The fact that StarCraft II won’t feature LAN play isn’t exactly a new story if you follow the usual online gaming outlets. I read about it last week and certainly thought it was extraordinary but haven’t had the time to collect my thoughts until now. Ars has followed up with a good piece about the lack of LAN support and I thought I might as well say a few words.

StarCraft was probably the game I played more than any other non-MMO PC title ever designed. It was also a game that I rarely, if ever, played alone. Most of my games were played on a LAN at Dresden’s house. If not there than somewhere else with friends. We sat together, laughed together and played together. In all honesty those are some of my fondest memories my nerdy childhood. That LAN saw home to basically every Blizzard title and now it is apparently not good enough. I am truly disappointed.

Now, before I get too misty eyed or cranky, I realize that I can do the exact same thing with “the new Battle.net.” The point is pretty simple though: Why should I have to? To play with my friends I now have to be sure that my internet connection is indeed running and that the service on the distant end is functioning? If either is in a state of disarray I will sit powerless, staring at my friends as we poke our computers like a primate might a monolith. Does anyone else see a problem here?

Blizzard is trying to try to sell this to us as a good thing of course. To quote them on the subject:

“While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft 2 and safeguard against piracy.”

I can respect the piracy argument as I truly believe (more…)