Diablo II Online Launch Rocky

While many gamers busy with the game's single-player campaign may not have experienced any problems with Diablo II since it launched last week, Blizzard has spoken out to address several problems that crept up over the weekend. Blizzard announced an upcoming patch to address several client-side bugs, one of which will delete a single-player character if a multiplayer character of the same name is created.

Most problems, however, have been occurring server-side - on Battle.net itself. Blizzard has created a Battle.net forum to detail its attempts to address performance and stability issues. Blizzard teams are using the USWest realm server to test fixes before widespread implementation, so the company has advised players that using USEast may be one way to avoid downtime. Blizzard also reminded gamers that single-player characters may be taken into "open" Battle.net games, which are found via the "Other Multiplayer" choice on the main menu.

Blizzard also points out that Diablo II periodically saves the game automatically, so - contrary to some fans' concerns - there's no need to worry about character loss due to ordinary crashes.

In related news, Blizzard announced today that the Mac version of Diablo II has gone gold and will ship by the end of July. Blizzard proudly noted that this is its quickest PC to Mac conversion to date.