Blizzard May Enforce 40-Second Delays at Diablo 3 Launch
Blizzard has published its Launch Day Preparation Guide for Diablo 3.
Blizzard has published its Launch Day Preparation Guide for Diablo 3, and reveals that the company may enforce a 40-second delay when logging into the game on May 15. This is to make sure everyone has a stable experience as gamers leap onto the servers after waiting nearly 12 years for the third installment.
"As we’ve unlocked the Diablo 3 installer early, many people will be ready to log in right when the servers go live at midnight, so we’re going to be closely monitoring the impact on the service," Blizzard states. "It’s possible we’ll need to adjust the rate at which we’re logging people in to ensure a stable experience, and if we do you may see a delay when attempting to login. Please be aware that a delay of up to 40 seconds is possible while the game attempts to connect you."
"If your connection doesn’t succeed in 40 seconds, you’ll be presented with an Error 37 message and asked to try again," the company adds. "If you see this error it does in fact mean that you should try again. We’ll be working around the clock to keep you informed of any issues that are occurring through the in-game breaking news window, as well as the official forums."
The guide also points out that fans can purchase the game now via Blizzard. The installer will actually be unlocked at 8:01 a.m. PDT on May 14 so that users can begin to install the game, troubleshoot any issues that may occur, download and install the launch day 1.0.1 patch, and be ready to play as soon as the servers come online.
"We’ll be turning on Global Play when the game has launched in all regions," Blizzard says. "This means that you will not be able to play in a region outside your home region until after the Americas’ midnight launch at 12:01 a.m. PDT on May 15. We’ll provide an update once Global Play is enabled, and you’ll then be able to change the region you connect to through the game’s options."
Characters, items, and friends lists will not transfer across regions, and players who use Global Play to connect outside of their home region will only be able to access the gold-based auction house, Blizzard reports.
The Americas servers -- which include the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and South East Asia -- open at: 12:01 a.m. PDT, May 15. For the complete Diablo 3 preparation guide, head here.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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memadmax Wouldn't need this crap if the game didn't need an "always on" internet connection!Reply
>_ -
Your telling me that after all these years with WoW, and it's 10 million users connecting all the time they can't manage to make a diablo3 server that cant handle the load?Reply
Excuse me while I laugh. -
dudewitbow that 40 second delay defeats the purpose of all those gamers who have ssd/oc gaming cpu/awesome internet configurations to load games fasterReply -
PTNLemay lol, the epic-ness of this release will shake the foundations of the internet!Reply
So take caution. -
proxy711 dudewitbowthat 40 second delay defeats the purpose of all those gamers who have ssd/oc gaming cpu/awesome internet configurations to load games fasterThe delay is for logging into battle.net not loading between char creation and loading into the game. SSDs and fast internet wont be rendered useless.Reply -
esrever SkeetersaladYour telling me that after all these years with WoW, and it's 10 million users connecting all the time they can't manage to make a diablo3 server that cant handle the load?Excuse me while I laugh.Its not how many as how fast the servers can handle incoming connections at a time. There just are not enough ports for all the users before they get a connection link.Reply -
killerclick I never got why Diablo was/is so popular. How can it be compared to Baldur's Gate, Fallout or Planescape Torment? I remember playing it for an hour or so when it came out, Diablo II maybe for 15-20 minutes and it was just too simplistic.Reply -
jhansonxi killerclickI never got why Diablo was/is so popular. How can it be compared to Baldur's Gate, Fallout or Planescape Torment? I remember playing it for an hour or so when it came out, Diablo II maybe for 15-20 minutes and it was just too simplistic.It's a fantasy-themed combat game, not an RPG. The story is only there to give some purpose to the wholesale slaughter. It's the class-based structure and variety of character enhancements that allow for complex strategy and hordes of targets to test against.Reply
I wonder what Brother Laz will come up with for the Median XL sequel. -
wildkitten If there was offline single player mode, this would not need be an issue for those wanting to play by themselves through the PvE storyline. The excuse of "Server needs to control the drops so as to combat duping items to put on the RMAH" has been rendered bogus because of the fact that due to world play, when someone gets items off their home region they can't put them on the RMAH. If they can tag those items to not be able to put on the AH, they could just as easily make it so that the coding of offline, locally controlled items could not be placed on the AH.Reply