Having just written an article about fans being listened to by developers I see this same subject being echoed again. Yes it seems that Blizzard is actually working on a LAN solution, but it’s a bit hit and miss for a complete LAN connection. What they have thus far still requires an internet connection, mainly for authentication purposes through Battle.net.
The main argument with using LAN is that it serves as a more solid connection. There aren’t really any latency issues when you’re using LAN. However another issue is that some places can’t simply get a connection to have every computer connected to the internet for Battle.net. While you cannot play Starcraft II without a connection at this point, they are working on getting a solution for that as well.
“We are working on solutions with regard to things we can do to maintain connectivity to Battle.net in some way, but also provide a great quality connection between players,” says Battle.net developer Greg Canessa. This suggests that a completely internet free LAN just isn’t going to be possible with Starcraft II.
This is a fairly reasonable solution if you ask me, considering the piracy rate with PC games, but I don’t see it swinging so well with a great deal of LAN players. I also don’t see there being any other changes made beyond what is proposed.