Blizzard's has kicked up a storm in confirming that StarCraft II will not support LAN multiplayer.
The company released a no-messing answer when quizzed about the usually-standard feature being in the upcoming RTS.
"We don't currently plan to support LAN play with StarCraft II, as we are building Battle.net to be the ideal destination for multiplayer gaming with StarCraft II and future Blizzard Entertainment games," a spokesperson told CVG.
"While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy.
"Several Battle.net features like advanced communication options, achievements, stat-tracking, and more, require players to be connected to the service, so we're encouraging everyone to use Battle.net as much as possible to get the most out of StarCraft II," the statement continues. "We're looking forward to sharing more details about Battle.net and online functionality for StarCraft II in the near future."
StarCraft II Gameplay trailer
Official trailer
21:42First full gameplay trailer from the RTS sequel features over 20 minutes of in-game action
StarCraft II Gameplay trailer
Official trailer
21:42First full gameplay trailer from the RTS sequel features over 20 minutes of in-game action
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StarCraft II Gameplay trailer
Official trailer
21:42First full gameplay trailer from the RTS sequel features over 20 minutes of in-game action
Ha ha... it wont do much, but at least it'll pi$$ 'em off a bit. I still find the fact that they call it "piracy" funny. As if it's something glamorous and heroic and not some sweaty, pale, middle-class fat kid in his parent's basement devouring cheesy snacks and crying over his supposed right to steal things.
It won't stop it being pirated, but it will stop people being able to get the full experience. That's how it works, and is the basis for online authentication the world over. And since RTS games really shine when played online, it'll definitely annoy a lot of people into buying it
Doesn't Matter. Sooner or Later some brilliant programmer will come up with an online emulator or will create a service like Hamachi and then, every one will be able to play it on lan.
This would have been THE game to play in my boarding house. We have a LAN network with 60 teenagers plugged in, and as Starcraft runs on Mac and PC every single person would have it installed.
Unfortunately the bastard school techies have a proxy server that blocks access to Steam, Battle.net etc and with no LAN play we're screwed...
It won't stop it being pirated, but it will stop people being able to get the full experience. That's how it works, and is the basis for online authentication the world over. And since RTS games really shine when played online, it'll definitely annoy a lot of people into buying it
Personally I favoured the single-player story cammpaign of "Starcraft I", same with "Diablo II" although Battle.net matches for that game were fun the few times I played over the net. It probably will significantly inhibit pirated copy users from getting the full gaming experience which is fine, although for people willing to get the pirated copy and whom share my tastes it won't matter much.
Yeah I think the main question to be asked here is that with this in mind and Diablo 3 no doubt using the battlenet feature too for it's co-op will Blizzard keep the service free? After all it wouldn't take much to make you pay a subscription for the service would it?
If they want to prevent piracy then they should do so without hampering the honest gamers experience. Such methods have ruined my experiences on PC over the years. - I couldn't play Half Life 2 on launch since the Steam servers went down due to the pressure, since you had to activate the game online to even play it. - The stupid DRM in some games such as Spore which only allow for 3 installs, pretty much making it as if you're renting the game - And now no LAN play, something I find to be vital in keeping RTS life span up and something I take into account when purchasing.
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