Only sometimes? I can't bring myself to buy those games anymore. It's not some lost technology to make a video game work without an internet connection.
Since the Steam Deck I've been prioritizing games that don't require high frequency of online check backs. Or I guess I could use cracks, but I don't want to have to do that.
I could understand forced online for ladder ranking I guess? But that should be opt in. I could understand seamless online/offline since they’re trying to make it seem more like an MMO. But kicking people off or getting hardcore characters killed because your servers go down is something I thought they already learned and yet lol. Nope.
This is most of the reason why I haven’t bought D4. (Well, that and I got burned real hard by D3 midnight release.) I liked single player games BECAUSE they didn’t require internet access.
If people felt they can't really escape an essential product from a shitty company because of cost, or even convenience, I'd understand.
Warning: angry rant.
But this is a video game. Playing video games is my primary hobby. I do it a lot. It's how I spend quality time with my long-distance partner as well. But it is not essential to my life. We actually have a very viable option of not buying a product from a company helmed by evil, shitty people. It should've been more clear-cut.
Ultimately, my disappointment over this runs pretty deep. I will never respect Blizzard as a company. Honestly, I had hoped that MS acquiring them would mean breaking them up and scattering the resources to different departments. The fact that I think MS is the better of the two probably says a lot about my disdain for Blizzard at this point.
Not to mention the kowtowing to China and the countless other controversies. Same thing with Riot Games with their sexual harassment settlement and 100% being owned by Tencent (a company that operates a mass-surveillance network against ethnic minorities). So funny how everyone forgets about these things when a company releases a product they like.
And then WoW still got kicked out of China. GG Blizzard, GG. God damn Bobby Kotick is a horrible, horrible person. Thinking about dating Bobby Kotick? Don't.
It's not that they "forget about it" they just don't care. People want to enjoy things.
If you were to stay on the high horse and stop consuming products and services made by companies with track records like Actiblizzard, you'd probably end living off the grid in a cave
This is capitalism at its finest. I do not have time to care about the people who made this. I do not want to care about them. I am too overworked to have time to find another hobby. I just want to escape by any means necessary with others before I must return to the grind. I understand this feeling completely and don't fault you.
People are generally pretty keen on being on their high horses when it comes to philosophical questions about which company is "good" and how no one should play their games ever because of previous mis-steps
It's pretty unrealistic to expect the vast majority of people who just want to play games with their friends to not play them because of ideological reasons.
Couldn't happen to a better company. That fact that people still spend money at this company boggles the fucking mind.
EDIT: A lot of these defenses of using it because a lot of people don't care is pretty rich and ironic coming from a bunch of people who left reddit for ideological reasons.
Yeah despite the decent reviews, the always online requirement, plus the fact it is not on Steam, so playing it on Steam Deck will be a pain, mean its a no from me.
Guess I'm not missing much by the looks of things lol
Looked at it yesterday on ps5. Yeah, nah.. Way too expensive and shouldn't come in 3 different versions.
Blizzard doesn't need the money.. I'll wait until the top version is half the price. The fun with Diablo was playing with mates, and for that price, I don't expect my mates to pay that much either
DRM is not a protection. It is a killswitch. Even MMOs can theoretically be DRM-free. So this situation just lays the DRM issue bare. points to GOG, Itchio, ZP, and so on