Should? Of course not, but if the companies feel it is necessary to protect them for whatever reason it is down to consumers to boycott it. Given Diablo sales figure this is not going to put publishers off the practice, even if Blizzard are a special case.
Absolutely. For the longest time it has been this that or the other isn't available in my area. The more pressure from outside companies helps make utility companies get off their asses.
Because if all games were like that I wouldn't be able to play about 75% of my collection. That I paid for. With money. That I actually do play with some regularity.
Why is this even a poll? Is anyone seriously going to give an all-encompassing "yes" to the idea of being hampered if it isn't a necessity (obviously they'll jokingly click yes).
Really, if there's a valid reason for it, then sure. Diablo III (the game that is obviously spawning all of these threads) comes very close to legitimizing the idea with the promise of not messing with any of their online economy stuff, but ultimately fails to hide the fact that it's mostly just for the added benefit of DRM because they could easily have a single player only mode that marks your character and never allows it to interact with the rest of the world.
No, but there are extenuating circumstances in diablo 3. The real money auction house could be horribly exploited if players could play offline. Dupe a rare item 50 times and make a ton of money
No... Always on DRM systems are bad for numerous reason, one of them is the fact that tiered pricing is likely coming to normal wired internet services (link), any always on drm system would then increase your data usage / bill, so i would prefer if companies wouldn't use them.
So how would one implement a DOTA style game on something like the 3DS where connectivity is never guaranteed? The answer maybe: It doesn't run offline. Some game designs require some pieces of tech that if they are missing they don't run well or if at all. I'm not sure there is blame either way.
So how would one implement a DOTA style game on something like the 3DS where connectivity is never guaranteed? The answer maybe: It doesn't run offline. Some game designs require some pieces of tech that if they are missing they don't run well or if at all. I'm not sure there is blame either way.
No, but there are extenuating circumstances in diablo 3. The real money auction house could be horribly exploited if players could play offline. Dupe a rare item 50 times and make a ton of money
There is a difference between requiring an online connection for single-player and allowing players to participate in the multiplayer. Have you played Diablo II before? The real money auction house could have easily been restricted to a closed Battle.net always requiring an online connection. Meanwhile, the single-player people could continue doing what they want offline, and be allowed to participate with that character online in a different way.
I understand how always online benefits Diablo 3 beyond DRM for Blizzard, but it sure would be nice if there were separate offline characters and online characters. You could never take your offline characters online no matter what, and you could still play alone with your online characters. However, you'd also be able to download a trainer and have fun with your offline character or play the game on an airplane without wifi or when the servers are down.
For something like Dragon Age (1) with no multiplayer - no it should not be. Diablo III was designed as a multiplayer game with, and its Blizzard's property. Its up to them to do what they want with their property. They felt that their multiplayer-focused game would be better protected by making it always online. They are very clear this is the case before you buy the game. Since World of Warcraft, Blizzard has made multiplayer the focus of all of their games. That is what is most important to them, and that's what they want to protect.
I leave for deployment next week and would love to play Diablo III, but I can respect a developer's wishes to do what they want with their property. No amount of internet raging is going to change this fact. The only thing you can do if you disagree is not buy the product, and if enough people do that then maybe they will change their stance.
No. As someone who is just getting into PC gaming, I find this idea really annoying, and one of the reasons it's harder to get into PC gaming. Steam was messing up for me a couple days ago and I couldn't play Portal 2 offline... So stupid.
Like how Hardcore Auction House and Normal Auction House are separated for gameplay concerns, they could have created offline mode with the same cheating concerns in mind, but due to being offline permanently: increase the drop rates.
It's the worst thing. An internet connection (at least mine) can disconnect randomly every now and then so losing progress due to that would be terrible for a single player game.
Absolutely. For the longest time it has been this that or the other isn't available in my area. The more pressure from outside companies helps make utility companies get off their asses.
I'm not sure if you understand the question, but I am completely sure that I don't understand your response.
No, but in order to facilitate certain mechanics, it's needed. Years from now Online DRM won't be an issue because it will be normal. I think it's safe to say the only reason people hate O-DRM is lack of good Internet in their area and the in-ability to play when servers off-line.
This isn't a yes or no question. It depends on the systems involved, the experience offered, if multiplayer and single player are interchangeable, and so on.
But, since, let's face it, you're asking about Diablo 3 - Should it absolutely positively be required? No. But, after that no comes - but then you need giant blaring signs that say "single player characters will not be able to be taken online or interact with the online portion of this game in any way shape or form. Only proceed knowing this and knowing that no exceptions will be made to this rule." And then Blizzard customer service would still be so completely bogged down by people bitching and complaining about not understanding why they can't take their single player character online in any way or buy them things off of the AH or post things from them onto the AH instead of letting them deal with real issues and problems. So... it probably should be always online anyway?
Already bad enough that you need a connection to validate and play your DLC on games that don't require it for base play, so I think it's easy to say: fuck no.
It shouldn't be, but it's not a GIANT hassle if it is. I live in a fairly remote location and my internet connection is still good enough for it to work. It should not be an issue for most people who buy the games anyway, especially not if the game is multiplayer focused.
In Diablo 3's case I can definitely understand it because the RMAH would be retarded if you could just dupe stuff in offline and take it online. To fix that, you'd need a split between online and offline characters, and I think people would be grumpy about that too, even if it was like that in D2.
This isn't a yes or no question. It depends on the systems involved, the experience offered, if multiplayer and single player are interchangeable, and so on.
But, since, let's face it, you're asking about Diablo 3 - Should it absolutely positively be required? No. But, after that no comes - but then you need giant blaring signs that say "single player characters will not be able to be taken online or interact with the online portion of this game in any way shape or form. Only proceed knowing this and knowing that no exceptions will be made to this rule." And then Blizzard customer service would still be so completely bogged down by people bitching and complaining about not understanding why they can't take their single player character online in any way or buy them things off of the AH or post things from them onto the AH instead of letting them deal with real issues and problems. So... it probably should be always online anyway?
You don't even have to make it that restrictive. "Single player characters cannot sell items on the AH or trade to multiplayer only characters." Done. If the goal is to prevent duped items from flooding the AH, then there should be no problems with letting people play online or even purchase things from the AH, so long as the flow of items is only one way.
As long as you can (try to) contain any farmed (via trainers) or duped items to the character in question, then I can't see why you should restrict legitimate players from bringing an offline characters into a multiplayer setting.
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