Diablo 3 digital purchase comes with 72-hour waiting period
Buying a new digital copy of Diablo 3 will now net you the "Starter Edition" for the first 72 hours, which restricts you to level 13 and ropes off features like the Auction Houses and Global Play.
Update: Blizzard has responded to us and said the post in their forums was partially incorrect, adding some new information. You can find their long reply here.
If you've waited to pick up Diablo 3 for your epic speed run, you'll have to wait a little longer. The recent 1.0.3 patch implements new restrictions on digital copies of the game, such as forcing new players to play only the "Starter Edition" for the first 72 hours.
A Blizzard forum post (via IGN) details the restrictions. It states that these are in place for the first 72 hours, though sometimes less.
- Act I up to the Skeleton King is available
- Level 13 cap
- Matchmaking available only with other Starter Edition players
- No Auction House access (Real Money or Gold)
- Global Play is not available. Players attempting to connect to Diablo III Starter Edition in a region other than their Battle.net Account's home region will receive Error 12. See the Global Play support article for more information.
A separate support page notes that 72 hour wait for "payment verification." Given this restriction wasn't in place before, it's a mystery why the change came about so suddenly.
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replySteve Watts posted a new article, Diablo 3 digital purchase comes with 72 hour waiting period.
Buying a new digital copy of Diablo 3 will now net you the "Starter Edition" for the first 72 hours, which restricts you to level 13 and ropes off features like the Auction Houses and Global Play.-
That'll teach you from buying directly from Blizzard.
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This must be some kind of experiment to see how much shit people can take.
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Maybe Blizzard are simply re-enacting the terrible launch they had but for new players to enjoy, the definitive Diablo 3 experience.
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So...What purpose does this restriction serve? (not a Diablo player myself)
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It's now necessary in the real world of things. Like any form of media it can be exploited if there is enough money to be made from putting the time and effort in to do so.
I really do hate the fact it has come to this, Blizz are clearly the fore runners for a lot of gaming trends and this one I can see becoming more wide-spread with the bigger release titles for PC. Rise of the demo.
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The more I read about D3 news and Blizzard, the more I feel fortunate that I decided to not purchase and play the game. They seem to be doing all the wrong things and forcing them to customers since SC2 and no way in hell I'm going to follow the always-online rule.
I would pretty much rather support indie kickstarter games (like Grim Dawn) where they still listen to what players want and none of the always-online BS, along with now this stupid 'Starter Edition' rule.
If Blizzard ever give us back offline (really offline) play, along with none of the RMAH BS, I will consider purchasing it. Pipe dream, I know, but otherwise, good bye, Blizzard.-
I'm in the same boat. For as much as I loved the previous titles, the headaches I see far outweigh the fun I would have.
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Just out of curiosity, how many games can you say you have played offline on PC?
People always make the argument against always online DRM but then again most, if not all, people are playing online all the time anyway. The only problem people had was that Diablo 3 servers weren't working and to be fair, even if the game played in an offline capacity, most people would still be complaining that the online still wasn't working.-
The majority of PC games I've played were offline. My biggest problem with it is the latency it introduces in-game when playing solo. At 100ms latency I've died because a skill didn't activate immediately after I pressed it. I would hate to be playing hardcore with those kinds of problems.
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Ah, i didn't think of that. I suppose it is unforgivable when a DRM is affecting your gameplay.
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That's not true at all I can play piratically my whole library with out internet, the exception the following(not complete but all I could think of now):
-Dark Spore - EA
-SC2 - blizz
-D3 - blizz
-Some Ubisoft games - some AC, Driver SF, others
Other than those turn Steam to offline mode and all my games work same with D2, GameFly, Gamersgate, etc. I play always offline or the games I play do not have a online components not too sure what games your are thinking of MMOs?
Sure all games pretty much require a unlock first with internet but that is totally different once you unlock you software you can unplug the internet and play till you computer dies.-
No, I was making the point that even though games can be played in an offline manner, people choose to play whilst online anyway. I meant that even if Diablo 3 could be played offline, most people would still be playing it online anyway due to multiplayer and the auction house.
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are you guys from another planet? this is the first time in years i see people ON THE INTERNET apologize to each other and actually come to mutual understanding... i think i need a drink, there is gotta be something wrong with me
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Maybe that's because in Russia, Internet is on you.
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I did honestly. To put it simply, PCs are generally connected online all the time and people simply play a game on it, though the game they are playing may not have online features, they are still online.
Because of this, I didn't think an online DRM would be that big of a deal, but in Diablo's case, it is.
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how many single player games do you play that are affected by lag and outages? (note I know diablo 3 isn't single player only, but so was Dead Island, but I prefered to play that one single player)
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Only Diablo, honestly I forgot about the lag situation which affects a lot of people, nothing else comes to mind in regards of going out of my way to go offline, though I may have done the same with Dead Island too.
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this past january with the snow storm in the PNW that knocked comcast out for days... gaming fucking sucked. i could get online by tethering my cell phone, but everyone else was doing that and the speeds were terrible.
steam games i could at least launch in offline mode and play single player.
at lan parties (i've been to three this month, yes, people still go to them), games that require constant internet connections can really suck. diablo 3 was eating up a good bit of the bandwidth at dreamhack over the weekend (dwarfed every other game that was online). just seems silly considering that its a 4 player co-op game that was mostly being played on a lan. -
Well, games that I played that dont require internet connection and can be played single player and even offline includes: Skyrim, Alan Wake, Witcher (and Witcher 2 of course), Jagged Alliance, and many other games..Actually there are a lot.
We both are assuming different things. I played mostly single player games and those are offline. I am online when I want to be but most of the games I played do not require constant online. I tried this with AC2 and Splinter Cell and I never want to go back to that route, which is why I despise this kind of DRM. -
I can't speak for everyone, but for myself, I played 100% of my game offline, because I just hate the lag online and my regular gaming buddies is not online at the same time as me. But even at my peak, I would estimate that I spend at most 5% of my time online.
And also, take note that the complaint is not so much that D3 requires some online component. But that it requires players to be ALWAYS ONLINE, even if he just play alone. And in addition, Blizzard is NOT able to keep up with their end of the deal and keep their server ALWAYS ONLINE for the players.
And lastly, although this is more of a personal preference, I will never buy a game that offer ONLY online gameplay, not because I cannot afford it (except for time) or that I do not have a good connection. But because that is not my play-style .. and more importantly, it leave me at the mercy of the company's decision to continue or to discontinue the support of the game.
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Judging by game sales this time. I know this is anecdotal and I don't expect I speak for the gaming community but Blizzard has been my favorite name in gaming since Warcraft One and the original buddy installs. They have lost that goodwill from me. Time will tell if the goodwill they've lost in the community is significant but if they've caused a big enough number of their fanbase to take even a 'wait and see' approach instead of a at-release purchace on their next titles, I think they'll feel it.
Aren't the WoW subscription numbers dwindling, too? If that's true it could combine into the perfect shit storm for them.
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How do you reckon that? The Skeleton King is the very first boss. It doesn't take 72 hours to get to him.
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That would have been fine if you want to say it like that. I am trying to make a personal statement for my own so whether you like it or not is not my business. Just to note that I have tried playing games (singleplayer games, mind you), that require constant internet connection (like AC2 and SC) and the experience has been horrible thanks to my unstable internet connection (yes, they still exist), so no more of this BS.
If the things I typed are bullshit, maybe you have not read all other articles mentioning the same exact issues with always online and real money transaction (hacks, dupes, lags, disconnects, etc), even coming from people who have bought and played the game. Or are you just tired reading the same thing over and over? Maybe because these are facts that irritate potential customers and annoyed existing customers. -
Btw, a normal visa payment through paypal clears in second for me usually. So the fact that people actually are locked to the starter edition would seems to tell me that Blizzard is again not telling the whole truth and they are doing more than just waiting for the clearance of the sales from VISA/Paypal.
Also, and this applies even for other platform which does not require the draconian ALWAYS ONLINE requirement - such as steam, if the payment is not cleared for some reason later on, the company can revoke my license once that happen. So why the need for such a measure. Something is not right here.
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some people are just too ignorant to understand that logic ^^
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And... how many of you making negative comments ALREADY own the game ????
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Count me out. I have been holding out on this game and like I said in my comments, reading stuff like this makes me lose even more interest in the game (and the company in general). If everyone here that owns the game is truly happy with the way things are with the decision that Blizzard took, then good for you.
I definitely am not, and I know for sure that I am not alone. -
I've had tons of shitty problems. And i own it. I will never buy another online ONLY game again.
P.S.- I have never played an MMO and I now I never will.
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Blizzard has responded to us and said the post in their forums was partially incorrect, adding some new information.
http://www.shacknews.com/article/74461/blizzard-clarifies-stance-on-diablo-3-digital-purchases
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