Blizzard's VP of Online Technologies, Robert Bridenbecker, explains why he believes Diablo 3 will benefit from requiring a constant internet connection to play. Branden Barrett of GamerGaia seems to agree with him.
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All I want is a physical disc release of remastered D2 that doesn't require online check-ins.
I've lost complete interest. Too much FOMO with seasons as it is, now it's expansions? No thanks.
what fomo? everything gets reset each season and you start new characters unless you're playing on the regular servers and then you're already maxxed anway and just need to participate in the new season stuff.
i played only during launch and i found the ones in that battlepass to be absolute dogwater, the only ones that looked somewhat cool were the paid ones in the store and i wont bother with either. The game itself was just so hollow, there were no cool builds cause every synergy was just "x or y skills does more dmg or has this extra effect" almost no experimentation needed, couldnt give a rats ass about armor if the core of the game is boring af.
The modern PC gamer is so internet-dependant that I can't see this being a super-huge issue for most fans. With gaming stores only having one tiny PC section these days, we purchase and play a good number of games online anyway.
For the record, I don't necessarily agree entirely with Branden on this. It doesn't especially bother me that Diablo 3 will require an always on connection, as this was true of StarCraft 2 and never gave me any trouble, but I don't think it's as 100% positive as it might seem. For example, a dungeon crawler like Diablo is perfect for brief periods of play while travelling, or even taking on a plane to while away the time.
What's even more striking is that this comes hot on the heels of the "real money auction house" announcement by Blizzard - it seems as if the always online requirement probably has more to do with protecting the marketplace of Diablo 3 than in improving anything gameplay related. While this is absolutely not a bad idea (in fact, with that marketplace in the game, an always online requirement is almost necessary by default), it does make me wonder whether a little too much is being sacrificed for the sake of a feature is itself still not certain to be a positive addition.