DDoS attack on Blizzard leads to more calls for a Diablo 4 offline mode

[midian182]

A hot potato: While the majority of players and critics have praised Diablo 4, one of the more controversial aspects of the game is the always-online requirement. It generated a lot of talk again over the weekend when a DDoS attack stopped people from logging into the ARPG for hours.

On Sunday morning, Blizzard tweeted that it was actively monitoring an ongoing DDoS attack that was affecting latency and connections to its games.

Players of Battle.net titles, including Overwatch 2, had been reporting problems before the announcement, but it was the massively popular, live service Diablo 4 that received the most tweets, posts, and forum replies. One Redditor wrote that they were unable to access the game for over 12 hours. The complaints thread is aptly titled 6hrs+ downtime in a liveservice game by a multibillion $ company.

Whomever DDoS #Diablo4 you are garbage people. You are what is wrong with this world and gaming Community. pic.twitter.com/44zk63YobO

– Paul - Twitch UrbanPharaoh / YouTube Pharaoh TV (@Pharaoh_tv) June 25, 2023

This isn't the first time Diablo 4's always-online nature has caused problems. When the game went live for those who didn't have early access, the flood of new players resulted in wait times of over an hour for some people, this writer included. There have been similar instances since then, too.

Blizzard put a breaking news announcement about the attack on Battle.net, announcing the latency and disconnection problems and promising that it was trying to mitigate the issue. The company confirmed the attack had ended later on Sunday without revealing if those responsible had simply stopped, whether it was due to some action on Blizzard's part, or who was behind the incident. The attack was likely timed to impact the highest possible number of Battle.net players.

[#Bnet] The DDOS attacks that we were monitoring have ended. If you are still unable to log in try https://t.co/NY39q2slWo

– Blizzard CS - The Americas (@BlizzardCS) June 25, 2023

The DDoS attack has once again led to calls for Diablo 4 to have a single-player offline mode so users can still play the game during incidents like this one. It's likely a feature that those who aren't interested in some of the online elements such as world events, or anyone with spotty internet connections, would appreciate

Earlier this month, we heard that Blizzard is already working on two expansions for Diablo 4. It was also revealed that it became Blizzard's fastest-selling game in under 24 hours.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/99195-ddos-attack-blizzard-leads-more-calls-diablo-4.html

 

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Yeah, it won't happen. No chance in Hell. Literally :-D

I'm still playing my offline copy of Diablo II: LOD anyway.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

It's why I haven't touched Diablo 3 and I won't touch 4.

I have my physical copy of Diablo 2 that I got up and running on Window 10 not too long ago. If I want some quality Diablo gameplay, I'll just play Diablo 2. I don't need it remastered, I'm not a graphics wh0re, the original looks good enough for me.

If I really want to go back, I'll play my copy of Diablo.

If Blizzard really wanted to make it offline accessible they would, but they don't give a rip. You fools that keep buying their crap and supporting their methods and then complain about them, you have no one but your selves to blame.

 

[ThrakazogZ]

I got Last Epoch for 1/3 the price of D4....... and it has an offline mode, as well as the normal online mode.

 

[Skully]

If you're in the mood for that genre of game I can suggest "Grim Dawn", it goes on sale where you can get everything for around $30 I believe.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/219990/Grim_Dawn/
I haven't played D4, but I have played D3 and I like Grim Dawn better in almost every aspect (though ymmv).

 

[Wye43]

"Terrorist attack on New York leads to more calls for a life outside New York."
/sarcasm
How about going at the throat of those doing the attacks, instead their target/victims?

In offline mode everyone would cheat and edit their characters, remember open battle.net in D2?

 

[loki1944]

Considering how frequently this happens to Blizzard I'm surprised they haven't been sued.

 

[Wye43]

Considering how frequently this happens to Blizzard I'm surprised they haven't been sued.

Yeah lets sue New York for having terrorists airplanes crash on their ***.

 

[Loadedaxe]

"Terrorist attack on New York leads to more calls for a life outside New York."
/sarcasm
How about going at the throat of those doing the attacks, instead their target/victims?

In offline mode everyone would cheat and edit their characters, remember open battle.net in D2?

Only sensible post on here.

 

[bexwhitt]

Diablo 4 being online only means that when Blizzard decide to shut down the server (and they will) there will me no more game.

 

[BSim500]

Only sensible post on here.

Not really. "I want to pay $70-$90 for fragile disposable rent-ware" is a 'solution' to cheating only for the chronically gullible. Like watching someone cheer on paying Blu-Ray prices for Netflix disposability.

Plenty of fun to be had with Diablo 2. Learn to throw a LAN party, make some new in-person (actual friends) you can chillout and have a laugh with. Much healthier than the current trend of cheering on every trashy lockdown requirement / push for de-ownership due to online cheating paranoia.

 

[Thannos]

I've never had an issue logging on D4 or being disconnected while playing. Granted I typically only play between 7p-1a on weekdays, but sometimes also in the mornings or afternoons on the weekends as well. Maybe I just don't play that many ARPGs, but most are online only nowadays, are they not?

 

[Rolfil]

There are tons of games that are online only. No one complains about Path of Exile being online only? Lots of steam games have online cloud saves. I really don't see the issue here.

Diablo 4 being new will mean that there will be technical issues, especially defending against DDOS etc.

 

[colossusrage]

Diablo 4 being online only means that when Blizzard decide to shut down the server (and they will) there will me no more game.

Gamers uhhh... find a way.

 

[LyntonB]

Please make available single player campaign offline on GOG one day!! I'm holding off buying it because of this amongst other reasons. D2 resurrected still excellent until then

 

[amghwk]

Nothing beats the original Diablo 2 + LoD exp. Still playable now. It is still addictive and enjoyable after all these decades. And you need no f-king "online-only" "always-connected" requirement BS.

 

[Sir Sparkles]

There are tons of games that are online only. No one complains about Path of Exile being online only? Lots of steam games have online cloud saves. I really don't see the issue here.

Diablo 4 being new will mean that there will be technical issues, especially defending against DDOS etc.

Yea man, there's been so much moaning about the game from day one. Lot's of unrealistic expectations I reckon. People have short memories and forget what trashy day 1 releases are like (No Man Sky, Cyberpunk, etc)

Blizzard are working on it and patching and adding features and fixing the mechanics in real time. It's just going to get better and better. For me it's a great game and I look forward to the QOL updates and eventual expansions. So much more to come.