Diablo 3 Console Item Duping: Blizzard Doesn't Care And Neither Should You

Diablo 3 players on Xbox 360 and PS3 have noticed their fellow adventurers are duplicating items or modifying them with outrageous stats. Blizzard doesn't seem worried about this and, frankly, they shouldn't be.

Blizzard community manager "Nevalistis" explained on the forums that these item exploits are the result of the lack of an online requirement.

"In order to bring Diablo III to consoles, we knew significant changes were going to be necessary to make the game accessible to the widest possible console audience," Nevalistis said on the Battle.net forums. One of those changes was the option to play offline on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. A byproduct of this feature is that these save files don't require verification, which lets you jump straight into slaughtering the minions of Hell."

"While exploring ways to discourage exploitative behavior is something we're continuing to do (so thank you for your reports), players appear to be enjoying their battles through Sanctuary and finding great loot along the way. Based on feedback we've received, we believe this experience has more value than simply copying another person's set of gear."

In other words, Blizzard's admitting that players can cheat but there's little they can do to actively prevent them. They have faith that players who want to get the most enjoyment out of the game will play honestly.

If you're a player who spent hours and hours developing your character, you might be upset that others can get a full set of powerful items through exploits. I can understand that anger or frustration. That being said, though, it's not like you have to play with cheaters. You can play exclusively with friends or back out of any games with exploiters.

If you feel any emotion toward these cheaters, it ought to be pity. They're not making the game any more fun for themselves. The joy of finding the perfect piece of loot in a pile of corpses after hours of dungeon-crawling is the heart of Diablo 3. Cheaters are preventing themselves from feeling the satisfaction of good fortune.

It's not like any higher purpose of being solved by cheating, either. The game's not all that hard to begin with. Furthermore, it's not like you can sell your hacked items on the auction house; the console versions don't have an auction house and soon the PC/Mac versions won't, either. Concerns about PvP fair-play are understandable but Blizzard has no plans to turn the game into an eSport. Hackers might frustrate you occasionally if you're looking for a fair duel but there's no ranking system for them to up-end.

Blizzard's new "hack if you want but it's not going to be fun" strategy is ultimately a lot better than their authoritarian tactics on the PC and Mac versions of D3. That approach led to an always-online requirement, bans, and territory-wide shutdowns. They poured hours into policing a game that, for many, is just an occasional diversion for themselves and maybe a couple friends. I'm glad they've decided to chill out. Hopefully everyone else follows suit.