This is intended to provide some clarification and explanation regarding certain continually mentioned Diablo II topics. The hope is to offer some basic and extended material that will enhance an understanding of the purpose, limitations and other factors impacting these topics. While there are Blizzard citations, please note this is simply offering a perspective, so the contents below should be considered accordingly.
Section Topics
A Ladder Season
Patches and Updates
Removing Temporary Restrictions
Stopping Bots, Spam, and Exploits
Closing Vendor Sites
Blizzard's Participation on Diablo II
References
Last edited on: January 22, 2012 Special thanks for 4thdimension’s editing contributions
Summaries An outline is being put here, so those who do not wish to read the entire thread may obtain a general idea of what each section is addressing.
A Ladder Season *Purpose is to “refresh the game”
*These refreshes are short-lived due to a variety of issues – including bots, vendor sites, universal gold, restrictions and few gaming and end-game mechanics
*Resets are a quick fix to a broken economy
*Season length is difficult to balance in regard to how Blizzard should sway resets
Patches and Updates *An important key for permitting new content and/or addressing broken content
*After 1.10 patch, the frequency (and perhaps quality) of releases have declined, which some feel should drive a decline in price and is creating mixed views on prevention versus new content
*Many aggravations and issues surrounding the announcement and post-release of patch 1.13
*Diablo II is part of Blizzard Legacy Games (which also includes Warcraft III and Starcraft)
*These games have rotations, smaller teams and a smaller budget, which further dictates the quality and focus of future releases – a feature is not necessarily excluded because they can’t or won’t
*Seemingly simple fixes are sometimes (drawing from personal experience) not so simple
*There are variables affecting why players are not going to know when updates are happening
Removing Temporary Restrictions *This is a temporary IP connection based restriction that cannot be lifted and requires users to adjust their playing styles (or obtain a different IP)
*Typical restrictions are issued through a track and flag system, and a representative usually administers extended restrictions
*Restrictions (first as Realm Downs) were released sometime in August 2004 as an answer to game creation problems found in the 1.10 patch
*This system is not focused on the use of bots, but movements deemed harmful to Battle.net functionality/playability – “legitimate” players also guilty of this
*Restrictions are user driven, instead of being enforced from the onset (unlike other games)
*The system is not going to be removed given what it accomplishes and has had revisions and improvements since its release
Stopping Bots, Spam, and Exploits *Third-party materials are non-blizzard distributed that interact, disrupt, or modify the game while using Battle.net
*Many justify the use of these materials because of a feature not provided by Blizzard and/or makes gaming easier
*Current protocol stipulates closure of accounts (regardless of offense) and 30-day key suspension for first offense, and permanent suspension after that
*Three systems in place to address third-party materials – restrictions, warden and reporting
*Unfortunately, these systems can be circumvented (as any system can)
*A slew of issues exist with combating third-party materials, giving exploiters the advantage
*There are many various proposed interventions, but may not accomplish the intended result and could become more limiting/invasive then the current systems in place
*Addressing various recommendations of More Bans, Harder Areas and Removing Items, CAPTCHA, Pay-to-Play, Volunteers, Ran by the Public, and Battle.net 2.0
*Hard to compare modern abilities and technology to a decade plus game and the measures to remove the ability to exploit may be more invasive, potentially violating privacy laws
Closing Vendor Sites *Use the same reporting method for cheaters when reporting these sites
*Lawsuits require a lot of money and may not even see the money thereafter
*Blizzard’s transactions are not monitored beyond Battle.net so bought items off of a website appear as a free transaction
*Some sites not in the U.S. and do not have intellectual laws and many sites acknowledge the buying of a service…not the item.
*Forum Gold (FG) seems to fill a gap in the trading economy of Diablo II
*FG requires a lot of trust which gives its viability, but could be lost at anytime
*FG allows trading among games, realms, core (hard/soft), etc. which is not supposed to exist
*Because it is viable and can be purchased with real money, can create incentives to exploit
Blizzard’s Participation on Diablo II *Like many things, games reach their peak and demise to lack of interest and exploitation
*Should not be viewed differently simply because of a price tag or the occasional update
*Not really beneficial for Blizzard to announce they are quitting or cannot stop exploits (who is to say they haven’t)
*Can take an aggressive stance and still not achieve the desired outcomes (aggressive doesn’t remove a budget)
*Blizzard is still participating – through email, forum support, patches, ladders
*Although, it would be nice to see them in Diablo II forum boards once in awhile
