Bliz splits with KeSPA

[KadajSouba]

As somebody said, make the game check online connection to check your key. And thats it. You can play LAN without any piracy problems. I really really dont see the reason from Blizzard for cutting LAN.

[The_Blade]

The problem is that a bulldoser called cracks might abuse LAN support even if it is protected by key registrey. So in some way, a skilled programmer might break the lock and sell SC2 as yet another pirate game.

[Maul]

The problem is that a bulldoser called cracks might abuse LAN support even if it is protected by key registrey. So in some way, a skilled programmer might break the lock and sell SC2 as yet another pirate game.

Yes this is true. Checking for the key to access LAN sounds good and all, but the problem with that is someone can release a crack to bypass or trick the game to work around it. Whereas if they don't implement the feature it's much harder to work around it that way.

[Noctis]

I get a feeling that Blizzard has an army at the ready to continuously fix and reinforce the game to prevent piracy.

[TheEconomist]

As somebody said, make the game check online connection to check your key. And thats it. You can play LAN without any piracy problems. I really really dont see the reason from Blizzard for cutting LAN.

If LAN is included in the game then I don't think they have as much legal control over the broadcasting of their games. This was analyzed before in some article. I wish I still had it.

[Noctis]

When it comes down to it, LAN is becoming and more or less is something of the past. Considering the US is now gunning for 100 MB net which will prolly hit 1GB thanks to google, considering Korea already has net service at those speeds, the need for LAN to reduce latency is lame excuse. The only setback would the be the network structure, something is what im assuming is holding back region-free play, but its also something i completely expect Blizzard to finetune and upgrade. Look at WoW, the servers have come a VERY long way from what they were. Hell Ironforge was lag-fest until they finally figured out how to tweak the servers. Considering B.Net 2.0 is basically the heart of all Blizzard games, itll be fine-tuned a lot and i expect region-free gaming in the near future

[don]

The problem is that a bulldoser called cracks might abuse LAN support even if it is protected by key registrey. So in some way, a skilled programmer might break the lock and sell SC2 as yet another pirate game.

Thing is, even without LAN, the game will be cracked. So Blizzard is punishing those who are buying legit copies the most.

When it comes down to it, LAN is becoming and more or less is something of the past. Considering the US is now gunning for 100 MB net which will prolly hit 1GB thanks to google, considering Korea already has net service at those speeds, the need for LAN to reduce latency is lame excuse. The only setback would the be the network structure, something is what im assuming is holding back region-free play, but its also something i completely expect Blizzard to finetune and upgrade. Look at WoW, the servers have come a VERY long way from what they were. Hell Ironforge was lag-fest until they finally figured out how to tweak the servers. Considering B.Net 2.0 is basically the heart of all Blizzard games, itll be fine-tuned a lot and i expect region-free gaming in the near future

Well, higher bandwidth will certainly reduce lag but it wont reduce latency. Blizz cant make data travel faster than light, so they can optimize BNET to a point, but it will never have the same reaction time as LAN.

If LAN is included in the game then I don't think they have as much legal control over the broadcasting of their games. This was analyzed before in some article. I wish I still had it.

Now, this is the best reason Ive heard and the one that makes most sense.

[Centipede]

Thing is, even without LAN, the game will be cracked. So Blizzard is punishing those who are buying legit copies the most.

I very much doubt the removal of LAN is just a way to counteract piracy. If that is the case then I think it's a pretty foolish move considering some of the very clever things pirates have come up with in the past.

I'm also fairly sure that we'll see emulator networks following the game's release.

If LAN is included in the game then I don't think they have as much legal control over the broadcasting of their games. This was analyzed before in some article. I wish I still had it.

This makes far more sense than an attempt at battling piracy.

[SaZun]

It seems more like they are pissy about the pirating more so than the advertising. keSPa and other companies completely pirated the game and modified it to exclude blizzard in every way without ever paying royalties or paying any regard towards copy right laws.

Look at ICCup you don't pay for it. You just download the program and install it and voila your online.

[TheRabidDeer]

I think the current beta is a good demonstration of how good their system has been at preventing piracy. Beta has been out for like 2+ months already and nobody has figured out how to play with other people yet (if you arent in the beta), just against AI computers.