The sadness of it all....Diablo 3 launched, but not what you may have wished for.

[Michael Slaunwhite]

i see,so you gotta pay real money for wizardy ingame crap?
i'll stick with sp games i think! cheers

Just another money grab by Blizzard. Imagine, having your customer pay 60 plus dollars to just play a game, then have to spend more for crap, and have it stolen by insecure servers. My goodness what a scam...

Sad part they are blaming the player for the hacking of their account (in some cases justified), and they are saying to download the safe, and secure authenticator which should be in he bloody game in the first place... My blood is boiling over this seeing how good people are being taken.

Oh one more thing, accounts are still being hacked even after using the authenticator. Some are claiming the problem is due to SQL injection issue.

As they say, "you get what you pay for", and in this case you are paying to be scre$@ed.

I'm with you redcoat... SP all the way!

[redcoat]

well,i tried wow on a friends account and lasted about 15 minutes of killing small animals before i lost the will to live.
guild wars was a little better but getting mates of mine into co-op was a nightmare what with real life and kids interfering.
and i was appalled at the racism i saw at some of the places where all the players gather,and from the sound of them they were all kids!
if i hear anyone useing language like that in the clubs i work at,the perpetrators are made to exit at high speed.
so yep,sp i think! cheers

[Michael Slaunwhite]

well,i tried wow on a friends account and lasted about 15 minutes of killing small animals before i lost the will to live.
guild wars was a little better but getting mates of mine into co-op was a nightmare what with real life and kids interfering.
and i was appalled at the racism i saw at some of the places where all the players gather,and from the sound of them they were all kids!
if i hear anyone useing language like that in the clubs i work at,the perpetrators are made to exit at high speed.
so yep,sp i think! cheers

Yeah, I ran into a few of those folks myself (racists, etc) which pretty much made me stick to myself, or play MP with a very close nit group of people. The only games I really played Mp was Silent Hunter 2, Destroyer Command, Day of Defeat 1.0 (not source, I don't have it), and sometimes, not often SOW.

I know where your coming from redcoat. SP for me as well.

Cheers.

[Michael Slaunwhite]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XemMKqia-nU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... iQoOMJ9n8k

[redcoat]

im..well gobsmacked!
so thats what gameplay is like? did you ever play titan quest?
i thought this game was supposed to be something special!

and now i hear blizzard are going to charge one dollar for every item bought and sold on their auction thingy. im well out of that game. cheers

[Michael Slaunwhite]

im..well gobsmacked!
so thats what gameplay is like? did you ever play titan quest?
i thought this game was supposed to be something special!

and now I hear blizzard are going to charge one dollar for every item bought and sold on their auction thingy. im well out of that game. cheers

Hi redcoat.

Yep I have played Titan Quest, and it's not bad. Mind you I didn't quite like the Athenian theme but it's still a hack & slash which I have a weakness for.

Earlier I had the opportunity to play the beta weekend for Torchlight 2, and in my opinion only, I think it's far better than Diablo 3. The gameplay is simply outstanding, and I sat there plugging away, and I still wasn't able to do all the quests. Torchlight 2 to will be selling for around 25 bucks US which has FULL offline Single Player, FULL Multiplayer where you can join on it's game server, or create your own for you, and friends to take part in, and one of the best parts is you will be able to mod this game like you were able to do with their first Torchlight which of course you will never be able to do with Diablo 3. Of course if you like Diablo 3, and love being online I am sure for a few extra dollars (30 or so dollars) you can purchase their DLC's as they come along.

The graphics in Torchlight 2 have been raised up a notch, the game mechanics are very smooth, and the system specs are very forgiving (not like Diablo 3 believe me) it's not so cartoonish as the first Torchlight (that part bothered me a bit, but still a great game), and they really have gone all out or this one... It's simply amazing to play, and Torchlight 2 is definitely a game I suggest anyone who likes hack & slash to buy it, I know I am when it comes out.

I know you can pre-order your copy but that is something I don't do since I purchased my copy of Civ 4 at Christmas time (my gift to myself), and take 2 really messed that one up since it was unplayable which forced them to release a patch right after their release date (typical bullshite on how the suits push games to be released before they should), and now I do not buy anything until a few months after game release.

There is something that is really bothering me here with Diablo 3 (outside of the obvious), and that is telling people to open their wallets to purchase the Authenticator (dongle) which I think Blizzard should not be asking anyone to do but hey why not it's Blizzard, and any hacking going on is being blamed on the customer for these breeches in security (it's Blizzards server which is being compromised), and then telling the customer to purchase the Authenticator which leads me to think here that Blizzard all along knew of these weakness's simply to advance one step further into convincing you to purchase an authenticator which will look after their own lack of effort to plug any server holes, and get more money out of you. What better way to get people to comply with something then to have them run in fear because you don't want your online identity to be stolen, and lose all that effort you put into your character. To me you are only stepping deeper into the a hole which will allow Blizzard to control you more, and believe it or not, other companies will follow Blizzard.

Conspiracy? I won't even go there, and personally I couldn't care less one way or the other, I only care about is the outcome, and it looks like that is what Blizzard was pushing from the beginning. Also if you do not have the authenticator, you will not be able to take part in the ebay style option of the game when they do finally have it up, and running... Hmmm smells doesn't it?

Also one more thing to take note on, if someone does hack your account you are only allowed 2 rollbacks for the entire year, after that your crap out of luck. My only suggestion to you to safe guard your account is to do three things...

#1: DO NOT use the Public Lobby option. This option allows others to play with you which opens you up to be hacked. These guys use sniffers, so don't use the public lobby.

#2: Always save. How do you save? Logoff several times throughout your game play, this saves your game on Blizzards servers... Pain in the arse? Definitely but if you ever require to have to do a rollback, at least you will not have to start off at level 10 when you were at level 50.

#3: Change your account password on a regular basis (if not using the authenticator), at least once a week, and buy the Authenticator.

Again, once more, DO NOT go to the public lobby unless you are indeed using the authenticator. Now with that said there are some reports that even using the authenticator accounts are still being hacked, but I don't think those reports are legitimate since the authenticator changes it's authentication code every 30 seconds or so, pretty dam hard to sniff that puppy.

Oh well, I found this simply mind blowing watching people allow themselves to be so completely controlled by a company this ruthless in it's business practices all because they want their next fix.... Amazing.

If you ever wished to see what the year 1984 (Orwellian protocol) would have looked like, well you don't have to look all that hard, just look at Blizzard... because we are already there guys!

As time goes on, I can only see Blizzard asking you for more money to help them stabilize these issues when it should be done on their end only without costing you one red cent extra. I mean come on, don't you think you have done enough already by buying this game?

[redcoat]

agree with you all the way,i know rip off when i smell it.
still,there are mugs enough out there who will throw money at blizzard no matter what crap they're peddleing so i reckon you get the game and game company you deserve!

its a great shame though,greed is making gaming a less atractive proposition for a lot of people.
im thankfull that there are still people like norb and his team around who i would class as 'old school'.
its the likes of them that keeps me gaming. cheers

[Michael Slaunwhite]

agree with you all the way,i know rip off when i smell it.
still,there are mugs enough out there who will throw money at blizzard no matter what crap they're peddleing so i reckon you get the game and game company you deserve!

its a great shame though,greed is making gaming a less atractive proposition for a lot of people.
im thankfull that there are still people like norb and his team around who i would class as 'old school'.
its the likes of them that keeps me gaming. cheers

redcoat you are totally correct. It is a very sad thing to see. people are so willing to give up their personal rights as a consumer to play a simple game (not a good one at that, but I have no room complain because I own allot of games that are just pure crap).

Your right it does smell, and people will support Blizzard all the way no matter what they do. hell these people would even let the blizzard police visit their home to see if they have legit copies if it ever came to that, and they would be proud to let them do that...

I KNOW, way too far Haaaa...

[Michael Slaunwhite]

Oh my what the heck is going on here. lawsuits against Blizzard are mounting like you wouldn't believe, people's online posts are being deleted by Blizzard to keep the lawsuit chatter down, even to the point that Blizzard is banning online accounts (forum) because of such postings on their forum.

What is going here? I do know that gamers can be a fickle bunch, but when they feel like they have been wronged, and wronged on a scale such as this gamers will group in large numbers to strike back which is what is happening now with the way Blizzard is handling this problem I didn't think they themselves expected to face with this Single Player online DRM of theirs.

Blizzard could have bypassed all of this in the first place if they allowed for offline single player. So far Blizzard servers are down constantly leaving those who want to play the game out of luck as far as experiencing, and enjoy the Single Player aspect of the game. Sure, keep the SP, and MP seperate as it always has been, it's always worked, but Blizzard, and other companies have become so greedy, and so vicious in their way of doing business that they have stepped away from who, and what they are in business for.... it's for the gamer. Unfortunately they have decided like so many other companies to screw their reason for being in business, and please the stock holders, the real money grubbers, or who I like to call the SUITS.

Blizzard can still placate the gamers by releasing a patch that will allow for offline single player, and leave the MP to MP.

Will Blizzard do this? Highly unlikely because these type of people never learn, all they see is money, and nothing else. So will Blizzard be taken to Court, and Sued? Yes, and maybe NO. Sure the proper authorities will most likely look into, and investigate, but in the end Blizzard will win simply because they have far more resources than the Governments have. Payoffs are normal business practices between the Corporations, and the Government officials who make the laws. It has always been that, and always will be. If a strong Corporation is being harassed by lawsuits, then they head straight to the government officials to create a new law so that they cannot be sued... take a look how Macdonald's handled their lawsuits... they were being sued by many people, MacDonald's (food) sent out their lobbyists, and lawyers, and had a law enacted that stopped all further lawsuits against them no matter or reason for a lawsuit.

Blizzard can stop all of this nonsense before it goes any further, but they won't.

Anyway I thought I would post this because this is just simply getting out of hand on how Blizzard is just screwing their fan base, and eventfully will hurt them in the long run, but then again gamers tend to have short memories for the most part, and Blizzard may cry a couple of crocdile tears, say they are sadden by this, and they are working even harder to fix the problems, and working tirelessly to give you a batter gaming experience. All the while they are laughing their arses off at how fickle we as gamers can really be.

This is one thing I do know, and many, and I mean many gaming companies are watching this very closely because if Blizzard gets away with this, and new laws are put in place to no longer allow companies to be held responsible, you know that the other gaming companies will follow making it impossible for any of us to enjoy a good game any more. Even indie companies are jumping on board thinking they can save themselves money by adopting this type of DRM. It's all about money, and nothing else.

Programmers out their use to create games not to only make money, but made a product because they loved games, and wanted to give other people who were like them an experience they wouldn't forget. Money was a secondary driving force behind them making the games in the first place.

This is a really sad going on, and we gave our future as gamers away by buying these sort of DRM games.

I am part of this problem because I have bought games like this, and I am sad to say I'm to blame for part of the problem because I wanted to get my next fix in.

http://www.justd3.com/not-everyone-is-h ... zzard.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/ ... ops-where/

Oh well, I have to stick with text games I guess (highly unlikely).

[redcoat]

thing is the games companys put it out that this drm is to stop piracy,whereas we all know it doesnt and never will.
seems to me its actually there to kill off the second hand games market.
case in point is assassins creed 2 which i quite fancied a go at when it came out untill i found out about the always on internet drm which meant i didnt buy it.i also didnt pirate it as;
1.ive no idea how!
2.i still belive games devs deserve their money.

since then ubisoft have quietly patched out the ridiculous drm,i then bought the games for a fraction of their release cost,which i would have quite happily paid full price for in the first place!

i seem to recall the music industry went all greedy a good few years ago which meant the paying customer then said 'stuff you then,i'll d'l the music illegally'
all this crap from blizzard and ubisoft and their ilk is plain and simple greed,i think.

and when the pirates can provide a simpler,more stable version of the legal game with no hoops to jump through just to play, which they can! seems to me the games companys are about to let fly a volly into their own feet. cheers