There is no "offline" mode

Technical Support
1

So, Im about to rant, and Im sure that I will get in trouble because of this, but oh well. Can someone explain why in the **** offline mode requires you to connect to the servers to play? My internet is miserably bad. To get onto this page took me almost a half hour of crap loading. All that I wanted to do was play a little custom games vs AI and vent off some frustration, but I cant connect to the servers because my connection is terrible. Yea, I know I can’t. Hey look, an offline mode button. Oh hey, a message saying I HAVE TO CONNECT TO THE SERVERS TO PLAY IN OFFLINE MODE?! Who’s idea was this? Whos the idiot that should have been fired for this?

I’m a novice game programmer, I’ve got a bachelors degree but no work experience, but you don’t need 10 years experience in the field to know that you DONT promise an offline mode that REQUIRES you to connect to the server. It’s this simple Blizzard: you either have an OFFLINE mode, or you don’t, and if you don’t, don’t pretend you do.

In the time of writing this, I did manage to get onto the servers, but can’t play a custom game vs AI because I dont have a strong enough connection I guess, because it totally makes sense to require a good connection to play 1v1 against purely AI. Hey look, there’s also a training mode, that I can’t access, because playing solo requires a connection. Oh but there’s an “offline” mode.

When doing research for this topic, I found this post, made by Blizzard. Offline Mode in Blizzard Games - Blizzard Support Here’s the problem, when I follow the steps and press the little cog options button, there is NO offline mode option. And yes, I’ve logged in within the last 30 days, because in the time of writing this, I’ve logged in 2 more times, and am sitting in a lobby right now as my internet STRUGGLES to do anything.

So my conclusion to all of this is that either a) Blizzard is incompetent and can’t figure out how to create an offline mode, or b) they’re incompetent and can’t write directions on how to play in offline mode.

3 Likes
2

Hey Spectre,

I’m not a Starcraft II developer but I can provide some advice that has helped other players in the past who have had slow or unstable internet connections and wanted to play offline mode.

  1. Close Starcraft II and the Battle.net app completely
  2. Right-click on the network icon in the system tray and select Open Network & Internet Settings
  3. Click Change Adapter Options
  4. Find your ethernet or wifi adapter, right-click it and select Disable
  5. Launch the Battle.net app again and continue offline, then launch Starcraft II and it should put you into offline mode properly.

If you have an active internet connection, even if that connection is spotty or slow, Starcraft II will try to use it and connect. So by disabling the network adapter before playing that will let you play offline for 30 days from the last time you’ve connected online.

For the steps in the support article, this will only show up if you log out of the Battle.net app, then click the cog wheel icon and select “continue without logging in”.

Hopefully that at least lets you play. Apologies for the frustration with trying to get offline to work.

2 Likes
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I thank you for answering, and I suppose I can go through the extra steps to do that, but doesn’t that feel at least a little bit unnecessary? Like this feels like a Blizzard employed customer support specialist is telling me some secret back-alleyway to get into the game in offline mode. It feels like we’re meeting in a back alley and you’re explaining how to get into the game in offline mode before the Blizzard police catch us.

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It’s nothing like that.

Because SC2 is intended to be an online game, it’s the absence of an internet connection that prompts it to launch offline.

It’s the only modern game where Bliz still allows offline play.

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Then please explain why, when the game is trying to connect, there’s a button for offline mode, when it literally just doesnt do anything and you have to jump through hoops to play offline? If Blizzard wants to make this game online only, for whatever reason, they can, but don’t bull**** with this “offline” mode.

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I’m not sure what you’re referring to, Spectre. When the game is launched with a patent internet connection, there isn’t an offline mode button.

When it’s launched without an internet connection there is an offline button, and it functions properly for me. I used it last night due to terrible hotel internet.

7

If I try to launch the game right now, it’ll sit at the authentication screen for a few minutes, then offer for me to go into offline mode. When I click the offline mode button, it says I have to connect and authenticate to play.

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You need to successfully connect and authenticate once every 30 days to use the offline mode.

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I stated in the first post that, while writing this whole thing up, I did get onto the servers and into the game (though my connection wasnt strong enough to be allowed to play anything), but it still says I need to authenticate to play offline.

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That sounds like you’re running into a bug that’s been around for a long time. Since it’s been so long, I’m doing my best to recall the workaround that people used to use to get past it. (Also, I’m not at home atm to review the steps, so this 100% from memory.)

Try this.

  • While connected to the internet, log into your main region
  • Once in the game, open the game menu
  • Using the small button (a planet, I think) in the upper right of the menu window, change to a different region and allow the game to login into the new region. (If you’ve never logged into the new region, you’ll be prompted to pick a name. Do so to complete the login process)
  • Once in, repeat the process to go back to your main region.
  • Once in, quit out of the game completely
  • Then try the offline login
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