The Always Online Requirement.

I've recently started replaying Diablo III and have mostly been enjoying my experience.  D3 is my go-to game when I just feel like endlessly killing and looting.  It happens sometimes.  My new crusader is progressing nicely and I've ratcheted up the difficulty a couple of notches because things just felt too easy.  I also have a crushing desire to give myself carpal tunnel syndrome from all the repeated clicking.  I played so much this summer that I seriously thought I had done permanent damage to my wrist.

The dreaded latency spike...

I have run into a roadblock that seems to sporadically affect many D3 players--high latency.  It's the worst.  I feel helpless as I watch my crusader swing and wait for the actions to take place.  My in-game latency seems to bounce back and forth between yellow and green.  It hasn't been unplayable, just frustrating.  Last night it was more stable and generally I don't have these kinds of issues as my internet service is very consistent.  This minor set of issues has made me realize how frustrating the "always online" requirement is for gaming.  It's especially frustrating when I primarily play in single-player mode.  Why does it need to be online?  The console version offers an offline option for single player games so why not on the PC version?

This isn't breaking news and I didn't get the displeasure of experiencing the botched release and server issues from 2012 (I didn't buy it till after those issues had been fixed).  I tried to look up explanations for why Blizzard put the always online requirement on the PC version and didn't really come up with a definitive answer.  Some people thought it was primarily due to the now defunct "real money" auction house and the desire to avoid issues related to hacking or illegally duplicating items.  Others seem to feel like it was Blizzard exerting their own form of DRM to avoid piracy issues.  Blizzard seemed to state that D3 was meant to be an online game (and multiplayer) and they hoped to build an online community of D3 players.  I get the whole social aspect of gaming and that seems to be something Blizzard really pitches but not everyone wants to play multiplayer games.  That sounds really anti-social, I know.  It's not that I don't like playing with friends, I do.  I have no desire to play with strangers.  None.  I found that it's really hard to stay together unless you're going to plan to roll characters who you'll only play together.

I'm not going to quit playing D3 I like it too much.  I just don't understand "always online" requirements--they seem like such a roadblock and your internet connection can definitely have a big impact on your experience.  My hope for the future is that developers will try their hardest to avoid the "always online" requirement for single player games.  I don't really see that happening, but I can always hope.