Why are people freaking out over the "Always Online" aspect of Diablo 3?

[Jandau]

DISCLAIMER: I'm sure there's been a bunch of similar threads, no need to tell me that. This one is mine. If it bothers you that someone made another one, just ignore it.

This has been bugging me for the past week - everywhere I turn, people are bitching about the Always Online announcement for D3. It's in the Forums I visit, it's in the Webcomics I follow, it's in the articles I read. Everyone is whining about it like it's this huge problem.

It isn't the problem.

It's the symptom of the actual problem.

In fact, there is no way for D3 to NOT be Always Online. And the reason for that it the actual problem - The Cash Auction House

I'm sure most of you can put the pieces together by now, but in case you're not getting it, I'll elaborate. Any form of offline play means the game data is relatively easy to tamper with. The only way to avoid this is to store character data on the server and keep in constant contact with the client. This becomes actually important when you consider the Cash Auction House (CAH from now on). This is a place where items will be bought and sold for real money. Real as in you'll be able to sell that Infinity+1 Sword you found and then get the money to your bank account (before someone quotes me the Escapist article where it says cashing out won't be possible - that article was wrong).

So imagine if you could go offline, use a cheat program to give yourself a bunch of such items and then put them up for sale. You could literally copy/paste money. Sure, it would crash the market and all that, but that would just end up screwing the game up even more. D2's history was riddled with item duping scandals and similar crap. The only way to prevent it is to keep a tight leash on the character data, and the only way to do that is to require Always Online.

It's not DRM! It's there to ensure the game's market stays "honest". And since real money is being thrown around, real money that could come out of Blizz's own pockets, they REALLY want to keep it honest. People keep talking about the Always Online being DRM and how it's restrictive and whatnot, but for once I don't think it's about Piracy, it's about the CAH.

The only way Blizz could give you an offline mode is if they let your make a separate offline character which could never go online and not letting your online characters ever be played offline. I belive I heard something to that extent was being implemented.

So in short, stop whining about Always Online. It's pointless. If you want to ***** about something, ***** about the CAH, since it's the reason for the Always Online crap.

P.S. And this is before we even get started on the crap I belive the CAH will do to the game's economy, especially as far as "normal" players are concerned.

EDIT: I belive people have been missing a single line in my post, or I haven'+t been clear enough. Yes, they could do an offline mode with characters that are offline only and I BELIVE THEY ARE, at least I remember reading something to that extent.

EDIT 2: Diablo 3 WILL have an OFFLINE MODE

http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=27387874231&sid=3000 (scroll down to the blue post)

Seriously people, chill...

 

[Elamdri]

I thought the Penny-Arcade summary was pretty on point about this topic.

^Pretty much the exact image I have in my mind.

 

[Wicky_42]

It's not DRM! It's there to ensure the game's market stays "honest". And since real money is being thrown around, real money that could come out of Blizz's own pockets, they REALLY want to keep it honest. People keep talking about the Always Online being DRM and how it's restrictive and whatnot, but for once I don't think it's about Piracy, it's about the CAH.

Erm, it IS DRM, and everything you've been saying has been to that effect; it's management over the digital property, whether that's a full game or items within the game. As to the reasons for its implementation, sure, CAH is the obvious thing to have necessitated that move, and if they allow otherwise complete offline characters without an always on connection then great - they would really need to be pushing that fact into mainstream knowledge to quash all the moaning.

Thing is, no matter how you look at it, ANY sort of always-online system for an ostensibly SINGLE PLAYER game is a betrayal and straight-up pisses me off - and unlike the penny arcade comic, I don't then buy it anyway, I look for alternatives. At the very least, there's always another game that actually understands the concept of 'single player' gaming.

 

[Woodsey]

Why don't they just have a single-player that's actually separate from the online store and won't let you cross your character over?

 

[Elamdri]

Why don't they just have a single-player that's actually separate from the online store and won't let you cross your character over?

Because then blizzard doesn't make money from the online store with you.

 

[JaysonM]

It's not DRM! It's there to ensure the game's market stays "honest". And since real money is being thrown around, real money that could come out of Blizz's own pockets, they REALLY want to keep it honest. People keep talking about the Always Online being DRM and how it's restrictive and whatnot, but for once I don't think it's about Piracy, it's about the CAH.

Erm, it IS DRM, and everything you've been saying has been to that effect; it's management over the digital property, whether that's a full game or items within the game. As to the reasons for its implementation, sure, CAH is the obvious thing to have necessitated that move, and if they allow otherwise complete offline characters without an always on connection then great - they would really need to be pushing that fact into mainstream knowledge to quash all the moaning.

Thing is, no matter how you look at it, ANY sort of always-online system for an ostensibly SINGLE PLAYER game is a betrayal and straight-up pisses me off - and unlike the penny arcade comic, I don't then buy it anyway, I look for alternatives. At the very least, there's always another game that actually understands the concept of 'single player' gaming.

Heres a fun fact... You will buy it, and every other person who is raging will buy it. The issue is small, it was a bigger issue for starcraft 2 because SC2 has professional tournaments and needs a LAN, D3 does not need a LAN, Latency isn't an issue. If it's an issue in terms of principle, then you should really htfu, and learn to be a good sheep like the rest of the masses.

 

[Mr Thin]

The only way Blizz could give you an offline mode is if they let your make a separate offline character which could never go online and not letting your online characters ever be played offline. I belive I heard something to that extent was being implemented.

Well... yeah. This is clearly and obviously exactly what they should do.

I haven't been paying too much attention to this specific conflict, but surely this is all anyone complaining about this ever wanted.

As you said, the CAH couldn't possibly work without always-online, and even then people will still find ways to exploit it.

I'm not buying the game - not out of protest, I'm just not that interested, and from what I've seen, there's nothing this game offers that Torchlight 2 won't - but letting people make characters that can only be played offline (and vice versa) doesn't seem too incredibly complicated to me. So why weren't they doing this from the beginning?

 

[Asehujiko]

Because I'm pissed off about a game that I was looking forward to being unplayable for me. I do more then half my gaming on the move and my internet connection is not stable enough to conform to the "0.5 sec microstutters every 30 sec = FILTHY PIRATE SCUM" standards of always on DRM.

That and the whole legalize/endorse/profit from sewatshops/slavery thing.

 

[shaboinkin]

I don't really play online in Diablo 2. I played on LAN a few times.
But yah, what sense does it make to have the single player and the multiplayer combined? None. Two separate entities. If it isn't broken, don't fix it.

 

[Pandaman1911]

Okay, here's how you do it. Create an "offline mode". You can't use Auction House bought items in it, and shit you find in the offline mode can't be put into Auction. Why bother, you ask? Because if my internet sputters and I lose connection at the end of a gruesome end-game dungeon crawl, I am going to be pissed off enough to eat babies.

 

[Giantpanda602]

Why don't they just have a single-player that's actually separate from the online store and won't let you cross your character over?

Because then people would be mad that they did it on accident without realizing it and Blizzard would have to tell them they couldn't do anything.

 

[Wicky_42]

It's not DRM! It's there to ensure the game's market stays "honest". And since real money is being thrown around, real money that could come out of Blizz's own pockets, they REALLY want to keep it honest. People keep talking about the Always Online being DRM and how it's restrictive and whatnot, but for once I don't think it's about Piracy, it's about the CAH.

Erm, it IS DRM, and everything you've been saying has been to that effect; it's management over the digital property, whether that's a full game or items within the game. As to the reasons for its implementation, sure, CAH is the obvious thing to have necessitated that move, and if they allow otherwise complete offline characters without an always on connection then great - they would really need to be pushing that fact into mainstream knowledge to quash all the moaning.

Thing is, no matter how you look at it, ANY sort of always-online system for an ostensibly SINGLE PLAYER game is a betrayal and straight-up pisses me off - and unlike the penny arcade comic, I don't then buy it anyway, I look for alternatives. At the very least, there's always another game that actually understands the concept of 'single player' gaming.

Heres a fun fact... You will buy it, and every other person who is raging will buy it. The issue is small, it was a bigger issue for starcraft 2 because SC2 has professional tournaments and needs a LAN, D3 does not need a LAN, Latency isn't an issue. If it's an issue in terms of principle, then you should really htfu, and learn to be a good sheep like the rest of the masses.

Erm, no, I will not just buy it. I didn't buy Assassin's Creed 2, another singleplayer game with always on DRM, until its DRM was scaled back. So eat your 'fun fact' and realise that some people do actually give a fuck.

 

[ffs-dontcare]

While I fully sympathize with those of you who have crappy internet connections (I was in your shoes once and I remember all too well the amount of rage I had at the games I could not play due to a bad internet connection), I saw this coming. After WoW being merged with Battle.net and SC2 being run through the same, I did not think for one second that Blizzard would not do the same with D3.

I'm not stressing out about it because frankly, if I'm playing single-player (and that is my primary interest in it) then I won't have to worry about it stuttering every so often. You don't see such stuttering in SC2's single-player campaign after all.

And if SC2's multi-player doesn't have that sort of stuttering, I doubt D3's multi-player will either. Besides, why would you play multi-player if you knew your connection sucked?

I consider it a form of DRM, but I'm okay with it at this stage because (if SC2 is of any indication) it's not like my single-player game will be interrupted at all if my connection temporarily goes bust. As far as I'm aware anyway.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

The reason people dont like "Always Online (AO)" DRM? Its a pain in the ass, and a waste of time at that. Such DRM has been consistently cracked within a week of release, so all it does is annoy anyone who buys at launch.

Now I dont know why people are so up in arms about the Diablo 3 AO. Correct me if im wrong, but Diablo has a strong multiplayer aspect. And really, if you have a computer good enough to run Diablo 3, you probably have a decent internet connection, so its really no problem. And if, for some reason, you dont have an internet connection, or only want to play single player, use a crack. Its not difficult.

 

[brunothepig]

It's almost certainly DRM and they're just using the marketplace as an excuse. Yes, it as a valid excuse. Why not simply allow people to create offline characters? That's a simple solution. I saw someone say above they may be planning that? Good. As for the marketplace, I actually quite like the idea. Always on DRM, not a fan. At all. I have quite an unreliable connection. No, I can't get a better one. Those of you saying "everyone complaining is still gonna buy it", you're wrong. I know you're wrong, because I'm one of those who won't buy it if I'm forced to rely on my crappy internet connection to play it.

In short, the Marketplace isn't the reason. Or rather, it would be very easy to have an offline mode regardless. And always online DRM will forever suck.

 

[Woodsey]

Why don't they just have a single-player that's actually separate from the online store and won't let you cross your character over?

Because then people would be mad that they did it on accident without realizing it and Blizzard would have to tell them they couldn't do anything.

Pop-up box when you click single-player. Problem solved.