Originally posted by Vannor
It's free.. and it's more 'online' than D3 since you can at least see other people in the hubs.

and see what teams are available for what quests in your act

and see what the general makeup of that team is

and then go play with those people

Originally posted by Komah

People aren't making a big deal about  Path of Exile because, unlike Diablo III, it is a brand new IP (Intellectual Property). No one in their right mind looked at Path of Exile and thought "This online game better have single player". The developers laid out their plans, made clear what the game would be, what it would have, and how it would work; In other words the developers lived up to the expectations of their player base  (Putting aside the game play which some people love, other people hate and people's general opinion about the game itself - that's not what this discussion is about.).

Diablo III, however, is the third game in a series that is rooted in pairing both Online and Offline play.  Diablo III is the first game in the series to completely remove Offline gameplay making the game a departure from it's predecessors (In more ways than one if you wish to mention the Auction House and gear implementation but those are, again, conversations for a different topic.) and because of those roots there are many players that expected to be able to play the game offline.

 

With that being said, however, I should mention why exactly that expectation exists.

 

In Diablo I and II (1 and 2) there are three forms of play: Single Player, LAN Multiplayer (Local Area Network), and Online Multiplayer. In essence, you had the ability to play by yourself as long as you had a computer, play with friends offline (At, say, a LAN party), and play online with the rest of the world Now yes, I know, you can play Online by yourself but the point is that you still have to be online to play. I can not make bold, italicize, and underline those eight words enough times because they are key to the reason why the expectation of Diablo III having single player even exists.

There's a few solid reasons as to why people want to play Diablo III in single player. (I'll say it now some of you will not give a damn about one of the reasons I will mention; I ask of you, however, to take it on my word that it's something some people liked to do meaning, while not pertaining to everyone, for some it is another valid reason as to why the aforementioned expectation exists.)

I open with this point to simply get it out of the way with, my primary point and argument is in the paragraph after this one.

One of those reasons is the ability to just mess around with your character as you please: Get godly stats, make an SoJ (Stone Ring of Jordan, google it if you're unfamilliar) that gives +99 to all skills and make every swing of your sword or arrow let loose launch a cataclysm of Meteors, Fire Walls, Frost Orbs and Blizzards that'd make even the hardest incarnation of Diablo cringe and make numerous phone calls to his mother. You may not like cheating, you may even abhor it, but there's an army of us who have reached a point playing the game normally where we've been so damn frustrated (Say, due to a rare/unique Monster with the perfect stats to completely counter your character) that we wish we could do exactly that. In Diablo I and II we could. Some of us did. I did and damn was it satisfying to violently explode Diablo after a frustrating time playing on Ranked//Closed Battle.net.

Cheating aside for a lot of us Diablo I and II were games that we could take on the go no matter where we went. Say you're stuck traveling with your family and you had to go to your grandmother's house with little or even no internet. You launched the games, played single player, and had fun! Better yet if your internet went out and you have siblings or you had a friend over you could just launch new characters and enjoy the game. What about if you had an office job? When Diablo 1 was released and Diablo II wireless networks weren't something you could find five to ten of every fifty feet. This meant that if you had a laptop chances are you weren't online with it unless you were jacked in with an Ethernet cable. In any of these situations Diablo I and II became games you could just load up on your laptop anywhere you were and have fun with. Better yet you could still play that single player character with other friends any time you wanted to be it an office coworker, local friends at home, or someone a few thousand miles away.

But these days with wireless internet access being standard in most places and as easy to obtain as opening the lid on your laptop, clicking a network and being online, what in the world is the difference? Well, to be able to play online first you require a stable, strong internet connection which is, for the average person on the move, not always possible to obtain. Perhaps your work limits connection speed on a per-computer basis, perhaps you're staying with family and they have the cheapest internet package money can buy, or perhaps you just can't get a good signal. If that's the case you, my friend, are screwed. You don't get  to play Diablo III which, if you really really love and want to play the game, really, really sucks.

"But that's a given for ANY online game!" you may cry and to you I respond "You're damn right it is!". ... So why in the world is Diablo III getting flack about being online only? Simply put, as I've been trying to explain, just as a Percentage-Based RNG loot system is standard any Diablo-style dungeon crawler the ability to play when you wanted, offline or not, was a standard met by games in the Diablo IP until Diablo III was released. Some players expected that standard to be met and are, within reason, still upset that they were never given the option. Perhaps it's because they love the game but can only play it a few brief times a week during their schedule and general lack of internet, perhaps it's because they feel that the move to online only was a method of combating piracy that punishes the general user, or perhaps they just prefer to play the game in a single player capacity any time any where. The exact reason why people bash on Diablo III for it's lack of single player varies from person to person but this should at least explain the origins behind why that expectation exists in the first place.

incredibly well stated.

Originally posted by Psychow

The problem I had with the outcry over always-online for D3 was, except in certain circumstances where not everyone has good internet, it really didn't make any difference. Yet it was a HUGE isuue for people that weren't really affected.

 

Why isn't it HUGE now?

I think part of the reason it was a big deal with D3 was because of account's being compromised.When word got out that people's account's were compromised,non affected player's questioned Blizz and the fact you have to login online to D3.

Plus,like has been said,there are other people in the town's in PoE like GW1 and I didn't see this in D3.So it does make you think,why was online necessary for D3?

Plus PoE is free,why complain?

Originally posted by Psychow

The problem I had with the outcry over always-online for D3 was, except in certain circumstances where not everyone has good internet, it really didn't make any difference. Yet it was a HUGE isuue for people that weren't really affected.

 

Why isn't it HUGE now?

1) It's free

2) There are few other issues I have to deal with on top of the Online Only aspect of the game

3) Its a better game imho and certainly a better contender for the 3rd installment of diablo 

4) Did I mention I didn't have to shell out $60 or so to play? 

There are a number of reasons no one really cares. The game is free so not being able to log in for a day or two due to w/e reason isn't a big deal. I haven't paid a premium for the product so I can be a bit more understanding if I don't have access to it 24/7. 

Also I have far fewer issues in general with PoE than I did with D3. I don't find many of the design decisions and such deplorable like I did with D3. 

There are also valid design reasons as to why PoE is online only. You can actually see others in game and such when in town. The open group board posting is nice as well. 

With all that and more taken into consideration I simply don't have any reason to be upset about online only. 

I imagine simply because in Diablo 1 and 2 you could play it offline and on  LAN, so people expected this in Diablo 3.

Imagine if Path of Exile 2 came out and it was offline play only, I'm sure alot of players would be annoyed as they can no longer play it the way they used to.

Originally posted by Psychow

So I log into PoE to play and I think to myself. Didn't D3 catch a crapload of flack for requiring people to log into play?

 

Why does PoE get a free ride? Where are the complaints? Where are the people screaming for PoE to play offline? Why the double standard?????????

 

I personally don't care if I need to be online or not, but the outcry over this for D3 and nothing for PoE seems pretty one-sided...

They have been honest and upfront about their online only DRM since the beginning. It's their right to do this and we as customers have zero say in the issue. Having online only DRM, despite it's drawbacks, is an excellent way to combat piracy and battle fraud. Besides, the game is free to play and they aren't forcing anyone to play. Blizzard, despite the mess that was D3, also didn't deserve all the crap they got for their online DRM decision. 

Originally posted by BitterClinger

Originally posted by Banquetto

 

Originally posted by BitterClinger

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Originally posted by Psychow So I log into PoE to play and I think to myself. Didn't D3 catch a crapload of flack for requiring people to log into play?  Why does PoE get a free ride? Where are the complaints? Where are the people screaming for PoE to play offline? Why the double standard?????????

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The difference is that A LOT of the D3 player base (not me because I'm always online when I play games) came from D2, and I would guess most of them still play single-player or multiplayer games. Heck, most of them still play D2!!!

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I'd be curious to hear where you think the PoE playerbase is coming from, if not D2?

Well, I think the current batch of POE players are more MMO-centric than the D2 player base as a whole. Also, you can't buy buy POE off the shelf, take it home, and install it like you could Diablo 3.

So yeah, I could be wrong about all of that. I have no insights into the hard data on any of this. However, I personally know a few gamers who purchased Diablo 3 at the store thinking it was basically the next version of Diablo and never expected an "always online" component.

The ability to research things in advance on the interent is a wonderous thing. The ability to read the side of the game box is even more wonderous.

Originally posted by kadepsyson

Originally posted by tollbooth
How the hell to you expect a free to play game to make money if you play it offline?

Exactly.  If their entire money making from release is to come from cosmetic shop items, how would that work if the game wasn't online?

lol silly OP

Sell DLC,  just like other single player games.

Originally posted by Niburu
Because it does not offer a single player part.

Seriously? I didn't know that. I didn't know you were required to group in this game. I'm still at the beginning at the first town-ish.

Originally posted by Psychow

Originally posted by Niburu
Because it does not offer a single player part.

 

Seriously? I didn't know that. I didn't know you were required to group in this game. I'm still at the beginning at the first town-ish.

You don't have to group,I don't know where the no single player part came from.In reality it plays like D3 but when you go to town's you see other's.Trading is face to face with no ah.It's an interesting concept,but it work's very well.

I played D1 and D2, so I am obviously biased, but:

1. Blizz touted the online only feature as a DRM method.

2. RMAH - the root of al evil. This was a stupid money grab from Blizzard that required strong DRM

3. PoE is the first in line, so no prior expectations.

I never played D3 because of the DRM controversy. If they created a GW1 style game (or PoE like), there wouold be no complaints.

Originally posted by Psychow

Originally posted by Niburu
Because it does not offer a single player part.

 

Seriously? I didn't know that. I didn't know you were required to group in this game. I'm still at the beginning at the first town-ish.

You don't have to group - but you have to be online :-)

Which is fine by me.....

Originally posted by Psychow

Originally posted by kadepsyson

Originally posted by tollbooth
How the hell to you expect a free to play game to make money if you play it offline?

Exactly.  If their entire money making from release is to come from cosmetic shop items, how would that work if the game wasn't online?

lol silly OP

 

Sell DLC,  just like other single player games.

And how many of your other single player games are free, if at all?

I don't know where this topic comes from, be a fanboyish attempt to take a slap on PoE or whatever but basically the thing is that D3 is not PoE, so you cant compare the backgrounds of the two situations.

-it's free, when people pay for something they usually think they have more right to demand things than when playing something for free (by demand i mean reasonable stuff and demanding it with RESPECT, not bitching nonsense like we all see almost everywhere nowadays).

-DiabloSeries had an abysmall player-base accostumed to one thing and the changes made from D2 to D3 were too radical, I'm leaving up to you to say if the change was for good or worse but i think we all can say that the changes were big (skills, stats, items and what to look in them, connectivity, etc, etc ,etc). People don't take big changes well so the online issue was one more thing to bitch about. Probably it got more heat than it deserved, but still that has nothing to do with PoE.

PoE is a brand new project which promised to deliver something and they are trying to do so. (Again i leave it up to you to judge if they are being succesful at it or not). The game was planned from the beggining and they aimed to reach the mmo oriented userbase as well as the offline ones (nowadays much more used to online games that back then).

Lets face it, D3 said from the beggining that you would need internet to play it, if you bought it knowing that you should blame you and not blizzard when you start bitching about the online thing. But we can undestand that, a lot of diablo players got onboard when online gaming wasn't that big/popular. While PoE started at a time when online gaming is huge and the average of people with access to internet is a monster compared to what it whas when D1 and D2 came out.

I can agree with you that regarding the online issue D3 got more crap than it should, but that has nothing to do with Poe.

Originally posted by kethzen

I don't know where this topic comes from, be a fanboyish attempt to take a slap on PoE or whatever but basically the thing is that D3 is not PoE, so you cant compare the backgrounds of the two situations.

 

-it's free, when people pay for something they usually think they have more right to demand things than when playing something for free (by demand i mean reasonable stuff and demanding it with RESPECT, not bitching nonsense like we all see almost everywhere nowadays).

-DiabloSeries had an abysmall player-base accostumed to one thing and the changes made from D2 to D3 were too radical, I'm leaving up to you to say if the change was for good or worse but i think we all can say that the changes were big (skills, stats, items and what to look in them, connectivity, etc, etc ,etc). People don't take big changes well so the online issue was one more thing to bitch about. Probably it got more heat than it deserved, but still that has nothing to do with PoE.

PoE is a brand new project which promised to deliver something and they are trying to do so. (Again i leave it up to you to judge if they are being succesful at it or not). The game was planned from the beggining and they aimed to reach the mmo oriented userbase as well as the offline ones (nowadays much more used to online games that back then).

Lets face it, D3 said from the beggining that you would need internet to play it, if you bought it knowing that you should blame you and not blizzard when you start bitching about the online thing. But we can undestand that, a lot of diablo players got onboard when online gaming wasn't that big/popular. While PoE started at a time when online gaming is huge and the average of people with acces to internet is a monster compared to what it whas when D1 and D2 came out.

 

I can agree with you that regarding the online issue D3 got more crap than it should, but that has nothing to do with Poe.

And those connection erros like error #37 and the patching problems just added more fuel to the fire. They totally deserved that I think. Blizzard has ran WoW for 8+ years with 10+ millions players and yet they couldn't get D3 servers working right this time. What a joke.

Originally posted by Psychow

Originally posted by Niburu
Because it does not offer a single player part.

 

Seriously? I didn't know that. I didn't know you were required to group in this game. I'm still at the beginning at the first town-ish.

Ah sorry i should explain it better. Whenever you are in a town you see other players and can interact with them. Late ron they will offer a cuthroat league in which people can kill and loot you( or you kill and loot them).

While in MMO's ( note PoE is not an MMO but i hub based game like GW1 for example) you are permanent online, you can also do solo quests in your own instanced world.

A single player mode is something that happens on your PC alone with no possibility of interaction.

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Originally posted by Psychow
So I log into PoE to play and I think to myself. Didn't D3 catch a crapload of flack for requiring people to log into play?

Why does PoE get a free ride? Where are the complaints? Where are the people screaming for PoE to play offline? Why the double standard?????????

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You don't earn any hipster credibility by hating on a small indie developer. Not like you do for hating on the most successful company in the industry.