A few days ago, rumors started flying out that Blizzard will not have LAN support for Starcraft 2.
And now it's been confirmed by a Blizzard representative.

But of course, majority of the players who buy Blizzard games are enraged?
No LAN?!? Insane!

Here's what Karune (Community bigshot) had to say:

For me personally- I loved LAN parties, but the direction in which Battle.net is headed, I would always choose to play on Battle.net > 99% of the time and even if for whatever reason I did decide to lug my computer to a friend's house in this day of age (<1%),>

I think a No LAN Starcraft 2 announcement is just a marketing ploy.
Starcraft 2 is currently in heavy development and they haven't entered the beta stages yet.
All those previews and videos you've been seeing are still part of the Alpha phase and one way to prevent a lull and maintain hype for the game is to make a shocking announcement here and there.

But of course, nothing beats potential customer feedback.
Disgruntled Starcraft gamers have already started creating online petitions.

You can join the petition to enable LAN here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/LANSC2/petition.html

REASONS TO KEEP LAN CITED ON THE PEITION

- While many of your fans might have internet access with the required speed to play without lag, there are still many that don't, or would like to play with a friend or sibling residing in the same house. LAN is NOT an expensive upgrade, and once you have it, it's yours. Internet is something that you have to pay for every month, and in a bad month you might choose to buy groceries instead of paying for the internet.

- LAN is what birthed SC popularity in the first place. Please don't ignore the heritage of the original game.

- Using LAN is a little bit of freedom. Often you might be at a friend's place with the only option to ad hoc the wireless connections instead of using internet, excluding the Battle.net gaming possibility.

- There are little to no ill effects in implementing LAN compared to the advantages. The piracy rate of people actually interested in the game would be negligible. Just look at SC1 now. Even with a laggy Battle.net, it is still selling so well that it once again reached top-10 on the NPD charts a decade after its release!

-Having LAN functionality in the game makes it feel you have more freedom of choice. You can choose to be part of the greater community, or you can choose to just play with one or two friends. LAN is a vital part of what makes StarCraft so great, and what will make StarCraft II even greater. Sometimes you don't have to use a function in order to appreciate having it there. It's the sort of freedom we have come to expect from Blizzard Entertainment.

Bookmark this page and open it up when Starcraft 2 is released.
You'll see I'm right. There will be Multiplayer LAN support for Starcraft 2.

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