Man.. Just as I was nearing the end of the whole game a countdown starts saying the server will shut down in 15 minutes. So I hurry all I can and thankfully I reach the checkpoint before the last boss, with one minute to go on the timer.

But still, what a total anti-climax..

Seems so strange to me that the game doesn't let you play offline while the server is getting shut down. What could possibly be the reasoning behind that?

Man.. Just as I was nearing the end of the whole game a countdown starts saying the server will shut down in 15 minutes. So I hurry all I can and thankfully I reach the checkpoint before the last boss, with one minute to go on the timer.

But still, what a total anti-climax..

Seems so strange to me that the game doesn't let you play offline while the server is getting shut down. What could possibly be the reasoning behind that?

Haha, reminds of a few times when I had to rush dungeons in WoW because of server resets.

@Twinsun said:

Man.. Just as I was nearing the end of the whole game a countdown starts saying the server will shut down in 15 minutes. So I hurry all I can and thankfully I reach the checkpoint before the last boss, with one minute to go on the timer.

But still, what a total anti-climax..

Seems so strange to me that the game doesn't let you play offline while the server is getting shut down. What could possibly be the reasoning behind that?

The set the game up to run like an MMORPG. All the non important files are on your computer, but all the important stuff (that could get modified to cheat) is stored on their servers. So there's basically no way around it. If they ever shut D3's servers down, you basically won't be able to play it anymore.

@Jams: How big is the download for diablo 3 btw?

@Crixaliz said:

Haha, reminds of a few times when I had to rush dungeons in WoW because of server resets.

been there, back in vanilla we'd be running some late night dungeons and 15 minutes to server reset it went "o.0 alright fuck it hunter send your pet in hes tanking, god damn AFK'er" was a great 15 minutes.

@Brunchies said:

@Jams: How big is the download for diablo 3 btw?

No idea. I actually don't own the game and I'm kinda glad I didn't. I don't know how I feel about the always signed on to play thing. I always understood MMORPG's servers have to be maintained and there's a cost to that. But I wish D3 was singleplayer only or they didn't do any auction houses so that people could play offline. I also don't like the fact that it's $60.

Damn dude, you must have been playing nonstop to be at the end of the game. I can't even find the right time in between server shut-downs to play the damn thing.

@Jams said:

@Twinsun said:

Man.. Just as I was nearing the end of the whole game a countdown starts saying the server will shut down in 15 minutes. So I hurry all I can and thankfully I reach the checkpoint before the last boss, with one minute to go on the timer.

But still, what a total anti-climax..

Seems so strange to me that the game doesn't let you play offline while the server is getting shut down. What could possibly be the reasoning behind that?

The set the game up to run like an MMORPG. All the non important files are on your computer, but all the important stuff (that could get modified to cheat) is stored on their servers. So there's basically no way around it. If they ever shut D3's servers down, you basically won't be able to play it anymore.

I can see them patching it to play offline once the real money auction house gets shutdown. Its just to stop people generating loot by hacking the game files and then selling it.

people will do something to get around the drm thing.

Then all the pirates will get it for free anyway and the people paying them money will still be getting shat on.

Its the same with all this anti piracy stuff that fucks the people paying for the games but the pirates will get around it as usual.

Meanwhile other games that are more online focused keep way too many things stored locally for hackers to ruin. Battlefield 3 for example allows a single client to fuck up an entire server if they inject the right values.

@Jams said:

@Brunchies said:

@Jams: How big is the download for diablo 3 btw?

No idea. I actually don't own the game and I'm kinda glad I didn't. I don't know how I feel about the always signed on to play thing. I always understood MMORPG's servers have to be maintained and there's a cost to that. But I wish D3 was singleplayer only or they didn't do any auction houses so that people could play offline. I also don't like the fact that it's $60.

Ehh, it's annoying that stuff like this would happen but to me this game is an mmo. I know Diablo isn't exactly in that genre but the closest comparison I can find is Guild wars 1 except the auction house. Also why are you bothered by the 60 dollar price point, PC games have been doing this for years now.

@Jams said:

The set the game up to run like an MMORPG. All the non important files are on your computer, but all the important stuff (that could get modified to cheat) is stored on their servers. So there's basically no way around it. If they ever shut D3's servers down, you basically won't be able to play it anymore.

This!

I've always been worried if ever it comes to that point... That's why I love CDProjekt Red and the way they do business. I don't think I'll even purchase Diablo 3 now. Maybe I'll come around to it in the coming months when everything is already stable...but I'd still kinda feel dirty supporting Blizzard now. I bought SC 2 and finished the campaign and never really got back to it. I bought Dawn of War 2 and all of its expansions and I've poured in hours upon hours playing and replaying the campaigns in harder difficulties. I guess that's where my preferences lie now. I don't really have that much love for Blizzards products. I skipped playing on WOW and the last game I played before SC 2 was Brood War. It's like the quality of their stuff is just reflected on the polish of their games and that's pretty much it.

I don't find any "hook" to their games nowadays that compels me to buy or keep playing them. Plus, the thing that they are doing with Diablo 3 is just down right draconian in some ways. I see their reasoning behind it...but to actually play the game and treat it like an MMO just to keep everyone in a level playing field, etc, seems really uninteresting to me and I'm kind of put off by it. They could at least have a version where someone can opt out of auction housing and not be able to join PVP games just so you could play offline or co-op with friends while still maintaining that balance. They probably want to just avoid having to deal with constantly patching the game due to people finding ways to abuse the system but in reality even with their current system, people who'd want to break the game will find a way to do it anyway. I find that this is really screwing with the Diablo fans who waited years to play the game only to find the game encased in modern trappings that mimics an MMORPG in the name of "fairness".

@Brunchies said:

@Jams said:

@Brunchies said:

@Jams: How big is the download for diablo 3 btw?

No idea. I actually don't own the game and I'm kinda glad I didn't. I don't know how I feel about the always signed on to play thing. I always understood MMORPG's servers have to be maintained and there's a cost to that. But I wish D3 was singleplayer only or they didn't do any auction houses so that people could play offline. I also don't like the fact that it's $60.

Also why are you bothered by the 60 dollar price point, PC games have been doing this for years now.

It's just my arbitrary limit to what I think games are worth. Especially since I find I've been enjoying games that are priced less than $50 more than I enjoy games that are $60. It just doesn't seem worth it to me.