Did you really not see this coming? Did you honestly convince yourselves that you wouldn't end up with a massive fucked up unplayable game on launch when you decided to rely on servers for every single player that wants to play your massively popular new game? Assassin's Creed 2 already tried always on DRM. And we all saw how that went. Diablo 3 isn't an MMO, and I don't give a rats ass about some real money auction house.

if i could speak for blizzard for a second my guess would be, yes they did and they said to themselves we don't care this is the way things are going to be. Blizzard and activision are not EA/Bioware they won't cave to the outcry.

It's kind of weird, but you gotta assume the sales broke all expectations, especially since they can't count their pre-orders until companies confirm them. Aka they don't see money from Amazon until Amazon gets it and Amazon gets it on dispatch. Its very hard to keep on top of the pre-orders when your letting the game be bought by retailers, and you can't assume every copy is sold.

More likely Blizzard told Activision how many servers they would need for launch and Big Bobby and his bean counters said "fuck that son, you can have half that and I am getting my Lear Jet a Chrome wrap with the money saved. Big Pimpin' yay yay!"

Gotta love those people in beta that were saying: It's just as STRESS TEST folks, they will have their shit together at launch. I will buy this game when it has an offline mode, not before (so probably never).

@jozzy said:

Gotta love those people in beta that were saying: It's just as STRESS TEST folks, they will have their shit together at launch. I will buy this game when it has an offline mode, not before (so probably never).

its going to be resolved... SC2 never had these issues, stop being irrational.

Assassin's Creed 2 actually was fine, it was people maliciously bringing down the servers that broke it.

They knew. They just don't care. Why? Because people still bought and will continue to buy the game regardless of how shitty launch has been.

@alternate: Don't try to shift the blame on Bobby, he's done a lot of wrong in this world but this isn't one of them. This is Blizzard's game and they should've done everything they could to make this a smooth launch. Maybe they did. In which case it's an even worse sign. They proudly announced all those pre-order records, they had to know there was going to be a ton of traffic at the launch of this thing. They totally bungled it. They got it to the 1 yard line then fumbled on the goal line and the other team (errors) ran it back for a touchdown.

@jozzy said:

Gotta love those people in beta that were saying: It's just as STRESS TEST folks, they will have their shit together at launch. I will buy this game when it has an offline mode, not before (so probably never).

Wait...so fixing an online service problem is an offline mode?

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

Gotta love those people in beta that were saying: It's just as STRESS TEST folks, they will have their shit together at launch. I will buy this game when it has an offline mode, not before (so probably never).

Wait...so fixing an online service problem is an offline mode?

If he wants to play the game only by himself, than yes. That is a simple fix.

@jozzy: Not going to happen. If they're not going to give Starcraft LAN, they're not going to give Diablo offline capabilities. Blizzard seems like it's run by a bunch of control freaks, but they make good ass games so everybody puts up with their bullshit.

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

Gotta love those people in beta that were saying: It's just as STRESS TEST folks, they will have their shit together at launch. I will buy this game when it has an offline mode, not before (so probably never).

Wait...so fixing an online service problem is an offline mode?

Well yeah, is that so hard to understand?!

I just want to play it in single player if I choose to. I want to be able to play this game without randomly getting disconnected, without lag and server downtimes. I want to play it on my long ass plane trip next week. I know i know, that's not what Diablo 3 is aparently. Diablo and Diablo 2 were just that for me though.

@jozzy said:

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

Gotta love those people in beta that were saying: It's just as STRESS TEST folks, they will have their shit together at launch. I will buy this game when it has an offline mode, not before (so probably never).

Wait...so fixing an online service problem is an offline mode?

Well yeah, is that so hard to understand?!

I just want to play it in single player if I choose to. I want to be able to play this game without randomly getting disconnected, without lag and server downtimes. I want to play it on my long ass plane trip next week. I know i know, that's not what Diablo 3 is aparently. Diablo and Diablo 2 were just that for me though.

Actually it is hard to understand since the problem is the online service not a missing mode in the game. Why would you want to play an online game in an offline mode? Just to click on stuff?

And have you actually tried to play a game like Diablo 2 on an airplane? It sucks due to the noise and space and unless you are in a new airplane with new hardware getting power is a problem. An off-line mode won't help fix that either

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

Gotta love those people in beta that were saying: It's just as STRESS TEST folks, they will have their shit together at launch. I will buy this game when it has an offline mode, not before (so probably never).

Wait...so fixing an online service problem is an offline mode?

Well yeah, is that so hard to understand?!

I just want to play it in single player if I choose to. I want to be able to play this game without randomly getting disconnected, without lag and server downtimes. I want to play it on my long ass plane trip next week. I know i know, that's not what Diablo 3 is aparently. Diablo and Diablo 2 were just that for me though.

Actually it is hard to understand since the problem is the online service not a missing mode in the game. Why would you want to play an online game in an offline mode? Just to click on stuff?

Ok, you are just doing the wise guy routine, got it.

@Bwast: It was mostly in jest but Blizzard are a wholly owned subsidiary. They are given a long leash but they will not get unlimited resources. Bit like GB and CBS now I think of it :D

I don't know, to me Diablo 3 is essentially Blizzards Guild Wars. Sure you can play it by yourself but its meant to be played in multiplayer and with the auction houses, I consider it an mmo. Not defending blizzard here but I feel like people should have seen something like this coming since most mmo launches are pretty fucked up, its not an mmo in genre but it still is in a weird way.

@jozzy said:

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

Gotta love those people in beta that were saying: It's just as STRESS TEST folks, they will have their shit together at launch. I will buy this game when it has an offline mode, not before (so probably never).

Wait...so fixing an online service problem is an offline mode?

Well yeah, is that so hard to understand?!

I just want to play it in single player if I choose to. I want to be able to play this game without randomly getting disconnected, without lag and server downtimes. I want to play it on my long ass plane trip next week. I know i know, that's not what Diablo 3 is aparently. Diablo and Diablo 2 were just that for me though.

Actually it is hard to understand since the problem is the online service not a missing mode in the game. Why would you want to play an online game in an offline mode? Just to click on stuff?

Ok, you are just doing the wise guy routine, got it.

And what are you doing? Seriously what is the point of an offline mode for a game that is played online, stores your character online, has additional features online? To play in a crappy environment that lacks power, that is noisy, that is cramped in some hobbled mode where little matters? How very entertaining.

You guys waited 13 years, you can wait another day until they fix it.

Patience.

I'm sure they expected the shitstorm and now it'll be sorted out. You can't expect something of that magnitude to just work properly right away. It's technology. It never works.

@zombie2011 said:

You guys waited 13 years, you can wait another day until they fix it.

Apparently they haven't been waiting 13 years for D3. They have been waiting 13 years to COMPLAIN about D3.

I have my pitch fork ready, we doing this?

@zombie2011 said:

You guys waited 13 years, you can wait another day until they fix it.

Apparently they haven't been waiting 13 years for D3. They have been waiting 13 years to COMPLAIN about D3.

@EXTomar: Um there's no reason for the characters to be stored online, or to have any interest in these additional "features". It's pretty simple why people will be mad that a game gives them an option to play solo but you're still held back by servers that you have no interest in making use of anyway. All you end up with is frustration and lag in your single player game. About the noise, that's what headphones are for.

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

Gotta love those people in beta that were saying: It's just as STRESS TEST folks, they will have their shit together at launch. I will buy this game when it has an offline mode, not before (so probably never).

Wait...so fixing an online service problem is an offline mode?

Well yeah, is that so hard to understand?!

I just want to play it in single player if I choose to. I want to be able to play this game without randomly getting disconnected, without lag and server downtimes. I want to play it on my long ass plane trip next week. I know i know, that's not what Diablo 3 is aparently. Diablo and Diablo 2 were just that for me though.

Actually it is hard to understand since the problem is the online service not a missing mode in the game. Why would you want to play an online game in an offline mode? Just to click on stuff?

Ok, you are just doing the wise guy routine, got it.

And what are you doing? Seriously what is the point of an offline mode for a game that is played online, stores your character online, has additional features online? To play in a crappy environment that lacks power, that is noisy, that is cramped in some hobbled mode where little matters? How very entertaining.

I am not being a wise ass, I just wish that I could play this Diablo offline. Like I played Diablo 1 and 2.

You are pretending I have some weird fetish or something, but there are actually a ton of people that feel this way. I don't see how an online character matters more than an offline character, it's a freaking game. I am not asking to take an offline character online, just that I have to choice to play offline with an offline character if I want to. Without lag, without disconnects and progress lost if I have to walk away from my laptop, being able to play when and wherever I want and not having to worry about server maintenance and what have you. I don't want to sell loot to people, I don't need to see my character profile on a website. If I want to play co-op I will make another character for that. Blizzard can position this game as an mmo-lite, but that's not the way I, and a lot of other people out there will play it.

I realize that Diablo 3 is not that, which I already stated in my previous post. I can however voice my displeasure at the decision of always on DRM, especially now when even the biggest blizzard defenders feel the downsides to this system.

Once you make a AAA you can do whatever the hell you like. Until then, get out your knee pads and play the games you can't make.

Is there a way that we can somehow blame this on EA?

@alternate said:

More likely Blizzard told Activision how many servers they would need for launch and Big Bobby and his bean counters said "fuck that son, you can have half that and I am getting my Lear Jet a Chrome wrap with the money saved. Big Pimpin' yay yay!"

qft

Wait what another massively overhyped game that is buggy as hell on release date that will get some bitching but then everyone will forget it and get back on their knees again? I think Skyrim is jelly.

disapointing of blizzard. they should have known how many people would be logging in. doesn't help that this could have been avoided if they didn't force you to log in. i wasn't even gonna play co op

Will there finally be a consumer backlash which sees the end of this completely fucking unnecessary always-online boondoggle, or will people continue to lap it up? I WONDER.

People paid good money for a service which is not working. That's a valid reason to complain if you ask me.

@l4wd0g said:

Once you make a AAA you can do whatever the hell you like. Until then, get out your knee pads and play the games you can't make.

Are you really pulling the "if you can't do it better yourself then you can't complain" card? Are you six years old?

People payed $60 for a game that is essentially broken at this point. Its just not acceptable for a AAA big budget game to have these kind if launch problems, especially one that has been beta tested for several months. I don't think the issue here is really about online only single player, but with the fact that even people with online access can not get the game to work. I am really glad I avoided purchasing this game and will not even think about buying it until it is in a stable state.

@jozzy said:

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

Gotta love those people in beta that were saying: It's just as STRESS TEST folks, they will have their shit together at launch. I will buy this game when it has an offline mode, not before (so probably never).

Wait...so fixing an online service problem is an offline mode?

Well yeah, is that so hard to understand?!

I just want to play it in single player if I choose to. I want to be able to play this game without randomly getting disconnected, without lag and server downtimes. I want to play it on my long ass plane trip next week. I know i know, that's not what Diablo 3 is aparently. Diablo and Diablo 2 were just that for me though.

Actually it is hard to understand since the problem is the online service not a missing mode in the game. Why would you want to play an online game in an offline mode? Just to click on stuff?

Ok, you are just doing the wise guy routine, got it.

And what are you doing? Seriously what is the point of an offline mode for a game that is played online, stores your character online, has additional features online? To play in a crappy environment that lacks power, that is noisy, that is cramped in some hobbled mode where little matters? How very entertaining.

Video Games!

@Gargantuan said:

@l4wd0g said:

Once you make a AAA you can do whatever the hell you like. Until then, get out your knee pads and play the games you can't make.

Are you really pulling the "if you can't do it better yourself then you can't complain" card? Are you six years old?

It's almost as good as the "If you don't LOVE America, then git out!" card.

For everyone complaining about the Diablo 3 launch:

Your tears bring me great pleasure.

Everybody should quit bitching. I can't even get to the install screen because Diablo is too busy "updating files"

I tried to play and it wouldn't go. Then I kept getting that error and took out the disc and saw it said DIA3LO :(

They didn't give a shit because they know everyone's gonna buy it anyway.

@EXTomar said:

@jozzy said:

And what are you doing? Seriously what is the point of an offline mode for a game that is played online, stores your character online, has additional features online? To play in a crappy environment that lacks power, that is noisy, that is cramped in some hobbled mode where little matters? How very entertaining.

You don't need to beat around the bush. Just come right out and say he has the opinion of a lesser person for taking an interest in the single player for a game you don't like the single player of.

@JP_Russell Sort of...I mean people aren't moaning and complaining that Black Ops (or Black Ops 2) needs online to do all of the features those guys want to stuff into the game even in single player modes. I lament the "anti-online" stance especially when it doesn't make sense compared to the features provided and what the competition pushes.

@EXTomar said:

@JP_Russell Sort of...I mean people aren't moaning and complaining that Black Ops (or Black Ops 2) needs online to do all of the features those guys want to stuff into the game even in single player modes. I lament the "anti-online" stance especially when it doesn't make sense compared to the features provided and what the competition pushes.

We're talking about Diablo 3. What the fuck are you talking about?

@Frostmane: if you don't like the ending, maybe?

If you are reading the conversation....but whatever. People acting crazy when an online game is wildly successful and has launch day problems is disappointing and unfortunately not surprising resulting in raging when it actually doesn't make any sense.

I'm am a little surprised it happened to Blizzard but that is more of a technical issue where I wonder if the earlier glitches have more deep flaws than initialized suspected which would have had just as much chance manifesting itself in any single player mode as well.

as usual, they underestimated the launch and now we can't play the game. that's why people are pissed off. I love blizzard but im not gonna sit here and make excuses for them.

Your're confused. These are the Giantbomb.com forums, the Blizzard forum is over here.