re:IF they dont include LAN im not buying it.

Spore was the most hacked and pirated game of all time – but treat your players with some respect and you will get more out of the community – p*ss em off and reap the whirlwind!

It’s short-sighted and with over 4 million players and corporations in Korea (TV broadcast rights – i.e. two cable channels) they don’t have a hope in hell of stopping piracy unless they treat people with some respect.

It’s just they way it is – accept it and move on… America isn’t the world..

“Blizzard may generate the majority of its revenue base on the American and Asian markets, but you definitely cannot exclude the smaller segments (not in today’s economic climate).”

ooooooh yeah you can. I’m afraid the amount of revenue they would get from South Africa would less than the rounding error on the Korean number =). If they reduce piracy in Korea and the U.S. by even 5%, it would be enough to make up for losing all of Africa and the Middle-East. The customer base in those regions is tiny.

That said, I can’t say I blame them for going this route. They have realized via WoW that the only way to maintain control of your playerbase is to make them all log in to a central server to play. Without that, entire countries could be playing their game without paying for it.

First of all, not everyone who complains is automatically a pirate.

Second, let’s get serious. If Blizzard wants to make money, they’ll target everyone, not just those lucky people living in the US with *norm* internet connections.

I live in the Philippines, where a single moron of an employee in my Internet Subscription Service could accidentally take down my internet connection and call it “maintenance.”

It’s sad, I know. And it happens often. So, without internet, I can’t play with my friends who went over to my house and brought LAN cables?
Do I need an internet connection to play with 7 guys that are three feet away from me? Where’s the sense in that? Bingo. There’s no sense in it at all.

Okay. Some parts of the world evolved. You got that right. Maybe the Philippines got stuck somewhere. We’re in the minority. But does that mean we don’t deserve to play the game the way we want to? Even if we bought it legally?

Fail, Blizzard. Epic FAIL.

Cheers mate, be patient with the flak Blizzard are getting over this they can go two ways; put LAN back in or try and come up with an uncrackable DRM?

Blizzcon is in late August and there will be plenty of announcements I am sure lets see what they offer and if no LAN, I am with you. Supreme Commander and C&C 4

Of course in the meantime – the cracks and patches will be out and Blizzard will be able to calculate the millions lost (there are over 110,000 signatures now on the petitions)and the majority of those people will be telling their friends, Nephews and Nieces to boycott it as well.

Money is the only thing they respect, bringing LAN back after the launch wont be enough.

Cheers!