While everyone else is ranting and raving about Diablo III and having to be "always connected" to Battle.net to play it - even in single player - our very own Andrew Eisen takes a different approach with the following heartfelt letter.
If Blizzard listens, this could be the best Christmas ever! Check out his heartwarming plea to Blizzard to your left or visit YouTube.
ZippyDSMlee: Something I did by hand on my convertiable laptop, http://zippydsmlee.deviantart.com/art/Cotlop-zelda-unfinished-sketch-WIP-finish-373937163 forgot if I posted it befor.06/19/2013 - 7:44pm
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Conster: Also, I guess The War Z changed its name so they can scam some more people?06/19/2013 - 7:44pm
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Conster: AE: when even HuffPo makes the same joke, it's not something you want to take credit for. :P06/19/2013 - 7:43pm
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Andrew Eisen: Hey look! The War Z changed its name to Infestation: Survivor Stories. http://infestationmmo.com/06/19/2013 - 7:23pm
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Andrew Eisen: You're going to have a lot of company in prison, RedMage. Most of the internet has stolen MY joke. Bastards!06/19/2013 - 7:06pm
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RedMage: The cover art thing points to an industry trend of only wanting to appeal to teen boys despite the talk of "broadening the appealz"06/19/2013 - 6:17pm
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RedMage: I'd like to turn myself in for unintentional theft of a joke. Ignorance of the law is no excuse :o06/19/2013 - 6:17pm
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Andrew Eisen: Remember the fight to get Last of Us's Ellie on the game cover? Check this out: http://cheezburger.com/758618624006/19/2013 - 6:12pm
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Andrew Eisen: RedMage - Thief! You stole my joke! You're a horrible, loathesome person! Or you simply had the same idea and didn't read my earlier shout!06/19/2013 - 5:35pm
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RedMage: Maybe they're going to rename it the Xbox 18006/19/2013 - 5:26pm
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IanC: Bet EA are pissed.06/19/2013 - 5:17pm
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Andrew Eisen: Ah, James is just a little quicker on the keyboard than I!06/19/2013 - 5:07pm
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Craig R.: Too little, too late.06/19/2013 - 4:52pm
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DorthLous: PWAHAHAHAH, the MS spinning sound woke me up :)06/19/2013 - 4:27pm
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Andrew Eisen: Microsoft's new console shall now be known as the Xbox One-Eighty.06/19/2013 - 4:17pm
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Andrew Eisen: I imagine we were typing our respective shouts at the same time.06/19/2013 - 4:14pm
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MaskedPixelante: So Andrew... is there going to be a new poll now? I mean, the one about the XBO DRM is kinda no longer relevant.06/19/2013 - 4:13pm
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Andrew Eisen: In light of Xbox One's furious backpeddling on its DRM policies, I'm closing the poll for now. I'll probably write a new one later today or tomorrow.06/19/2013 - 4:11pm
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IanC: Found three people whining about this so far. Saying that its because of cheapasses and that its going to be horrible online now. W T and indeed F.06/19/2013 - 4:09pm
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Andrew Eisen: Technogeek - I agree but: "After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again." Why do I need to connect online to set up a system I'm not going to use online?06/19/2013 - 4:07pm
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Comments
Re: Going Over Santa's Head.. to Blizzard
My first knee-jerk reaction to the online play mandate for D3 was that it was directed at "stopping" infringement. I realize now that it wasn't the main reason they did this. It was because of the cash auction house they added that they require online play. Any player not online is 100% certainly not going to be generating profit for them because they can't take part in the auction house.
Why does this matter? It matters because Blizzard charges you when you put up the auction, they take a cut when the auction is won, and then they take a cut when you go to cash out your sales. So for those of you who can't count, that's 3 times they take a piece of the action. Three times! It's all a plan to milk millions of people and make money for doing absolutely nothing. Anyone who's not online isn't contributing to this free revenue for Blizzard, that's why we won't get offline play. Anything they say to the contrary is pure bullshit.
-Greevar
"Paste superficially profound, but utterly meaningless quotation here."
Re: Going Over Santa's Head.. to Blizzard
"Anyone who's not online isn't contributing to this free revenue for Blizzard, that's why we won't get offline play."
True, but anyone who's not online may as well not buy the game period as they can't play any part of it. That's a sizeable chunk of change Blizzard is throwing away right there. Blizzard may not get the "nominal fee" from the offliners but at least they get the revenue from them purchasing the game in the first place. Not to mention the good will generated from catering to all their fans, online or not.
Andrew Eisen
Re: Going Over Santa's Head.. to Blizzard
"True, but anyone who's not online may as well not buy the game period as they can't play any part of it."
That's my point. People who want to play offline won't buy it, they will just download a cracked version. And it will be cracked, just like the Ubisoft DRM.
-Greevar
"Paste superficially profound, but utterly meaningless quotation here."
Re: Going Over Santa's Head.. to Blizzard
Right, which is why it would behoove Blizzard to cater to its offline fans as well.
Andrew Eisen
Re: Going Over Santa's Head.. to Blizzard
That's good. I remember seeing part of this in the comments of the last post. And it is something I wish they would comply with.
They put all this crap in a game to stop piracy and tell us that they [The pirates] aren't cracking their DRM. It's like the part in Harry Potter where the Ministry of Magic denies that You-know-who is dead and is not coming back, when you know good and well that he is. In that vein, the game industry denies that the DRM is being cracked when pirates are cracking the DRM left and right and sometimes either right before or after the game is released, despite the face that the DRM is supposed to stop the pirates. But it's not stopping the pirates, just the loyal paying customers.
I bought GTA IV and the DLC packs for PC despite the DRM in it and the fact you need to be connected to install it. If GTA V ends up being where you need a constant connection to play it, is where I draw the line.
It begs to question: Is this about stopping piracy or keeping total control on the customers who buys your product, and not to mention keeping total control of the product long after it leaves their hands. Kinda like selling a VCR to someone and making they buyer use the VCR in ways you see fit, over letting the buyer using HIS VCR how he wants.
Sorry for the rant. The video really was good and I hope something good comes out of it.
- W
Re: Going Over Santa's Head.. to Blizzard
I'll add, Andrew, you're a very good presenter and I'd like to think good things will come of it, for yourself and the people/media form you're representing.
Re: Going Over Santa's Head.. to Blizzard
BRAVO!
Re: Going Over Santa's Head.. to Blizzard
I hope your sister put in her own PS for you as well.
-Austin from Oregon
Feel free to check out my blog.
Re: Going Over Santa's Head.. to Blizzard
Hehe, you make good use of humor, and glad I see soemone else who enjoys the M.A.S.K. toys.
Re: Going Over Santa's Head.. to Blizzard
I'm just glad I'm not the only one who's in their 30s and still loves their M.A.S.K. toys.