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Like always, these are the views and opinions of Amp only and are protected by the usage policy of this site.

In 2001, I bought Diablo II and the Lord of Destruction expansion the day of the expansion's release. When I beat the game I said if III ever happened I would buy it at launch day and that nothing would stop me. However, I now sit on this computer several days after launch without it. So let's take a brief look at what changed to convince me that it wasn't worth buying right now.

One reason was the announcement of the always on internet connection requirement. The moment this happened, it raised an immediate red-flag with me as while I can understand wanting to track information on characters and items, having this requirement is unnecessary if regular online checks were used. Also, given the rocky track record of games on launch day with this requirement, I decided to openly state that this would backfire even though I knew full well everybody would disagree. In a world where everybody now knows what Error 37 is, my opinion of this type of system being a bad idea has been vindicated.

Another reason was the price-tag itself. Sixty dollars for a PC game when fifty is the going rate for all other new releases? This was the reason that I didn't buy Starcraft II at launch. Given that the planned auction house stands to make Blizzard more money, I think they can at least do us a favor and not have such a steep pricetag.

Even knowing the first two reasons, I still had the game pre-ordered until one new development convinced me to cancel immediately. It would be a month before Diablo III's release that Rising Star Games announced that Cave shmup Akai Katana would be released on the same day for forty bucks. Given how rare Cave shmups are, this was enough to convince me that Diablo III can wait.

I will say upfront that the game itself is good and eventually I will get it. However, I want to see the technical issues with the always on internet connection requirement gone. Also, I want to get it at fifty dollars, which is the price that it should have been. Until this happens, I can easily do without this game.