WinXP and 2nd copy of D2x v1.10 on bnet

[Crystalion]

Why would you do this without programs when you can do it with?

To me this is the same as asking "since you can do this, why doesn't Blizzard make it a feature?--they're making money off the additional sales (of CD-Keys) after all".

My answer in both cases is identical: Blizzard didn't choose to.

That is to say, Blizzard has chosen to declare that modifying your game files is forbidden. They have gone to the trouble to claim the right to take (and demonstrate) punitive action at will against those they believe to be doing forbidden things.

Whether I personally agree with Blizzard's choices isn't the immediate question for me. The question I ask myself is this: if there is a "hard" but kosher and valid patch-to-patch method of playing multiple CD-Keys and there is also an "easy" but not-kosher and possible foobar patch-to-patch method, which do I choose?

In my case, for D2, when I expect to play on the Blizzard provided BNet service, I chose the "hard" kosher way. For Hellfire and then D1, for private play, after Blizzard took "forever" to fix bugs, I not only chose to fix them myself, but to make the information on the fixes available to the D1 owning public (and long after, Blizzard did fix the majority of the bugs--for D1, not Hellfire--that afficinados considered serious).

Until "IP" (intellectual property) has a legal precedent set for consumer rights (fat chance in this era of "as is, no warranty") we can continue to expect that lobbyists and the courts will side with those willing to spend money (aka the corporations) in favor of restrictive interpretations of fair use.

Naturally if you choose to sue Blizzard in court to establish your right to use a modified program (for your reasonable benefit, as a consumer), I'll be cheering for you.

Please forgive me if your question was meant to be rhetorical.