There will NOT be an OFFLINE Mode for the PC

Based on this news report, it seems Blizzard will not be implementing an offline mode for Diablo 3, even after they take down the Auction House.

Why? According to the news report:

“The game was built from the ground up to take full advantage of Battle.net, which provides a number of important benefits, including persistent server-side character saves, a seamless PC multiplayer experience, cheat prevention, and Real ID and BattleTag social features.”

Well, there you go.

Personally, I can live without an offline version. There is some kind of wisdom in being able to store my characters in Blizzard's servers, specially when I change computers every few years. There's security in the thought that my computer can get completely screwed up and years later I can go back to playing my D3 characters where I have left off.  One of my favorite RPG games ever, Path of Exile is completely reliant on an Internet connection, so I'm kind of used to it.

In some ways I can't blame Blizzard because making the game reliant on an Internet connection would prevent some parties from using pirated copies of the game, at least in theory.

It's never been a problem for me because I've always bought my Diablo games legally.

I will still purchase the expansion when it comes out. I'm very interested in starting from scratch with a completely new character to take full benefit of all the changes and additions.

Diablo is DEAD!

Yes! I finally dispatched Diablo today with my Monk (that is, of course, on Normal Difficulty).

It wasn't extraordinarily hard though, but it was pretty challenging. One tip I can give to players is to recognize your opponent's pattern of attacks and devise your own pattern of attack accordingly.

I'm not sure if I would have been able to dispatch of Diablo as easily with a Barbarian though. I'm sure other players would find the Barbarian easier but I just really liked the Monk gameplay. It's fast, lethal, and pretty awesome looking.

Now that I've finished the game, I can say that it's pretty awesome. Definitely much more exciting than Diablo 2 and yeah, even the other games I played before (Drakensang and Path of Exile). I guess it has a lot to do with the story. There is a very precise and strong narrative that drives the story along. It's not an overly complex story (in fact, it's a pretty simple one) but it's tight enough to keep one excited, especially from Act 3 onwards.

I would describe the first two acts as just coasting along with the last two suddenly going into overdrive. I would have never have finished the game so quickly if the narrative wasn't so compelling. You know, I just HAD to know what happens next. I just HAD to see where things were going.

And before I knew it... I'm face to face with the last boss.

I could quit right here, pack up the game in the box and move on to the next one but I'm still pretty much in Tristram in my head. I want to continue playing. And the best thing is, I can play it again but this time on a more difficult setting: Nightmare. And when I finish that, there are two more further difficulty settings: Hell and Inferno.

What keeps me going now, especially now that I know what the narrative is? I guess it's like watching the Titanic movie. You know the thing is going to sink, but you can't help but still watch it. The difference here is that the added difficulty makes it a slightly different game. Since monsters are harder to kill, one has to adjust his gameplay accordingly. I can no longer just coast along, blundering headfirst into mobs and just let God sort it all out.

Now, I have to think more. I have to be much more cautious and plan my attacks. I can't take any monster for granted. The littlelest creature can kill me now (and they did, actually).

Now that I'm on Nightmare, I don't have to rush it. I could just take my time.

After all, the job awaits and I can't afford to miss deadlines because of this game today (like I did so horribly in 1999). Ha, ha, ha!

First Impressions

I finally got my copy at Brochiere, Robinson's Galleria last Wednesday. I got it for Php 3,100.00 something with no extras. Jonas Diego and co-Diablo 3 Philippines blogger got the same thing for Php 2,550.00 (click here for the full details) and he got a poster for it too! What the...?

I'm kinda thinking Brochiere owes me!

That aside, I started playing it Thursday afternoon and, I gotta admit, I was pretty excited.

I do have to say that while waiting for Diablo 3 to come out, I've played other Diablo-type games like Drakensang-Online and Path of Exile, so comparisons to those games are bound to come out whenever I talk about Diablo 3.

Click for a larger image.

Having played those games for the past few months, I sort of got over my indignation over Diablo 3's requirement for an always on Internet connection. Meaning, although you can install the game in your computer and play it solo you have to go online, register with Blizzard's Battle.net and log into one of their servers for you to actually play this game.

Drakensang and Path of Exile both work with that kind of mechanics so I had gotten used to it. It has its own pros and cons, of course. The bad thing about it is that you are always at the mercy of the stability of not only your Internet connection but also of the stability of Blizzard's servers. Although you paid for this game (I'm assuming that you did), it will not always be up to you when you will be able to play this game.

Obviously, this seems to be a response to piracy but it terribly inconveniences those who actually buy their games legally.

The good thing about it is that your game will always be up to date. If the "social" thing is more your thing you might find a lot of things to like about it because you can chat, trade, and do the auction thing. But for someone like me who doesn't care about all that stuff (I mean, I just want to play the damned thing by myself without anyone else intruding on my little happy time) all of that is just unnecessary stuff.

But I can live with it.

What do you guys think? Is this always online thing something that can stop people from pirating Diablo 3? Even if you have pirated software and codes there is still the matter of logging into Blizzard for authentication so you can actually play it.

Anyway, as for the game itself...

I think it's pretty awesome. The action and effects are pretty cool. I'm playing a Barbarian (currently Level 19) and he's pretty brutal.

I'm kind of confused about customization though. I mean, the development of the character through skills is kind of confusing. One would think that you gain more and more passive skills as you go along, but from what I'm seeing you only gain access to passive skills as you level up, but you get to choose what passive skills you can use at any given moment. When you choose one skill, you drop another. Is that right? Would it make more sense for you to be able to have both passive skills at the same time as you grow?

Yeah, right now that skill system is very confusing.

Click on thumbnail for a larger image.

I hope to get a better grasp of how characters are developed as I play the game further. In comparison, Path of Exile has a pretty awesome skill tree. (See image on the right.) You get to choose which attributes you can enhance as you level up, no confusion at all.

I was already at Level 19 before I first encounter my first socketed item. Wow! That far in? I'm not sure what to put in it yet because I've yet to actually encounter gems or any kind of item that you can put in a socket.

I find Normal Setting rather difficult (what more in the more difficult settings of the game). I've lost count how many times I've died (I'm guessing around 15 times now). It's crazy but it's all right: a challenge is what it is.

Graphics-wise, beautiful as Diablo 3 is, I have to make another comparison. Path of Exile's graphics is really just more stunning. But what Diablo 3 has got over Path of Exile is excitement of gameplay.

And to me that's a very important part of the game.

Avoiding All The Spoilers

I know there's a bunch of trailers out there of Diablo III, including official trailer videos as well as player made videos of gameplay from the Beta. I also know (via Jonas), that there was a Free Open Beta weekend (Public Server Stress Test) a couple of weekends ago.

But I've been trying to avoid all of that because, come May 15, I want to experience the game for the first time without any previous knowledge of what to expect.

How do I manage to keep the insane urge under control?

Well, outside of work, I'm preoccupying myself with playing stuff like Drakensang-Online as well as Path of Exile, Diablo-type games of varying quality. I know that, come May 15, I will most likely drop these games like a hot potato but let's see. I've been playing Drakensang for quite a while now and I'm nearly at the level cap. I've played pretty much 99% of the game as it is now so it would be pretty easy to drop.

Path of Exile though, would be tougher for me to drop. It's actually a pretty awesome game with some spectacular graphics. I love it so much that I've even started a whole new blog about it.

But then, Diablo III is Diablo III.

I fully expect to be fully engrossed in it when the time comes. I can't wait to suit up as a Barbarian and just start killing monsters! And I will definitely write a blow by blow account of the experience of playing the game from the ground up!

15 days to go!!!