A few words about Diablo III and DRM

With all the bitching about Diablo 3 always needing to be online going on, I figured it was time to clear the air and speak up on it myself… and I do not think the haters are going to like what I have to say.

FIrst and formost, for the love of GOD stop calling the always online nature of the game DRM. It is not. It is simply a game design choice. The difference is that the game functions on the server side much like an MMO does rather then arbitrarily requiring you to be logged in for no reason other then to get you logged in. You want to fight that monster? The server is running it. Want to go in that door? The server tells your client what is where. Want to get your character? Guess where they reside. This is no more DRM then an MMO or OnLIVE… and this game is about as close to an MMO in nature due to it as several past Phantasy Star titles… or Guild Wars.

And while we are at it, yes, this DOES make Blizzard much better then Ubisoft. Ubisoft’s titles are all run client-side, which means the server contact is completely outside of the game functionality in any way, shape or form. The server does not do ANYTHING FOR YOU. And in case you forgot how they behave in general, this is also the company that for good measure give you limited installs on top of that WITH installs being lost if you so much as change a driver for your video card. Compared to that, Blizzard has released a title that lets you install as many copies in as many places as you like all at once.

Now that all that is out of the way, people are beginning to dear that Diablo 3 selling like COD is going to make this the new standard. I have to again say bullshit. Not every game company can afford to run servers like this for every game, and fewer will find such a thing worth their time. So again, stop worrying or running around screaming how much you hate Blizzard for cursing us all.

And to everyone who is going to call me a fanboi of Blizzard for saying this… think about it… this is their only franchise I actually cared about…. pretty much ever.

Ok, done ranting on that topic… next time, I think it will be time for console gamers to get rid of their Diablo hate…. at least as long as it lasts. Im sorry, but there is a serious issue in the mind of a gamer who quits a game, says it sucks because characters are balanced wrong and they are done playing… oh but they’ll buy it again and love it on another platform. Enough to earn it’s own rant once witnessed.