I know this is a little bit late (Blizzcon was almost a month ago) but I finally got around to reading the Slashdot interview with Blizzard. I didn’t even make it through the entire interview before I quit reading because I was deeply offended. Why you ask? Well, the lead developer said that I’m “are crazy and weird and living in a closet.” Don’t worry, I’m not using this quote out of context. You can find his exact response here.
So what makes me “crazy and weird and living in a closet?” I want to play Starcraft 2 on a LAN and I have high-speed internet access. But why on earth would anyone want to do that, you ask? Well I can think of several reasons. The first being that I don’t want to play on Battle.net, ever! It doesn’t interest me. I’ve never enjoyed playing RTS’s online with random individuals. I play them at home or a friend’s house, even in the library. I play with friends, acquaintances, and family. We bring our laptops and play until all hours of the morning. Sometimes we want to pause the game to get some pizza or because some really cute girls came over. Sometimes I’m playing with an 8 year old nephew who should not have to be subjected to the kinds of language, attitudes, and griefing he would almost definitely encounter online.
So, Mr. Dustin Browder, lead developer of Starcraft 2, I salute you. I salute you for strengthening my resolve to boycott your company. You guys can go ahead and lockout LAN play of your game. It will probably result in Starcraft 2 being pirated more than the record setting release of Spore. You won’t stop the people from playing LAN games, you’ll only drive people away from paying for your software. I may be crazy and weird Mr Browder, but at least I don’t treat people the way your corporation treats its own paying customers.