Blizzard yanks LAN from Starcraft II
Blizzard has announced that LAN (local area network) play will not be a feature of Starcraft II. Blizzard cited piracy concerns as one reason for their decision, and said that Battle.net would offer an appropriate alternative.
From Gamespot:
“We don’t currently plan to support LAN play with Starcraft II, as we are building Battle.net to be the ideal destination for multiplayer gaming with Starcraft II and future Blizzard Entertainment games,” a Blizzard representative said in a statement. “While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with Starcraft II and safeguard against piracy.”
The problem with this, of course, IMHO is that LAN play offers something that Battle.net does not…the ability to game with folks that are in the same room with you. I can’t stress enough that gaming together, physically, is an important aspect of family, and community, gameplay. Not just for the ability to game with people who are there with you, but what you do before and after gaming as well (like going out for pizza and soda to chat about the game and other things). It’s something that you just can’t do long-distance.
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