So apparently Blizzard is doing things completely wrong this time. Not only will Diablo3 require a constant internet connection to play (
http://www.1up.com/news/diablo-3-requires-online-when-playing), but it will also have a auction house where you can use IRL money to buy in-game items (
http://kotaku.com/5825580/blizzard-will-let-you-sell-your-diablo-iii-loot-for-real-money) and it won't support mods (
http://kotaku.com/5826453/diablo-iii-mods-are-forbidden-banned-not-allowed).
Also, Blizzard's Rob Pardo recently remarked "I want to play Diablo III on my laptop in a plane, but, well, there are other games to play for times like that" (
http://kotaku.com/5826796/there-are-other-games-to-play-on-a-laptop-besides-diablo-iii) That just made me do a double-take. I couldn't believe that someone could be such a brazen jackass.
I'm rather ticked with all this stuff hitting at once. I didn't really have any desire to play D3 online, so the auction house doesn't bother me that much.... although it is kind of screwy that you can now pay to be better than everyone else. The mod bit... well, I never got into the D2 mod scene, but it exists and that's great. More power to them.
But to require an internet connection to play the single player campaign and THEN tell me "that's too bad" if I want to play in a place where I don't have an internet connection.... that about breaks the camel's back.
I was looking forward to this game, almost as much as I was looking forward to BF3. :-( There's always Torchlight 2, however.