So the whole "No LAN" thing.... [Archive] - Diablo 3 & Diablo 2 Forums

Bertis

16-10-2008, 17:06

Has this just kinda dissipated now?

Personally i'm sick of posting the same comments on the Bnet forums without a Blizzard response (not surprisingly despite the 10-12 pages) and I guess that goes for a lot of other people too.

I'm yet to find anything from Blizzcon 2008, a question or a response about the lack of LAN.... but nothing. It's pretty disappointing that the subject has only been raised once in that old German interview, where the answer was... well.... very vague and didn't make much sense. I want to see some hard-hitting questions to Blizzard to put them in a position where they feel pressured to keep LAN in the game, rather than the same old repetitive questions that have either been answered 100 times already or are so insignificant that it doesn't even have an impact on the game.

I'm sick of seeing D3 developer panels at Blizzcon where people ask the same old questions where I could literally stand up and answer their question myself.

I understand that the lack of LAN is not a big issue in the US compared to some other countries, so i'm not entirely surprised it never came up at Blizzcon considering it's held in California, but still, not one single comment about it anywhere?

Has anyone come across any more information about LAN from Blizzcon 2008, or any news that relates to it in the slightest?

visom

16-10-2008, 18:24

Confirmed that there will be no LAN

InExtremis

17-10-2008, 03:45

Confirmed that there will be no LAN

I'm sure he's aware of that. What he's asking is why there has been no direct questions as to "why" there is a lack of LAN.

Personally id very much like it to be asked myself. Lack of LAN in D3 is the only thing that concerns me about the game so far.

Apocalypse

17-10-2008, 04:25

no lan = more bnet subscriptions wohooo

Peli

17-10-2008, 05:35

I doubt it is a money grab so much as just ignorance on the part of the dev team WRT the prevalence of LAN play. I can honestly say that unless this changes, I probably won't buy, although I may borrow the game from someone to dick around with SP, and if it's promising enough, possibly change my mind. This is a far cry from the rushing-out-on-release-day and buying 3 copies I would do if LAN were included.

cloak

17-10-2008, 06:34

I'm in the same case. I get a ping of 150~200 ms, constantly, which is not healthy for melee classes. I don't play Diablo 2 on BNet mainly because of that. Perhaps I could get used to it or adapt or something, but I'm just saying - I prefer to play SP and then gather up some friends and make a lan party, doing some quality baal killing.

I'd really really like that Lan was available in D3, but I can't say I won't buy if it doesn't have any.

Apocalypse

17-10-2008, 14:55

i hope the lag is much improved for bnet 2.0 so the lag death can maybe be a thing of the past?

Starving_Poet

17-10-2008, 21:49

i hope the lag is much improved for bnet 2.0 so the lag death can maybe be a thing of the past?

lag will always exist.

If you build a system with less lag, then more people will use it, creating equal amounts of lag at the end. This is a big problem in EVE which uses one of the most powerful computers in the world to run the game.

poonagi

17-10-2008, 21:55

my guess...

blizzard doesn't want to put the resources into making the game LAN capable... which would also include making a partition on b.net similar to open vs closed characters in diablo 2.

they've said that b.net is their primary defense against cheaters and hackers. by forcing you to log into b.net to play they can make sure their defense is doing its job.

Thyiad

17-10-2008, 23:14

lag will always exist.

I disagree. I've played other MMO's where there is minimal lag. I never played the US WoW servers but I got an average ping of 150 to the Aus servers. The worst I ever saw it was 300. (I'm in the UK.)

I currently play CoV. The only time I notice lag is when I have the graphics turned up really high during a Rikti raid. The rest of the time, I get very little lag.

my guess...

blizzard doesn't want to put the resources into making the game LAN capable... which would also include making a partition on b.net similar to open vs closed characters in diablo 2.

No it doesn't have to do that. LAN is not Open Bnet. Those of us who love LAN would be quite happy to see Open Bnet consigned to history. What we want is to be able to use our SP characters over LAN; leaving Bnet totally out of the loop. We don't need their servers if we're playing in the same house for example.

they've said that b.net is their primary defense against cheaters and hackers. by forcing you to log into b.net to play they can make sure their defense is doing its job.

Rubbish. Anyone here who thinks online cuts out hackers/dupers etc need to wake up. Online does not and never will equal "no hacks".

If anything there are more hacks/dupes on Bnet than LAN - certainly amongst LAN communities such as the SPF MP forum. We want to know about our MP partners, we don't accept/expect people to gift us Last Wish and we will not accept cheats.

The issue here is clearly Blizzard are looking to make an MMO. And those are online only. They are using the Diablo brand, but not actually taking the Diablo spirit into account. They aren't looking at a player base which has been around for a long long time and have developed ways to keep an old game alive and fresh. (Grailing, running, tourneys, themes etc.)

It wouldn't take much to code LAN - unless the game is so huge that it is an MMO. If it is not an MMO then they are either lazy or uncaring. Neither option I particularly care for.

poonagi

17-10-2008, 23:46

No it doesn't have to do that. LAN is not Open Bnet. Those of us who love LAN would be quite happy to see Open Bnet consigned to history. What we want is to be able to use our SP characters over LAN; leaving Bnet totally out of the loop. We don't need their servers if we're playing in the same house for example.

what i was trying to say is that i don't think there are SP characters anymore. there are multiplayer characters on b.net... and that's it. if you want to play alone you make a game with a password on it and go solo. so i guess you are right in that i believe blizzard has removed SP and therefore LAN play.

*not sure if this is true or not, just my personal conjecture at this point*

Rubbish. Anyone here who thinks online cuts out hackers/dupers etc need to wake up. Online does not and never will equal "no hacks".

If anything there are more hacks/dupes on Bnet than LAN - certainly amongst LAN communities such as the SPF MP forum. We want to know about our MP partners, we don't accept/expect people to gift us Last Wish and we will not accept cheats.

i think you are thinking of diablo 2 too much here. blizzard has admitted there are many flaws with security on b.net and d2. if you look at wow however, they are very tight on hacks/dupes/cheats/bots/etc. i assume they are applying this knowledge and expertise to d3, which should eliminate those problems. (assuming you MUST play on b.net where the warden can take effect)

and i should also add... in your personal LAN things were legit, and that's great. but i've seen many SP/LAN communities where crazy powerful hacks are the norm. at least on D2 b.net right now the "worst" you get is duping and botting. you don't see people with crazy hacked items that they made up themselves.

The issue here is clearly Blizzard are looking to make an MMO. And those are online only. They are using the Diablo brand, but not actually taking the Diablo spirit into account. They aren't looking at a player base which has been around for a long long time and have developed ways to keep an old game alive and fresh. (Grailing, running, tourneys, themes etc.)

It wouldn't take much to code LAN - unless the game is so huge that it is an MMO. If it is not an MMO then they are either lazy or uncaring. Neither option I particularly care for.

i'm not going to disagree totally with this part of your post. i do think blizzard is trying to eliminate the SP option and force us to play on b.net... so a slightly MMO-ish direction there. while their motives for this may not be entirely clear, i believe they want to create a hack-free and cheat-free environment. something that is almost impossible to eliminate completely if a SP version of the game exists.

as for your comment about the "Diablo spirit"... doesn't that vary from person to person? for me, the diablo spirit means exploiting the economy by trading for more and better items (i didn't like to magic find). then taking my wealth and equipping the most perfect and powerful characters possible... from there i liked to dominate pvp and duel games... so to me the diablo spirit has, and always will be, built around the battle.net experience. i'm guessing this idea of diablo spirit is a lot different from yours. :)

Sein Schatten

18-10-2008, 14:19

"what i was trying to say is that i don't think there are SP characters anymore."

There is SP and MP.

"And those are online only."

D3 has SP and MP. This means all the data is already on your PC. And by all the data I mean ALL. WoW has data on your PC and also server software which is on the server only. For example stealth detection, raid scripts etc.. This information is AFAIK not on your PC.

As long as Blizzard does not splitt SP and MP both are equal and the extra work to just implement LAN is negligible. Seriously, the code is already there.

Thyiad

18-10-2008, 14:56

My point about online hacks was not directed at or holding onto d2. It was directed at every online game there is. While there are people who are too lazy/stupid/arrogant to cheat rather than play the game, they will find a way to do so. As for "no items they made up" being on Bnet ... um, wrong.

Using cheating as excuse to eliminate the MP LAN is bologny (the only word I could think of that wouldn't be censored :)). I was not referring to LAN between myself and a few friends. I'm talking about an entire forum.

It doesn't matter now. Blizzard have made their decision and alienated those of us who would have bought D3 and played SP or LAN MP and would *never* touch Bnet.

That is *my* philosphy of D2 and that of many others. I wouldn't for one moment suggest that as Bnet is full of botters and dupers, let's get rid of that and just have SP. But the opposite of that is exactly what's been done here.

*shrug* I'll still play D2 and other games.

xenoterracide

18-10-2008, 15:08

is it confirmed that D3 won't have Single Player?

Sein Schatten

18-10-2008, 15:35

is it confirmed that D3 won't have Single Player?

D3 has SP and MP... read the thread. ;)
edit: And, as usual, Thyiad got it right. :)

Bertis

19-10-2008, 07:47

As long as Blizzard does not splitt SP and MP both are equal and the extra work to just implement LAN is negligible. Seriously, the code is already there.

That's what I'm worried about..... I think a lot of the in-game stuff will be server side, meaning there'll be a lot of exclusive content on Bnet that you can't experience in single player, and thus, any 3rd party LAN implementation as well.

Which would be extremely disappointing, and definitely a 1st for Blizzard to do something so disappointing.

TheReadMenace

19-10-2008, 08:00

Catchafire

19-10-2008, 09:34

Not to be a d!@# but what if I don't have internet connection or dial-up? I'm only limited to SP then? I would love for the LAN option to be around because it doesn't hurt to have it. Not having it all boils down to getting everyone associated with the idea of... World of Diablo!!! Muahahahaha.

I'm more of a SP myself though. I find it cumbersome depending on people to play with, and i'm of the age where my friends have families, work, and other more important things to focus their time on :coffee:

tmorrow

19-10-2008, 09:39

That's what I'm worried about..... I think a lot of the in-game stuff will be server side, meaning there'll be a lot of exclusive content on Bnet that you can't experience in single player, and thus, any 3rd party LAN implementation as well.

Which would be extremely disappointing, and definitely a 1st for Blizzard to do something so disappointing.

Um, Blizzard's screwing of the Single and LAN players with Diablo2 is legendary. They deliberately coded exclusions to prevent the single player from experiencing enhanced content like Diablo Clone and the Uber Quest. Nowhere in their game manuals did they ever indicate that you would get "nerfed versions" of their software if you didn't play Battlenet. By avoiding Battlenet and not contributing to its ongoing cost to upkeep, Blizzard deliberately penalised the single players - thanks Blizzard. Instead, Blizzard's dream is that everyone would want to pay unecessary Internet costs to join crappy servers halfway around the world, with 10K pings and play their crappy slideshow.

What's behind Blizzard's dream is clear. They see $$$ in it. They want you to pay and keep paying. Don't get me wrong, they offer a great product, but by design, and unecessarily, they are forcing players into a more expensive gaming experience. It is astonishing that people are still getting caught up with a phony internal dialogue "oh, Blizzard have to do this to be viable and so they can remove hacks and cheats, etc". What a joke, have you seen how big this company has grown in the past 10 years. How far up your behind do they have to be before you know they are screwing you? There is no reason Blizzard can't determine an up front price to cover their costs + decent profit margin and put out a kickass game that allows people to play the way that suits them online or offline, either single player or private LAN. There is no reason, no reason but greed.

Catchafire

19-10-2008, 09:44

Very true tmorrow. It is just sad that there are people who defend Blizzard blindly without asking why. And I do agree with you that they make great products. They are great at what they do. Still, they shouldn't force me to shell out more money for the diablo 3 experience.

WoW I can understand because there are millions of people that interact with each other in that realm. But it's not necessary for a game like this...

In the name of Zod

19-10-2008, 11:37

Um, Blizzard's screwing of the Single and LAN players with Diablo2 is legendary. They deliberately coded exclusions to prevent the single player from experiencing enhanced content like Diablo Clone and the Uber Quest. Nowhere in their game manuals did they ever indicate that you would get "nerfed versions" of their software if you didn't play Battlenet. By avoiding Battlenet and not contributing to its ongoing cost to upkeep, Blizzard deliberately penalised the single players - thanks Blizzard. Instead, Blizzard's dream is that everyone would want to pay unecessary Internet costs to join crappy servers halfway around the world, with 10K pings and play their crappy slideshow.

What's behind Blizzard's dream is clear. They see $$$ in it. They want you to pay and keep paying. Don't get me wrong, they offer a great product, but by design, and unecessarily, they are forcing players into a more expensive gaming experience. It is astonishing that people are still getting caught up with a phony internal dialogue "oh, Blizzard have to do this to be viable and so they can remove hacks and cheats, etc". What a joke, have you seen how big this company has grown in the past 10 years. How far up your behind do they have to be before you know they are screwing you? There is no reason Blizzard can't determine an up front price to cover their costs + decent profit margin and put out a kickass game that allows people to play the way that suits them online or offline, either single player or private LAN. There is no reason, no reason but greed.

Greed is business which is great reasoning if you want a job with this company. Although if your going to rant then make it too the people that have ample cash to pay-to-play because as long as they do then there's no reason for Blizz to change their business strategy. Also one could argue that they didn't put anywhere in there game manuals that you wouldn't get nerfed versions of the game playing SP.

Guys, single-player and LAN games is a marketplace. If blizzard are not going to support it then its them whom are reducing the marketing potential of their future products. The only way to send that message is not to play D3 at all.

Brother Laz

19-10-2008, 13:32

A monthly fee would be the best business strategy for Blizzard. Most people won't play, but those who do play will bring in much more money because they're buying new boxes every 5 months. A few years of this and they're coming out ahead.

The players who pay will hate the costs, those who don't play obviously don't have a game, so everyone loses except Blizzard. But according to economic theory this is the desired outcome... If you don't like this, please vote for the Socialist candidate.

Fegon

19-10-2008, 16:00

they've said that b.net is their primary defense against cheaters and hackers. by forcing you to log into b.net to play they can make sure their defense is doing its job.

funny thing since its only on b-net that cheating is a problem.. cheating in SP doesn´t realy hurt the game for anyone ells..

Gigashadow

19-10-2008, 19:07

LAN will be put into SP, just like ladder stuff, Uber Quests, and whatever else bnet-exclusive content was put into SP layer... so, I'm not too worried...

You can't control software... if a company is an *** to its potential buyers, the potential buyers are not going to say thank you.

Catchafire

19-10-2008, 20:33

tmorrow

20-10-2008, 10:58

Greed is business which is great reasoning if you want a job with this company. Although if your going to rant then make it too the people that have ample cash to pay-to-play because as long as they do then there's no reason for Blizz to change their business strategy. Also one could argue that they didn't put anywhere in there game manuals that you wouldn't get nerfed versions of the game playing SP.

Greed has gone too far. Look at our current economic climate (yes I know it wasn't greed alone that got us into the mess but it was the driver behind all of it). There are negative consequences when greed gets out of control. Here's a reminder of the definition of greed "excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves". Hardly a business virtue, more like a sickness.

There's no point speaking to the rich, spilling extra cash has never been a problem for them. As for Blizzard changing their business practices, you're right there's no need for them to change if greed it is their sole motivation, if on the other hand integrity counts at all then they ought to reconsider some of their recent decisions.

Blizzard's behaviour with SP/LAN showed a complete lack of integrity for their players. It may be perfectly legal but it was underhanded just the same. After getting kicked in the proverbials once I'll be approaching Blizzard with both hands protecting me if I decide to enter the D3 arena (still undecided). There's no reason they can't be up front about their intentions unless they are just a bunch of conniving slimeballs.

Three times now I've listened to Blizzard exec's blatantly lie about not knowing what the "business/pricing model will be" until they've made the game. Blizzard have a well defined business plan and they are executing it. We are seeing it in the design decisions for both StarCraft2 and Diablo3 and the emergence of carefully released information on how Battlenet2 is going to be run. Blizzard are feeling the waters, seeing how much they can get away with without upsetting too many of their fans. They haven't nailed down all the details but that's only because they haven't worked out how much they can squeeze the player for yet.

In the name of Zod

20-10-2008, 13:19

Blizzard's behaviour with SP/LAN showed a complete lack of integrity for their players. It may be perfectly legal but it was underhanded just the same. After getting kicked in the proverbials once I'll be approaching Blizzard with both hands protecting me if I decide to enter the D3 arena (still undecided). There's no reason they can't be up front about their intentions unless they are just a bunch of conniving slimeballs..
That's overboard, pull yourself together man! Blizzard don't owe us anything at all. What's all this 'legal' or 'proverbials' stuff anyhow. I've spoken to some ex-diablo 2'ers about the no-lan in d3 and they just say 'won't buy it' and that's the end of the discussion. This ain't cutting no cake buddy, its just not on the table period.

tmorrow

21-10-2008, 09:08

That's overboard, pull yourself together man! Blizzard don't owe us anything at all. What's all this 'legal' or 'proverbials' stuff anyhow. I've spoken to some ex-diablo 2'ers about the no-lan in d3 and they just say 'won't buy it' and that's the end of the discussion. This ain't cutting no cake buddy, its just not on the table period.

I didn't mean it quite the way you've taken it, I'll clarify. I know Blizzard doesn't owe us anything, but deliberately making code changes to exclude single user from being able to play the UBER's in D2 was wrong, just wrong. It's my opinion that if you make a special effort to code exclusions, targeting a group that has purchased the game in good faith then you've crossed the line on what is fair. I appreciate others don't share that opinion or simply don't care. I completely understand how some people have just decided to 'not buy' D3, I'm still on the fence myself, Blizzard's decisions on Battenet2 will decide me one way or the other.

Starving_Poet

05-11-2008, 18:05

This is why we need lan:

Dear $Account{AccountName},

Please be advised that NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. will continue to support customers of Hellgate: London with online server support and play through January 31, 2009.

January 31, 2009 - HG:L is officially, absolutely, dead. If HG:L had lan, those that enjoyed it could still enjoy it with their friends.

Keighvin

05-11-2008, 18:52

I've heard that a Korean company, Hanbitsoft, may be doing an expansion for HG:L and may also pick up online services.

Kaeros

05-11-2008, 19:06

Greed has gone too far. Look at our current economic climate (yes I know it wasn't greed alone that got us into the mess but it was the driver behind all of it). There are negative consequences when greed gets out of control. Here's a reminder of the definition of greed "excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves". Hardly a business virtue, more like a sickness.

There's no point speaking to the rich, spilling extra cash has never been a problem for them. As for Blizzard changing their business practices, you're right there's no need for them to change if greed it is their sole motivation, if on the other hand integrity counts at all then they ought to reconsider some of their recent decisions.

Blizzard's behaviour with SP/LAN showed a complete lack of integrity for their players. It may be perfectly legal but it was underhanded just the same. After getting kicked in the proverbials once I'll be approaching Blizzard with both hands protecting me if I decide to enter the D3 arena (still undecided). There's no reason they can't be up front about their intentions unless they are just a bunch of conniving slimeballs.

Three times now I've listened to Blizzard exec's blatantly lie about not knowing what the "business/pricing model will be" until they've made the game. Blizzard have a well defined business plan and they are executing it. We are seeing it in the design decisions for both StarCraft2 and Diablo3 and the emergence of carefully released information on how Battlenet2 is going to be run. Blizzard are feeling the waters, seeing how much they can get away with without upsetting too many of their fans. They haven't nailed down all the details but that's only because they haven't worked out how much they can squeeze the player for yet.

If you're investing years and years into a game, millions of dollars into development, and thousands upon thousands of hours of manpower, you obviously want to utilize the most profitable pricing strategy. And no, you're not going to blurt out what you think it might be when less than a third of your game is finished.

They're not nefarious or evil or greedy .. They're a company whose products we've all been gobbling up for the majority of our lives, most of us. They've earned my trust that they'll put out a fairly priced, extraordinary product.

As far as LAN goes.. the lack of it is very disappointing. However, have you considered that there may be good reasons for its exclusion that don't have to do with greed? For example, entertain the idea for a moment that maybe the multiplayer client is extremely tied to the BNet2.0 framework and not easily removed from it. Now, if theoretically that's the case, then why would Blizzard opt to spend extra resources creating (and later upkeeping) a SP version, a MP-Bnet version, and a MP-LAN version? It's unnecessary for how few people would actively choose to play LAN over Battle.net.

I guess what I'm saying is.. Chill out. It's a game, and it'll be a good one.

Gigashadow

05-11-2008, 21:50

If you're investing years and years into a game, millions of dollars into development, and thousands upon thousands of hours of manpowerStop investing so much. The best games will be made by the smallest teams. An overlarge team = fully commercial project, and that's a failure for any hardcore gamer. Blizzard reported that their game teams are not really that big. I don't see why the development would cost that much, or any more, than the development of any other game excluding greed. Games used to be made in 6 months, great games, too. DI didn't take that much time. What the h-ell happened? Greed and marketing, that's what. It's not development or manpower or any of that crap...

For example, entertain the idea for a moment that maybe the multiplayer client is extremely tied to the BNet2.0 framework and not easily removed from it.I don't see other games needing that. If that's a form of Blizzard's anti-hack or DRM, they need to thik again.

then why would Blizzard opt to spend extra resources creating (and later upkeeping) a SP version, a MP-Bnet version, and a MP-LAN version? It's unnecessary for how few people would actively choose to play LAN over Battle.net.Because a great game is composed of many small things. Because LAN is easy to do and any high school programmer who knows anything about such systems can make one. LAN isn't something new and revolutionary. It has been done for ages. Copy and paste is basically all you need to do to implement LAN.

I guess what I'm saying is.. Chill out. It's a game, and it'll be a good one.For some people, LAN is the only way they play.

Legato

06-11-2008, 02:29

Yet again gigashadow is having a go at someone for their own opinion which they are entitled to.
Chill out seriously, if ppl dont like that there isnt LAN to bad, they can go play another game

Gigashadow

06-11-2008, 03:43

Yet again gigashadow is having a go at someone for their own opinion which they are entitled to.
Chill out seriously, if ppl dont like that there isnt LAN to bad, they can go play another game
I always thought forums existed for discussions?

I mean, if it's all about opinions we can just make a poll:
Do you want LAN?
Yes, No

That's not very interesting if you ask me.

Again, stop telling me what to do. There are mods for that.

Legato

06-11-2008, 05:08

opinions are more complex than yes no.... just thought i would mention that
Yes the forums are for discussion, but that is exactly it discussion, u just seem to have a go at people attempting to belittle them, and they are only puting in their input as to what they would like the game, which i appreciate because different persepectives should be respected

Jambe

06-11-2008, 11:23

Legato, if you'd spend your time discussing the issues at hand instead of forumgoers themselves everybody would come out happier!

Both Gigashadow and Kaeros have valid points but they're generalizing a heck of a lot, especially considering D3's state of development. The only things we know: there's no LAN and the lack of LAN sucks. That's it! The rest of this thread is reactionary opinion and tangential speculation & generalization.

About the lag discussion — there will always be lag in any network, the question is how much there will be. Excluding netcode design, the only factor that affects this is how Blizzard handles its servers. I'm not sure they've said much about that stuff.

Mad Mantis

06-11-2008, 17:34

If you don't agree with the way someone posts you can report the post, mention it to that poster in a PM or put them on your ignore list. Making posts complaining about their post style is in no way conducive to a decent topic.

Claymenza

06-11-2008, 18:21

Gigashadow

06-11-2008, 21:31

Who does lan anymore?Pretty much anyone who plays SP and supports mods. Yes, I agree, it's not a big group. But LAN is not a complex thing to implement. It's an old idea that has been tested and implemented many many times and doesn't require much thinking or work from Blizzard. Therefore, I believe they should implement it.

LAN is not even competitive because you just use your single player character that can be modified.The fact that you can modify your single player character is one of the attractive features of LAN. You can play mods, you can give yourself handicaps, etc. Play a LAN game with increased drop rates. Whatever. Adjust the game to how YOU want it. LAN players are usually friends and do not really expect cheating from each other.

Thyiad

06-11-2008, 23:29

Who does lan anymore? Removing lan is equivalent to removing 56k support. Even when you go to an internet cafe, people are on bnet. LAN is not even competitive because you just use your single player character that can be modified.

This entire sub forum.
http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

I'm surprised you didn't see it. I suggest you get in there and read before making incorrect assumptions. And that's one Diablo board, we try not to mention it, but we aren't the only one.

I don't really care what the teenagers do in net cafes. I can afford my own broadband in my own home and three computers on which to run D2.

Tell you what, how about I ask you this ... why NOT LAN? The only sensible 'argument' is "World of Diablo". Why not, worked for Hellgate London, right?