Its already been tested. If you have no internet access, the game will be able to be played in "offline mode", much like the choice we had when beta-servers were down (although we couldn't click that butten back then). You can play the campaign and the AI but without any achievements given - mainly to prevent cheaters.
i saw things about achievements and not being online...wonder if you can still obtain the achievements in offline mode.
This question was asked to the Blizzard representative in Brisbane. And the answer was: You need the net to register your game and game key once. Then you can play single player + multiplayer vs AI offline. But when you are playing offline you can not score any achievements.
good to know, i was a little bit concerned about that, if internet goes down there would be nothing to do and the game would be useless
Need Help w/ Offline Play..... Hey, so I installed the game and got some achievements while playing the campaign and being online. While playing I lost internet and the game kept going just fine. Now, I am trying to play while offline, but it says I need to Authorize Offline Play before I can play offline. Clicking Guest User gives me the same message as clicking "Play Offline". I cannot find any info anywhere about how to Authorize Offline Play. I have already logged in to my account through SC2 on THIS very computer, and played, so it seems I have already done what is required to play offline. (Yes, I am online right now, but the firewalls are not allowing SC2 to access the ports it needs, and the folks in charge of the firewall won't open up the ports for me, so I'm stuck playing offline for a week until I move.) Anyone have any ideas? I emailed tech support, but I don't expect a reply any time soon. I am able to bypass the firewall (legally) for a few minutes at a time before they close the ports on me again. I might try doing that later to see if I can log in and register my account for offline play, but I'm not sure if that will work. Thanks.
answer from techsupport blizzard tech support offered this solution: you must connect your computer to the internet once a month for authentication. StarCraft2 can be played offline for 30 days, but it will want internet access once a month. which means, basically, you've got to drag your computer off to a friend's/relative's house to hook up and get refreshed. This is definitive and works for me...although i've been lazy of late and haven't shlepped my pc
