Diablo 3 dev on lack of offline mode: “the game’s not really being played right if it’s not online”

PC Gamer meet up with Diablo 3 game director, Jay Wilson at Gamescom to discuss Diablo 3′s always-online requirement. Wilson talks about the philosophical and practical reasons behind the decision not to include any sort of offline mode.

“There’s two basic problems with us doing that,” said Wilson. “One is players default immediately to that. So, they basically unintentionally opt out of all the cooperative experience, all the trading experience, and the core of Diablo is a circle-trading game. So for us we’ve always viewed it as an online game – the game’s not really being played right if it’s not online, so when we have that specific question of why are we allowing it? Because that’s the best experience, why would you want it any other way?”

[fluffydelusions]

So if they are making a console version as they've hinted at will it be required to be always online also?

[Tuxmask55]

Funny -- the best play experience I've had with both Diablo 1 & 2 was the offline experience.

[vortis]

Freaking money-grabbing, greedy, milk-minded sons of whores.

Why didn't they just make it an MMO if it's always online and always multiplayer and then this way they won't have to include DRM and can bypass retail purchases altogether?

Oh...right...they're freaking money-grabbing, greedy, milk-minded sons of whores.

[Ares84]

So this is what gaming has come to....

[Cpt_kitten]

so since when did right and wrong while playing games ever count?

assassin's creed brotherhoods online was awesome for about a week now everyone just runs around like there on fire, thats not playing the game right

call of duty everyone cheats or uses cheap tactics instead of trying to coordinate with there team, that's not playing the game right

so why alienate people who can't afford or get internet and not let them play your game, a game that there fans of? that's not developing right but do you care.....not at all

[NovusTerminus]

So... If I play offline I am doing it wrong?

Yeah, whatever. I hate online games on average, just a bunch of elitist fools.

I'll skip this game if it has no offline.

[NYC_Gamer]

now they wanna force people to be connected online just to play sp mode

[Lord_Sloth]

Fuck off, Diablo! I never got rid of my copy of Champions: Return to arms!!!

[GTRrocker]

Fucking online gaming strikes again. I want a good single player experience damn it.

[JOHN_DOH]

The game kinda was made to play online. A lot of the skills from d2 like the barbarian shouts, paladin auras, were support skills and the game was more fun with groups. Plus you can pk

[madjedi]

Funny so i guess if bethesda required you to be online to play the newest fallout wrpg and said jump, would gladly answer how high.

It's a bullshit requirement plain and simple for an offline capable game, it's not wow or a game that should require an online connection UNLESS you are playing the online portion.

Stop trying to spin it or defend it, because both attempts are irrelevant for the single player portion of the game.

[JOHN_DOH]

LOL I ain't trying to defend it. I just gave my opinion. The game is gets crazy when you have a full 8 player game.

[Awesome-Xanto]

Just because a developer may want a game to be played online, doesn't mean that consumers "want" to play it online. The fact is you can have just of a good experience playing Diablo online or offline,... without some developer trying to force you to play a game how they think you should play it, so it doesn't matter at all what said developer wants.

Games are meant to be fun, since when did that include having to play online or being connected with others?

That is the entire problem with this generation, developers forcing consumers to play how they think they should play, rather than leaving it up to the consumer.

No offline, no buy... its as simple as that!

[mobijoker]

Isn't it just like Assassin's Creed 2?.....there should be a offline fix when it is released like AC2....bcoz no matter how high the wall you build,its always possible to build a ladder higher than that...

[hazelamy]

two words
BULL and SHIT.

there's a big difference between a game being best online and not letting people play the game if they can't connect.
what about when my isp goes down?
what about when their servers go down?

and there are people living in places where they can't get a stable high speed internet connection, so fuck them right?
that's the actiblizz way now isn't it?

this will be pirated to hell and they'll have nobody to blame but themselves.

[madjedi]

Oh didn't you know, servers never go down and everyones connection is always constant and the entire world has cheap very high speed broadband access/s.

Well at least that what these dumbasses believe apparently.

Wtf ever happened to the gamer deciding what the right way to play is?

If there is a "right way to play", the why is the different classes and multiple weapons, just make 1 type of melee weapon, 1 ranged and 1 very powerful non elemental spell. And your done no need for other weapons/spell or character classes.

I know it's hard for some developers to understand, but not all of us are going to jump off a bridge if the fucking internet goes down for a while.

I can't condemn anyone who pirates this damn game, your privliges are revoked before your even convicted, why should anyone support a dev that treats them like a criminal.

So it's really that damn hard to enable a offline mode, well looks like blizzard sold it's soul to bobby kotick plain and simple, started with starcraft 2 and now it's official.

[chrisgay]

Torchlight 2