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up vote 4 down vote favorite

I know that the account is connected to your Battle.net account(I already have one through SC2 and she doesn't have any yet). I am buying the game tomorrow and I wish to know if one CD is enough. I doubt that Blizzard would allow this as this will obviously make them lose some sales(if a group of friends pool their money and pass the cd around and then play with just one cd alone).

Which brings me to my question:

  • does it need a CD to play? (SC2 doesn't so hopefully it doesn't also)
  • do I need to buy 2 games? I find it a waste of DVDs especially since you probably don't need the disc to play the game
  • is there like just a license purchase of some sort? Kind of like just buy an D3 account or something? Or do I have to buy a digital copy?
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4 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Yes. Diablo 3 does not allow offline play. If you want to play with someone else, they must each make it past the log-in screen... which means you will both require a separate copy and associated Diablo 3 licence.

Also of note is that you may only have one Diablo 3 per Battle.net account, so your wife will need to set up an additional Battle.net account to be able to play with you.

If you purchase a physical copy, however, you will be able to share the installation disk, but Diablo 3 does not require a CD to run.

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hmmm, i don't like the idea of having to download the game when I have the cd so if ever, I can buy the DVD AND the digital copy(for my wife) but I can use the DVD to install for both of us, right? So even if we used the same CD-key to install, we'll be using different battle.net accounts, right? – corroded May 15 '12 at 16:02
1  
@corroded essentially. The disc comes with a key, but the key isn't required to install the software, only to run it. You can re-use the install disc any number of times on any number of computers. – Raven Dreamer♦ May 15 '12 at 16:07
@corroded if you bought the DVD, anyone else on your LAN can just leech the installed D3 folder, even no need to install it. – Jeroen May 15 '12 at 17:50
what about if me 'User 1' has Admin Rights and my own battlenet account. And I have set up on my computer a windows account for 'User 2' as just a standard user. Is there any way for User 2 to log in to play diablo under my battle net account? Thanks :) – user25869 May 21 '12 at 19:05
No offline play? Well, I definitely won't be playing this, now... – GnomeSlice May 21 '12 at 20:34
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up vote 4 down vote
  • You do not need a CD to play
  • Your Diablo 3 license is tied to your Battlenet account; in other words, though you can use the installation disc to install the basic game on your computer, you will be unable to login to the game servers with your Battlenet account unless you have purchased a license.
  • As a result, you and your wife will need to buy two copies to play together. You could share one account, but note that this is against the game's TOS and could result in a permanent account ban(which means you would need lose access to all your characters, progress, and game license, forcing you to buy a new copy).
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2  
Just a note. Account sharing is against ToS and can result in a permanent account ban. – Adanion May 15 '12 at 16:14
@Adanion Ooh, didn't know that. Will amend my answer. – Mana♦ May 15 '12 at 16:36
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It's basically impossible to prove if you're living in the same house, though. – Raven Dreamer♦ May 15 '12 at 16:53
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ive got no problems with buying, i was just wondering if we do need to buy 2 DVDs which is a waste IMO since we're living in the same house. also, we plan to play together so I'm pretty sure we'll need 2 accounts. – corroded May 16 '12 at 0:58
up vote 2 down vote

If you both wish to play the game at the same time, you do need to purchase 2 different games (two different keys). The keys are linked directly with your account. If you log into your account to play and your wife logs into your account - you will be logged out instantly.

You do not technically need to purchase 2 different dvds, but rather 2 different keys. You can do this on Blizzard's Diablo 3 purchase page. (virtual copy)

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up vote -1 down vote

Incorrect if you buy the physical DVD you can share to any amount of people and those people will use there own account if you just buy it on your computer you cannot share you can only use your account which means its better to get the disk

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I'm given to understand that this isn't the way it works. Do you have a source? – GnomeSlice Jun 17 '12 at 22:19
The DVD is just a way to get the install. After that, you will always need a license to play. So there is no practical difference. – bwarner Jun 17 '12 at 22:30

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