Poll:How many of you are with the "always online" policy for D3 and how many against?

[railven]

So because you and countless others CHOSE to cheat and just use the dupe items in D2, thats reason that everyone should be forced into all this nonsense? You could have just as easily played D2 through and earned all of that equipment. That was a choice you made.

Maybe it did "ruin" the game for you but thats your own damn fault.

To be frank when I firsted started playing D2 (since it was late in the series) I didn't know it was duped until he started to show me how to do. Note I said short stay in D2, he basically ruined the game for me before I started to play it. I got rid of the duped geared but by then I had already lost interest in just clicking mobs.

It was a choice I made, and I regretted it since I didn't play the expansion and missed out in an awesome game/series.

This is a stupid, retarded argument. Thats part of what makes PC gaming fun, you can cheat or hack or mod the shit out of everything, if you want. You play through it one time legitimately, and then you have fun with it. Mods in Oblivion will forever make that a much better game because you can do that. You can cheat too, but most people don't the first time through so it isn't ruined for them, but then they mess around with it after they've completed it.

Wow, your arguement is as stupid/retarded for the same reasons you used against mine. Not all of us mod our games. And I personally don't use "GOD" mode to have some kicks. Texture packs are not the same as infinite mana mods and trying to correlate the two is as you said "stupid, retarded argument."

It will become null and void one day any way when someone figures out how to emulate D3 servers, thus allowing people to connect to a hacked server, get some hacked items or something and then go back to the real servers to play.

Yeah, people like you would have a place to have at it. For those that aren't as all bent out of shape about it, we can enjoy the current server setup

This whole argument that it stops people from making their own decisions to dupe items is about as stupid an argument as one can make, so I can't wait to find out what they say when people figure out how to dupe items. Then they'll complain that only the hackers can dupe items?

LOL, so hilarious

Duping item isn't the only hack I saw in my D2 days. Hell you could hex edit your character to godly status.

I'm not even sure why I jumped into the fray, or that responding to you since after reading your other posts you are dead set against anyone finding pro's in Diablo 3, but I mostly play with my close friends (yeah that duper too, who is frankly really upset he can't dupe haha) and avoid the masses.

Keep that crusade going, you'll win some day

 

[thespyder]

I kind of think that people are confusing cheating with always online.

1) Cheating will happen regardless of if it is always online or not. Take a look at WoW or any other MMO. Cheating happens.

2) The Always online being done to prevent cheating is a front. The real driving reason for the always online is because Blizzard wants to drive micro-transactions and because of the RMHO. They are putting forth a business model where they control and can market the consumer. It is 100% the same reason why registering for a web site requires you to include either an email or phone number. Not because they need it, but because they want to make even more money off of you.

cheating will happen regardless. Tying cheating to the always online is a straw man argument intended to throw false and inaccurate extraneous facts in defense of always online. If your gaming experience in D2 was ruined by cheating, that had nothing to do with it being always online or not. It was because someone cheated.

 

[AMDZen]

Wow, your arguement is as stupid/retarded for the same reasons you used against mine. Not all of us mod our games. And I personally don't use "GOD" mode to have some kicks. Texture packs are not the same as infinite mana mods and trying to correlate the two is as you said "stupid, retarded argument."

My argument is completely different. The difference is that the option should be there. People should be able to hack Diablo 3 if they want, and they will. They already have bots and probably a lot more, and they'll have even more ongoing. I guarantee it.

The reason is that it doesn't affect anyone else. Its not like a FPS where you gain an unfair advantage on other players (even though every online FPS has hacks as well), because you're not playing against anyone else. Just as if I want to put on GOD mode on Oblivion and just run around immortal, all it affects is my gameplay experience and nobody elses - I am only robbing myself of the thrill of the challenge.

The only reason you could argue that Blizz has to do it is for the RMAH which isn't even live yet, and who knows if it ever will be. I personally could see it taking longer to get it live, and then having to take it down a few times after they realize that people have hacked certain things that right now Blizz says is unhackable.

Just like how the 1,000's of people getting hacked right now every day is somehow always their fault. Even though people have posted daisy chain hack scenario's, where one person got hacked, another person from there recently played list was next, and then a person from that players list continuing on down the line. Where basically the only logical explanation is a session hack - Blizz still disregards it and acts like it doesn't exist. They would rather deal with it reactively then pro-actively. Same reason why nobody who is currently using the bots like immortal out there are getting banned.

Duping item isn't the only hack I saw in my D2 days. Hell you could hex edit your character to godly status.

Duh. Of course you can do all that stuff in D2 just as you can do it any any other game on a PC. Which you should be able to do as it doesn't affect other people's experience in the game, accept your own.

I'm not even sure why I jumped into the fray, or that responding to you since after reading your other posts you are dead set against anyone finding pro's in Diablo 3, but I mostly play with my close friends (yeah that duper too, who is frankly really upset he can't dupe haha) and avoid the masses.

Keep that crusade going, you'll win some day

Not sure why I responded to you either since you have no idea what you're talking about. Although you are correct, my crusade is pointless because Blizz will never do anything about these issues.

Its unfortunate that fan bois will do whatever to defend their favorite company even when they know what they are doing is wrong. If more people stood up and fought, perhaps something would change.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Haven't read the thread, and I understand the reasons for having it in a game like Diablo 3, what with the auction house and unique items. But I'm always opposed to DRM that requires an internet connection. I think Diablo 3 should have a separate single-player mode; there seems to be an awful lot of people who want to play it by themselves. Let them.

 

[gothamhunter]

First off. I wasn't asking any questions, the argument that you guys are making as to why Blizz needed to put everything online is false and doesn't mean anything accept in regards to the RMAH. Thats why they chose to put everything online.

Comparing Diablo3 with WoW is your second problem. WoW is an MMORPG, Diablo is not - and D3 shouldn't be compared to other MMORPG's. I never, at any time have to pair up with anyone to get the most out of Diablo 3. I'm not paying a monthly fee. If either of those things were true, I wouldn't own D3 and I would never think twice about it.

Second, you have no idea what your talking about as WoW has had and will continue to have several hacks on things that people were able to exploit through out its life-cycle and Diablo 3 will as well.

1 - I think it's a mixture of both. I think they want to protect their consumers by trying to eliminate hacks and dupes, as this ruined the experience for a lot of legit players and eventually crashed the economy. Also, yes, Blizzard has a big investment with the RMAH. Protecting this investment is making sure things stay secure, which means keeping things online to make it more difficult to hack.

2 - OK, I will compare it to Guild Wars then, and the same discussion I offered will apply. This comparison is possible by your "standards" of an MMORPG, since you can complete the entirety of Guild Wars by yourself, and it doesn't require a subscription (FYI, not all MMORPG's require a sub). Again, if such a thing were possible then there would be such issues within Guild Wars, and there isn't.

3 - I played WOW for a long time and never did I mention that hacks or exploits did not exist - I've seen plenty of speedhacks in my time. However, what you're suggesting has never been brought up as a conern or even possiblity within WOW or any other online games I've played. Sure, there are emulated WOW servers, but you can't just take info off of it and bring it onto the real WOW servers because it's all held server-side.

 

[gothamhunter]

I kind of think that people are confusing cheating with always online.

1) Cheating will happen regardless of if it is always online or not. Take a look at WoW or any other MMO. Cheating happens.

2) The Always online being done to prevent cheating is a front. The real driving reason for the always online is because Blizzard wants to drive micro-transactions and because of the RMHO. They are putting forth a business model where they control and can market the consumer. It is 100% the same reason why registering for a web site requires you to include either an email or phone number. Not because they need it, but because they want to make even more money off of you.

cheating will happen regardless. Tying cheating to the always online is a straw man argument intended to throw false and inaccurate extraneous facts in defense of always online. If your gaming experience in D2 was ruined by cheating, that had nothing to do with it being always online or not. It was because someone cheated.

No one is suggesting cheating will not happen - it will; people will come up with some good bots or mouse scripts or something to help them farm or whatever, and possibly even something like a speed-hack, which is something people can report if they see, but since things are held serverside, issues such as the item-dupe from D2 or hex-editing your character into god-mode to win PVP will be nearly impossible (if possible at all), which might be things that are harder to notice and report on.

 

[railven]

My argument is completely different. The difference is that the option should be there. People should be able to hack Diablo 3 if they want, and they will. They already have bots and probably a lot more, and they'll have even more ongoing. I guarantee it.

So is your primary complain the fact that you can't hack Diablo 3 to your liking and on their servers?

You said it yourself, someone will hack the game and custom servers will emerge. Just give it time and your needs to hack the game will be satisfied.

The reason is that it doesn't affect anyone else. Its not like a FPS where you gain an unfair advantage on other players (even though every online FPS has hacks as well), because you're not playing against anyone else. Just as if I want to put on GOD mode on Oblivion and just run around immortal, all it affects is my gameplay experience and nobody elses - I am only robbing myself of the thrill of the challenge.

The only reason you could argue that Blizz has to do it is for the RMAH which isn't even live yet, and who knows if it ever will be. I personally could see it taking longer to get it live, and then having to take it down a few times after they realize that people have hacked certain things that right now Blizz says is unhackable.

Unfortunately the the other auction house, the one that doesn't work off real money, is also affected and this would in turn affect my gameplay. As someone who tries not to cheat and try to sell items I obtained through my labors I wouldn't be able to compete with people are using exploits and/or cheats.

I don't believe people have actually hacked the item database or are duping items, but they are exploiting Blizzard and/or user's lax security measures in raking in a boat load of gold.

All of which would affect me, the user, and how items will become grossly inflated in value because gold will become great deflated in value. Those of us earning gold the legit way won't be able to use the tool as intended.

Just like how the 1,000's of people getting hacked right now every day is somehow always their fault. Even though people have posted daisy chain hack scenario's, where one person got hacked, another person from there recently played list was next, and then a person from that players list continuing on down the line. Where basically the only logical explanation is a session hack - Blizz still disregards it and acts like it doesn't exist. They would rather deal with it reactively then pro-actively. Same reason why nobody who is currently using the bots like immortal out there are getting banned.

I've been visiting the forums and I'm not sure if I'd say 1,000's are getting hacked every day. In my circle of Diablo 3 friends (about 30 of us) only one of us got hacked. And I believe only half of us have authenticators.

There is clearly a security issue and I never once said Blizzard wasn't fault free, but at the same time I wouldn't say the users are fault free, and I definitely wouldn't put value in forum echo posts. If you haven't noticed people are mostly vocal about negative things. I see more threads "my x-product sucks" than I do for "my x-product rocks." Does that mean x-product sucks? I'd hardly think so.

Duh. Of course you can do all that stuff in D2 just as you can do it any any other game on a PC. Which you should be able to do as it doesn't affect other people's experience in the game, accept your own.

See above, it will come to you in due time. It seems now you are just in a tiff because you can't hack the game and enjoy it as you seem fit. Perhaps you can setup your own server and thus have total control. You can do it, I believe in you

Not sure why I responded to you either since you have no idea what you're talking about. Although you are correct, my crusade is pointless because Blizz will never do anything about these issues.

Its unfortunate that fan bois will do whatever to defend their favorite company even when they know what they are doing is wrong. If more people stood up and fought, perhaps something would change.

I have no idea what I'm talking about? You make blanket generalization to sum up people who oppose your opinion and retort with "I can't hack it, like my other games, therefore it is WRONG," and some how that makes you right?

So you are openly asking for a game to be hacked and exploited? Really? I'd ask for UI mods but damn, I'd never ask for the game to be openly exploited haha.

 

[RPD]

Against. I passed on buying the game, this being one of the primary reasons. If this is the trend gaming is going to continue, I'll just enjoy my old school games and no longer contribute to this new gaming economy.

 

[thespyder]

No one is suggesting cheating will not happen - it will; people will come up with some good bots or mouse scripts or something to help them farm or whatever, and possibly even something like a speed-hack, which is something people can report if they see, but since things are held serverside, issues such as the item-dupe from D2 or hex-editing your character into god-mode to win PVP will be nearly impossible (if possible at all), which might be things that are harder to notice and report on.

I strongly doubt "Impossible". Might be a little more difficult, I grant you. But that's all.

And so everyone gets impacted (regardless of if they know they are or not) for something that will happen anyway. Which is all i was saying. Significant detriment (to those of us who don't have perfect internet circumstance. Not to mention server issues, longevity and maintenance problems) for little to no consumer benefit.

From a consumer perspective, it is all loss. but from big publishers, all they see is benefit. Micro-transactions. The RMAH. Increased marketing. It is all gravy on their end.

 

[railven]

Against. I passed on buying the game, this being one of the primary reasons. If this is the trend gaming is going to continue, I'll just enjoy my old school games and no longer contribute to this new gaming economy.

Sadly it is. I'm hearing rumors that next gen consoles will follow some stupid kind of online-DRM checks.

Frankly put, all these things are more in the vain against piracy than hacking/cheating. But on both sides, this will prevent nothing and just upset some customers.

 

[gothamhunter]

I strongly doubt "Impossible". Might be a little more difficult, I grant you. But that's all.

And so everyone gets impacted (regardless of if they know they are or not) for something that will happen anyway. Which is all i was saying. Significant detriment (to those of us who don't have perfect internet circumstance. Not to mention server issues, longevity and maintenance problems) for little to no benefit.

From a consumer perspective, it is all loss.

OK, so let's go with nearly impossible, which is a fair assumption. I am curious as to how they'd be able to hack/edit items that are stored server side, but if/when it happens, it should be a good read

I am on the "who cares" side of the coin with regards to the always online, since I'd only play it online, but for those who would rather play offline, I can understand being miffed about it.

 

[tedrodai]

My answer is a little skewed, because I was only ever interested in the Battle.net online multiplayer aspect of D3. Therefore, I don't have any problem with it being an "always online" game, and I voted in favor of it on this poll.

For any game that I want to play primarily in "single player", I'd most definitely vote NO, and I totally understand those who feel that way about this game. I felt that way about Starcraft 2 for instance, and was pissed originally that it was always online. But for this game, I don't give a rip about any sort of single player experience personally.

 

[thespyder]

OK, so let's go with nearly impossible, which is a fair assumption. I am curious as to how they'd be able to hack/edit items that are stored server side, but if/when it happens, it should be a good read

I am on the "who cares" side of the coin with regards to the always online, since I'd only play it online, but for those who would rather play offline, I can understand being miffed about it.

You are begging the question. Hacking/cheating isn't the issue. It will happen regardless. if it isn't hacked items it will be something else. Always online doesn't prevent it, so it is not a valid argument FOR always online. Nor was it ever the driving force behind it's invention and application in this case.

Not to beat a dead horse, but here it is. I have a gaming laptop. I play Diablo 3 on it. I travel a good deal for work, which means that I can't play at the airport or on the plane. I can't play at the hotel because i am not going to pay $2 a minute for an all night gaming fest. And some of the places I travel have crappy internet anyway. Not to mention the server being down for several hours TWICE since launch. Not great track record.

These are all 100% provable impacts to consumers. Not speculations on who might decide to cheat. Ignoring valid impact to consumers is effectively marginalizing those consumers who paid good money for the game, same as you, but can't play through no fault of their own.

 

[I4AT]

These are all 100% provable impacts to consumers. Not speculations on who might decide to cheat. Ignoring valid impact to consumers is effectively marginalizing those consumers who paid good money for the game, same as you, but can't play through no fault of their own.

Hate to be an asshole, but given it was made pretty clear the game would require an internet connection at all times before it was released, then it would be 100% your own fault if you bought the game expecting to be able to play it on an airplane/at a motel.

When the servers are down, sure that's not your fault, but it's also something that should be expected once in a while.

 

[IGemini]

I can't stand the cheating. That said, always-on DRM isn't the way to prevent it. Unless a game is exclusively online multiplayer, always-on varies from being annoying to infuriating. I wouldn't care if there was an offline mode, because I always play single player to some degree. I don't buy games to play on my ISP's schedule or reliability.

I'm liking the fact that I haven't picked it up yet (I will...I've bypassed the series until now). Road Runner has been horrifyingly atrocious with their connection with the past couple weeks. Just today my internet has flaked out five times so far. That's more than what occurs in a year. I'd be livid if I was trying to play D3.

 

[thespyder]

Hate to be an asshole, but given it was made pretty clear the game would require an internet connection at all times before it was released, then it would be 100% your own fault if you bought the game expecting to be able to play it on an airplane/at a motel.

When the servers are down, sure that's not your fault, but it's also something that should be expected once in a while.

There is a difference between wanting to do something and expecting to do something. if I had Expected to play in a hotel room or on the plane, I would be the jerk. I didn't expect to play there. But I do want too. Which makes someone else the jerk.

and if your argument is "So you don't have a solid always on internet connection. Boo Hoo. Sux to be you!" really narrows the field at who the jerk might be.

And given that there is a single player mode, having to deal with lag/lag-death (in a single player game) is unacceptably poor game design.

 

[I4AT]

Well yeah there's a difference, but your last sentence said "consumers who paid good money for the game, same as you, but can't play through no fault of their own."

When the servers are down nobody can play, so I had to assume you were implying anyone who can't play while traveling is somehow not at fault.

 

[WelshBloke]

I thought I'd be OK with it. I dont have a massive amount of time to play (have kids and a full time job) so server downtime in the hour or so freetime I have can stop me playing for a couple of days.
Also I always get logged out if I leave the game paused for too long which is a pain in the arse as I have to start the chapter/act/whatever from the beginning when I log back in.

 

[railven]

I thought I'd be OK with it. I dont have a massive amount of time to play (have kids and a full time job) so server downtime in the hour or so freetime I have can stop me playing for a couple of days.
Also I always get logged out if I leave the game paused for too long which is a pain in the arse as I have to start the chapter/act/whatever from the beginning when I log back in.

This is the second time I've seen someone say this here. Is this a bug? I always just get kicked back to my last check point which is most likely the last room I came into.

I've been disconnected a few times for being idle, and I'd just lose at much 5-10 minutes of exploration, but a whole chapter? That has to be a bug.

 

[thespyder]

Well yeah there's a difference, but your last sentence said "consumers who paid good money for the game, same as you, but can't play through no fault of their own."

When the servers are down nobody can play, so I had to assume you were implying anyone who can't play while traveling is somehow not at fault.

When consumers can't play the single player mode without an internet connection, paying customers can't enjoy the game through poor game design (i.e. no fault of their own) and to no benefit to the consumer. It's a fine point, but it is a telling one.

 

[DrunkenSano]

When consumers can't play the single player mode without an internet connection, paying customers can't enjoy the game through poor game design (i.e. no fault of their own) and to no benefit to the consumer. It's a fine point, but it is a telling one.

Uhh, yes, the fault is their own. For buying a game that was explicitly stated that there is no single player offline mode. If there was no warning given, then it is fully on Blizzard. But since it was stated that you will have to be online to play the game, the consumer purchased it knowing full well what was required.

It's like having a crappy computer that is way below specs and then complaining you can't run the game. Guess what, they labeled the requirements to run the game.

 

[thespyder]

Uhh, yes, the fault is their own. For buying a game that was explicitly stated that there is no single player offline mode. If there was no warning given, then it is fully on Blizzard. But since it was stated that you will have to be online to play the game, the consumer purchased it knowing full well what was required.

It's like having a crappy computer that is way below specs and then complaining you can't run the game. Guess what, they labeled the requirements to run the game.

Beg to disagree. I find no fault in my inability to sway Blizzard from changing the format of D2 to what it ended up being. Agreed that I purchased, knowing the limitations of the game. That doesn't mean that those limitations are not limitations anymore.

Again, the difference between want and expect here.

 

[pathos]

Relegating one's right to decide when and how they play their games to a 3rd party sets a bad precedent for consumer rights. Vote with your wallet first, don't buy this game.

I didn't.

I liked Diablo 1 and 2. Played them for quite some time. But, I only played single player or lan, never stepped foot on battle.net. Never wanted to.

I was excited for this game, till I read that it was always on for the single player. Lost interest, and didn't buy it.

I have a rock solid internet connection, that has been pretty much on since I got it, barring power outtages, which I wouldnt need it during anyway. But, I still dont want to own a single player game that I have to be online for. I wouldnt let Ubisoft do it to me, and I wont let Blizzard do it to me either.

I deal with it for mmo's the online side of fps, because its the nature of the beast, and it's expected.

for single player? no, just no.

Well, I'm sure soon enough other companies will take note of Blizzard being able to make money hand over fist doing it, and they'll decide they can do it too. Then there wont be anything resembling single player games that you can play offline anymore. Then we'll have to deal with it with all games.

You'll have to drag me to that kind of future kicking and screaming though.

 

[thespyder]

I didn't.

I liked Diablo 1 and 2. Played them for quite some time. But, I only played single player or lan, never stepped foot on battle.net. Never wanted to.

I was excited for this game, till I read that it was always on for the single player. Lost interest, and didn't buy it.

I have a rock solid internet connection, that has been pretty much on since I got it, barring power outtages, which I wouldnt need it during anyway. But, I still dont want to own a single player game that I have to be online for. I wouldnt let Ubisoft do it to me, and I wont let Blizzard do it to me either.

I deal with it for mmo's the online side of fps, because its the nature of the beast, and it's expected.

for single player? no, just no.

Well, I'm sure soon enough other companies will take note of Blizzard being able to make money hand over fist doing it, and they'll decide they can do it too. Then there wont be anything resembling single player games that you can play offline anymore. Then we'll have to deal with it with all games.

You'll have to drag me to that kind of future kicking and screaming though.

I wish I hadn't. I am a big fan on D1-2, and don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed 3. But, like you, I play 99% single player. I think the game sits perfectly well on it's own on that platform. But to have to deal with lag in a single player game is insane. And to not be able to play when and where I want is likewise insane (with the proviso that I am aware that I would only play solo).

And what's more, it is clear from the design decisions that the economy is made to entice you to play online. mundane items sell for nothing. Magic items sell for next to nothing. And there is an incentive to gain money to upgrade stuff. This was designed to get players to use the auction house, which in turn was designed to increase use of the RMHO. It is all 100% about Blizzard making more money on the deal.

 

[titan131]

I think Diablo 3 should have a separate single-player mode; there seems to be an awful lot of people who want to play it by themselves. Let them.

This. I would have liked a single player offline only mode. So you can play offline all you want but can't take that character online. To play online you have to make an online only charatcer, like it is now. The reason, I think, they did not do this is because it's DRM basically.