Diablo III - New patch 2.1 Coming Aug 26

[Raekwon]

The interview I watched on G4 with the lead developer said there will be no offline play. He stated that players of Diablo 2 would play offline not knowing that they couldn't bring these characters into online play and they didn't like that.

G4TV (@g4tv)
11-08-01 7:00 PM
Diablo III Game Director talks the beta, auction house and more! http://g4.tv/qzHlqR

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

For those pissed at the "selling items" market, I don't blame them. I remember when I was playing D2 as my life and there were tons of sites on the net where people would put items up for sale and others would buy.

This way at least Blizzard is controlling it so people don't get scammed, even though they are making a profit. And really, this isn't primarily a PVP game, it's a game where you go out with 7 other guys and beat the campaign over and over, so if you get someone who is completely jacked then he can just take down the heavy enemies.

I'd still rather like it if they didn't have the marketplace, but it can't hurt the game too badly.

Also, you can still play offline, you just need to be connected to the internet. I understand why they are doing this, so you can't glitch like crazy like with D2. In D2 there were a ton of people glitching in Single Player that would duplicate items, change their stats, etc. I'm not sure why anyone would play offline though. This game should be played online only.

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by Raekwon

The interview I watched on G4 with the lead developer said there will be no offline play. He stated that players of Diablo 2 would play offline not knowing that they couldn't bring these characters into online play and they didn't like that.

G4TV (@g4tv)
11-08-01 7:00 PM
Diablo III Game Director talks the beta, auction house and more! http://g4.tv/qzHlqR

Oh really? Well that seems odd. I understand their points, and like I said I don't know why anyone wouldn't play online, but it seems odd to get rid of it completely.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

It sucks that you have to store characters online for a few reasons;

-Blizzards servers go down; you can't play
-LAN play becomes more difficult, as you'll need to establish an internet connection
-You don't have access to internet? You can't play the game.

Would it be that hard for Blizzard to split characters between Online, and those that wish to play Offline Single Play/LAN? I don't think it would be.

Their main reason is basically piracy. There's no way around it.

In SC, D1, D2 and WC3, they provided LAN, but the act of providing LAN means that they give away the code/encryption for two players to connect to each other, which allows them to easily re-create battlenet.

They stopped providing LAN in SC2 after seeing all that, and I don't htink that will change for any game going forward.

I still feel like someone will be able to hack a version of the game where you can play single player (like they've already done for SC2), but connecting with someone else is probably out of the question.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Daradon

Well, for one person to buy it, one person has to sell it, so there shouldn't be additional items out there. At least if they keep it to player by player auctions, and the cheats are kept under control. Course, if the cheat aren't under control it would ruin the prices at the auction house anyway.

So really, it shouldn't add to additional people having more powerful items. One person has to sell for the other person to buy.

Except there's an incentive to farm items. Farmers aren't real players, so the good items to real players ratio goes up.

Of course, you can already do that, but now its easier.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by SebC

Except there's an incentive to farm items. Farmers aren't real players, so the good items to real players ratio goes up.

Of course, you can already do that, but now its easier.

How is there more of an incentive now to farm, for a 'professional farmer' when compared to before? Will they suddenly find extra hours to play?

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

Blizzard is making a ton of bad decisions on the release of D3. I'm not impressed with their lack of offline play, and the paid purchase of items.

I have no doubt that the game is going to be great, but I'm displeased with the choices they are making. You can definitely feel the Activision influence in Blizzard now.

I don't mind, by keeping the game completely online is keeps things fair and relatively scammer free. And the selling items for cash, well like I mentioned earlier, it won't increase the amount of quality items on the server, just move them around. That is of course if they can keep the cheats to a minimum, which they should be able to do.

WoW and Starcraft 2 are all online so why shouldn't Diablo 3 be? I mean even to play the single player campaign on Starcraft 2 you need an internet connection.

It's really the way all games (and computing) is going. Internet based. Look at the PS3, the Xbox, etc. Get used to it.

[Esoteric]

So instead of having people that hack the game offline and bring items online, we'll have people that constantly try to gain access to other accounts, dump items and try and make a profit.

Is this going to be more problematic than jacked WoW accounts?

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

So instead of having people that hack the game offline and bring items online, we'll have people that constantly try to gain access to other accounts, dump items and try and make a profit.

Is this going to be more problematic than jacked WoW accounts?

Well, that's the question I guess, isn't it? Of course, it isn't just a gaming problem, account hacking runs through the whole internet.

I never played WoW that much, maybe 6 months. Never had a problem with hacked accounts for myself or any of my friends. While I was fairly green (only made it to level 70) I had a bunch of friends with multiple 80 characters and such. I'm not really sure how rampant it was.

[Esoteric]

It is a pretty widespread problem. You can be safer and get an authenticator, but a lot of people just don't bother with one.

The online only service probably won't affect me, but it's nice to have the option to play offline when you buy a product.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Rathji

How is there more of an incentive now to farm, for a 'professional farmer' when compared to before? Will they suddenly find extra hours to play?

Less restrictions on the market. "Legalize" something, and it becomes more prevalent (although the price drops).

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

It is a pretty widespread problem. You can be safer and get an authenticator, but a lot of people just don't bother with one.

The online only service probably won't affect me, but it's nice to have the option to play offline when you buy a product.

True enough, I did feel the same way you did when I picked up S2, but as internet access becomes more and more prevalent, it'll probably be less of an issue. Half of our devices are hooked up now without us even being aware of it. Gone are the days when you actually had to 'connect' to the internet.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by SebC

Less restrictions on the market. "Legalize" something, and it becomes more prevalent (although the price drops).

Shouldn't that price drop be a disincentive for professional farmers though?

[MonsieurFish]

What's the big deal with no offline mode being available anymore? You could just create a passworded game and play on your own... wouldn't that be essentially the same thing?

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by MonsieurFish

What's the big deal with no offline mode being available anymore? You could just create a passworded game and play on your own... wouldn't that be essentially the same thing?

Besides needing to be connected to the internet, yes. The major complaint is no connection no play online or offline. I have no issues with any of the changes seems fine to me as long as they take the steps needed to control hacks and botting.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by SebC

Except there's an incentive to farm items. Farmers aren't real players, so the good items to real players ratio goes up.

Of course, you can already do that, but now its easier.

I'm still lost on your logic. Maybe it's me, maybe it's not, let me just figure it out here.

If the farmers are farming items, they still have to sell them. You said they are not real players (which I'm not sure I agree with, really isn't anyone who is playing for any reason a player?), but they will obviously have to sell them to real players. Therefore the good items end up in the real players hands anyway. What's the problem with that? Are you just not happy because some 'real players' will be buying and you can't? I'm not sure that will be much of a problem because ultimately, if there are so many items out there, they won't be worth anything to sell, and therefore won't be farmed.

Lastly, if it truly means a noticable amount of premium items in the game, wouldn't that just mean there are more to trade to players such as yourself from legit players? Obviously the auction system must work for everyone if people can buy and sell in real money or game currency.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Daradon

I'm still lost on your logic. Maybe it's me, maybe it's not, let me just figure it out here.

If the farmers are farming items, they still have to sell them. You said they are not real players (which I'm not sure I agree with, really isn't anyone who is playing for any reason a player?), but they will obviously have to sell them to real players. Therefore the good items end up in the real players hands anyway. What's the problem with that? Are you just not happy because some 'real players' will be buying and you can't? I'm not sure that will be much of a problem because ultimately, if there are so many items out there, they won't be worth anything to sell, and therefore won't be farmed.

Lastly, if it truly means a noticable amount of premium items in the game, wouldn't that just mean there are more to trade to players such as yourself from legit players? Obviously the auction system must work for everyone if people can buy and sell in real money or game currency.

Basically:

Blizzard is legitimizing the market. This makes buying and selling easier. Making selling easier brings more suppliers into the market.

More supply means more farmed items, at lower prices. Yes, lower prices offsets part of the effect that legitimizing the market has on quantity supplied - this is what allows to find a new equilibrium. But that equilibrium is higher quantities at lower prices.

[simonsays]

I don't mind that Blizzard has decided to combat the black market by creating their own legitimate market. I don't have 14 hours a day to grind out bosses for half decent loot, and I don't mind paying for a specific item if a build relies on it. At least with Bliz in charge of the marketplace I'll know that I'm not buying a dupe.

What bothers me about these latest press releases is that Diablo 3 will be a 4 person game. Maximum.

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by simonsays

I don't mind that Blizzard has decided to combat the black market by creating their own legitimate market. I don't have 14 hours a day to grind out bosses for half decent loot, and I don't mind paying for a specific item if a build relies on it. At least with Bliz in charge of the marketplace I'll know that I'm not buying a dupe.

What bothers me about these latest press releases is that Diablo 3 will be a 4 person game. Maximum.

Seriously? Where did you read that? That is complete BS.

[theJuice]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

Seriously? Where did you read that? That is complete BS.

Unfortunately, this is 100% true, and as would be expected, has pissed alot of people off. Not really new news though, as they've said it for a while. I believe the justification was not so much a technical one, but moreso gameplay orientated. They feel that the characters have alot more 'flashy' abilities compared to D2, and they experimented with 8 or 6 player games, but felt that it was too difficult to keep track of everything. Too many spells/abilities/colors going on everywhere, felt that 4 was the perfect mix.

[Komskies]

Not to mention the average Battle.net game size in Diablo 2 was 1.1/game. 4 will be more than enough. People will adjust.