No LAN play in Starcraft II?

[ibex333]

Originally posted by: natebigdawg


I understand their desire to stop pirating of games but does Blizzard not realize that their games are probably the most legitimately owned games out there?

QFT Agreed 100%.

I kinda hated Starcraft II already, now I hate it even more. This is probably the worst decision they made up till now. A strategy game WITHOUT LAN support??! That's HERECY.

 

[Sylvanas]

I don't care. I'll be playing for the singleplayer campaign anyway and if I want to play others I'll go on Bnet.....not a big deal.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

Heh, I think they are pretty serious about this.

My friend came over for a Diablo LAN a couple days ago. I don't have Diablo 2 so I used his copy and a key generator (wasn't sure if it would allow LAN with same key) to install the game. Then I went to battle.net to update the game. The game updated but of course the key was invalid, etc. Well we did our LAN, and today I thought I could use some Starcraft. I go to Battle.net and it gives me a message about the connection being interrupted or some BS. I research it online and aparently it means that there is a suspension on my IP for connecting to Battle.net using an invalid key. My Starcraft key is valid but when I connected using the fake Diablo 2 key I got the suspension.

Seems like a recent change.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I dont care.
If I play it at all, it will be for an Epic single player campaign. If word gets out the official campaign sucks, I wont even buy it.

Also, I read the article, and I dont think they really meant a 0% chance of a console port.
If consoles finally adopted the KBM configuration (like they should have 10 years ago) they could easily play most strategy games.

http://game.techchuck.com/2009...to-last-4-to-6-months/
Also, official word is there will be a LONG beta test, probably pushing the game release right up to Xmas.

I don't care either. I don't do LAN parties any more. I'm getting it for single player as well but I can see why people are complaining about not having LAN.

 

[I4AT]

lol they have to be supporting LAN, this is either bullshit or miscommunication on the interviewer's part, or the VP has no idea wtf he's talking about. The competitive scene for Starcraft in Korea is fucking huge, and of course all of those games are played via LAN. Every WCG is played on LAN, most tournament play big or small is held over LAN. The proleagues are the only reason this game still has an online community, they'd lose more sales by not supporting LAN than they'd lose from pirating. Which, IMO, pirating would result in zero lost sales anyways, because those people wouldn't pay for the game to begin with.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Text

Rob Pardo is the VP of Game Design, and he had strong words for LAN play when he spoke with IncGamers. "We don't have any plans to support LAN," he told the site, also saying, "We will not support it."

WTF?

I assume it will be all Battle.net-based... but still. They're cutting the heart out of one of the genre-games that made the scene!

Umm, how can they not support LAN play? That's retarded. LAN play is the heart and soul of any multi player gamer, excluding the MMO.

 

[Raduque]

Congratulations Blizzard! You have guaranteed I will not buy Starcraft II parts 1, 2 OR 3. I will likely not buy Diablo III, either.

 

[KMFJD]

Haven't used LAN play since the mid 90's , definitly not a game breaker for me, will buy it regardless.

 

[JTsyo]

Cracked version of the game will probably be set to look up a fake bnet. That way the game would think you're playing on bnet. I know there was a shadow bnet for War3.

 

[KeypoX]

Originally posted by: natebigdawg
The more I think about it, this is a pretty smart move though annoying nonetheless.

Removing the LAN feature completely basically rids any chance of a game being cracked and played via LAN since that is no longer a play option. !

actually not, you just setup the game to connect to you local server and everyone else connects through that.

Lots of other games have done it, I forget the name ofthe program that is usually used to create this internet lan.

None the less this was a stupid move. Fuck blizzard and this game, its taken to long and i dont give a crap anymore. It wont be as good as the first anyways.

How else can they rape people and they will still buy. They already split the game into three which is BS. NOw this... next will be a monthly charge for bnet.

 

[Alienwho]

The people at Blizzard are absolute geniuses. Seriously, hear me out.

It's been a few months since Starcraft II has made the headlines. The management/marketing department decide it's time to get people talking about them again. They make a few controversial remarks that they knew would induce a world-wide nerd-rage panic. They say no LAN play but hint at new Battlenet multiplayer technology they're working on. This will probably turn out to be some kind of Battlenet "offline" mode which will essentially be the same thing as LAN play and they end up coming out as hero's and the last defenders of PC gaming, nerds everywhere rejoice and hail Blizzard.

I think it's safe to say the people at Blizzard aren't stupid and have a calculated plan through the entire product lifecycle of Starcraft II to maximize advertising/hype/sales/company image.

 

[skace]

generic rage! Blizzard is destroying everything! Activision is destroying Blizzard! I have no proof but I'm going to shit my pants anyways!

 

[dclapps]

Blizzard just set panties to twist in here, jesus guys.

90% of the people in here who stated they will not buy the game are lying. A majority of your gaming time was going to be spent on single player and bnet anyways so stop kidding yourself. Anyone who thinks Blizzard won't include a way for people to play without an internet connection is an idiot. A bunch of people sitting in work chairs are smarter than a company raking in hundreds of millions dollars monthly.

The unfortunate takeaway from this whole thing is that you can now see how badly "pc gamers" have been treated by previous developers and publishers; everything out of their mouths' is negative. Blizzard is in an entirely different stratosphere than those other companies. Their games have as close to near-perfect acceptance as we are going to see for a long fucking time. Nobody else comes close. Who wouldn't want this company, then, to develop a singleplayer that is MUCH larger than normal? People are so afraid of the unknown it's laughable. If SC2 had SC1 singleplayer, people would whine that it is just a resolution update.

It's hard to believe people are treating Blizzard like EA....

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: Beev

Originally posted by: Auryg

We throw at least one every week in the summer, so this pretty much axes any potential for me and my friends to buy it.

You completely cut off your computers from the internet when you have a LAN party? Why?

We have the parties in a place that has no internet connection. There's a lot of places in this country that don't have access to broadband.

It is especially true when you need a place that is big enough to holdt lots of people.
I know someone that had a LAN party in a barn about 5 miles from the nearest house.

Yep, we call the place we play "the barn." It's more of a storage area on bottom and a nice house-like atmosphere up top, but alas, no internet.

In Minnesota? You should invite me to this lan

 

[Golgatha]

I don't have a problem with this as long as the Battle.net netcode is smart enough to know that once a game has commenced, the shortest route from point A to point B is directly through my router. Connecting and setting up a game through Battle.net(2) isn't much of a concern though.

Now if the game data has to go from each computer, through the router, to Blizzard's servers, then back again; it will be ridiculous.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: Beev

Originally posted by: Auryg

We throw at least one every week in the summer, so this pretty much axes any potential for me and my friends to buy it.

You completely cut off your computers from the internet when you have a LAN party? Why?

We have the parties in a place that has no internet connection. There's a lot of places in this country that don't have access to broadband.

It is especially true when you need a place that is big enough to holdt lots of people.
I know someone that had a LAN party in a barn about 5 miles from the nearest house.

Yep, we call the place we play "the barn." It's more of a storage area on bottom and a nice house-like atmosphere up top, but alas, no internet.

In Minnesota? You should invite me to this lan

Ever been to QuakeCon?

I went in 2007 and had a ball on a 3000+ person LAN. They did have Internet though, so no LAN for Starcraft 2 wouldn't be a big deal there.

 

[mindcycle]

"we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy"

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/59340

Yes, creating less incentive to purchase your game is the answer to piracy..

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: mindcycle

"we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy"

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/59340

Yes, creating less incentive to purchase your game is the answer to piracy..

They better be stuffing battlenet up with tons of features....

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: dclapps
It's hard to believe people are treating Blizzard like EA....

Basically.

Blizzard doesn't have a single game in their lineup that they've failed to deliver on and yet people are up in arms over every single blog post without any idea what it means to them or the end product.

I just wonder if programs like Hamachi are at the root of this.

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: dclapps
Blizzard just set panties to twist in here, jesus guys.

90% of the people in here who stated they will not buy the game are lying. A majority of your gaming time was going to be spent on single player and bnet anyways so stop kidding yourself. Anyone who thinks Blizzard won't include a way for people to play without an internet connection is an idiot. A bunch of people sitting in work chairs are smarter than a company raking in hundreds of millions dollars monthly.

The unfortunate takeaway from this whole thing is that you can now see how badly "pc gamers" have been treated by previous developers and publishers; everything out of their mouths' is negative. Blizzard is in an entirely different stratosphere than those other companies. Their games have as close to near-perfect acceptance as we are going to see for a long fucking time. Nobody else comes close. Who wouldn't want this company, then, to develop a singleplayer that is MUCH larger than normal? People are so afraid of the unknown it's laughable. If SC2 had SC1 singleplayer, people would whine that it is just a resolution update.

It's hard to believe people are treating Blizzard like EA....

:thumbsup:

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: Maximilian

Originally posted by: dclapps
Blizzard just set panties to twist in here, jesus guys.

90% of the people in here who stated they will not buy the game are lying. A majority of your gaming time was going to be spent on single player and bnet anyways so stop kidding yourself. Anyone who thinks Blizzard won't include a way for people to play without an internet connection is an idiot. A bunch of people sitting in work chairs are smarter than a company raking in hundreds of millions dollars monthly.

The unfortunate takeaway from this whole thing is that you can now see how badly "pc gamers" have been treated by previous developers and publishers; everything out of their mouths' is negative. Blizzard is in an entirely different stratosphere than those other companies. Their games have as close to near-perfect acceptance as we are going to see for a long fucking time. Nobody else comes close. Who wouldn't want this company, then, to develop a singleplayer that is MUCH larger than normal? People are so afraid of the unknown it's laughable. If SC2 had SC1 singleplayer, people would whine that it is just a resolution update.

It's hard to believe people are treating Blizzard like EA....

:thumbsup:

It's because a lot of fans are skeptical, as they haven't been given anything enjoyable since 2001. The staff has almost completely changed, and there are fears of WoW going to the developers' heads, which is at least partially true based on D3 media and the crazy money WoW makes.

Sure, Blizzard made great games in the past, but that was 8 years ago. I have no clue if these new entries will be just as good as the old ones. A lot can happen in 8 years.

 

[HopJokey]

Here is a response from an official Blizzard rep on the battle.net forums. It seems the sole reason for LAN removal is piracy:

Posted by Karune on B.Net Forums

As mentioned by Rob Pardo in interviews, piracy is a serious problem and often times tie in closely with LAN. At the end of the day, we want the best for the community and fans that support our games, and having chunk of the community pirate the game actually hurts the community.

1) Pirated servers splinter the community instead of consolidating all players who love to play the game. Battle.net will bring players together in skirmishes, ladder play, custom games, and allow everyone the opportunity to share a common experience.

2) More people on Battle.net means more even more resources devoted to evolving this online platform to cater to further community building and new ways to enjoy the game online. World of Warcraft is a great example of a game that has evolved beyond anyone's imagination since their Day 1 and will continue to do so to better the player experience for as long as players support the title. The original StarCraft is an even better example of how 11 years later, players still love and play this title, and we will continue to support and evolve it with patches.

We would not take out LAN if we did not feel we could offer players something better.

If I were to buy StarCraft II or any other title, I know the money I spent would be going to supporting that title. Personally, I would be upset that others were freeloading while others are legitimately supporting a title that has great potential and goals of making this title have 'long legs.'

If you like a song a lot, buy it, and that artist will only come out with more awesome songs for you. If you like a game, buy it, and we will promise to constantly work to make the player experience better at every corner we can.

Support the causes you believe in (This is applicable to all things, not just gaming).

Don't be a leech to society, innovation, and further awesome creations.

http://forums.battle.net/threa...2&sid=3000&pageNo=3#49

Here's a good response to that:

Doesn't Blizz realize that they will most likely create more pirates running hacked servers by taking LAN out than by leaving LAN play in? Quite honestly I have a feeling that a lot of my friends may become part of the hacking community if Blizz doesn't support LAN just so they can play without having to be online. By removing LAN play they are not reducing piracy, but in fact creating even more pirates. I don't give a sh!t if Battle.NET 2.0 can scrub my nuts for me, it still doesn't take the place of getting all my friends together at my house to play a LAN game. I host LAN parties regularly and if we all had to connect to Battle.NET so the 10 of us in my house all within 30 feet of each other could get into a game I would have to say Blizz gets an epic fail. Fix it Blizz, you're breaking more than you're fixing.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: HopJokey
Here is a response from an official Blizzard rep on the battle.net forums. It seems the sole reason for LAN removal is piracy:

They wont stop piracy. People will still steal the game. Maybe they wont be able to enjoy private LAN play (at first) but its not going to stop torrents and such.

 

[Auryg]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
In Minnesota? You should invite me to this lan

I'm afraid they aren't what they used to be with friends moving away and the such - and we're two and a half hours from the cities

 

[mindcycle]

Originally posted by: HopJokey
Here's a good response to that:

Doesn't Blizz realize that they will most likely create more pirates running hacked servers by taking LAN out than by leaving LAN play in? Quite honestly I have a feeling that a lot of my friends may become part of the hacking community if Blizz doesn't support LAN just so they can play without having to be online. By removing LAN play they are not reducing piracy, but in fact creating even more pirates. I don't give a sh!t if Battle.NET 2.0 can scrub my nuts for me, it still doesn't take the place of getting all my friends together at my house to play a LAN game. I host LAN parties regularly and if we all had to connect to Battle.NET so the 10 of us in my house all within 30 feet of each other could get into a game I would have to say Blizz gets an epic fail. Fix it Blizz, you're breaking more than you're fixing.

lol. I agree with that guy.