A much overdue mass banning

[Hammerskjold]

Perhaps it is nostalgia. Perhaps my memory has become inaccurate due to the amount of time since the event. Whatever the case, I don't remember widespread duping until either just before or just after the release of LoD. I am fully willing to accept that it was there and I was oblivious, or simply do not remember. You are probably right on this point. Do we have an actual timeline for this? How long did it take for the cheats and exploits to come along?

I don't have exact info or memory of the exact timeline, but it was big enough for various websites to catalogue some of the common duped rares. I picked up D2 classic for myself maybe around 1.04, and I definitely remember some cheats were already there and made itself comfortable on the couch. I don't remember the exact time when the infamous duping method really started to circulate.

I know for sure I'm not the only one that remembers it.
http://forum.diii.net/showthread.php?t=342587

What do you think the state of the game would be if Blizzard ran a banscan once a week? I think a large portion of the cheaters are willing to suck it up and pay another thirty bucks every couple of years if their account gets banned, but how many would be willing to do so monthly or weekly? (And I'm not trying to imply that this would fix everything, simply that there are further extremities that Blizzard could have gone to which were not necessarily out of realistic possibility.)

That's just it. To the best of my knowledge, Bliz could run a full RustStorm, with no advanced warning to really clean house. As many times as they want. The question is not of technical prowess. The real question is it in their best -financial- interest to do so?

Back to the main point, it seems to be possible to keep an online game relatively clean. It's simply a matter of the parent company putting the money and man-hours into the system. The back end here is of course developing a good repertoire with the fans. I have seen firsthand that people will sink more money into a company that they feel will maintain their game better.

Maybe it's my cynicism, but I'd contend that bliz or the company that signs their paychecks, already looked at the majority of their fan base. To me bliz's actions does cater to most of them or at least not do anything to drive them off b.net permanently even if they could, because like any company they will listen to the majority.

One look at the general public realm should convince you of the observation that fan base does -not- include us.