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Error 37: Diablo III frustration overwhelms Reddit

Today should have been quiet as gamers left Reddit to play Diablo III. Instead, a glitch has them complaining instead.

 

Lauren Rae Orsini

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Posted on May 15, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 5:07 pm CDT

Redditors think they would love Diablo III—if only they could get it to work.

It’s been 12 years since the addictively clicky Diablo II came out, and hype for the latest sequel has made Diablo III Amazon’s most pre-ordered PC game of all time. But given Reddit’s reception, it’s unclear if Tuesday’s midnight release made the game any more available than before.

The largest adversary is error 37, a technical difficulty that indicates the Diablo III server is busy. It is also barring many players from launching the game. According to a Reddit section devoted to the game, r/diablo3, there is no patch. The game’s developer, Blizzard, has come out with some fixes, but blames error 37 on players’ connectivity.

Unable to play the dark fantasy/horror hack and slash, would-be gamers are airing their frustrations in r/gaming and the front page of Reddit.

Redditor stroud submitted the Best Diablo 3 Review ever, actually just one person’s review of the only part of Diablo he was able to access: the opening screen.

“I’ve been trying to solve the first puzzle on the main screen for awhile [sic] now, I could really sit here all night, frustrating but very enjoyable,” he deadpanned.

Another thread saved him the trouble of explaining and created an animated gif of error 37.

Unrecorded

“Well they got the look and feel of hell right because millions of us are experiencing it right now,” boycubpiglet commented.

Commenters looked for somebody to blame. In one thread, they alternately blamed Blizzard—for making a constant Internet connection a game requirement—and each other—for taking the bait.

“I hope you like the added features online DRM gives you, because you just voted with your wallet that lack of advertised features (eg. PvP), forcing players to stay online is all right as long as the product is hyped properly,” skocznymroczny wrote.

Once the error is resolved, we suspect all will be forgiven. Then we can look forward to funny Diablo III glitches and memes, just like with Reddit-hyped Skyrim before it.

Photo via Blizzard

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*First Published: May 15, 2012, 1:19 pm CDT