I am 100% cool with that.
I, unfortunately, can imagine people trying to make mods or addons for a game that make it easier to succeed while working within a legitimate modding framework. WoW has had this happen multiple times.
However, a 100% offline, solo game would not have any effect on online servers.
Yes, 100%.
I know what I paid for. And I got a ton of worth for my money. In fact, I think this state of things to be preferable to owning games on disks. Because remember - if you lose the disk, or if it breaks, or if it degrades otherwise beyond repair - that’s it. You don’t legally own the game anymore. You didn’t have rights to copy it, so you’re done. Go buy a new copy.
With digital distribution that’s never gonna happen.
If you legally bought the game(s) then you are in full right of making a copy of it, that is even stated in law.
I was with you until this. The new era of always-on DRM is garbo, but it’s what we have. It doesn’t make someone a ‘sheep’ to play a game they want to play despite it. It’s not all bad, and comes with some minor benefits on the user end as well.
No. I appreciate Blizzard and the games they make. If Blizzard makes a mistake in my opinion, I will not defend them. If they’re doing something that is expected, I will defend them. Believe it or not, people other than you also think for themselves. They just came to different conclusions.
As for this, it’s because calculations are not handled client side. Your PC is irrelevant for the computing power of, say, a WW barb in a pack of goons.
All this said, I do not oppose offline play. My enjoyment and purchase of the game, however, does not hinge on whether or not the game has an offline option.
This would be great. However, when you make a feature request, you are engaging in debate. Even if the debate is more abstract in nature, being against time or money constraints.
My opinion on this is pretty similar, despite my defense of Blizzard. It’s obnoxious to me (and has been with other games) that I can be banned from playing an online game I paid for. I despise being censored, let alone losing access to something I paid for because of my conduct online. But I’m a sub-par human being, and think people should be relatively free to be rude to one another.
They force online because they want to data mine you. Track spending habits, what time of day you play at, how many blizz-pals you have, your geographical location, the language you speak, etc etc etc. That information is gold. Almost literally. It gives them sooooo many datapoints.
They also need you to be a part of their ecosystem, so they can advertise their other products to you. These launchers are pure marketing because they force your attention on what is being sold. Oh look, there’s a new WoW expansion. And everyone on my friends list is playing it. Guess I better get it too.
Piracy plays a part, sure. But its a relatively small part. There’s a lot more at play here.
Every time I see someone jump up with the “theyre protecting us from pirates” drivel I laugh. How short-sighted can you get.
What you said plays a smaller part than you think, as well. Data collection is a core part of companies like Tencent’s business model, but they can get that in more subversive ways than always-on DRM. And do.
This, however, plays a huge role. I’d say up to 30% of the reason for always-on DRM is advertisement.
Protection from pirates is a notable part of the system, and not worth laughing at given how effective it’s been on that front. The largest reason for the model, however, is control. Of the game and of play. It allows Blizzard to hotfix things, which is a seriously massive driving factor for developers opting for always-online. This is just the pleasant side of things, however. Control also spreads to other things, but I’ll let your imagination run wild with the negative effects of constant control of an online game. There are examples out there of egregious misuse.
Great, so those folks have formed an online communitty about not being part of a community. See? They can have their solo experience after all.
Nah, because it’s still a lot easier to share an account across 100 friends using the same account and have all of them playing simultaneously if the game is offline available.
Even if your claim is true, only one person can be logged in at a time to the account, and are still online on Blizzard servers. Compared to 100 people playing simultaneously offline off of 10 keys (but lets get real, in offline world knly 1 key would be needed).
Nah, that’s not what I said in thst sentence at all. The implication is that they would have less people in their online environment, engaging in the community Blizzard interacts with. That that would cause the game to be a failure is what you are saying. I said it would fragment the player base. Don’t put words in my mouth.
Also, if you are arguing that fragmenting the player base would mean the game was a failure (quote 1) and then acknowledge that the playerbase would be fragmented (quote 2], then you are the one arguing mods = failed game.
Quote 1.
^ If the playerbase is fragmented, Blizzard will not receive as much attention or it will cause players to leave, both could cause the game to be considered a failure.
Quote 2
^ Fragmenting will happen no matter what, even if they don’t add mods, but definitely if they do
I still play Diablo 2 and there are are still tens of thousands of players playing at any given time on classic B Net. Perhaps Diablo 2 has kept itself alive on its own merits, and not because of mods.
Blizzard does, obviously.
Because then you have access to game data can potentially use this knowledge to hack or dupe items onlinem can pick and choose when you want to patch if you dont like a game update.
Theres already a 2k thread for this online mode garbage. We dont need another and we don’t need offline mode
No their community was already there. They just are not dealing with anyone outside of it but that is nothing new really. I have a feeling we will be able to make private servers. At least I hope so.
You seem to be stuck on this people all playing at the same time. You act like log in creds are not shared.
The way I see it is there is no harm in giving those that want an off line mode, off line. Will it fragment the community? No more then it already is. Will it allow pirates and mods. No more then can already be done (I spent the last 10 years reverse engineering programs and apps. Being online doesn’t protect you as much as you think it does). You can keep them separate easy enough. Now I have my own thoughts on “Why” It is online only but that is not the point.
This has been answered already and the reason was given.
Seems like a lot of people just don’t like the answer.
It is fun to watch some going round and round. Knowing that the out come will not change. 
Yes please. I have hated the online-only decision since day one. Lag death while playing hardcore solo is the stupidest thing in the world.
Internet Connection Required to Play
We are not going to SUPPORT an OFFLINE MODE
Case Closed
Then you wont play D4 and I will. Thats their OFFICIAL responcse and have not said they are open to feedback on this topic like they have others.
A lot of people think that that’s a stupid decision and we aren’t going to stop voicing our opinion just because Blizzard said so.
Then why does it matter if its ONLINE ONLY. Why bother arguing for something that will fundamentally flaw the game if you are going to play wether it has it or not
Nah, let’s be real here. Case not closed.
Because it wont do that?
D4 is already going the direction of modern ARPG to be MMOs with massive worlds. What you are asking for is an out dated mechanic that no longer adds any value