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This just in from the "Ya Think?" files: According to a short report at GamesIndustry.biz, Blizzard has admitted that, despite twelve years in the making, its preparations for the launch of Diablo III "didn't go far enough".
"Despite very aggressive projections, our preparations for the launch of the game did not go far enough," it admitted.
"We're continuing to monitor performance globally and will be taking further measures as needed to ensure a positive experience for everyone. This includes some maintenance to implement additional improvements for each region."
Comments
Releasing a patch to get rid of that ridiculous requirement to be online all the time would no doubt help...
pretty much every game they release they are overwhelmed by the demand.
any blizzard veteran knew they would have server troubles for at least the first few days. Regardless, I don't mind waiting. I haven't had this much fun playing a video game since when WoW launched. Good to be back in sanctuary.
It goes to show that time and money cant solve everything. Hopefully the sever maintence wont be a common thing this month.
Split the SP components from the MP ones and let SPers play offline. Problem solved.
I agree. I think the whole "online all the time" thing is actually keeping them from a handful of sales worldwide, I dont get it, you are going to get hacked regardless.
They should IMO take a look at the game and go "After 12 years this is all we could come up with?"
Being a pessimist is a win-win pattern of thinking. If you're a pessimist (I'll admit that I am!) you're either:
A. Proven right (if something bad happens)
or
B. Pleasantly surprised (if something good happens)
Either way, you can't lose! Try it out sometime!
No playing offline is not an option, its a relic from the past.
From business side its a simple equation:
$ lost from illegal copy > $ lost from gamers that dont buy couse online only
File this under "No Shit." Considering that Blizzard has the most popular MMO with WoW and one of the most popular multiplayer franchises with Starcraft, this debacle is inexcusable.
I make spreadsheets at work - I don't want to make them for the games I play.
Everyone screws up one time or another, no use throwing stones at them.
I've enjoyed Blizzard games for years and while i understand this irratates people i can let it slide its not like its life or death or anything really important.
"The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand."
- Lewis Thomas
Still like Starcraft 2 they should have had an option to play offline with no achievements and the items obtained could not be auctioned off.
My take on it...
"We tried to maximize our profit on D3 by being very conservative with our infrastructure upgrades required to handle all the extra traffic going through the already very busy Battlenet... and it shows... woopsies!
PS. Thanks for all your money."
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Blizzard has become comfy and complacent.
"Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever." - Noam Chomsky
Ask Ubisoft how well that kind of mentality has been working out for them. The tighter the DRM they slap on their games, the bigger a target they paint for pirates and hackers. Meanwhile, legitimate gamers like myself are left with either jumping through a lot of stupid, arbitrary hoops placed in our path or not buying their games. I can't remember the last time I bought something from Ubisoft.
As for Blizzard, they can only get away with it because of the legion of drones they command who do as they're bid and buy what they are given with unquestioning loyalty. Anyone else trying that kind of bullshit would be drawn and quartered by the gaming community.
Couldn't you say that about purchasing anything that isn't directly related to food, shelter or health when it doesn't quite live up to its promise or doesn't work as advertised?
Admirable tolerance I guess, but isn't there a point where getting shafted when buying "non-essentials" annoys you?
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
That's a wrong equation. Many of the ones that were going to pirate, won't buy it anyway, but now you also lose the people that would have bought, but don't because of the only online thing. Also, the always online preventing piracy, for a time at least, is just a side effect to the game being made from the ground up around the RMAH, so I don't think their primary concern was piracy when deciding on no offline.
Do we really need to get into this silly debate again?
They already hacked the Closed Beta client and create private server code to run your own private server.
They are now working on the Retail version crack + private server code as we speak. Won't be long till they are finished!
If history hasn't teached you any lesson (just like the stupid suits at Blizzard), then you know that any form of DRM implementation had the total opposite effect of what it tried to achieve! As it will only give more reason for hackers to crack it! The more challenge for the hacker, the more they can brag about it when they crack it!
So the pirates continue to pirate as usual, while the "honest" customers are suffering due to DRM and all the issues that come with it!
He, preparations. If by "preparations" they mean "development" i totally agree. No clue about the actual preperations as i didn't buy it as a result of the beta.
I'll wait to the day's end when the moon is high
And then I'll rise with the tide with a lust for life, I'll
Amass an army, and we'll harness a horde
And then we'll limp across the land until we stand at the shore
The way they designed the game, they made this incredibly difficult to do. It treats everything like an mmo, you get most of the data from the server on things like mob placement hit detection, everything that the server is responsible for in an mmo the server is responsible for ind Diablo III. Good or bad? I'm sure some will vilify it and some will defend it, but it is what it is.
Edit: At least this is my understanding of what they have done, if I am incorrect please feel free to correct me. This is also why some people complain about lag in a single player game.
QFT
It's not that difficult seeing that there are already "private" servers.
And the main issue is that they decided to go this way in the first place. Everything they do can obviously only be a step back to a traditional model, unless they get rid of the installed client go fully streamed. Maybe with "Titan"?
I'll wait to the day's end when the moon is high
And then I'll rise with the tide with a lust for life, I'll
Amass an army, and we'll harness a horde
And then we'll limp across the land until we stand at the shore
Worst launch in years, Blizzard lost the bit of respect it had, losing the best developers and designers through the years isn't an excuse for the misery called Diablo III. You were told thousands of times the game MUST have offline option, you didn't listen and now it's too late to fix the game
I plan to help out Activision Blizzard by not purchasing and therefore not playing the game.
Let's party like it is 1863!
Rubberbandning in a singleplayer game... New record of stupidity
"This is not a game to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force"
Totally agree and you saved me writing this...Also if you roll ove like a good little dog every time then you and more get shafted next time as they know they can get away with it...They might of got me with their first game, but they aint doing mever again...Bli$$ard = shafted every time.
Asbo
It's funny because it took them 12 years and they still fucked up
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