We actually saw this coming long before Diablo 3 arrived and proved that an online requirement to play can have a nasty, negative effect. Fans lashed out at Blizzard when the company first revealed the requirement, and now they're demanding that the studio release a patch allowing for offline play in the single-player campaign.
The petition was created by Nick Defina of Toronto, Canada and points to the game's Metacritic listing which currently shows a critic review score of 89 and a user score of 4.1. According to the site's statistics, 1,230 player scores are positive whereas 1,959 are negative -- 176 are listed as "mixed."
"[Fans] want to play anytime and anywhere without having the worry of an internet connection," the petition states. "Some fans can't afford a great internet connection."
Additional reasons of the petition include the $60 price tag which should warrant customers the ability to play the game however they want, and the need to create two Diablo 3 accounts: one for offline play and one for online.
As of this writing, the petition has achieved 199 signatures out of the 25,000 goal, including my own. The goal is expected to be achieved in no time once word of the petition begins to saturate the news channels.
"I just feel that Blizzard should be made aware of their mistakes," Defina told Tom's on Thursday. "I believe that Online DRM is constant pain for a lot of reasons. I think with the amount of resources that Blizzard posses that they are able to cater to both the online and the offline community alike. They can easily separate the Offline Community with a Gold Only Auction House and separate character built for online with the real money auction house. After waiting 12 years, and 6.5 million people currently playing, I think that's a good indication of longevity."
"After personally spending $100 for the Collectors Edition to support their efforts for making a game I love and admired as a child, I was just hoping to play the game how I wanted to," he added.
In a related report, the Korea Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday said it launched an investigation into the Seoul office of Blizzard Entertainment to see if the company violated South Korea’s electronic commerce law.
The investigation stems from consumer complaints similar to what's said here in the States: connection issues, stability and more. Many angry customers simply want their money back, but Blizzard won't offer refunds when a product has been activated. However South Korea's relevant law guarantees a refund within seven days of purchase if problems with the product are not caused by the end-user.
