official Diablo III

[Nagisan]

The "always online" aspect is a form of DRM, that really isn't debatable. But it's also a form of quality too. There are benefits and trade offs that come with such a paradigm, as there are with any system. I happen to not mind it, but obviously some of you do. And that's fine. I'm sure you can find something else to play. But come next Tuesday, I'll be playing and enjoying the story I started way back in 1996.

I would like to do the same (continue the story), but I honestly despise the lack of single-player (offline) that much that I am not willing to pay for the game to get a few weeks of play out of it then have to wait for expansions before I can bear playing it again. I'll just continue playing Kingdoms of Amalur and Path of Exile until GW2 releases.

I'm confused. You're going to shun Diablo 3 because it requires that you always be be online, but you're still going to play Guild Wars 2...which also needs to always be online. That doesn't make any sense, unless you meant that you will not be playing both games. But the way you structured your sentence doesn't really imply that.

Perfectly valid stance IMO, D3 is an action RPG/hack and slash/dungeon crawler, the kind of game you can have fun with while being offline (see: D1, D2, etc). GW2 is an MMORPG where the world is persistent and everyone plays in the same areas (minus user selectable servers).

The way I see it, GW2 is a game being built around online play due to its style of game (MMO), D3 is not an MMO, but it is being built around online-only play....when Blizzard makes a Diablo-themed MMO, then I will support their decision to go online only, but as long as D3 is an action RPG we shouldn't have to pay and then be required to stay online to play (in contrast, Path of Exile, another Action RPG in closed beta, is online only but it is free to download and play upon release, so there no monetary loss if you cannot get online to play).

Honestly, comparing D3 to GW2 in terms of this argument is like comparing apples to oranges, sure they are both online-only, but GW2 has a much more valid reason than D3 (such as being an MMO and all), which makes sense rather than the reason you are all trying to make up as to why Blizzard went with online-only for D3 other than DRM. I still haven't seen one valid/good reason as to why D3 is online-only, other than DRM (and even then it's not a good argument considering the benefits of playing online, where you have to buy the game anyway). Why not make it like D2 where you have certain events or things that only work on the realms? Would certainly get people to buy it to play online, and it would also let people who don't have internet access or want to play play mods do so in single-player.

[grendal]

Well, there are plenty of other games. I mean it's the same for people living on oil rigs, or in oil drilling camps. It's not just people who are employed by the army. They can keep playing D2 lol. If they want to get D3, get another job or move somewhere where you can get better internet.

I don't think that just because "the troops can't play" is a negative to online internet. There are completely valid reasons as to why there is online only. The features that it brings, and things it helps to block far outweighs the bad.

You can still play single player, you can still play on your own in solitude. The only difference is you have to have an internet connection (and not an overly fast one either).

I completely agree that there are other games out there. I was just commenting on the ignorant statement that the only reason people are complaining is that they are on a crappy ISP or whatever. That comment was short sighted which is why I used the troops as a reference. Overall I do not care about the DRM as long as it works correctly when I want to play. When I deploy again I will just play something else. My main point was that we shouldn't think of our own situations as being the "standard" situation for everyone else.

[Nagisan]

See, as was shown above, it's all in how you want to play the game. I think what you missed in my "reasons" was the fact it's why online only is good. I was not saying if it were online and offline, I was saying why an online only approach is awesome. I want to play where I have 1 character for single and group play. Where I don't have 2 sets of every character for offline and online.

So when all is said and done, I prefer the way it is to the way you want it. I don't think there is any need for an offline, as you said the main reason you want offline is the ability to hack up your character and play against other hacked characters.

Just because you prefer it that way doesn't validate Blizzard in making it that way, I would prefer it work similar to D2, therefore acting like you are, Blizzard has no reason at all (including DRM) to not include an offline-mode.

Also, you say you don't like having 2 sets of every character for offline and online, well guess what, you have no offline to speak of so of COURSE you won't have 2 sets of ever character. If you don't want to have 2 sets of characters (one for offline one for online) than just never play offline and you will only have 1 set of characters, but let the rest of us play offline so we can mod and do other things we enjoy while you play online.

And no, "single-play" is not what I want, if you want single-play, do it, you can in D2 and D3 regardless of whether or not they have an offline mode. I want offline so I can play mods or play when my internet is down, that CAN'T happen without offline mode, but you can still play "single-play" whether it has offline mode or not. In short, you are trying to explain why online-only is good, with reason that are only valid because YOU don't care about offline play. Well guess what, just because it pleases YOU specifically, doesn't make it a good reason, which invalidates half your earlier mentioned reasons.

Why do you prefer the way it is to the way I want it anyway? Does it hurt you if it was the way I want it? No, you can simple ignore offline-mode and continue playing it how you currently plan to, where as on the opposite side of the fence, it does negatively impact the way I want to play the game if it doesn't have offline-mode.

Stop making yourself look so self-centered by acting like offline would negatively affect you, it wouldn't, whereas it would negatively affect me and others without offline-mode.

The whole point is it wouldn't hurt you if there was offline mode, while lack of offline mode is what will prevent me from buying this game (ironic isn't it? No offline = no piracy, and no offline = no purchase for me and many others)....not to mention the game just isn't worth it, not nearly as fun as D2.

[spedanden]

The main reason they decided to not do offline is the fact that characters are saved server side and the monsters that appear in zones are all generated by the server (as are the items they drop). If you decide to let people play offline, given the current code for the game, then you would have to allow the server code to be ran on the client computer, making it way easier to hack, and use those hacks online. I'll try to find the quote where they entioned this recently.

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

Pretty sure it will run perfectly fine with a sub 15mb connection. Just sayin'

I know from experience that during beta it worked perfectly fine when connected through my cell phone for internet connection.

[aessap]

I know from experience that during beta it worked perfectly fine when connected through my cell phone for internet connection.

That's good to hear. I am going to end up playing from crappy hotel connections where you can't do much of anything, but hopefully it will run D3 :)

As for the rest of this, everyone is going to have different arguments as to who is right and who is wrong. I can see it both ways. I prefer the online only mode for my own reasons, but can see why some people would like offline mode.

The argument for 2 sets of characters doesn't make any sense for single vs multi player mode. D2 if you wanted to play solo on bnet, just put a password. Fixed. Only you could get in and you could still use that same character for multi player mode.

In D1 and D2 I played both offline and online. it was good back then because bad internet/computer/ whatever else but I could see why they went online only. Does offline hurt online? Depends. I don't know how hacks are developed, but I would assume that most map/tele/anything else hacks are developed offline first where they don't have to worry about loosing their $60 investment every time they screw up their code. And I feel that these hacks do affect my online play. They could give other players unfair advantages in online play. Are their people who would play offline just to play offline for very valid reasons. Absolutely there are. Unfortunately for them thought, they can't with this game. Pick up a different one that can play offline.

With a game that is this big and that LOTS of people have been waiting a LONG time for to come out, I don't think they are going to be able to please everything. I think that the majority of players though are just find with the solution that they have come up with and the ones that aren't either will continue to complain about it or even though they say they won't, will still get the urge and pay for the game anyways.

just my 2 cents.

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

Also for anyone that is concerned about online and people stealing loot from you, Diablo 3 has a new loot system that only allows you to see the loot you are intitled to, so there is no loot stealing possible in the game if you see loot, its yours take it all.

[HawkMan]

Okay, what you might be missing.. is I do plan to play solo for parts of it. I do plan on not running in groups the entire time. I get the ability to do that.. by not making my game public. I can still 100% play "single player" I can still 100% play on my own. I just have the option to use that character in a group when I feel like it, with no need to force a new character, with no need to reset anything.

And how does allowing other people to play offline single player prevent or ruin this for you ? you have yet to answer this simple question. adding offline SP does not ruing ANYTHING for those of you who want an SP/MP character, removing offline SP does remove somethign for those that only want to play or only can play offline SP.

[Nagisan]

The main reason they decided to not do offline is the fact that characters are saved server side and the monsters that appear in zones are all generated by the server (as are the items they drop). If you decide to let people play offline, given the current code for the game, then you would have to allow the server code to be ran on the client computer, making it way easier to hack, and use those hacks online. I'll try to find the quote where they entioned this recently.

I still disagree, because there are no hacks that I know of in D2 that affect online play when it comes to your character or the monsters or the drops or anything of the sort. The only hacks in D2 are all client-side related, maphacks, autoaim hacks (point towards nearest player), namelock hacks (namelock on players that are off screen), etc.

I don't see how making other things more server-side is going to reduce the number of the above mentioned hacks. Chances are they are using that as an excuse for why they added online-only DRM, but I highly doubt hacks is a major cause of why they went online-only. So as far as that goes, I blame Blizzard for designing the game as online-only, not for anti-hack measures, but for their own greedy DRM wants that does nothing for them but reduce potential sales.

I would really love to see why Blizzard thinks the game is going to be harder to hack because it's going to be online-only, D2 doesn't really have any hacks that wouldn't work if the things you mentioned were there in D2.

D2 Closed Bnet play (online-only) - Characters are stored on Blizzard servers, item drops are generated by the server and determined before they visually drop to the player (before the item falls on the ground, the server already knows what item it is about to spawn in the game), monsters while not controlled by the server after spawn, are spawned by the server, then you have Warden watching processes you have running and reporting them to Blizzard to check whether or not it is considered a cheat program.

Point is, D3 is going to be just as susceptible to hacks as D2 is, even without an offline mode....therefore again we fall back to DRM being the only reason for online-only, which completely kills any modding or offline play for those of us who enjoy it, all in the name of attempting to do away with piracy but instead reducing sales.

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

I still disagree, because there are no hacks that I know of in D2 that affect online play when it comes to your character or the monsters or the drops or anything of the sort. The only hacks in D2 are all client-side related, maphacks, autoaim hacks (point towards nearest player), namelock hacks (namelock on players that are off screen), etc.

I don't see how making other things more server-side is going to reduce the number of the above mentioned hacks. Chances are they are using that as an excuse for why they added online-only DRM, but I highly doubt hacks is a major cause of why they went online-only. So as far as that goes, I blame Blizzard for designing the game as online-only, not for anti-hack measures, but for their own greedy DRM wants that does nothing for them but reduce potential sales.

I would really love to see why Blizzard thinks the game is going to be harder to hack because it's going to be online-only, D2 doesn't really have any hacks that wouldn't work if the things you mentioned were there in D2.

D2 Closed Bnet play (online-only) - Characters are stored on Blizzard servers, item drops are generated by the server and determined before they visually drop to the player (before the item falls on the ground, the server already knows what item it is about to spawn in the game), monsters while not controlled by the server after spawn, are spawned by the server, then you have Warden watching processes you have running and reporting them to Blizzard to check whether or not it is considered a cheat program.

Point is, D3 is going to be just as susceptible to hacks as D2 is, even without an offline mode....therefore again we fall back to DRM being the only reason for online-only, which completely kills any modding or offline play for those of us who enjoy it, all in the name of attempting to do away with piracy but instead reducing sales.

no in Diablo 2 if you were the one hosting the game there are hacks that will allow you to modify affixes on items as well as forcing mobs to drop items.

[Nagisan]

no in Diablo 2 if you were the one hosting the game there are hacks that will allow you to modify affixes on items as well as forcing mobs to drop items.

No, in Diablo 2 Closed Battle.Net, you don't host the game, Blizzard does, which is why you can leave the game after creating it and it doesn't kick everyone else out of the game. The only time you host a game in Diablo 2 on your computer, is in open battle.net (where you use your local characters and can hack as much as you want), and LAN games.

EDIT: On a farther note, been looking around and people already have bots for D3, as far as actual hacking goes, a maphack is not as easily possible (can't reveal the full map on entry of an area), but with some workarounds it is still possible, just not as easily and not by revealing the whole area when you go somewhere. Apparently the game "requests" the next area from Blizzard when you get close to it (a few screens away) and until your client receives that request, it doesn't know what is next. But I'm willing to bet there is only so much randomness you can add in.....you might not get a maphack as feature-filled as the ones for D2, but I bet you will be able to create a few map possibilities after revealing the first few screens of a dungeon.

Here's an example maphack created so far just in the Beta: http://i.imgur.com/EiygJ.png

Basically you can reveal a few screens away from your character so you can at the very least know what is and isn't a dead end before walking into the room.

EDIT2: And on the plus side people have already been working on emulating the Blizzard servers, so maybe once that gets stable and people start modding D3, I may look into buying it.....would be worth having 2 installations of D3 (or just one modified one) just to play some mods on it after I get bored of the main game. But beyond all that I didn't find it half as fun as even Path of Exile (which is completely free), so it's probably going to take more than a server emulated offline mode to convince me to get D3.

[HawkMan]

no in Diablo 2 if you were the one hosting the game there are hacks that will allow you to modify affixes on items as well as forcing mobs to drop items.

What does that have to do with anything though ? as noone is saying we want or need non Battle.net multiplayer. we just want the ability to play SP offline, something that wouldn't hurt anyone else playing in online mode.

[Kirkburn]

Some things that have to happen for single player mode to work with the design of D3:

• You can never take that character online, nor co-op with friends
  
  • A large part of the game design is for co-op play
    
  • LAN play isn't really an answer, LAN is generally a dead man walking
    

  [*]The game technology would have to be architectured quite differently (all-client, instead of server-client)

  • This would also make hotfixes more difficult - of course, single player people could live without patches, but that's to their detriment
    

  [*]Trading and the Auction House is completely inaccessible for single player characters

  [*]It risks more hacks for everyone online (difficult to say by how much, but it's not going to leave it the same, or lower it)

  [*]Blizzard have to deal with users complaining that they can't take a single player character online

  • Yes, it happens. Blizzard have mentioned that it is an area of concern.
    

  [*]Single player characters don't get achievements, and can't talk to online people.

  [*]Intra-account interactions get much more complex, and likely dropped - saved artisan levels, shared stashes (e.g. not sharable with online characters), etc.

[HawkMan]

Some things that have to happen for single player mode to work with the design of D3:

• You can never take that character online, nor co-op with friends Well, DUH, that's what we've been saying from the start.
  
  • A large part of the game design is for co-op play The game is also desgined so people can play it alone if they want to. not seeing your problem, yeah you might not be able to do the hardest difficulty, not what this group is after.
    
  • LAN play isn't really an answer, LAN is generally a dead man walking Who said anythign about LAN ? we wanted offline SINGLE PLAYER, Pay attention, we have said this for several pages.
    

  [*]The game technology would have to be architectured quite differently (all-client, instead of server-client) No it wouldn't. you'd just include the server part as part of the exe or a dll. nothign changes, everything is the same.

  • This would also make hotfixes more difficult - of course, single player people could live without patches, but that's to their detriment Again, already covered this, not it woudln't. the sigle player exe would still be the same one. it's coalled modular design.
    

  [*]Trading and the Auction House is completely inaccessible for single player characters Already covered this one as well, multiple times, we DON'T CARE. we dont' want to trade, we just want to play our game offline in single player. how hard is that to understand, we don't need to trade at an auction house. in fact I find the concept of an auction house ridiculous in a game like Diablo anyway, for WoW yes, for Diablo it's stupid. I'm the hero in this game, noone else. I shoudl be the one pickign up or gettign my gear.

  [*]It risks more hacks for everyone online (difficult to say by how much, but it's not going to leave it the same, or lower it) No, it does not affect the "hackability" of the game int he slightest, not sure where you got this bright idea. but it's absolutely plain BS.

  [*]Blizzard have to deal with users complaining that they can't take a single player character online You mean just like before. since Online mode would be standard and offline mode would give a warning that they can't, not they really wouldn't and I don't think this would be a problem in the slightest in the first place. another made up issue.

  • Yes, it happens. Blizzard have mentioned that it is an area of concern. Excuses is what it's called. it's all about the DRM. and micro transaction leeching.
    

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Honestly I had my share of fun on open bnet in hacked duel games seeing who had the best hacked character at times, now that's not going to happen, and neither are any singleplayer mods or anything of that sort.

I'm glad you did, but I'd reserve my judgement till D3 PVP patch comes out and even then I think WOW's PVP experience is more versatile.

[Kirkburn]

Please note: I am not talking solely about what you want out of being able to play single player D3. I am talking about the general case, where some people just want to be able to play offline.

No it wouldn't. you'd just include the server part as part of the exe or a dll. nothign changes, everything is the same.

Are you kidding? Yes, it would be more complex than 'just that'.

Already covered this one as well, multiple times, we DON'T CARE. we dont' want to trade, we just want to play our game offline in single player.

You mean you don't care. The Auction House is a major feature of D3, whether you want it or not. It's not normal (or sensible) in product development to cut off a major feature of your game in certain circumstances.

No, it does not affect the "hackability" of the game int he slightest, not sure where you got this bright idea. but it's absolutely plain BS.

If you include the server code in the client, it inherently makes hacks more discoverable, because the code is right there to be reverse engineered.

You mean just like before. since Online mode would be standard and offline mode would give a warning that they can't, not they really wouldn't and I don't think this would be a problem in the slightest in the first place. another made up issue.

It's not a 'made up issue', it's a real issue. Some people really do get confused and annoyed about it. I have no reason to disbelieve Blizzard on this.

Excuses is what it's called. it's all about the DRM. and micro transaction leeching.

DRM may be a reason. I am not saying it isn't one. Micro transaction stuff doesn't apply, because the game doesn't require usage of the AH. And, in fact, you can use it solely to your benefit, by selling items for gold or money. I see no 'leeching'.

The point is that DRM is not the only reason, however much you protest that it must be.

[Nagisan]

Some things that have to happen for single player mode to work with the design of D3:

• You can never take that character online, nor co-op with friends
  
  • A large part of the game design is for co-op play
    
  • LAN play isn't really an answer, LAN is generally a dead man walking
    

  [*]The game technology would have to be architectured quite differently (all-client, instead of server-client)

  • This would also make hotfixes more difficult - of course, single player people could live without patches, but that's to their detriment
    

  [*]Trading and the Auction House is completely inaccessible for single player characters

  [*]It risks more hacks for everyone online (difficult to say by how much, but it's not going to leave it the same, or lower it)

  [*]Blizzard have to deal with users complaining that they can't take a single player character online

  • Yes, it happens. Blizzard have mentioned that it is an area of concern.
    

  [*]Single player characters don't get achievements, and can't talk to online people.

  [*]Intra-account interactions get much more complex, and likely dropped - saved artisan levels, shared stashes (e.g. not sharable with online characters), etc.

I understand that, but that is Blizzard's own fault for designing the game with on offline play in mind from the start. Chances are it will never happen, because Blizzard decided to cut off their nose in spite their face, but it is no doubt Blizzards fault that offline play can't easily be added.

Though I do disagree with some of your points:

Why not offer lan play? It doesn't affect online play at all and allows people in the same household to play in a more controlled manner.

All offline play needs is a button at the login screen (where you put in your account name and password) that says "Offline Mode", it would skip the login process and use local character files (which also kills your final bullet of intra-account interactions since it is completely separate before we even get that far in the list). This would simultaneously disable the AH (I assume Blizzard authenticates the account before opening the AH), achievements (those are tracked based on your account) and social features (also managed based on your account) while also ensuring those characters cannot be taken online (as the client never sends the files to Blizzard or anything). That already cuts out four (five if you separate social features and achievements) of your "things that would have to happen" just by adding one button.

It doesn't risk more hacks for everyone online, seriously, don't know where you (and others) came to this assumption but there is more proof that offline hacks have no bearing in online play than there is proof that offline hacks do have some affect in online play. Stop saying it unless you have proof, otherwise that statement falls on deaf ears on anyone and everyone who understand software engineering and computer networking.

The only major points are they would need to re-architecture the game (even then, all they need to do is add a psuedo-server that runs before the offline character joins the game to act as the Blizzard server, but without all the fancy stuff like everything handled by the account process) and Blizzard dealing with users complaining about offline players not being able to go online. All they need to do is put in a warning that specifically states "Offline characters can not later be used in Online game play".....then anyone that complains, just refer them to that statement.

I know it will never be done, but a lot of your bullet points fall under the same basic process (remove logging into blizzard servers -> removes achievements, trading/AH, social features, etc), so it's really not as much separation of work as you make it seem.

You mean you don't care. The Auction House is a major feature of D3, whether you want it or not. It's not normal (or sensible) in product development to cut off a major feature of your game in certain circumstances.

It's quite normal actually, look at any game that has offline and online gameplay, many major online features are cut out of the offline gameplay.

If you include the server code in the client, it inherently makes hacks more discoverable, because the code is right there to be reverse engineered.

Not really, you can monitor all communications between your computer and Blizzard servers, so anything that is exploitable between the client-server relation is going to be there for anyone who wants it whether they have the server code or not.

It's not a 'made up issue', it's a real issue. Some people really do get confused and annoyed about it. I have no reason to disbelieve Blizzard on this.

Tell them before they create a character that they WILL NOT be able to use it online, and if someone complains, use an automated response.

DRM may be a reason. I am not saying it isn't one. Micro transaction stuff doesn't apply, because the game doesn't require usage of the AH. And, in fact, you can use it solely to your benefit, by selling items for gold or money. I see no 'leeching'.

The point is that DRM is not the only reason, however much you protest that it must be.

If you were to put all the reasons for online-only into a pie chart, DRM would take up a large majority of it, though Blizzard would likely lie about it and say DRM has nothing to do with it.

[Nagisan]

*delete*

[firey]

HawkMan, while I get that you don't like the fact it's online only. Other people do, everything you counter is what you think, not what you know. You didn't write the code, you don't know what it would take.

No matter what reason we give, you call it as an excuse. Unless it had 100% cut internet connection you will never be happy. You are too stubborn to see that there are things gained from online only outside of DRM. As have been mentioned time and time again, the way you want the game to work isn't how everyone else does.

So just because you don't think that it should include online only, don't act like everyone that does is stupid and doesn't know right from left.

[HawkMan]

The thing is you guys keep repeating the same things. yet you can't answer the one simple question, HOW does offline single player affect you or other people playing online. it doesn't.

yes there are things gained by being online. but not all of us WANT those features. and adding offline single player for those that want it does not remove those advantages for YOU. fact is the world isn't about just you, and there's a significant player base that's not at all interested in playing D3 with other people.

So why deny offline for these ? why are you defending the removal of offline SP when it's inclusion wouldn't affect you in the slightest.

[Kirkburn]

I should also be clear, I think it would be nice to have offline play. I just don't think it's feasible for the approach Blizzard are taking.

All offline play needs is a button at the login screen (where you put in your account name and password) that says "Offline Mode", it would skip the login process and use local character files (which also kills your final bullet of intra-account interactions since it is completely separate before we even get that far in the list). This would simultaneously disable the AH (I assume Blizzard authenticates the account before opening the AH), achievements (those are tracked based on your account) and social features (also managed based on your account) while also ensuring those characters cannot be taken online (as the client never sends the files to Blizzard or anything). That already cuts out four (five if you separate social features and achievements) of your "things that would have to happen" just by

adding one button.

I didn't say it wouldn't be possible, just that the effects are large (and often detrimental).

It doesn't risk more hacks for everyone online, seriously, don't know where you (and others) came to this assumption but there is more proof that offline hacks have no bearing in online play than there is proof that offline hacks do have some affect in online play. Stop saying it unless you have proof, otherwise that statement falls on deaf ears on anyone and everyone who understand software engineering and computer networking.

...

Not really, you can monitor all communications between your computer and Blizzard servers, so anything that is exploitable between the client-server relation is going to be there for anyone who wants it whether they have the server code or not.

Now I can't speak for exactly how D3 communicates, but I would assume that D3 does not communicate in plaintext. I am not saying hacks are impossible with the current set up, I am saying they are easier when you have both the client and server software.

Tell them before they create a character that they WILL NOT be able to use it online, and if someone complains, use an automated response.

Dealing with user complaints is only half the problem. The other half is that users complain in the first place. Even if you put a warning dialog in front of people's faces, that does not mean the issue is 'solved', because users will forget, or ignore it. Of course, you can blame the user, but the goal is to prevent the situation from occurring.

If you were to put all the reasons for online-only into a pie chart, DRM would take up a large majority of it, though Blizzard would likely lie about it and say DRM has nothing to do with it.

This is the kind of comment that cannot get a response. I'm in no position to judge how much of the pie chart it would take up, nor whether Blizzard would say that DRM has no relevancy at all. I am sure they've said it's not their main concern, however.

[Nagisan]

The thing is you guys keep repeating the same things. yet you can't answer the one simple question, HOW does offline single player affect you or other people playing online. it doesn't.

yes there are things gained by being online. but not all of us WANT those features. and adding offline single player for those that want it does not remove those advantages for YOU. fact is the world isn't about just you, and there's a significant player base that's not at all interested in playing D3 with other people.

So why deny offline for these ? why are you defending the removal of offline SP when it's inclusion wouldn't affect you in the slightest.

Exactly. Adding offline options WILL NOT affect all those arguing that "online-only adds so much more"....well good for you, continue playing online only and ignore the offline options. But make the rest of us happy by offering offline options.

Everyone arguing that online-only is a bonus are just retarded, they don't understand that allowing offline capabilities wouldn't hurt them in the slightest and would only make people like you and I stop arguing about how stupid of a choice Blizzard made when they chose Online only.

[Kirkburn]

The thing is you guys keep repeating the same things. yet you can't answer the one simple question, HOW does offline single player affect you or other people playing online. it doesn't.

yes there are things gained by being online. but not all of us WANT those features. and adding offline single player for those that want it does not remove those advantages for YOU. fact is the world isn't about just you, and there's a significant player base that's not at all interested in playing D3 with other people.

So why deny offline for these ? why are you defending the removal of offline SP when it's inclusion wouldn't affect you in the slightest.

Excuse me? So this talk of the ease of hacking apparently flew right by you? I am sure you might discount it, but that does not mean it was not presented to you.

Or the requirement to re-architecture of how D3 currently works? ... Which is a reason now, though it might not have been earlier in development.

Or that it is a source or user confusion and complaint to have them separate (yes, as well as complaints about having them combined)?

Everyone arguing that online-only is a bonus are just retarded, they don't understand that allowing offline capabilities wouldn't hurt them in the slightest and would only make people like you and I stop arguing about how stupid of a choice Blizzard made when they chose Online only.

I do not appreciate being called 'retarded'. You are allowed to have an opinion, as am I. Let's keep this civil.

[Wakers]

I see a lot of people in here saying that offline single player won't work for reasons that would involve reversing the design of the game.

To me, this just means the game has been designed badly.

[episode]

The thing is you guys keep repeating the same things. yet you can't answer the one simple question, HOW does offline single player affect you or other people playing online. it doesn't.

Development time spent on creating and maintaining an offline mode is time taken away from maintaining and updating the online version.