Do you prefer Online or Offline?

Good day!

I've been playind Diablo 2 since patch 1.09 and always offline. I only played offline because I did not have access to the internet (I live in east Europe). I bought D2R on release day, but never tried online. Currently I am waiting for Blizzard to finish/fix the RotW DLC and then I will purchase it and I was wondering if I would be missing out if I don't play the season 14 ladder. I can not play PvP online games because my internet has 150 ping, with 600 ping spikes every 10 seconds (I live in isolated village).

If you play both online and offline, what is your experience and/or oppinion on the difference between the two? Which one do you prefer and why?

I enjoy Diablo 2 a lot, I love farming Nightmare

Andariel for low level items and I enjoy playing my characters with low level items like

Skin of the Vipermagi,

Angelic Wings with Halo,

Razortail,

Kuko Shakaku,

Wizendraw, Smoke runeword, Crescent Moon Runeword, etc. I once had a paladin with Hoto, CTA, Chains of Honor (offline) and I got these items via playing TZ's (had 114 hours on him, but died in hardcore). Doesn't bother me if I can't trade for items, I can still have fun.

Hi there!

Personally, I much prefer online for actual gameplay.
Even for solo play, I'd rather be online because that constant option of "could just make a backup and keep rerolling everything much as I want" offline inherently somewhat devalues when things do go right in my mind. Even if you don't actively (ab)use it. Probably more of a mentality thing than anything else.

Beyond that, despite being mostly solo (as that's kind of the nature of the game), I still enjoy having the option of playing with/helping people when I feel like it. Along with trading in the pursuit of actual top-tier endgame setups that just wouldn't be realistic to ever achieve offline/SSF in any legit way. Especially not for more than 1 character.

That said, I do remain quite jealous of offline /p8..lvling and active farming are definitely way easier offline than they are online because of it. Plus you get to have at least a little more of a challenge.

But yeah, at the end of the day, real game play for me is online and offline is merely a tool for planning, experimenting and playtesting various builds along the way.
It is however limited to mainly just my local region as cross-ocean pings tend to be pretty bad these days. Only dealing with that for trading purposes. But since you have the game anyways, you can just log in once and see what your connection is really like before committing to anything.

If you're waiting for blizzard to "finish/fix" the game/RotW, you could be waiting for a LONG time. Quite possibly for Eternity. And it is perfectly playable right now. Merely comes with some FotM OP choices that will still be there after the next patch but will likely be different builds offering the same (or higher..) performance. That isn't going away by any means but you can simply actively choose not to roll with that build.

Also, online or not, ladder seasons remain entirely optional.
Let's be realistic: you won't stand a chance in the ladder race playing "like a normal person". Ever. Even if you take a week off work for it, you simply will not be able to compete with the streamers/dedicated groups who have an entire support network of peons doing their trading for them and instantly filling their games so they effectively get online /p8. Unless blizz at some point decides to finally even the playing field and give us said online /p8, noone but those people will realistically ever even come close to competing in a ladder race. So just ignore that. If they ever do..you could at least keep up with some decent drop luck (to make up for their trading support network).
Ladder does have the advantage that a new season is new for everyone so you get to start in a "healthy" trading economy. Non-ladder, as someone coming in Brand new, you'll need a fair bit of luck or will simply have a fairly hard time to catch up to the point of affording endgame pieces. On the flip-side, non-ladder, you can get entire low to mid gear setups for free so there is that as well. Plus you do get access to crafting the handful of ladder-only items on ladder.
Either way, whether you start with the next season or the one after that or 5 more down the road, doesn't change anything about that really. You're never "missing out" in any sense other than "you're not doing something that might be fun for you".

Sarrah_Why_Not wrote: 2 hours ago

Good day!

I've been playind Diablo 2 since patch 1.09 and always offline. I only played offline because I did not have access to the internet (I live in east Europe). I bought D2R on release day, but never tried online. Currently I am waiting for Blizzard to finish/fix the RotW DLC and then I will purchase it and I was wondering if I would be missing out if I don't play the season 14 ladder. I can not play PvP online games because my internet has 150 ping, with 600 ping spikes every 10 seconds (I live in isolated village).

If you play both online and offline, what is your experience and/or oppinion on the difference between the two? Which one do you prefer and why?

I enjoy Diablo 2 a lot, I love farming Nightmare

Andariel for low level items and I enjoy playing my characters with low level items like

Skin of the Vipermagi,

Angelic Wings with Halo,

Razortail,

Kuko Shakaku,

Wizendraw, Smoke runeword, Crescent Moon Runeword, etc. I once had a paladin with Hoto, CTA, Chains of Honor (offline) and I got these items via playing TZ's (had 114 hours on him, but died in hardcore). Doesn't bother me if I can't trade for items, I can still have fun.

To answer your question - I play both online and offline.

My online accounts are really just playtesting builds until I commit. Its actually super easy to find a save game editor, and or just use the in game commands to like give yourself free respects, etc.
Online, IMO, is so much more fun for a multitude of reasons. Once you start playing with friends. the game becomes way more fun (again, IMO) and way less grindy.
The only thing you really miss out on by not playing ladder is the new runewords.

To address your internet concerns - are on on console or PC?
On console its super easy to give yourself a static IP from your router, and then make sure you are hardlined in and not using wifi. This will help tremendously.
On PC it's also not hard to do, just usually a cpl extra steps in your network settings and it will noticeably lower those spikes. Another thing I did on PC (I play on PSN and PC) is lowered some of my graphics settings. My Pc can handle graphics, but when you lower them it gives the game a little more time to process everything, esp with slow internet.

I can either find steps for you to help, or I'm sure someone on this site may just respond with the corresponding steps for you.

Thank you for sharing you experience!

When it comes to items, I get huge satisfaction from finding my own gear. 20 hours farming NM Andy for an SoJ, no problem, love it. 50 hours farming TZ's for a

Vex rune for a Flickering Flame runeword, no problem, love it.

I used to play on PS4 since release day. I then recently bought a PC and bought D2R, so now I only play on PC.

The internet problem I have is a bit more complex. When it is raining or snowing, the internet shuts off. When my neighbors come home from work and start using their internet, then the 600 ping spikes start happening every 10 seconds. There is a antenna for a neighborhood.

Well, then if you love the grind you aren't really missing much other than trading and maybe getting a rush on a new character bc Offline Single Player - you already have access to all the runewords in the game, even the ladder only ones.

Ahhh, I see what you mean about the internet thing now.

Now i'm really interested on know more about where you live! always have a soft spot for isolated places. Make such a great atmosphere for everything.

I always play online because of the points @Schnorki describe perfectly.

I love offline solo self found! too. I always Dream about make an online team found and play that way. Helping each other on upgrade our chars and complete self imposed challenges (no trade allowed with external people).

In the very beginning the idea of playing online had no appeal. When LOD was released I can't remember exactly why, but after I finished Act 5 I curiously opened Bnet. Since 2003 I have now been 100% online only. Closest I have come is MS FlightSim 2020 which I hardly touch.

Some people prefer to play a video game for the Peace and quiet, to disengage and relax. For that I have other hobbies that are not social interactive (photography, astronomy, astro-photography). Online video games allow me to have some social interaction without having to do much. I live far from the city, at an age I do not go out much, in a state that is often frozen half the year. So online during January on a week night is the perfect way to not be sitting at home all alone. Also the reason as the season changes, temperature changes, so does my gaming habit. Why I was so angry they released D4 in the summer, also why I lasted 1 week with that game.

As it is now I am trying to motivate myself to get back to D2R shortly to do some trading for keys & statues, all with the expectation I will be back regularly come November, December, etc.

I like both, but offline is more of a challenge, and it's what I did most as a youngin'