Problems with Online Gaming

[Randomizer]

From Jeff's blog on the problem with not being able to play Diablo III because of problems with service connection:

 

Originally Posted By: Jeff Vogel

Oh well. I guess I'll spend time with my family instead. Sigh. If I wanted to spend more time with my family, you think I would have bought Diablo III?

[Aran]

There was once a time when you bought a non-MMO computer game, installed it on your computer, and played it. It didn't even touch your internet connection. Except when it was multiplayer. Then one of your friends started a hosted game and the rest of you joined it, and you didn't give a crap about any company's server. I just thought it important to keep that memory alive for future generations.

 

It's been a while since I've bought any game that wasn't by Spiderweb or Mojang. If more people felt like me, then companies would soon find that their anti-piracy measures actually hurt sales instead of increasing them.

[Rowen]

The main selling point to me on any game is the lack of having to be connected to the internet to be able to play it. After having seen how the SWTOR launch went and the massive player rush on that game that made it unplayable for the first 3 days after launch, I figured that a single player game from Blizzard that makes you be connected to their servers to play would be worse. Will I ever play D3? Only if it goes off line.

[ĐªгŦĦ Єяŋϊε]

rowen didn't get starcraft 2 either, then.

[nikki.]

I don't play online multiplayer games either, but I don't think I'd go as far as Rowen and actively avoid single-player games that require an Internet connection.

 

On the other hand, it is somewhat ridiculous to think that if I bought the game tomorrow, I might not be able to play it in the limited time I can spend playing computer games due to server issues. I probably won't play Diablo 3 anyway, since I've never played the first two, and never felt a pressing need to do so, but this kind of thing is certainly not helping entice me into the franchise.

[adc.]

Originally Posted By: Ephesos

I probably won't play Diablo 3 anyway, since I've never played the first two, and never felt a pressing need to do so, but this kind of thing is certainly not helping entice me into the franchise.

Same thing. Just the same. The internet is simply blabbering about Diablo III. Yeah, and 20%-60% of most severs contain haxors.
-------------
This is what I feel...

[Enraged Slith]

Video games are more of a service these days than a product. It used to be that when you bought a game, you owned it. By extension, you could then do anything you wanted with that game short of reproducing it and selling it like your own original property. This freedom has become scarce with major titles.

 

It's a pity, really, since a lot of great games have come from modding.

[Tracer Bullet]

DotA?

[Student of Trinity]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it pretty hard to make a game mod-able? You need to create some kind of user-friendly interface that lets ordinary individual schlepps do a lot of the things in a few hours that entire teams of trained professional designers take months to do. It's not just a matter of letting players change things. You've got to do a lot to enable them to change things. Don't you?

 

If that's true, then the economics of modability must be iffy. You need to have enough extra purchases to justify the extra work you put into making the game mod-able. Now, if you can sucker a lot of talented people into generating cool new content for your game for free, so that lots more people pay you for it, then that's clearly a winning proposition. But if all you get are a few kind-of-okay good things from users, plus a lot of boring crap, then you would surely have been better off getting your in-house professional designers to build a few more levels in the original game, rather than investing time in the mod engine.

[MMXPERT-seraph of thermodynamics]

I don't play Diablo.

 

Anyway what is onlne gaming?

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: MMXPERT

Anyway what is onlne gaming?

It's just what it sounds like: when you play a game over the internet.

[MMXPERT-seraph of thermodynamics]

that would be online gaming.

 

but what is onlne gaming?

[adc.]

Lol. Srsly.

Either it is a typo or it has an actual meaning

[Andraste]

The servers have been down for like 4 hours since release, most of that on Tuesday. Its the auction house that's been iffy.

 

Speaking of he auction house, is being online to play a single player game annoying? Yeah. Do the benefits of making it really hard to dupe items for the real money AH outweigh that? Probably.

 

And it's super fun.

[MMXPERT-seraph of thermodynamics]

he auction house?

[Tyranicus]

Originally Posted By: Andraste

The servers have been down for like 4 hours since release, most of that on Tuesday. Its the auction house that's been iffy.

Speaking of he auction house, is being online to play a single player game annoying? Yeah. Do the benefits of making it really hard to dupe items for the real money AH outweigh that? Probably.

And it's super fun.

Agreed. I haven't had a server issue after Tuesday, and the game is a lot of fun to play.

[Rowen]

SC2 is different from Diablo3, I don't need to connect to servers to play that in single player, and when I want to play with others I just log on.

 

I find online gaming to be separate from multiplayer but it might be due to how I used it. My friends and I would have our modems call each others modems and play right over the phone lines.

 

I see online gaming as anything that needs you to have a internet connection to be able to play. Biggest examples of online gaming are mmo's, but also include having to be connected to Steam (by being online) to play a game.

[Tyranicus]

Originally Posted By: Rowen don't got no Diablo III

I see online gaming as anything that needs you to have a internet connection to be able to play. Biggest examples of online gaming are mmo's, but also include having to be connected to Steam (by being online) to play a game.

Steam supports offline mode and allows you to play games when there is no internet connection.

[Alorael at Large]

I think I'd enjoy Diablo 3. I certainly enjoyed its predecessors. But I've got a problem: I have a fast internet connection. The amount of downtime is a little frustrating, but it will work fine for weeks at a stretch. It also tends to disconnect for a few seconds every 30-60 minutes. That means that I really just have to save my money, because I won't be able to play. Which is a shame, but I'll just hold out for Torchlight II.

 

As far as modding goes, I think often it doesn't make economic sense. When it does make sense is when either the tools released are the in-house versions that are highly user unfriendly but powerful in their ugliness. Most people won't be able to do anything with them, but a large enough and enthusiastic enough community will manage. Many other companies, however, don't so much try to enable modding as not disable it; the Infinity Engine games are the shining example, where all the modding tools themselves are products of third-party reverse engineering.

 

—Alorael, who thinks the best model is probably Spiderweb's. There's not really a deliberate attempt at mod-friendliness, but it's not really extra work to put scripts in accessible files. And it might be easier for a company to make easy to use tools for development that can be released and become easy to use tools for modding. Really, most moddable games are probably moddable on the scaffolding that allowed the game to be made in the first place. If the scaffolding isn't so amenable, they're not going to bother making tools to make it happen because of the BoA problem.

[A less presumptuous name.]

I haven't been here since the release of D3. I was busy most of the first day, so the down time didn't bother me too much. When I was playing (single player) earlier today, though, I had to stop because I kept getting bad server lag and dying. (Actual lag death, not ego-defense lag death).

 

So far I've only played single player because I'm still getting a feel for the game and I'd like to see how good the plot is. So far I've enjoyed it. The plot is a bit more fleshed out than D2, even if the game is the same linear hack'n'slash style.

 

I would prefer to be able to play fully offline, but my offline character can play online, which, in keeping with D2's closed BNet, requires that the character information be stored on the battlenet server.

[keira]

I don't really see the point of online gaming. We're at the point where AI is pretty good, and I think I'd rather play versus the computer with the AI cranked up, rather than versus a bunch of foul-mouthed preteens.

[Tyranicus]

Originally Posted By: Sylae

I don't really see the point of online gaming. We're at the point where AI is pretty good, and I think I'd rather play versus the computer with the AI cranked up, rather than versus a bunch of foul-mouthed preteens.

Diablo is co-operative online gaming. I personally enjoy playing it with my friends.

[nikki.]

Way to rub in your popularity, Tyran.

[Alorael at Large]

Online play also means you can have a player-driven economy. I'm not keen on D3's model of spending real-world money for virtual items, but I know that already existed as far back as D2, so at least Blizzard is providing some security and regulation around the service. But being able to trade the awesome stuff you find but can't use because it's for another type of character? That's nice.

 

—Alorael, who also enjoyed playing D2 with friends, and would probably enjoy playing D3 with friends if he could. AI is improving, but it still can't really share the glow of hard-fought victory yet.

[Dintiradan]

I miss LAN parties; there's something to be said for having everyone in one physical location. Heck, I miss head-to-head StarCraft with a parallel port connector.

[The Mystic]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

a parallel port connector.

Wow, that takes me back. Last time I used one of those was four computers ago. Do they even make anything that requires a parallel port anymore?

[Erebus the Black]

I see this as the same problem as with cloud computing, what's the sense of scattering my entire information (HD) across four continents and having no physical HD if an ISP is mandatory to reach my data?! So now I won't be able to get my data not only when my house is in a blackout but also when my ISP is in a blackout or a server overload or the 1000 other problems that an ISP is prone to and my home desktop isn't!

[Necris Omega]

While I'm pretty unforgiving for Blizzard's usual release day failings (You've had how many releases of this scale before and you STILL can't leave the gate without forgetting your pants? ...) I have to wonder if there's been any game of this nature to have a smooth release.

 

In any case, I have to side with Jeff - heck, Cracked did an entire article on what absolute nonsense D3's release was indicative of. After finding that, lo and behold, the game I bought was as playable as an NES cartridge smeared with peanut butter, I find I can't even go to my usual comedy sites to escape that fact.

 

Yes, D3 is an amazing game, yes I'm glad I bought it, and yes, any praise the game itself gets is truly well earned. But the problems showcased on it's opening day are also worthy of all criticism they garner. They had twelve years to go from "Ready", work out the details of "Set", and make "Go" anything that wasn't a colossal face plant. Yet, once again, the design is making checks the technology can't cash without absolutely ruining the game's first impression. It's indicative of a disturbing trend I'm glad Spiderweb Software stands against.

 

Really goes to show how evolution in gaming is a lot like evolution in general - Sometimes you're the monkey inventing the opposable thumbs up with new technology, graphics, ideas, and designs that would make your younger self fall to their knees weeping. Sadly sometimes you're the cavefish wondering why your children have no eyes, enslaving your customers to DRMs, internet connection shackles, and license agreements with enough legalize even Satan's team of lawyers'd be left scratching their heads.

[A less presumptuous name.]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

I miss LAN parties; there's something to be said for having everyone in one physical location. Heck, I miss head-to-head StarCraft with a parallel port connector.

Over the years, kids have kept a variety of games on the network at school. On the last day of classes for seniors, we all met up in the math/comp-sci lab and played LAN Halo. Well, they played and I got slaughtered when I tried, but that's besides the point.

[Alorael at Large]

I know a fair number of people who play games together in one room. Even if there's no LAN support, there's now enough wi-fi to make it feasible.

 

—Alorael, who knows from experience that for cooperative play, being in one room is still much more effective than various VoIP options. And while there's still no smack someone over the internet protocol, the old-fashioned, in-person version is as good as ever.

[keira]

back in my day when you played multiplayer you had to worry about them looking at your half of the screen.

[Enraged Slith]

Speaking of Diablo 3, I had a Best Buy gift card, so I just went out and purchased it. It came with three guest passes, so if anyone wants one just PM me.

[Trenton.]

I've heard so much about Diablo 3 >.> Is it really THAT good?

[Enraged Slith]

Originally Posted By: RoYaLlY Ponerific TrEnToN

I've heard so much about Diablo 3 >.> Is it really THAT good?

It's not amazing, but it's okay.

The gameplay is, in my opinion, the most involved and exciting in the series.

However, the loot is boring and the writing is atrocious. The atmosphere is also even further removed from Diablo 1 than Diablo 2 was.

[nikki.]

As somebody who has admitted (in this thread) that they've never played any Diablo games, is there anything there that I can't get elsewhere? I mean, I like playing video games, but the amount of time I have to do so (even during summer months) is limited. The writing and atmosphere are bad; what are some redeeming features in the opinions of people I give a damn about (rather than the "omg it's awesome!" reviews I've been reading)?

[Lilith]

diablo has always kind of been The Game Of Clicking On Things And Watching Them Explode Into Piles Of Loot. if that description appeals to you it will probably be your thing. if not, maybe not.

[Enraged Slith]

Imagine a streamlined roguelike with less variability and Michael Bay special effects. Your character comes equipped with a wide variety of demon-seeking murder missiles to make all the bad men pop like loot-filled piñatas.

[Alorael at Large]

If you're familiar with the Rogue-likes, especially Angband, the basic idea is similar. The plot is an excuse at best. What the game is really about is taking a character, going through random maps, killing random monsters, and getting random loot. If that's unfamiliar, it's often a lot more exciting than it sounds. Sometimes (not always) you'll need sound tactics and good use of skills to survive. What Diablo brings to the table is the ability to play cooperatively, trade the loot you find for loot you want, and a very smooth experience. And a plot, although it's not much of one. (Unlike standard Rogue-likes, dying is a slap on the wrist, not the end of your character!)

 

If this sounds interesting at all, try to get a D3 guest pass and play the demo. Or download the Torchlight demo; Torchlight is extremely heavily inspired by Diablo, and if you like its gameplay at all Diablo would be right up your alley. Or Torchlight, which is a lot cheaper.

 

—Alorael, who actually just started up a new Angband character yesterday. His ranger, Elweth III, has already made it down to dungeon level 50 (halfway there!). Much better than Elweth I and II, who oddly both died to Ethereal Drakes.

[nikki.]

I'm familiar with rogue-likes, and yes, I enjoy them. I guess the smoothness of the experience and being able to play cooperatively is all I'd get from it, but with the glut of recent(ish) games I've yet to get through, I'm not being entirely sold on D3 since I could probably just play Angband instead and do without £45 of fancy graphics.

 

That said, I might try and track down the first one (or second one) for cheap and give it a whirl.

[Andraste]

A++ on explosions. Would frost nova again.

There's lots of fun abilities, but it comes down to clicking on monsters and collecting loot. The dungeons are mostly randomly generated, and there is a perma-death option if you so choose, but eh, I don't get why people call it a roguelike. The story is predictable (like holy crap predictable) but the cinematics, world development, and voice acting are great.

 

If you like killing absurd numbers of monsters and collecting phat loot then you would enjoy D3.

[A less presumptuous name.]

Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith

The gameplay is, in my opinion, the most involved and exciting in the series.

However, the loot is boring...

I'm really enjoying the gameplay. Things are a good bit different than Diablo II, but I like many of the improvements. I've only just started Act III, Normal, so I still have a lot to see.

The loot really is boring. Normal items aren't worth picking up because their sell value is so low, and just about everything else gets sold or salvaged. I'm interested to see how the items specs go as I get into higher difficulties. So far they all seem rather mundane.


I really can't speak for atmosphere, since I've never been able to play Diablo I. I decided to try it a while ago, only to find that I no longer have a machine that supports Mac OS Classic, and I'm not running bootcamp -> win7 -> compatibility mode just to play it.

[Alorael at Large]

It's a Rogue-like because it's a dungeon crawler with random maps and random loot. It's a pretty direct descendant of the Moria/Angband lineage. That's most obvious in Diablo I, where just like Angband you start in a town and descend through levels until you defeat the boss at the bottom, but it's not as though the sequels, with their increasing complexity, lost that debt.

 

—Alorael, who would have absolutely considered Diablo a graphical Angband variant if it had permadeath by default. It would also have helped if it didn't have permanent levels, but Diablo II went a long way towards fixing that.