so, can I play with my friends if I just use the starter edition? 

http://kotaku.com/5910480/last-nights-diablo-iii-debacle-demonstrates-the-problem-with-always+online-games

I know I seem to be the only one here that won't play a single player game that requires constant online internet connection, but this article did make me smile. Looking forward to TL2 even more! :P 

Bear in mind that without the always online structure all those people would have been fiddling around installing ten discs (or whatever) and tapping in codes.

Being able to buy a game before its released is going to make people more inclined to piss and moan.

What games nowadays don't have technical issues at launch? If there's a 'call to arms' by the players then the publisher isn't going to care, because the people playing have already paid.

That Blizzard got it working so quickly gives them kudos.

This is an industry where a platoform can have massive security leaks of critical credit card data and not be outright ruined by it.

Game server being down for the first day doesn't even come close to an important, or even unexpected, event. 

I liken it to snow removal equipment around here. It snows badly maybe once every 2 years. The city basically shuts down for a day. But they never invest in better snow removal equipment because it's not worth the cost for a once every year or 2 event.

Same with launches. This will all blow over by next week and everyone will be happily playing Diablo without a care in the world. It's not worth buying more servers or whatever JUST to handle the launch. People bitch and moan, and then they don't. :) 

@ijed,willem I think you are missing the point I was trying to make, anyone who wants to play a SINGLE PLAYER game of D3 needs blizzard servers to play, this is not a product that can be played whenever you the player wants. This game works only if blizzard servers are working. I hope that this method does not become the standard way to let players interact with games. 

For Steam, but I've heard lots of people have trouble with it.

Sad to say, but always online is now the standard way for players to interact with games...

Not the way all games work, but even so. 

offline mode is awesome for me, it works really well on my laptop. I can download updates and play games I bought when I want. Luckily TL was on steam and fingers crossed TL2 will be the same. 

Pff, fuck Blizzard. You cannot even Coop with the person who gave you a starter edition guest pass. You can only play with other starter edition players. It is the same content like the open beta. </caring> 

...kind of starting to think I should be doing other things instead of playing.

Cleared the game once with my main char (barbarian, level 32) and have one alt at about level 10 or 11 (monk).

It's a lot of fun to play with friends and there seems to be a lot of content, but I can't imagine how long it will take to level up to 60. Also, I cleared it last night with friends, but it didn't unlock any new difficulty, and the last boss didn't really drop any good loot (WTFBBQ!?)

I noticed Scampie is playing a LOT ;) 

Will take more than a month 

Running thru the campaign single-player at the moment, but so up for some mp laters. 

I can't imagine how long it will take to level up to 60

I noticed Scampie is playing a LOT ;)

Only level 57 on my Barbarian that I've been playing Coop with a friend. On Act2 Hell.

My Monk that I play alone is only level 34 on Act2 Nightmare.

Protip for starting Hell: go to the Auction house. The gear you beat Nightmare with will not even get you past your first champion pack. The Auction House is a really good source of cheap gear that is WAY better than what you have laying around. 

yeah, I think you're fucked if you don't go in there to buy some stuff or just get really lucky with good loot. I was playing as barbarian with 2 other barbarians, so there wasn't so much item swapping going on as if we'd all been different classes. 

...time for inferno... 

kind of getting bored of it now. I just finished nightmare and am onto hell now.

Scampie, you are insane! :) 

Yeah I beat Diablo nightmare at lvl 49 just to discover I had to be 50 to enter hell, had to grind a whole level to get access to it, that kind of sucked.
I'm still entertained enough with it, even thought it feels the Auction House destroys alot of the fun of finding cool loot, as it's simpler to just buy it cheap on the auction house. 

http://higherorderfun.com/blog/2012/05/17/on-how-diablo-iii-fails-to-live-up-to-the-diablo-legacy/ vocalises some issues I have with diablo 3 too,ie story telling and perception of the avatar, nice read. 

... they simplified the gameplay?! 

but would it be that surprising? People are getting dumber and lazier. 

but would it be that surprising? People are getting dumber and lazier.

I would say a more correct interpretation is that games are selling to a wider audience which, taken as a _group_, is dumber and lazier. 

"Simplified" doesn't have to mean dumber. It can mean refined and streamlined, which I believe is what happened here. I don't hear a lot of complaining about Diablo 3, and I know some real fanatics. They all seem happy. 

it's just hard to imagine how much more it could be streamlined from D2. Refined, definitely. 

yeah that came off worse than it should have, have just got back form 2 days of bullshit corporate speak so was in a more sarcastic than usual mood. 

i'm entering inferno soonish as i'm 59lvl atm and enjoying the game so far. with difficulty progression it indeed forces to choose abilities more carefully, watch cooldowns and get proper gear. i like all that and do not understand whines that hell and inferno are super hard.

from the other side, i'd agree with what Bal said that AH kinda destroys hardcore part of the game as u can buy practically for nothing super items (if to farm AH for certain amount of time). from the other side, AH keeps people playing and not getting frustrated with not so lucky items stats and drops.

anyway, great game, with nice dynamics of gameplay and awesome replay/farming value ;) 

It's not GOTY 2012 or anything, but it's a nice game.
It's definitely a lot funner in Hell difficulty (haven't reached Inferno yet), I love coming across a group of elite monsters and getting completely destroyed, then coming back and figuring out how to take them out most effectively.

I agree that the mood of Diablo is completely lost though (it already was quite a bit in Diablo2 as well). They've replaced dark horror with silly Lord of the Ring epicness, but considering how atrocious the story of Starcraft 2 was, it's not a big surprise.