Changes

There will also be offline single player in Diablo III, but those characters will be unable to play over Battle.net, and since there is no LAN support for Diablo III, they'll never be able to play in a multiplayer game. They will also be unable to access numerous [[Battle.net]]-only game features, including [[trading]], the [[Arena]], the [[shared stash]], and more.  The planned level of non-support for single player in Diablo III is a very controversial issue and one that many fans have spoken out against.  ==Offline Single Player== The developers have stated their desire to "discourage"[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blue-on-online-single-player-diablo-iii/] players from using itthe offline play mode in Diablo III. Blizzard's stated reason is that playing online (solo or in a group) is more fun, that players will want to earn [[Achievements]] through Battle.net, that you can then use your characters in the [[Arena]], that you'll have access to friends lists and other ([[Facebook]])online social networking tools, that that having separate, non-B.net , single player characters in Diablo II was confusing and no fun.

Blizzard has not yet revealed details about how they'll be "discouraging" offline single player. Clearly PvP in the [[Arena]], as well as [[Achievements]] will not be included in offline single player, but it's not known if what other features will be missing.  ==Fan Objections== Fans have objected to this plan for numerous reasons. While its possible to simply play offline SP chars all the time, most people want to play online some of the time, and offline at other times. And plenty of people are limited to only playing offline. The most common is the most basic; people just don't like having their options removed from products they are paying for. About the least popular Stacraft 2 "feature" was its lack of LAN support, and while Diablo players haven't been quite as wellannoyed about the lack of LAN support in Diablo III, no one is very happy about it. Players recognize the necessity for Blizzard to fight piracy, and that making the online play experience more robust is a good way to do that. But them removing features to force online play feels very manipulative and corporate/[[Bobby Kotick]]/evil. The related issue is poor or expensive online access, or Battle.net downtimes. Common fan objections:* No internet access at home.* A metered internet connection that gets very expensive over a set limit.* Slow dial-up access.* Live in a region (especially South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand) with no local Battle.net servers and unplayably-high latency to servers in Europe, Asia, or America. * Realm down or other Battle.net problems = you can't play your online characters.

The other side of the coin from "discouraging" offline SP play is encouraging online SP (or MP) play. The developers have been vague about these benefits thus far, and aside from mentioning that there will be numerous Battle.net [[Achievements]] for Diablo III, and the [[Arena]] game mode, and a [[stash]] that is shared between all characters on the same account, little has been revealed.