Diablo 3 is a great game. It has a fantastic art style, fun combat system, and an addictive loot system. Played co-operatively with friends, it’s a blast. But, it is also a game with some fundamental issues. Diablo 3 is being torn apart by a schizophrenic design that tries to cater to diametrically opposed play-styles, doing neither extremely well and discouraging adherents of each.

The dichotomy centers around the design of the game in regards to it’s online functionality. Diablo 3 is both a single-player game and a quasi-MMO. Building on their first attempt with Starcraft 2, Blizzard have attempted to merge a rich single-player experience with the extended online functionality of an MMO.

On the one hand you have a rich and well-crafted game world and story and a franchise that was always a single-player game first. In the past Diablo games online functions were simply intended to extend the life of the game by letting you play with small groups of friends. On the other hand, Diablo 3 requires a constant internet connection to play, has an on-by-default general chat, and features an online economy centered around player-driven auction houses; all hallmarks of a true MMO such as World of Warcraft.

On paper, it sounds great to try and combine the two. Surely anyone playing the single-player game would be thrilled to be able to share their progress with friends/the world in real time, right? The auction house will surely satisfy that urge to buy and sell pixels and facilitate hunting down incremental equipment upgrades. By always being online, no one will be bothered by cheaters and dupers. Who wouldn’t want to be plugged into all these extras?

Apart from the folly of trying to impose a very extroverted experience (online interaction) on a very introverted experience (single-player), there’s also a conflict between expectations from these types of experiences. The online features of Diablo 3 impose technical realities that are completely unexpected from a single-player point of view.

All of a sudden server outages and congestion become a barrier to playing the game. Over the first week after game launch, servers were frequently down, preventing play completely. Suddenly it becomes a regular occurrence for lag to disrupt your control over the game-play experience, from barely noticeable hiccups to full-second freezes as the game client and server catch up. In a fast-paced game that demands quick reflexes, you can die due to technical issues outside your control.

While these issues are common to anyone that’s ever played an MMO or other online game, they are completely alien to the single-player experience of the Diablo franchise. By trying to fuse MMO functionality with a rich single-player experience, Blizzard has also imposed the technical limitations of the former on the latter.

Already, players are getting tired of a game design that seems more focused on the ‘fair’ balancing of an MMO than the fun of single-player games. The Diablo 3 forums are littered with complaints about MMO mechanics such as ‘enrage’ timers on elite monsters and bosses. Again, all par for the course in many MMOs. However, Diablo 3 is not an MMO.

A true MMO has constant random online interaction between players. Strangers bump into each other in the game world while performing quests. Equipment is shown off and admired as people brush by each other in city hubs. Chat channels are filled with indignant rage and irreverent humor about politics, religion, videogames, etc. Guilds get together for events and help each other out. None of this happens in Diablo 3.

Apart from playing co-op with friends, there is no massive shared game world. There are no city hubs where you run into random players. The chat channels are mostly filled with temporary accounts spamming links to websites offering gold for real money. Occasionally an adventurous soul makes a foray into the awkwardly omnipresent general chat with a timid ‘hi’. Guilds don’t exist. The online side of Diablo 3 is lifeless compared to any MMO. All of a sudden the always online requirement seems a little redundant. It certainly isn’t required outside co-op sessions.

For all the annoying technical limitations brought on by these online features, very little actual value is added. Absent a common auction house, why should anyone care if a player decides to cheapen their own experience with cheats and dupes? As mentioned, this is not an MMO. No one is running around comparing their gear or progress in a massive shared game world. The only people affected by cheats and dupes is your small circle of friends that you play co-op with, who will most likely frown on such behavior and will not be directly impacted anyway.

The working title for the game was "Auction House 3"It feels more like Blizzard is trying to protect the integrity of their online auction house, which they stated was partially created to protect people who, in previous Diablo games, used to purchase gold and trade items through shady websites, often rife with scammers. The transaction fee Blizzard earns on all sales in the real-money action house (RMAH) is obviously irrelevant.

Building sanctioned trading into the game is a complicated issue. Certainly, it benefits players to be able to trade gear and look for upgrades, but no one would agree that it is essential to the Diablo experience. Now, this functionality has imposed technical issues and design choices on the game that are detracting from the fun of the game and hurting legitimate customers. Instead of looking out for gamers looking for a fun game to play by themselves or with friends, they are catering to players with disposable income and an addiction to instant gratification.

Blizzard should be applauded for having the ambition and dedicating the resources to try and merge online functionality with rich content. When done right, it results in a truly exceptional experiences. As I mentioned in my Diablo 3 mini-review, the smooth co-op was one of the most attractive features of the game. However, the rest of the online functionality must be done right; it must justify it’s existence. If customers feel like fun has taken a backseat to experimentation and profit-making, they will be turned off by the experience.

While Diablo 3 is not subscription-based, Blizzard has stated they will be supporting this game for years to come. With their past successes, it’s clear they have the resources and capability to fix the very complicated situation they have created. Let’s hope they have some fun with it.