[Ivan-Flagship]

There are huge threads about various HG:L topics on this and other boards. Huge! I haven't the time for all that, especially the OT stuff in the middle. And, since I am lazy, suffering from A.D.D., and completely illiterate, I choose not to read any of them. Instead, I'm just going to look at the headers and post these little updates.

The other day Peter Hu laughed about how everything I claimed to be a certainty on the boards was almost immediately changed in the game. Such is the nature of iterative design, so please understand if everything I say becomes a lie in the very near future.

As of April 28, 2007...
There will be no LAN play in Hellgate: London.

Why?
It's a security risk. We have closed servers. We don't want other people learning how to circumvent our laser grid of defenses. We don't want other people running their own fake HG:L servers and ripping people off.

Why does it suck and why is it good?
No LAN doesn't suck at all. I know, I'm supposed to say things like that. It's somewhere in my job description. But when you really think about it... Who the fuck cares? LAN was great when we didn't have broadband. It's also awesome if you're willing to lug your stupid computer around all over the place. But HG:L runs on closed servers and we have free online multiplayer that's every bit as robust as Diablo II. So why even bother with LAN?