In the month of September, Blizzard launched Diablo II: Resurrected - a remaster of its classic ARPG hack-and-slash, originally released on computers two decades ago.
While this remaster encountered some teething issues at launch, players were (mostly) still able to access the online mode, grind levels and access their character saves. Somehow though, over the past week, it's all fallen apart on Blizzard's end and a lot of players (across all platforms) are struggling to just log into the game. Some have even lost characters along the way, thanks to the ongoing server outages.
Although patches and fixes have been issued in an attempt to rectify the situation, it seems many players are still encountering the same problems. It's now got to the point on social media, where the hashtag #RefundD2R is beginning to gain traction - some have already refunded their own digital copies of the game on consoles, but this is not possible for anyone who purchased the game directly from Blizzard.
Our colleagues over at Pure Xbox have also noted how they've had issues logging into the game on multiple occasions - with it sometimes taking upwards of seven or eight attempts just to access their saves.
Blizzard has also issued a lengthy update on its website, here's the summary:
"Our server outages have not been caused by a singular issue; we are solving each problem as they arise, with both mitigating solves and longer-term architectural changes. A small number of players have experienced character progression loss–moving forward, any loss due to a server crash should be limited to several minutes. This is not a complete solve to us, and we are continuing to work on this issue. Our team, with the help of others at Blizzard, are working to bring the game experience to a place that feels good for everyone.
"We’re going to get a little bit into the weeds here with some engineering specifics, but we hope that overall this helps you understand why these outages have been occurring and what we’ve been doing to address each instance, as well as how we’re investigating the overall root cause. Let’s start at the beginning."
Read Blizzard's full explanation about the Diablo II: Resurrected server outages.
How has your own experience been with D2:R since it arrived on the Switch? Tell us down in the comments.
[source kotaku.com, via purexbox.com]
Comments 40
Such an iconic game - though primitive by today's standards, in its day, it set the bar high for all of the loot-based dungeon crawlers to follow. So, like - how is there still no review for it yet? Are you guys just waiting around for a server to work?
Blizzard either needs to drop their Battle.net requirement bullcrap and let us play offline, or have these issues fixed BEFORE launching the game?
This issure combined with the battle.net drm is what made me uninstall the game in full; mainly because I've never had a battle.net account and I shouldn't be forced to have one to play the game offline, especially the digital version.
It's as if Blizzard learned nothing from the Diablo 3 launch.
It’s a shame 20 years later Blizzard still can’t handle a game launch with their servers. 😂
Solid game though. I’ve been able to get a few chars into Nightmare and my Summon Necro nearly to Hell - this is all online only, didn’t see a reason to play offline really atm unless I can’t connect. For today’s standards, easy 8/10, but from a huge fan of the original D2 for years and years, D2R is easily a 9/10 for me. Lotta QoL adjustments and graphical improvements while leaving the the game largely the same. More over, amazing job cramming a Keyboard and Mouse based game onto a controller comfortably! This deserves 2 points alone…
Edit - I agree with the battle.net being a requirement is crap. Back in the day, bnet was amazing, and allowed you to cross chat with other friends while they played other games, and such. However, nowadays standards the servers aren’t the best, communication is better off done on something like discord, and so on…. The only reason Blizzard is leaving bnet attached is control of cheating/modding abilities. While agree with that aspect, it does suck we can’t p2p with offline chars like the original.:.. then server issues would largely be moot point,
Edit 2 - Pro Tip, enable Airplane mode on your switch, boot up D2, and then you can play offline chars without connecting to bnet.
@Andy_Witmyer There's nothing on the back end of the site, so I'm honestly not sure. I'll follow this up though.
@SeantheDon29 Error 37, never forget!
Stopped playing 2 weeks ago because of it. everytime i wanna play - char not available, battle.net down or disconnects -_- / refund wasnt possible, also i'd like to have diablo 3 digital rather than to swap out cartridges. hope this "indie" company will fix those problems soon....wait ....
Doesn't surprise me. Blizzard are horrible now days. Dialbo 3 was not a good game. And only sheep seem to like anything blizzard come up with now days.
@moodycat Hey! Who did you contact to request a refund? Was it through Twitter etc? I'm in Europe, any idea who I can contact about a refund?
...Isn't Blizzard that messed up sexist studio or something?
@moodycat Thanks, I'll give that a shot, good luck!
@Andy_Witmyer I was also wondering why there is no review here. Though this is purely a Nintendo website so it might be that they underestimate the impact this game had back in the days on PC.
And this is another reason why I dont trust Cloud Gaming, the same thing can (and will) happen.
Yes, i know this isnt a Cloud game, but.....
@Joeynator3000 Probably too busy concentrating on their sexual harassment lawsuit to fix games.
'Cloud is the future'... yeah, right...
Right after I authenticated on my Switch I went offline. I do not get the need for Online on Diablo 2. Never liked playing with other people in that game particularly.
For me it is a single player game.
@eRaz0r
continue
I haven't had any issues, maybe I was lucky. anyway, I know somebody already asked but where's the review? are you boycotting blizzard because of the recent scandal? don't tell me you just missed it because you had to review fistifluffs and colors live
Support a trash company, get trash
Indie company am i right?
Put in hundreds and hundreds of hours in to it back in the day already, not really worth it for me to replay it just because it looks slightly better. Good to see bnet is still horrible though.
@Joeynator3000 There's also Ubisoft, Paradox, In fact too many to really just focus on one. So I understand the easy confusion in remembering solely Activision's scumbaggery. The industry reeks of it everywhere.
At this point you're kinda doing it to yourself for buying a Blizzard game.
Just choose an offline character if you are playing solo. Haven't encountered any issues.
The game is still as fun as it was 21 years ago and absolutely worth it.
Question for “hardcore” D2 fans…
How does D2 feel playing on a controller?
@RandomNerds For me as someone who plays Diablo 2 since launch, it is even better than a mouse + keyboard.
People complain about the inventory management but I just think that they are simply bad with controllers. Same with people that complain about FPS with controllers.
The biggest plus for me is that when I bind the a spell to a button and press the button the spells is cast. With keyboard and mouse you have to bind the spell, press the key and then press the mouse button. This was the biggest drawback for me!
Hardcore players might disagree but that is just because they already got use to it
There is a drawback ofc and that is the precision spells like Meteor, Blizzard, Corpse Explosion, Fire Wall and some others area of effect or selective. But even with that I have no BIG problems.
Managed to get to Hell difficulty with Paladin (Act IV) and with Sorceress (Act I).
Also you can see all of your bound spells on the screen before casting with controller setup.
@Zuljaras Thank's for the awesome reply. I think I'm going to pick this up after the launch issues smooth out a bit.
@Meteoroid @Zuljaras @RandomNerds As a player from back in the day who had this consume his life for way too many lonely years (and also recently still played on my work laptop), the controls do feel right at home.
As mentioned, the inventory system can take a little getting use to, but everything is mapped to buttons so when you get use to what does what you can handle everything quickly and efficiently. The remaster also helps a lot with being able to map more than two different attacks / skills at once, also to just a simple button prompt.
The only issue I have found with the controller (and I could be just blind not seeing a better way here) is sorting inventory to your stash. From what I can tell you have to move everything individually one section at a time. So it is quite a bit more time consuming than with mouse as well as more annoying if you need to organise your stash to fit items optimally. Do let me know though if there is a more efficient way to micro manage specifically to your stash, would be very helpful.
@XenoShaun In your stash screen just cursor over to the item you want to move to your stash, press AND hold "Y" it will immediately move it to the stash if there is place available.
If you only tap "Y" you will drop the item. If you are confused just look at the text at the bottom of the screen when you are in the stash screen
@Zuljaras I'll definitely remember that next time I play. I was getting tired moving every dang gem individually haha.
Do you have to log in to play if you are using an offline character? Or is the login thing only if you plan on doing multiplayer?
Probably why they won't release this game physically. Also, there are no physical cartridges of Diablo III which I was hoping to grab, so I could play 2 and 3. Now, none of that happens. Nice job Blizzard.
@Meteoroid I played this back in 2000 too. Sure it's as good as it was then but with the added caveat that it literally cannot be played at the moment.
@BloodNinja It tries to automatically connect to bnet if your switch is online. If you toss it in Airplane mode you can play your offline chars without having to connect.
@Purgatorium depends, if playing offline and using airplane mode then the game is just fine. But yea, online def has hiccups atm. Luckily I’ve not been experiencing the issues here. I’ve got a lvl 56 Summon Necro, a 26 Sorc, a 25 Druid, a 24 Paladin, a 15 Zon…. All online.
I primarily play between 3pm and 3am CST, so that should be peak hours, and I rarely have a connection issue.
@Dm9982 That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear, thanks a million! If it sees a physical release I’m jumping on it.
@BloodNinja Np! I had to test it today as I wasn’t sure. I assumed for the last month that Offline was actually locked behind Online due to the auto connect to Bnet. Then I thought, “I bet it’s like MHR/MHST2…. It auto tries, but if airplane mode is active, it allows it….”
Sure enough, just like those. D2R is great, especially if you’re a fan from the original, or a fan of Borderlands (it’s MUCH more like Borderlands than it is like Diablo 3)….
@Dm9982 I'm excited to play on a controller, after all these years! I STILL play the original (slightly modded) on my PC, though!
@BloodNinja the port team did great with the controls. I’m still amazed at how fluid it handles on a controller considering the KB&M origins. What’s more, the even included the original graphics options if you want to run it that way. Crazy stuff.
Can never control the blizzard servers, so I can’t fault the game for that as much as the company. But the game itself is just as great as it was 20 years ago
@Dm9982 I appreciate you always getting back in touch with good information! Thank you!
@BloodNinja not a prob! If/when ya get it, and if you decide to go online I can help rush ya to/through Hell if ya want. Depending on how far I’ve made it by then, lol. Just hit Act 4 on NM today, should be into Hell by Sunday if the kiddos allow lol
@Dm9982 Thanks for the offer! I don't mind playing through normally, plus I don't use NSO!
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...