The online requirement was a no-go for me. I'd like to play offline when I prefer. I can't get over the weird idea that if the server is down, if my internet isn't working etc then I can't play it. It's ridiculous to have such a disadvantage, especially since the whole thing stinks of copy protection (which may not even be a secret).
I played it a bit at a friend's house. It is great, but Diablo II is still worthy of play. I picked up the Battle Chest at Best Buy for $20 and I'm going through LoD for the first time. What an incredible improvement! Lots of gems
Anyway, this whole move towards "only online" play will never sway me. I don't care how great a game is... if the publishers want to force me to play on their server... no sale.
The constant-connection thing massively turned me off to it.
Why?
I don't like the idea of my game's performance being constantly tied to the reliability of somebody else's server/computer/what have you. I like OnLive because it has a lot of sales, but if the titles I bought on there were available for comparable prices elsewhere I'd get a physical or Steam copy. Plus, I dislike the principle that a single player game with multiplayer
options still requires a constant Internet connection to play, regardless of whether or not you intend to play multiplayer. Also, a player who doesn't have Internet or loses their connection for whatever reason is SOL as far as Blizzard is concerned.
A sentiment I agree with... and I think this bothers older games because younger gamers don't seem to care, they play a lot of online and are used to it.
Let me put it this way... you can blow the dust off a 8-bit Nintendo cart and play Super Mario Bros 1. at any time you like, so long as the hardware still works.
Can you do the same thing with a game like the now-defunct Star Wars Galaxies? Nope. They yanked the plug on the server, killing the game forever.
There's a real value in revisiting old games, if only even for the nostalgic value. People change and games don't so there is an experience worth revisiting an old game. I once heard it compared to revisiting an old playground, or the home/school you once were attached to.
Without that layer of future retro reflection, I just can't enjoy that game. Maybe I'm a head case but that's how it is. But I'll be hacking my way through Lord of Destruction's dungeons on an airplane or somewhere without wi-fi and very happy to do so.
