However, playing offline D2R Items, as you could do in the first two games, wasn't an option. So eager players could not make progress whatsoever while Blizzard resolved the server issues. This problem didn't come in a complete shock: prior to the release and based off the playable Beta gamers were already complaining over the requirement for being always online.

"Right now, in the state it's currently in, it's an essentially flawed product" said John Walker for RPS. "A single-player video game that won't be able to pause and if you leave it running will boot you out and then stop the progress you've made."

However, Blizzard kept its course and the launch day disaster was the final blow. Further aggravating the situation, the requirement to be always online appeared connected to an online feature, and one that was most important to the game's issues during its early years.

Blizzard had a problem. In previous Diablo series, games' possibility to trade items had led to an illicit market for loot. Players hungry for the best gear were willing to pay, but this also left the door open for unscrupulous third-party companies and price-slashing. Blizzard recognized the dangers of an unofficial, unregulated marketplace for Diablo items, and thought it could be better off by establishing a legitimate, controlled one.

"The auction house was created out of the desire to be able to legally allow third party trading so that players could remain in the game and perform their trades rather than accessing third-party websites and consequently reduce fraud, scams, spamming, and profits in hacking games Diablo 2 Resurrected Items, making dupes, etc.," former game director Jay Wilson said in an interview with DiabloII.