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OSUScoonie12

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Since E3 there has been a lot of released information on Diablo III. It is set to release this winter, but knowing Blizzard it might not be until Spring. Fans have been waiting a very long time 10 years or so for the newest installment of this game.

According to most Diablo 3 news sites, the invite-only beta will start by the end of the month. I signed up years ago to join the beta testing, so I'm hoping I get an invite.

The biggest news that has come recently is the Auction Houses in the game. There will be a normal in-game money (gold) auction house, but there will also be a cash auction house that deals with real money. Blizzard has more than thought out this process. I'm not going to explain it all, but the information can be found at http://www.diablofans.com/topic/26397-the-auction-house-explained/

Anyone else as excited about this game as I am? I've loved the entire Diablo series and the videos of this newest game look absolutely amazing. If you haven't seen them I highly suggest checking them out.
 
OSUScoonie12;1964400; said:
Well in this day and age, how many people out there don't have a constant connection to the internet? If you have any type of broadband internet you have a connection 24/7.

It's not just that (although many people still have there internet dropped from time to time). It means their servers must be up too. AC2 had that issue. Their servers went down and prevented everyone from playing.

It's an added hassle for legit consumers that is not needed to play the game.
 
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I remember playing Diablo 1 when I was I think 7 years old with my older brother. This was in the days when we had one computer for the house that had 4 gigs of HD space (as opposed to today's laptops with 8gb of ram :O). Those were the days... Anyway point is it's an odd world where video games make one nostalgic, but Diablo certainly does that for me. And for that reason, I can't wait till D3 comes out :)
 
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scott91575;1964413; said:
It's not just that (although many people still have there internet dropped from time to time). It means their servers must be up too. AC2 had that issue. Their servers went down and prevented everyone from playing.

It's an added hassle for legit consumers that is not needed to play the game.

I'm pretty sure Blizzard has it figured out since both WoW and Starcraft 2 need constant internet connection to play. They have weekly maintenance where the servers are down for a few hours, but they are hardly ever down at other times...maybe a few rolling restarts here and there but that's it.
 
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OSUScoonie12;1965008; said:
I'm pretty sure Blizzard has it figured out since both WoW and Starcraft 2 need constant internet connection to play. They have weekly maintenance where the servers are down for a few hours, but they are hardly ever down at other times...maybe a few rolling restarts here and there but that's it.

Starcraft 2 can be played offline in single player (you do need to be online at least once a month, but it's not always on), and WoW has to be online all the time since it's a MMORPG. Note I stated "needed to play the game." Single player does not require an internet connection like multiplayer and MMORPG.

It's just an example of more DRM that doesn't work except create more problems for consumers.

To go on a tangent, the biggest issue I have with DRM is the effect it has on sales. Too many publishers scream "90% of our game is pirated! Those are all lost sales!" It's complete ignorance and not backed up by fact. They always state they want to reduce piracy, but never mention sales. Reducing piracy does not increase sales. The best case to show is Assassins Creed, AC2, and AC Brotherhood. Assassins Creed had normal DRM, AC2 launched with always on internet style DRM (they eventually switched), and AC Brotherhood went back to regular DRM. AC1 had good sales, and AC2 built on those sales. AC2, thanks to always on internet, could not be pirated for about 6 weeks (I could go into the system more if you want, but it does take longer to crack). Sales were good and above AC1, but what you would expect from a sequel. Eventually Ubisoft dropped the DRM for AC2 due to all the issues is caused. Anyway, some people saw AC2 sales and wondered "shouldn't is be 9 times higher in the first 6 weeks due to no piracy?" It wasn't, making the publishers claims laughable. Yet it did sell well, so there was still a question mark about how effective the DRM was. Then AC Brotherhood was released with normal DRM (easily cracked). Guess what? It outsold AC2 and set Ubisoft launch records. How could that be? AC2 thwarted all those pirates and Brotherhood didn't. It's because publishers don't understand pirated copies do not equal lost sales. There are lots of dynamics I could go into there, but back to my original point. The always online DRM is introducing something not needed for single player while not increasing game sales. It does reduce initial piracy, but that does not turn into game sales. There simply is no need for it outside of one caveat....I could see using pre launch to eliminate pre launch piracy from leaked copies (which does hurt game sales). Yet once the game launches, it should be eliminated.

BTW...Ubisoft is now going back to always online DRM once again claiming it reduces piracy. Yes, it does, but does nothing for sales. It's just a slight of hand trick to fool execs and shareholders who scream about piracy killing sales.
 
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Everything he said is exactly right. Its another bullshit form of 3rd parties wanting to know what you're doing with your OWN system and software.

If a game is really that damn good, most people will buy it. Even those who like to pirate. Half-Life 2 for example. The engine was leaked early (total accident) and pre-sales skyrocketed.

If its something the studio has put time and care into, consumers will respond. Even the one's who aren't so legit quite often.

Its (DRM) garbage, Ubisoft is a great example. EA is right up there. Sony as well.

Fact is too, once you toss this bullshit on there - people have an even greater re-enforced motive to remove it and crack/pirate the game.

Lesson learned: Don't piss off the gaming community by trying to monitor or control what we do.
 
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There is something I was thinking about which might in a way excuse Blizzard for using always on line single player. If their new marketplace also includes single player items, they may need to have it always online to police it to make sure items are legit. Otherwise I could see someone using cheats and hacks to obtain items, and without them being monitored no one at Blizzard would be able to tell if they are legit.

So perhaps my tangent was a bit hasty, we will find out. I have not been able to confirm their marketplace will include single player items. Plus I am not sure how popular single player items would be. Part of the fun of single player is building up your player as the challenge ramps up. Multiplayer on the other hand is one of those things where you can go up against high level adversaries right away, and without the right items you are at a disadvantage until you get the right items or purchase them.
 
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If i had to guess, the single player items will not be on the gold or cash auction houses. I think it would be too hard to police and monitor all single player items. I know for me, i mostly played single player because it was much harder than multiplayer. So i had quite a few legendary and very good items drop while questing and whatnot in single player. I do see it as a possibility though since the game will be online 24/7.

In other Diablo News, they just released the Beta page but have still not said when the Beta will begin and invites go out.
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/events/diablo3-announcement/#beta:d3-overview
 
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An ex-Blizzard employee leaked some Beta videos and screenshots. The actually Opt-in Beta should begin any week now.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4aYbyso_YE&feature=player_embedded"]Diablo 3 - Leaked Beta Video and Screens - YouTube[/ame]
 
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Blizzard released the newest Cinematic trailer for Diablo III today as Blizzcon. It gets me pumped for the game! Remember to watch it in 720p.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlhWqmVeDno"]Diablo III Black Soulstone Cinematic - YouTube[/ame]
 
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