Up until the announcement of Warcraft III Reforged last November, it was possible to purchase CD keys on Blizzard's site for an effectively DRM-free copy of the game, similar to Diablo II. However, the classic version of WC3 is now only available as a pre-order bonus for Reforged. Unlike before, instead of providing keys, Blizzard now has you log into Battle.net to verify your pre-order in order to unlock the classic version.

What I'm interested in knowing is whether this version of WC3 with a different activation scheme is still considered DRM-free as before, or whether it now requires a Battle.net login during every session and/or installation. From what I gathered online, the old CD key activation does not involve any sort of online authentication and instead generates cached files in the user's ProgramData folder in Windows. I'm curious to know if this new activation method does the same thing (i.e. if the user backs up said cached files, then the game can remain authenticated even when moving files to another computer, removing the need for a Battle.net login).

I made a topic about this question on Blizzard's classic game support forum but never got an answer, so I'm hoping that someone here who obtained WC3 classic via a Reforged purchase can confirm this for me before I decide on a purchase. Thanks.

My guess is that it will turn out like Starcraft - AFIAK you now have to be logged into battle.net to play as it is tied to the account (in SC case while the base game is free the account checks whether or not you have purchased to unlock Starcraft Remastered) - I am unaware as to whether or not there is an offline mode for battle.net

I don't think you need to be logged on to play SC Remastered, at least I didn't when I played it six months ago.

However, this overhaul seems a little more extensive than the SC one which was really just a little graphical tweeking, so I wouldn't be surprised if Reforged is loaded with DRM.

Morning Bigs. :D
How is the family?
Catch that game last night? Say, I think it's their year!

Well StarCraft Anthology is still DRM free. They only made (accedantely) DRM on the remastered version. First I asked before Pre-Order if Online is only for Download or for playing needed too and they answered before you need it only for installition because outside of south korea there will be no physical release. Now after release when shitstorm whas about why this logging needed they said:"Why are you angry? We showed before, that you need an online connection to play." and when I confronted them with their statement for Only Download needed their whas silence.

Blizzard is a mess.

The CD key backup is not really DRM free either. The game itself is, but the installer is an online one (though you only need a CD key). You may be able to move it around computers, but then the game will not be "officially" installed (not registered in installed programs), so patching may be problematic. I don't know if there is a way to "extract" the installer.
As for remastered - I don't know, but a sensible solution would be to do it the same way as with the redeemed CD key version. Unfortunately, Blizzard has some serious problems with sensibility in recent years.

True. The only real DRM Free Version are the CD Versions. Question is, is there still one available?

There are, but they are expensive.

And worse they are released in a certain # patch version that is way out of date. This one I have doesn't even have the 2 extra bonus missions for the Founding of Durotar campaign which requires me to go online.

My advice, just get the digital version anyway if you really want the game with 1080p and other conveniences.

Besides some custom made mod campaigns from the modding community requires the latest version.

You don't need to have the Battle.net client up and running to launch the game.

To be precise - new updated CD versions or old CD versions with separate patches. CD check was only removed with a patch a few years after Frozen Throne. You can download and install an offline patch for that. The official links are down, but last I checked some 2 years ago, the files were still on Blizzard's FTP.

I tried doing that and all it did was patch errors. Its impossible to patch the game using the Disc.

It worked for me so it is possible. You may need a specific patch version however (there were different patches depending on whether you updated the basic game or TFT and each language had their own version on top of that - it's possible that different regions had their own as well).

Years ago I redeemed my CD keys on my battle.net account and was able to download game installers that just need you to enter the CD keys, no online validation as far as I can tell. The installer folders are called "Warcraft III 1.21b ROC Installer enUS" and "Warcraft III 1.21b TFT Installer enUS". These can then be patched; in particular I used "War3TFT_126a_English.exe". I also have similar installers and patches for Starcraft, Diablo 2 and Lord of Destruction.

Hopefully these are still available on the website somewhere!

Thanks for the responses so far; however, I'm still confused regarding the version of WC3 classic that specifically comes with the WC3 Reforged pre-order.

Currently, there are two ways to play the classic version: you can enter in a CD key, which Blizzard no longer provides with a WC3 purchase, or you can log into Battle.net upon loading the game after installation to verify that you have pre-purchased Reforged. The second method is what concerns me because I have no way of obtaining a working CD key that I can register to my Battle.net account and would let me play online (I'm not interested in Reforged itself, only classic, since Blizzard's post-WC3 games always require some sort of internet connection).

If the Reforged verification method is a one-time action that I would not need to repeat after playing the game a second time or moving installation files to another computer, then that would be fantastic and suit my needs just as well as a CD key does. But if it requires a Battle.net login every time I start the game or play the game on another computer, then that will be a problem for me since I want a DRM-free copy (or, as Paradoks brought up, a copy where at least the actual installed files are DRM-free even if the installer itself is not - which isn't ideal, but not something I find problematic).

Essentially, what I'm interested in knowing is whether verifying WC3 via a Battle.net login generates files on the user's computer that can be moved around to other computers alongside the installed files freely. An example of a game that does this is Minecraft. Once you login, it generates a file that doesn't require further online connectivity; after following a guide, it is possible to make the game fully portable and capable of being backed up. I want to know if WC3 classic's keyless verification follows the same example as Minecraft, or if Blizzard now makes it so that you have to login every time in order to play.

While I can't say for sure, I suspect this will be the case. Remastered will almost certainly be always-online, but there's really no incentive for them to change the original to work like that. It'd be a lot of work for no discernible benefit.

I recently purchased W3 Reforged so I figured I'd update this topic with my findings, and because I still haven't seen this info documented anywhere.

The preorder verification generates a cookie file in the AppData\Local\Blizzard Entertainment directory for Windows, in a WC3 subfolder. This appears to be encrypted and unique for the machine on which that particular installation is verified, since it requires a Battle.net login. That means the game will run offline forever as long as that file is there, but if attempting to move the game to another computer, that particular cookie file will not work properly on another machine; you MUST log into Battle.net again in order to re-verify and generate a brand new cookie. Unfortunately this means that the current version of an installed WC3 has DRM when attempting to unlock the game this way. The only way to unlock the current version without any internet connection would be to enter in a CD key, which may or may not work when trying to log into Battle.net.

It's kind of disappointing, but I did bite the bullet on my purchase knowing that this would be a possibility so I'm not too upset over it. Still, this is worth keeping in mind for anyone who decides to purchase WC3 Reforged and is interested in playing the classic version.