way to play this game without being affected to some degree by others.

yes, there is. have you played it? i've played the game from level 1-16 currently, never joining another player or the general chat, leaving my game closed and not using AH, so tell me, in what way is that not a single player game? How is anybody else effecting my experience? they are not, and you are simply wrong.

there is no reason this game couldn't be a "single player with online options" set-up.

 

[teebeeohh]

also: fish swim birds fly and brother, i hurt people

I really don't care about the always online. just in this case, SC2 not having lan is an atrocity( especially since i can't shake the feeling that this was more a move to take control of the Korean starcraft scene than anything else) but Diablo in singleplayer is really very mediocre, what makes the gem special is the MP and gameplay wise i have yet to hear a valid argument against that.

an MP-focused game not running on launch day is not exactly news. Here is a little wow knowledge to help you with that: NEVER PLAY ON PATCH DAY. and launch day really is the mother of all patchdays.

 

[sonofliber]

well if i could play it, it would be nice, some of us have work, study in short have lifes, so when we can squish some time to play vg, its nice if we can play them