Diablo IV's first Level 100 Hardcore character dies because of disconnect

Yesterday, Souaïb "cArn" Hanaf became the first player in the world to reach level 100 with a character in Diablo IV's Hardcore mode. This ensured that his name will be etched into a big statue of Lilith at Blizzard along with the 999 others that follow his feat. I'm guessing he's quite pleased with this being written in stone now, because he's having a far worse day today.

The headline spoiled it. Hanaf was enjoying his time playing Diablo IV as the level 100 barbarian on Hardcore today when he suddenly was disconnected. "Not a big deal. Just log back in." Not quite. Blizzard wanted to avoid players logging off to avoid losing their character when close to death, so disconnecting from Diablo IV in any way when playing Hardcore is treated like a death. This means Hanaf's barbarian is lost forever now. A heart-breaking moment that was clearly reflected in his reaction when and after it happened.

Blizzard hasn't said anything about this yet, so we're still allowed to hope there's a chance the world's first level 100 Hardcore character can be brought back to life. Either way, this was another example of why always-online requirement are ridiculously bad.