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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Blizzard Entertainment said this week that it sold more than 3.5 million copies of Diablo III on launch day, setting the record for fastest-selling PC game. The company also sold 1.2 million copies of the game to subscribers of the World of Warcraft Annual Pass, meaning 4.7 million copies of the game were in the hands of gamers on day one.

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There were a number of server slowdowns and issues for gamers looking to play the game on opening day and, as a result, Blizzard was very apologetic in its statement:
"We're definitely thrilled that so many people around the world were excited to pick up their copy of Diablo III and jump in the moment it went live," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We also regret that our preparations were not enough to ensure everyone had a seamless experience when they did so. I want to reaffirm our commitment to make sure the millions of Diablo III players out there have a great experience with the game moving forward, and I also want to thank them for their ongoing support."
To cut down on cheating and piracy, Blizzard requires the Diablo III client to be connected to their servers at all times during gameplay, even during the single-player campaign.

Diablo III is available via Blizzard's website and at retail stores.

Article Link: Blizzard Says It Delivered 4.7 Million Copies of Diablo III on Release Day
 

Yamcha

macrumors 68000
Mar 6, 2008
1,825
158
I'm not happy with the requirement of a internet connection.. Also what happens 5-10 years from now? Will the servers still be around? I doubt It..

It's more like we are renting a game.. I really hope later there will be a patch for offline play..
 

Dr McKay

macrumors 68040
Aug 11, 2010
3,430
57
Kirkland
Yea, I totally enjoyed being locked out of a game when I was trying to play it Single-Player.

Oh whats that? It's to stop the Pirates? In 2 weeks when they've circumvented this measure, the Pirates will be getting the better gaming experience while paying customers are dicked with this.
 

Lord Appleseed

macrumors 6502a
Nov 7, 2010
682
37
Apple Manor
I'm not happy with the requirement of a internet connection.. Also what happens 5-10 years from now? Will the servers still be around? I doubt It..

It's more like we are renting a game.. I really hope later there will be a patch for offline play..

I feel the same way. I'd love to buy and play the game, but under these circumstances Diablo can remain in hell.
 

satchow

macrumors 6502
Jul 11, 2011
467
186
I'm not happy with the requirement of a internet connection.. Also what happens 5-10 years from now? Will the servers still be around? I doubt It..

It's more like we are renting a game.. I really hope later there will be a patch for offline play..

Will the servers be around? Knowing Blizzard, yes.

The thing about having to be online and connected to a server to play though is that there's freaking lag in single player. That's unacceptable.
 

soloer

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2004
879
197
Omaha
I'm not happy with the requirement of a internet connection.. Also what happens 5-10 years from now? Will the servers still be around? I doubt It..

I've read that the Diablo 1 servers are still up, so one would think Diablo 3 servers will still be up in 5-10 years. Not sure why anyone would really want to play a 10-year old game, but that's their choice!
 

outphase

macrumors 65816
Jun 13, 2009
1,291
32
Parts Unknown
I'm not happy with the requirement of a internet connection.. Also what happens 5-10 years from now? Will the servers still be around? I doubt It..

It's more like we are renting a game.. I really hope later there will be a patch for offline play..

Diablo 2's server is still online after 13 years. If the day comes when Blizzard has to shut down servers, they will probably do what Valve does and disable the DRM.
 

foodog

macrumors 6502a
Sep 6, 2006
911
43
Atlanta, GA
I'm not happy with the requirement of a internet connection.. Also what happens 5-10 years from now? Will the servers still be around? I doubt It..

It's more like we are renting a game.. I really hope later there will be a patch for offline play..

Diablo II (released in 2000) can connect to battle.net and play multi-player still, so I would assume yes.

----------

Will the servers be around? Knowing Blizzard, yes.

The thing about having to be online and connected to a server to play though is that there's freaking lag in single player. That's unacceptable.

Yes and lag in the middle of a heated battle = rapid player death when it catches up. :mad:

----------

I've read that the Diablo 1 servers are still up, so one would think Diablo 3 servers will still be up in 5-10 years. Not sure why anyone would really want to play a 10-year old game, but that's their choice!

You would be surprised at how many people were still playing D2. I started playing it again this year with my 12 year old son. It is still a very fun game, the graphics are pretty rough though/
 

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,544
6,042
I've read that the Diablo 1 servers are still up, so one would think Diablo 3 servers will still be up in 5-10 years. Not sure why anyone would really want to play a 10-year old game, but that's their choice!

Because Blizzard takes forever to release sequels? That's why I was still playing StarCraft 12 years after its original release.

Also, SumoHamster is correct, Battle.net is still available, 15.5 years after its launch, for the original Diablo.

Blizzard knows how to build up a fan base*. They know that it's worth it to support a game over a decade after its release so that you'll buy all of their games and tell all of your friends (and strangers on forums,) to buy the game, too. Well, not all of their games... I'm a huge Blizzard fan, but only for their RTS games. I have Diablo II... and that's really enough of that kind of RPG for me... I vastly prefer games like Zelda when it comes to role playing adventures...

*unlike companies like EA who seem to only know how to piss players off and spend more on advertising crap than actually developing it.
 

zeromeus

macrumors regular
Oct 7, 2008
181
3
SOCAL
It's an expectation from D2

The only reason why D3 sells so well is because of the hype from D2. With where Blizzard took D3, I seriously doubt that if and when D4 comes out that it'll have the same success. You know what they said, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I don't even care to buy or play D3 right now because of the sole fact that I can't play it offline.
 

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,712
1,204
East Central Florida
The servers will stick around.

I'm under the impression that the online requirement is more so to stop the rampant hacking and duping that plagued first 2 Diablos rather than preventing piracy. Although, conveniently, the server side nature of Diablo 3 has effectively killed piracy until someone creates a server emulator which will, in turn, never rival the legit experience.

I'm glad it's online only because cheating is lame, especially once pvp gets added.
 

foodog

macrumors 6502a
Sep 6, 2006
911
43
Atlanta, GA
The only reason why D3 sells so well is because of the hype from D2. With where Blizzard took D3, I seriously doubt that if and when D4 comes out that it'll have the same success. You know what they said, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I don't even care to buy or play D3 right now because of the sole fact that I can't play it offline.

With the rampant cheating in D2 I'm am glad you have to stay connected if it prevents that. In D2 to play hardcore your character was only stored online, if I recall.... Not much different except internet access is always on in 2012 for the vast majority of people with computers.

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Because Blizzard takes forever to release sequels? That's why I was still playing StarCraft 12 years after its original release.

I would also add the games are VERY playable as another reason you still played Starcraft. My opinion obviously...

Duke Nukem has a long sequel release time too but I never played it past the first year or so.
 

NorCalLights

macrumors 6502a
Apr 24, 2006
597
85
I don't even care to buy or play D3 right now because of the sole fact that I can't play it offline.

Get over yourself. The game is awesome, and I haven't had any lag since launch day. It's a shame that you're missing out on all the fun.

I don't know what they're sending back and forth to the servers, but I can even play over my 3G Virgin MiFi with no lag (and that's a LAGGY connection), and it barely scratches my data allotment.
 

the8thark

macrumors 601
Apr 18, 2011
4,628
1,735
People were fully aware of the "always requires internet" part of D3 before they bought it. But by the end of the first week 6.3 million copies of the game were sold. So that just proves the "always requires internet" thing did not affect sales at all.

I ahve to day Diablo 3 is everything wanted in the game. I really enjoy it. I will say the pre-rendered videos that book end each act are just brilliant. Well worth watching. And the rest of the game is very good too.

Sure being unable to edit windowed mode resolution properly in game, being forced to edit the preferences file to do it is something Blizzard should have fixed in the beta. But they keep ignoring the issue though they have been told multiple times. Apart from this and a few balance issues that will be sorted out as the game matures I think the game is great. Well worth the money I spent on it.

Here are my scans of the collectors edition. 24 scans I did. Just cause I think the physical part of the collectors edition is very good too.
http://imgur.com/a/mXuqA#0
 

benpatient

macrumors 68000
Nov 4, 2003
1,870
0
With the rampant cheating in D2 I'm am glad you have to stay connected if it prevents that. In D2 to play hardcore your character was only stored online, if I recall.... Not much different except internet access is always on in 2012 for the vast majority of people with computers.

----------

I never experienced any problems with single player cheating in D2...because I was playing single player!

As for hardcore in D2, it just required you to connect at the beginning/end of your play session for it to register your changes, etc.

If your internet lagged while you were playing for 6 hours, it didn't just shut you down. My DL speed for the D3 install was around 35-40 mb/sec, and that same internet connection regularly hits red on the little "ping" bar in-game.
 

finalcut

macrumors 6502
Oct 9, 2007
396
27
Quebec, Canada
I'm not happy with the requirement of a internet connection.. Also what happens 5-10 years from now? Will the servers still be around? I doubt It..

It's more like we are renting a game.. I really hope later there will be a patch for offline play..
yeah being able to go offline, then hack your gear with all BiS stuff and then come back online, just like D1 and maybe D2 (cant remember). That is a good idea! :cool:
 

newdeal

macrumors 68030
Oct 21, 2009
2,509
1,769
Off topic but didn't blizzard buy Sierra? If they did They should use the money from this game to resurrect al Lowe for another leisure suit Larry game
 

MadGoat

macrumors 65816
Jul 30, 2007
1,178
128
Canada
There are reasons that it's online and it's all about money.

Since they will be fully releasing the totally B.S. "Real Money" auction house, they must prevent duping and other ways of cheating otherwise it'll burn.

Since I have 0 intention of paying real money for a few pixels that add 20 life to my toon, It will never see the light of day with me.

Please Blizzard, allow us to have a D2 style, segregated off-line character that we can play with at the cottage on a rainy night.
 

Mad-B-One

macrumors 6502a
Jun 24, 2011
789
5
San Antonio, Texas
Get over yourself. The game is awesome, and I haven't had any lag since launch day. It's a shame that you're missing out on all the fun.

I don't know what they're sending back and forth to the servers, but I can even play over my 3G Virgin MiFi with no lag (and that's a LAGGY connection), and it barely scratches my data allotment.

That's abosutely right. Everyone knew from the get-go it requires internet connection. That is not for illegal copies but for preventing people from cloning or creating items. They just learned from DII. If you have lag, guys, blame your ISP and not BZ because other people don't have that problem. I see that in a lot of games. In World of Tanks, people complain about lag all the time and if I don't have lag in the same game, I assume its's their connection, not the server. Same here. Granted they had trouble at the beginning with not being able to log in and so on but that is fixed as well.

PS: I have the awesome Collector's Edition and run around with angel wings - just AWESOME! Nightmare is definitely way more fun than Normal. Diablo in Normal didn't even get my Monk to 50% health. Just thought: "There has to be more" being ready for a fight and all in a sudden, he fell.

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yeah being able to go offline, then hack your gear with all BiS stuff and then come back online, just like D1 and maybe D2 (cant remember). That is a good idea! :cool:

They patched that in DII and all the cloned items disappeared. I agree with you: It is what it is and who doesn't like it: Remember, no one forces you to buy and play it. The requrement of internet is a dealbreaker? Don't buy it!

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There are reasons that it's online and it's all about money.

Since they will be fully releasing the totally B.S. "Real Money" auction house, they must prevent duping and other ways of cheating otherwise it'll burn.

Since I have 0 intention of paying real money for a few pixels that add 20 life to my toon, It will never see the light of day with me.

Please Blizzard, allow us to have a D2 style, segregated off-line character that we can play with at the cottage on a rainy night.

I don't think it is about money because they have to provide servers and that costs money as well. I think the gamer community around Diablo despies cheaters who doctor on items and get an unfair advantage - especially when PVP will be implemented. I would guess if you survey the people playing it, they'd rather have Internet requirement than loosing against cheaters. I mean, what good does it do to work for a couple of months on a character to beat Diablo in Hardcore or Inferno (or in combination of both) just to see someone cheating up equipment to kill the boss in easy-mode on that difficulty?
 
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soloer

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2004
879
197
Omaha
foodog said:
You would be surprised at how many people were still playing D2. I started playing it again this year with my 12 year old son. It is still a very fun game, the graphics are pretty rough though/

I thought about playing it a few months ago.. loaded it back up.. and you're right. I couldn't get past the graphics at all! If I could just crank the resolution up, I'd be fine, but I can't.
 

scarroll

macrumors newbie
Mar 28, 2012
1
0
I'll go to Engadget when I want to read about random tech stuff. More apple stuff less random stories.
 

Ai Caramba

macrumors newbie
Mar 30, 2010
2
0
For all people bitching about the game. Quit bitching. Game is amazing. Stop trying to find something in life to complain about. Loving every minute of the game. Game is fantastic Blizzard. Thanks for your hard work! No complaints here! :D
 
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