But playing offline D2R Items, as you could do in the first two games, was not an option, so eager fans were stuck making no progress whatsoever while Blizzard sorted out the server problems. This problem didn't come entirely by surprise: Prior to launch, and based upon the beta playable, players were already expressing concern over the requirement for being always online.

"Right now in the state it's currently being in, it's a unplayable product" stated John Walker for RPS. "A single-player experience that will not be able to pause and if you keep it running, it will shut you out and then stop it."

However, Blizzard stayed the course and the launch day disaster ended up being the ultimate comeback. Further aggravating the situation, the always-online requirement seemed to be linked to another online feature, and one that proved to be the most significant to the game's troubles in its early days.

The Auction House

Blizzard had a problem. In previous Diablo games, this ability trading items had created an illicit market for loot. Fans looking for the latest equipment would pay, and this left an open door for unscrupulous third-party vendors and price-boggling. Blizzard recognized the dangers of an unregulated, unofficial marketplace for Diablo itemsand decided they could improve the experience with a legitimate, regulated one.

"The auction house was created out of the need to legitimateize the third party market so that players could remain in the game to engage in trading, not going to third-party sites and in turn decrease fraud, scams spamming, as well as the revenue in hacking the game, creating dupes, etc.," former game director Jay Wilson said in an interview with DiabloII.

Net after being let go by the company. "The issue is, obviously, that it legitimized too much trading. It made it too easy D2R Ladder Items. We're all aware of this , and its consequences. We worried about these consequences before the time We believed that it would be beneficial to outweigh the negatives. World of Warcraft's auction housesseemed to be a great illustration of the concept. It's clear that we're wrong."