Much of this post originally ran in July 2009, but the issue is still on the minds of gamers. We've edited the post to add some thoughts now that the game has launched, and added a section at the end dealing with the rumors of officially supported LAN play. We wanted to revisit the issue again to drive this point home: even if it doesn't directly hurt Blizzard's bottom line, LAN play matters.

When the first stories began to spread about StarCraft 2 not supporting LAN play, the Internet began to grumble with discontent. Sure, there were the usual online petitions and griping on various gaming forums, but there was a sense that something big had been taken from us. Why were people so upset about the exclusion of LAN play? It has much to do with nostalgia, and much to do with why so many of us fell in love with StarCraft in the first place.

Blizzard's reasons for not supporting LAN play boil down to ensuring a "quality multiplayer experience" and enabling additional safeguards against piracy. The solution to the multiplayer problem is "encouraging" everyone to use Battle.net as much as possible to take advantage of things like the advanced communication options, achievements, and other things such as stat tracking. Playing offline, directly connected to other computers, is simply not part of the plan. Keeping the game safe from pirates trumps our love of gaming in smoky basements filled with too much junk food.

StarCraft was one of the most LAN-friendly games on the market when it was first released, giving players the option to install a "spawn" of the game on the other computers using one CD key. This spawned install allowed multiplayer with up to eight players, meaning that if you had one copy of the game, you could invite seven friends over with their systems and no one else needed to buy the game. The new version of this is a seven-hour guest pass we found in our Collector's Edition of the game. That's not quite the same thing.

Blizzard was so loved because it was a gamer-friendly company that gave us more than we asked for, and surprised us with things like a free online service and spawned installs. Now, if you want to hook up a few computers in your basement without an Internet connection, you won't be able to play against each other at all. The LAN party is a dying thing in the world of built-in voice chat and high-speed Internet connections, but it's not dead yet... especially among those who grew up playing StarCraft.

LAN games, which offer the luxury of not worrying about hooking everyone up to the Internet, just aren't seen as important any more. Even Dungeons and Dragons, the table-top game, is using computers for more and more of the role-playing. We old-timers who want our electronic gaming with less... well, technology, aren't happy with some of these changes.

Luckily for Blizzard, this probably won't affect its bottom line. In a poll in Opposable Thumbs we asked the readers what they thought of this news, and with 4,400 respondents we were able to test the waters. Fifty-two percent said that Blizzard has earned some trust, so they're going to wait to see what the final, new version of Battle.net looks like, and 21 percent said they're going to pick the game up without any concern over LAN play or a three-game campaign. Twenty-six percent (1,165 votes) said they're going to pass on the game completely. Now that the game has launched, the absence of LAN play has proven to be a real concern for our readers. The game is still going to be a hit, but we're hearing from many people that this is the reason they're passing on it, especially if they live in an area with spotty or slow Internet service.

We'll see how many of those people break down and buy the game for the single-player campaign. What's clear is that a large part of gaming's past is being deemphasized. This story isn't over, but for now, LAN gamers are going to angrily shake our canes at the younger gamers and even—amazingly!—Blizzard, the company that used to be so welcome to frolic on our lawn.

Does a version of the game with LAN support exist?

There have been reports of a Korean version of the game with LAN play included, but a story confirming this has since been debunked. "We will be addressing StarCraft II tournament functionality in a post-launch patch to the game, soon after ship. This patch will include features to address the needs of location-based pro tournaments, but we have not discussed any specifics about tournament support beyond that," Blizzard announced.

Will that patch include LAN support? Again, it's doubtful. Will Blizzard allow Korean events to use a version of the game that supports LAN play? That question is a little more open. Such a version of the game surely exists deep in the bowels of Blizzard's headquarters, perhaps to the left of the Ark of the Covenant. Hope may spring eternal, but controlling multiplayer via Battle.net is clearly a priority for everyone involved, and the LAN issue doesn't seem to be hurting sales of the game. Rumors of LAN support coming to the game will nonetheless persist, even if they are made of wishful thinking and blind hope.