Do the LAN resitrictions affect how you would play SC2?

[Paelos]

Although I will be buying the game, I'm a sucker like that :/

At least you're honest. I would wager more than 75% of people who anonymously scream on forums that they aren't buying the game are full of shit.

[Ironwood]

Actually, I'd wager that a larger percentage are honest and will BT it.

Somehow.

[Paelos]

Actually, I'd wager that a larger percentage are honest and will BT it.

Somehow.

Maybe, I'm certainly not expert on how the Bnet thing will be cracking down on illegal copies.

[Typhon]

It doesn't impact me at all.

What is troubling (as other's have said in this thread) is that it seems to signal a change within Blizzard that it cares less about the game and the customer.

I'm much more concerned about the map-making changes, but maybe I'm reading them wrong.  The way I'm reading it you HAVE to use b-net, at least to share maps.  And any maps you share (including assets you create and upload to support the map) become the intellectual property of Blactivision.

I think most user-generated content is crap, but that doesn't mean there haven't been real gems (DotA and FFH2) that, for different reasons, I don't think the initial game creator could/would have made.  Why would I want to bust my ass to create something that immediately becomes someone else's property?  I wouldn't.  I can't imagine anyone with talent and drive would want that either.

Honestly I think I must be misunderstanding the intended purpose of that part of the eula.  Why go to so much effort to create a toolset that is so mod-friendly if you are going to then hamper it with an EULA clause that GUARANTEES that the only thing that will ever get created is complete crap that no one wants?  Makes no sense.

[Samwise]

What is troubling (as other's have said in this thread) is that it seems to signal a change within Blizzard that it cares less about the game and the customer.

I think they've figured out that their 10+ years worth of accumulated customer goodwill doesn't do them any good if they don't start burning a little of it to stay warm.   

They can get away with more dickishness than this and still retain the loyalty of most of their fanbase.

[Ingmar]

I don't think a single concern raised in this thread is something I care about at all. Not the no LAN play, not the region locking, not the map EULA, and as for the "omg they don't CARE anymore" thing, that's ... amusing, especially the charge that they don't care about making a good game. I'm not sure they've ever particularly cared about the customer more than any of the other competent studios. You could argue they cared less back then, given the rampant cheating that raged for YEARS on the old battle.net. If anything I think that the customer care has gotten better.

To listen to this thread you'd think they were Mythic or something. 

[funcro]

Voted "No" even though I'm not planning to buy for unrelated reasons.  I'm far too old and slow for micro-heavy RTS to appeal, anymore.  If I were going to buy, well, I'm far too old to have any nearby friends who still play games, so I'd need battle.net for any kind of multiplayer, anyway.

[trias_e]

I don't think a single concern raised in this thread is something I care about at all. Not the no LAN play, not the region locking, not the map EULA, and as for the "omg they don't CARE anymore" thing, that's ... amusing, especially the charge that they don't care about making a good game. I'm not sure they've ever particularly cared about the customer more than any of the other competent studios. You could argue they cared less back then, given the rampant cheating that raged for YEARS on the old battle.net. If anything I think that the customer care has gotten better.

To listen to this thread you'd think they were Mythic or something. 

Really?  I would think putting up b.net as a free service, connecting all of their games through it, and updating games 5-10 years after their release is pretty solid customer care.

Why would it have gotten better with sc2?

[Ingmar]

I don't know that it is getting better with SC2 specifically, but it has certainly gotten better since Starcraft originally came out.

Since the release of WoW Blizzard has had to build a real customer service organization. They're pretty fast to solve reported issues now, and they're much better about nailing cheaters than they used to be.

[UnSub]

Australia, you are not allowed to play with Europe and the US any more.

Although I am amused that Blizzard is working hard to offer cross-region support.

Ultimately, this is a cultural preference - I'm more able to play with Europeans / US than I am SE Asia players because our cultural differences are a lot less. Language is one thing, but it is only a small part of the cultural divide between Australia and (say) Indonesia.

[Paelos]

Makes sense. Why don't we just pair off the West Coast with the Japanese while we are at it? It's about the same distance. 

I can't imagine anything worse than being the only english speaking nation paired with an entirely Asian playerbase for multiplayer, personally. The cultural/language barriers would just suck the fun out of the game.

[Malakili]

Makes sense. Why don't we just pair off the West Coast with the Japanese while we are at it? It's about the same distance. 

I can't imagine anything worse than being the only english speaking nation paired with an entirely Asian playerbase for multiplayer, personally. The cultural/language barriers would just suck the fun out of the game.

At least they are working on a solution and listening to their playerbase.  Gives me some hope for the game at least.

[Rasix]

Makes sense. Why don't we just pair off the West Coast with the Japanese while we are at it? It's about the same distance. 

I can't imagine anything worse than being the only english speaking nation paired with an entirely Asian playerbase for multiplayer, personally. The cultural/language barriers would just suck the fun out of the game.

Heh, I've never had a conversation with anyone I'm playing in Starcraft II.  I think "lame cannon pusher" probably translates pretty well across cultures. 

I can see Australians probably having more Euro and American friends than Asians.

Still, it at least sounds like they're working a lot of stuff people griped about.  SC2armory and other places had links to blue posts on several hot button "esports" issues.

[Ingmar]

"gl hf" transcends borders

[Mosesandstick]

Most people in SEA speak good enough English that you can understand them when you need to and it's fucking hilarious when things go wrong.

[Sheepherder]

India.