Diablo 3 will demand a constant online presence as well

Matt Hawkins Contributing Writer, Video Games

For those that thought Blizzard was too cool to stoop to the same anti-piracy measures that Ubisoft loves to employ… sorry, life is full of surprises like that.

d3b Diablo 3 will demand a constant online presence as well

As noted previously, Ubi Soft will demand players of the upcoming Driver: San Francisco to maintain a consistent internet connection, even if the action is one-player, offline. While the response was unanimously negative, many were not surprised since Ubi has tried the same dirty (and pointless) tricks in the past.

Plus their track record in general has never been stellar, which includes some truly inane/shameless offerings (the crappy Michael Jackson dance games immediately comes to mind), outlandish statements from higher brass (like their constant bitching and moaning that they can’t make good games because the current systems aren’t powerful enough to full-fill their creative visions), and far too much else to properly list. Though they also make some truly stellar games, hence why it still has its fans.

So the last thing Blizzard diehards expected to hear was that the upcoming Diablo 3 would be employing the same measures. Why? Because it’s already been proven to be ineffective to fight piracy. Instead, the primary thrust is to prevent cheating. According to the game’s executive producer, Rob Pardo, in an interview with PC Gamer…

“One of the things that we felt was really import was that if you did play offline… you’d start a character, you’d get him all the way to level 20 or level 30 or level 40 or what have you, and then at that point you might decide to want to venture onto Battle.net. But you’d have to start a character from scratch, because there’d be no way for us to guarantee no cheats were involved, if we let you play on the client and then take that character online.”

… So not only is it supposed to prevent cheating, but also make things easier on the player. Okay, that sounds nice and all, but… Ultimately, Blizzard is being very careful since they also recently unveiled that items in game can also be sold and purchased with real money. Though it was also admitted that such a move is also designed to combat piracy. Which again, doesn’t work, but it’s clear that no one is listening.

Reaction from Blizzard’s fan base has been mixed to say the least, though it’s not as vitriolic as one might have expected. As needlessly cranky as gamers can be, another more annoying trait is their inconsistency. This latest news has basically led to plenty of “oh well, what can you do” responses, by some of the same folks who were ready to burn down Ubi HQ just last week over similar measures.

Granted, Blizzard makes some truly awesome games, with Diablo 3 looking to be well worth the wait, and therefore far harder to boycott than the latest entry in a limp racing franchise that absolutely no one cares about. In the end, it just proves that those strongly attached to something will basically put up with anything. The fact that countless folks still pay monthly access to what’s essentially a time and money sink (World of Warcraft for the uninformed) is more than evidence of that. Or to be more exact (and less inciting): if you make good games, it’s amazing what its fan base will allow, things that would otherwise be upsetting. It’s called good business, as well as business in general.

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