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PSA: Tomb Raider (PSN-DD version) does not have online-only DRM

boingball

Member
Way to go, another win for digital games and consumers.

So this means I cannot buy it with my US account and play it with my EU account?
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Steam has never worked offline for me, I didn't have internet for nearly 2 months and steam didn't work because it needed internet.

So its EXACTLY the same thing.

In your case, perhaps; but broadly, no, it's not. People having issues with Offline Mode post-fix are the rare exception, not the rule, and I say this as somebody who had nothing but trouble with it in the past. What issue were you having with it, exactly?
 

water1111

Banned
Why didn't you have internet?

What game was asking you that needed the Steam Client to run?

I moved to a new home and the stupid ISP didn't install the WiMAX till 29 Feb, and the steam client didn't want to open because it needed to be on-line first to go offline.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
I moved to a new home and the stupid ISP didn't install the WiMAX till 29 Feb, and the steam client didn't want to open because it needed to be on-line first to go offline.

It wanted you to log-in, as your username and password weren't saved?
 

Eusis

Member
Yeah, lots of PSN content is like that. In fact most downloadable games are like that.
Far as I know this is only true as a technicality (counting in Steam games and other PC DD titles not from GOG.) On PSN so long as the system's authorized to that account it can play the games, and as long as it's the original system the game was downloaded to (or it was authorized to the owner's account) it will work across accounts on XBL, it's only when playing on someone else's system or one you didn't do the activation for that it requires you to be online first which... frankly, fair enough. Just as long as I don't have to worry about it on my primary system.

That isn't the case here, and even then most games on Steam are fine offline so long as you did that initial install, so it's bullshit.
 

Bittercup

Member
I won't buy any game with this kind of DRM, your loss silly SE.
You could still buy the retail version that doesn't have this requirement.

Those anti-consumer DRM practices are the reason why I'm not looking forward to a download-only future and I'm afraid when/if publishers start to use them for retail console games as well :/
 

CatPee

Member
Yeah, lots of PSN content is like that. In fact most downloadable games are like that.

What?

I have multiple accounts on my PS3 with various games dispersed throughout. Every single one of them work on my main account since I've avoided any with this type of DRM, and I have ~30 downloaded games not including PS+.
 

hitmon

Member
Steam has never worked offline for me, I didn't have internet for nearly 2 months and steam didn't work because it needed internet.

So its EXACTLY the same thing.

I think steam's offline mode only works if you set it to offline mode after you'd connected to it online. So connect to it online and then set it to offline mode. Offline should then work without an internet connection.
 

Rhindle

Member
I'm struggling to understand what benefit an online connection requirement provides, beyond the initial install and authentication.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
I think steam's offline mode only works if you set it to offline mode after you'd connected to it online. So connect to it online and then set it to offline mode. Offline should then work without an internet connection.

That used to be the case. I tried to "break" Offline Mode after Valve finally released a fix but it continued to work fine for me. I don't doubt some still encounter issues from time to time but the idea that Offline Mode is still utterly and truly broken, making Steam games practically identical to this case of online-only DRM, is patently false.
 

Eusis

Member
Because no one buys PSN games.
Not the reason when only about 4 games did this before, and all before the PSN hacking incident and when you could activate 5 consoles. After that incident and with the limit knocked down to 2 it's bullshit to implant anyway. Nevermind that unless somehow ONLY this got noticed we had tons of retail games hit PSN without this crap bogging them down, so SE's just being assholes.
 
I think steam's offline mode only works if you set it to offline mode after you'd connected to it online. So connect to it online and then set it to offline mode. Offline should then work without an internet connection.

No. It is easy enough to test. Just drop offline and start steam.

capturewoj30.png

I believe if you are having trouble disable your network interfaces. Even if you don't have net, steam might believe you do and you will get the "could not connect to server" message instead.
 

kassatsu

Banned
Way to go, another win for digital games and consumers.

So this means I cannot buy it with my US account and play it with my EU account?

No you could, but you would have to wait 24hrs before using it on either account.

Not the reason when only about 4 games did this before, and all before the PSN hacking incident and when you could activate 5 consoles. After that incident and with the limit knocked down to 2 it's bullshit to implant anyway. Nevermind that unless somehow ONLY this got noticed we had tons of retail games hit PSN without this crap bogging them down, so SE's just being assholes.
 

MasLegio

Banned
so I guess Squeenix will no longer receive any money from me for now on.

Will not buy a squenix-game again until this is fixed
 

Cartman86

Banned
Fucking stupid. I'm one of those people who doesn't have a big issue with the rumored 720 being "always online" becuase I assume it will not be "always" online. There is a system in place right this instant that solves this issue. Microsoft employs it and Sony does usually as well. The game is tied to your account and the console. So anyone can play the game on the console it was purchased on both online and offline. If you download the game on another device then you need to be signed into the profile that purchased it. Every 6 months you can move the original console license to another device if your console dies or something. This is the perfect solution between always on crazy DRM and totally DRM free. Sony should not allow this practice. This serves no purpose other than to penalize consumers. I might understand if this was a game that relied on servers and they were trying to protect it from cheating, duping etc.
 

Replicant

Member
More reason to never buy DD full games. I'd also appreciate this kind of PSA if you guys know other, smaller DD games actually use online-only DRM.
 
Just for the record, I wasn't saying - at all - that I support this DRM. My only point was that it isn't new. It pops up a couple times a year. It's the reason I didn't buy NBA 2k13 on the PS3, actually. As soon as I saw that I decided to wait for the PC version.


NBA 2k13 PC fun fact: You can't challenge friends online. Quick match against randoms only. So fuck you - twice - to 2K.
 
I'm struggling to understand what benefit an online connection requirement provides, beyond the initial install and authentication.

Game sharing? As I understand, Sony reduced the number of activations from 5 to 2, but that's still one too many for some publishers it seems. In theory, you could download the game on your machine, give your friend your PSN credentials and he could download the game on his machines. This essentially put an end to such a practise.

This might also be a prelude to what third party developers/publishers will do on PS4. Sony have already said they won't stop them from implementing whatever measures they see fit, so I expect this to soon become the norm with physical releases too.
 

Eusis

Member
Game sharing? As I understand, Sony reduced the number of activations from 5 to 2, but that's still one too many for some publishers it seems. In theory, you could download the game on your machine, give your friend your PSN credentials and he could download the game on his machines. This essentially put an end to such a practise.
Then those publishers should get lower sales for this kind of crap, because while 5 was ripe for abuse 2 usually means something like one other person at most. A person who you'd PROBABLY just lend the game to if you got it physically, like a family member or friend.
 
Stop Bullshitting

I have purchased content where I bought it once, DL'ed it, Installed it on 3 different PS3's (before the 2 activations came into play) and we all played it at the same time
In my house

Me (my room), my brother (his room), my cousin (living room)

There was a time you can game-share up to 4 times the same game to your family or friends
All can play it exactly at the same time to boot!

I'm not bullshitting at all. Most of the content on my ps3 gives my wife's account a wall when it is started.
 

surly

Banned
I did posted in the past that these actions was possible on current gen consoles.
This isn't the first game that's done this on PSN: -

Final Fight: Double Impact may be a collection of retro games, but some owners of the PS3 version have discovered that it is, at heart, a little too modern. The game will not run unless the user is signed into an online PSN account. If you try to load up Double Impact while not signed in, you'll just get a curt "Sign into PlayStation Network. (80029516)" message on the screen. (The Xbox 360 version launches without issue, even when not signed into Xbox Live.)
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/21/ps3-final-fight-double-impact-requires-psn-connection/
 

Eusis

Member
I'm not bullshitting at all. Most of the content on my ps3 gives my wife's account a wall when it is started.
Can you list some examples? I'm curious if this is for more recent stuff and somehow only TR got noticed beforehand, or maybe if it's for DLC and things are screwy on that front.
Warhawk (and SOCOM?) came before, but as you needed to play them online to get the most out of them anyway that was more an issue of not being able to share between accounts on the same system, not easily anyway. If PSN was down for example it'd make little practical difference.
 

GraveRobberX

Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
I'm not bullshitting at all. Most of the content on my ps3 gives my wife's account a wall when it is started.

Please name them...

I have 4 concurrent accounts running right now

My main, EU PS+, German account, UK Account every game is working flawlessly for me on my main

Unless you made her a secondary account underneath you (sub account), but even then I have that and have played game I purchased on my main on that secondary account
 
Then those publishers should get lower sales for this kind of crap, because while 5 was ripe for abuse 2 usually means something like one other person at most. A person who you'd PROBABLY just lend the game to if you got it physically, like a family member or friend.

I agree. I'm not arguing in favour of such draconian measures, but I can see the other side of the argument.

I fear it's a herald of a dark future. What we're seeing with Tomb Raider might only be a glimpse into how digital content will work next generation.

Sony can't reduce their activations by any more as the second is required for PS Vita and is vital for their cross console purchasing scheme. I can't help but see a future where more and more developers implement a similar but not as intrusive or sloppy form of DRM to ensure game sharing is all but eliminated.
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
Steam has never worked offline for me, I didn't have internet for nearly 2 months and steam didn't work because it needed internet.

So its EXACTLY the same thing.

when was this?

they fixed offline mode months ago
 

sleepykyo

Member
Is is sign of things to come?

eg. FF15 requires always online, preferably with Twitter account attached so you can be a volunteer viral for Square.
 
Only one account per PS3? So I have to buy the game twice? Once for me and another for my brother? Like when Warhawk first came out?

I'm not bullshitting at all. Most of the content on my ps3 gives my wife's account a wall when it is started.

That only happened to me with full game trials.
 

Eusis

Member
I agree. I'm not arguing in favour of such draconian measures, but I can see the other side of the argument.

I fear it's a herald of a dark future. What we're seeing with Tomb Raider might only be a glimpse into how digital content will work next generation.

Sony can't reduce their activations by any more as the second is required for PS Vita and is vital for their cross console purchasing scheme. I can't help but see a future where more and more developers implement a similar but not as intrusive or sloppy form of DRM to ensure game sharing is all but eliminated.
Actually handhelds have their own limit, but that's not the big problem here. It's that 2 allows for some people to either A. own two systems, IE one in a bedroom and one in a living room, B. have an account on a friend's console (or family member, but that can blur with A) so they can jump into a game at their place, though unlike XBL it doesn't allow multiple simultaneous sign ins, and C. in either case it's useful for cloud saves, especially A as you can have both auto sign in and update and (I assume) kept synchronized. Though maybe consoles don't NEED to be activated for that, but it'd sure be less of a pain.

In any case, it's still only one possible other system unless you're willing to REALLY jump through hoops to play the game for free, and if that's more your thing there's other platforms better suited for real piracy, assuming it even is a pain on the PS3.
 

Brera

Banned
Anyone who buys this as a DD needs a slap.

The scary part will be when 360 games start doing this bullshit. 360 owners have time and time again shown they support this anti consumerist bullishit
 

Recall

Member
You need internet to install, download and use other services like achievements, cloud saving and community, If you going to play offline it's not worth it.

Yes we know you need the internet to install and download. But if my internet is down I can still play my installed Steam library same as I can my console library I like that feature. Remember everyone screams that they want an all digital future but dont want the bullshit that may be tied to it.

Also someone mentioned about having Steam offline issues, if you make sure you have cookies accepted and log in to the website then put the client into offline mode it will run fine, it seems it has stored your user details so offline mode will function correctly. Worked for myself and my brother no problem.
 
Sony does stealht mode and pepares for PS4 launch.
How about the xbox360 version, does it also requires live gold to launch the game?
 
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