Diablo 3 on PS3 / PS4 Definitely Going to Have Offline Play

[R-F]

Source (PA Report)

Relevant bits:

but for now I wanted to bring up some interesting bits about the console version of the game, including the following: You’ll be able to play offline, with up to four players on the same console.

“It’s so much fun,” Joshua Mosqueira, the game's lead designer, said when I asked how the couch co-op played. “On a big couch, with four of your friends, drinking beers, it’s almost like a party atmosphere. There’s this really awesome social moment with a legendary drop, and everyone is cheering. It feels very collaborative.”

There was some question about the offline play of the game, something that’s impossible in the PC version of Diablo 3. It was confirmed to me that the game will be playable offline on the PlayStation 3.

Even though some things were lost, and there will be many Diablo players who consider those losses a good thing, the gains were worth it. “But we really felt that playing offline, and being able to move your console from the living room to your bedroom, which a lot of players do to play, is really important,” Mosqueira said.

TL;DR: Blizzard shits all over PC gamers, again.

( Yes, I know I posted speculation about this in the past, but this is a real confirmation of it. )

[pakoito]

They already sold tons on PC and now are heading for a massive sales success on consoles. All validated by the customers.

[TechnicalBen]

Next up. SimCity 5 ported to consoles. Has offline play because that meets the "vision" of the artists... I mean PR department.

[Sparkasaurusmex]

To me there is a thin silver lining. I've always thought of consoles as great machines for local (not LAN) coop, but lately it seems most games want me to play online instead of with people that are right here. If I want to play online I use my PC, but the console box is perfect for some pick up and play local coop. It is good to see some developers still focusing on that.

That said, this is Diablo, not Contra... so boo hiss for no PC offline mode.

[b0rsuk]

And the big thing here is: no one cares anymore. People no longer play Diablo 3, and the copies are sold. ActivisionBlizzard got away with that, losing a few reputation points.

[victory]

Blizzard excels at crafting solid and satisfying 3rd person combat mechanics. They have done fantastic work in that regard both in WoW and the Diablo series. Why don't they, once in a while, offer those mechanics in a game without the grind and bullshit?

If they released a Diablo 3 NoBS Edition on PC that
- had local coop with polished gamepad controls that do not feel frustrating compared to KB+M
- worked offline
- had no auction house
- let you pick your desired difficulty level instead of having to grind through all of them
- had the drops tuned so a skilled player or a party of them could beat the game without grinding
I'd buy that at full price.

[Bankrotas]

Blizzard excels at crafting solid and satisfying 3rd person combat mechanics. They have done fantastic work in that regard both in WoW and the Diablo series. Why don't they, once in a while, offer those mechanics in a game without the grind and bullshit?

If they released a Diablo 3 NoBS Edition on PC that
- had local coop with polished gamepad controls that do not feel frustrating compared to KB+M
- worked offline
- had no auction house
- let you pick your desired difficulty level instead of having to grind through all of them
- had the drops tuned so a skilled player or a party of them could beat the game without grinding
I'd buy that at full price.

Both WoW and D3 were so unsatisfying in combat feedback, that, I can't agree with your statement. Let's say, you like them, but it really isn't for everyone.

[Shooop]

This just serves to prove everyone who said it before correct:

It was all about DRM.

[Faldrath]

Saddest thing is that if you go to any Diablo 3 site, for every forum post that says "oh wow, we've really been scammed", you find another that says "omg offline play! I'm going to have to buy this for PS3!"

[Moraven]

I could see the appeal of playing on the same TV co-op. But just getting it for offline play seems a bit much. Just bug Blizzard to put offline into the game. Even if it did not have LAN, open b.net, it would be a step.

[Sketch]

So is there an auction house? I guess they feel they don't have to protect it on consoles.

[SirKicksalot]

It will end up as the standard shitty sandboxed version, like console TF2.

[Shooop]

Saddest thing is that if you go to any Diablo 3 site, for every forum post that says "oh wow, we've really been scammed", you find another that says "omg offline play! I'm going to have to buy this for PS3!"

Hardly surprising. The majority of gamers are completely insufferable idiots.

[victory]

Both WoW and D3 were so unsatisfying in combat feedback, that, I can't agree with your statement. Let's say, you like them, but it really isn't for everyone.

We are probably looking at very different aspects of those games. I have only played D3 for an hour on a friend's account, so I have no real insight into it. But it did seem to have interesting mechanics someone could use to make a good game. WoW definitely had fun and unique combat mechanics; unfortunately PvE combat was braindead grinding where you didn't need to use of them or were directly prevented from using them, and PvP was always an afterthought with bad balance. But there were bits and pieces of PvP that were extremely fun. It was easy to see there was a good game buried underneath the nonsense, trying to get out.

[Zephro]

I said this on the other thread, but it has little to do with Blizzard. Sony won't allow always online DRM on PlayStation, except PlayStation DRM.

[dsch]

Well, both consoles have been worked out (let's say) for some time now, so I don't know about that DRM argument. Most cross-platform releases now seem to become unofficially available on consoles first.

[deano2099]

I said this on the other thread, but it has little to do with Blizzard. Sony won't allow always online DRM on PlayStation, except PlayStation DRM.

They allow online-only games though.

[Zephro]

They allow online-only games though.

Yup, but the TRCs don't allow all sorts of things that mean that single player DRM is off limits. For instance Portal 2 uses Steam on PS3 but not as DRM. Also it has to work via PSN sign in, achievements have to be PS Trophies etc.

Pretty sure the TRC got leaked on the net a while back. But yknow that's closed platforms for you.

[gundato]

Having not read the TRC, I think Blizzard could have argued for it by doing something similar to Steam where your PSN gets merged with your Battle.net. Although, I don't know how that would work with the Auction House.

[Zephro]

Having not read the TRC, I think Blizzard could have argued for it by doing something similar to Steam where your PSN gets merged with your Battle.net. Although, I don't know how that would work with the Auction House.

Everyone does that, if you play EA games on PS3 then you're binding your PSN account to an EA account (maybe Origin dunno) or Ubisoft or Rockstar etc. So that's nothing special.

However they're patching data, trophy unlock data, DRM, store purchases all have to go through Sony. The account binding is just for server hosting. Even with Steam pretty much. Only exceptions are MMOs I think.