The fact that it’s online-only should be reason enough for no one to buy it and continue enabling this anti-consumer behavior. But whatever, no one cares I guess.

The fact that it’s online-only may be reason enough for you not to buy it. You don’t get to dictate what the rest of us do.

I’m not sure I understand why you consider online-only “anti-consumer.” It’s just the direction this series has taken. We don’t call any other requirements “anti-consumer.” I don’t have a graphics card on my PC good enough to support VR, does that mean Half Life Alyx is “anti-consumer” for being VR only?

At the time I understood the frustration the community expressed with Diablo III, but we’re well past that now. And network connections are far better now than they were then.

Does it limit Blizzard’s audience? Sure. Does it alienate some people who played Diablo II? Sure. But to Blizzard, the benefits in terms of design freedom, baked-in multiplayer zones, and anti-cheating capabilities outweigh that loss.