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Always online DRM or no game at all?

Jucksalbe said:
What happens if you misbehave in an online DRM game? Can they lock your account and effectively ban you from playing the game at all?
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They *can*... most of the time they give timeouts or chat bans though.

If the game is developed with the intention of being a multiplayer online-only game then I don't mind 'always-online' e.g. Path of Exile, CS:GO, WoW, Diablo 3, etc. I don't support games that use a DRM like Ubisoft's that make you maintain a connection while you play a single-player game.
 
Case by case basis. Depends on how it's implemented and if the gameplay functionality enabled by everyone being online is worth it. And after Diablo III, certainly not getting any popular titles doing this during their launch week.
 
No game at all. Even if every game became always online, I'll play my old games that doesn't require such BS for single player games. Looking at you EA/Blizzard.
 
After breaking my will and making an exception for Diablo 3 - a decision that bit me in the ass immediately and as of a few months ago I was still unable to play due to network issues on their part (it is the only online program I have any issue with whatsoever, by the way) I will never be buying into the always online DRM shit again.
 
No game at all.

DRM (and ones like this especially) only really hurt the gamer/consumer and not the pirate(s).

S it's pointless. Whereas if they didn't have this, they'd at least guarantee a more favourable satisfaction (for the product and the company) and concede that you can't completely stop piracy.

The model gaming companies are using now, is the former. Which is bad for us.
 
Philia said:
.

Remember the fucking online aspect is tied to the game, giving it an actual BRIEF shelf life. :\

I'd LIKE to have my games playable a decade from now.
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I completely agree. Just two days ago I was playing Half-Life and Sim City 2000 on my old computer. If the current Sim City wasn't always online, I would have purchased it on Day 1 and also probably play it again in the year 2023.
 
R&R said:
Neither does mine, this is hardly the point. I doesn't matter how swell your connection is if the servers on the other end crap out...and get closed eventually, thus rendering the game unplayable.
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This. Diablo III was the first and last time I ever buy a game with always online DRM. I can count on the fingers of one hand how often my internet connection has died in the past 10 years. Yet I was only able to login twice to the D3 servers in the first week of the game's release since they were so overloaded.
 
TreasureHunterG said:
While I find always online DRM to be premature for the current stage, there's no denial that some people are angry because this system pretty much kill off piracy, thus making them unable to play games for free.
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In most cases pirates seem to find a way around anyway, mainly pissing off legitimate consumers (or at least those that WANT to be legitimate.) But beyond that I question the value purely for blocking piracy: to be at its most effective you have to be running a chunk of code on a remote server IE enemy AI, the stuff that you can stream, and so you have to pay more each month in order to cover for the server costs. While maybe you can claim some sort of victory of morals or principle by blocking piracy, for the REAL reason most want to stop it (lost profit) it seems likely the servers just eat it up instead, assuming you even get increased sales. To be honest I think Diablo III did it more to protect the Auction House, stopping or hindering piracy was just gravy on top.
 
TreasureHunterG said:
While I find always online DRM to be premature for the current stage, there's no denial that some people are angry because this system pretty much kill off piracy, thus making them unable to play games for free.
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I used to think they were mad because they couldn't play the game they've paid for, but you sir are a genius and showed me the error of my ways.
 
Philia said:
.

Remember the fucking online aspect is tied to the game, giving it an actual BRIEF shelf life. :\

I'd LIKE to have my games playable a decade from now.
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That´s another aspect that is very important to me. I want to be able to get out my PS4/720/whatever 20 years from now, plug it into my old ass Tv and play if i feel the urge to.
And i very well should be able to do this, because it´s my fuckin property!
 
Are we talking repeated background online checks or actually having the game logic happen on remote servers?
 
The SimCity timing is interesting, because if Microsoft shows up in a few weeks with a console that requires a connection for every single game, there is just no fucking way I would spend money on that in light of SC and D3's issues. Like it's a complete dealbreaker.

Somehow Steam manages to do authentication (at least) on day one, so I know it's possible, but ...
 
As a Canadian with shitty Internet, no game at all.

Diablo 3 became unplayable after a while.

PLENTY of other games to play.
 
Buy game, crack it. I haven't bought any always online games like that, but that's just what I'd do because I'm fairly sure cracking is legal.
 
This can be easy fixed if the online reasons are to do with manipulation.

Online: Achievements able to be unlocked, all Live features enabled (if no Gold, semi limited)

Offline: Achievements disabled and all Live extra features disabled.
 
I play a ton of games through steam online and it never bothered me. I have always been connected to the internet on my PC and for some reason have just associated the internet with my PC games. DRM is something that doesn't bother me in the slightest....now F2P is something that really drives me crazy.
 
I'll just stick to older games then, or quit gaming, but I don't think most of the games will do it, as it cost a lot to keep those servers running.
 
No game at all, unless the game launches at <$10 or something.

Always online DRM is total anti consumer bullshit.
 
If my dream game was only playable when I had an online connection and wasn't hampered by latency then I'd be crazy to pass on it. I enjoy playing games a whole lot.
 
Said it in another thread like this one. When ubisoft did this,there sales went down 90% on PC and they thought it was a succes welll no it wasn't at all. Since always online drm is just a way that the publisher and developer do not trust there consumer. And that is just biased and it shows again that this is not the way to do it at all.
 
There is no reason for single player always online DRM I said it in the Tomb Raider DD PSN thread if most major game titles implement this going forward I hope the market crashes and burns and I will be done with console gaming.
 
Echoenigma said:
Buy game, crack it. I haven't bought any always online games like that, but that's just what I'd do because I'm fairly sure cracking is legal.
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How are you so sure MS is going to allow manipulation like that? You just expect there to be easy step by step guides to manipulating the system there for you?

I think they learned from mistakes this gen with holes in the 360. After seeing Sony's fiasco with the outage, they'll make sure the system can't be manipulated. They also won't want to keep having to clean up gamerscore cheating, so here's hoping that is clean next gen too.
 
d1rtn4p said:
Easy, no game at all
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Easy? What if a game like Uncharted was online only?
You'd just...miss out...?

Also. Nobody said you'd all need super fast internet to be able to play if this was in place. Just internet. You can have a super weak signal or terrible speed in general but still stay connected. Playing online multiplayer would be laggy, but isn't that an issue that would exist even without online only? Your SP games would be fine.

Sorry, I am just fully for anything that would prevent the manipulative end user tinkering and ruining the system (like they did this one with trophies/achievements/custom firmware).
 
Probably no game at all. I'm not sure I've ever supported a game with that kind of DRM.

There always seems to be server issues when they launch as well, from what gets posted on GAF.
 
jetsetfluken said:
How are you so sure MS is going to allow manipulation like that? You just expect there to be easy step by step guides to manipulating the system there for you?

I think they learned from mistakes this gen with holes in the 360. After seeing Sony's fiasco with the outage, they'll make sure the system can't be manipulated. They also won't want to keep having to clean up gamerscore cheating, so here's hoping that is clean next gen too.
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What are you talking about son? I'm talking about PC, where you can crack games with ease.

Console users just have to deal with online and say it isn't so bad. that's the price you pay for convenience.
 
If it's inevitable to have such launch problems why not disable the DRM in the first weeks and then enable it region by region, easing everybody in?

Make it clear that the game uses always-online DRM; communicate that in the first 2 weeks the DRM will be disabled to let everybody play the game with no issues (and to better prepare the servers); start enabling the DRM section by section after the 2 weeks.
 
My only worry with DRM is that once the servers go down, the game is gone too. I guess the other one would be that if I ever go poor and can't pay for internet, but it's really not a big deal for me otherwise.

Hopefully there will be a better way of doing things in the future, but for now, I understand why they do it and have no problems with the idea of it.
 
Artemisia said:
Eh, kinda. I feel like if gaming did come to that, the majority of us would just make due with it at the end of the day.
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Probably true.

I know I wouldn't ever consider playing AODRM games. And if it came to it, I would just have to find my entertainment else where.
 
Echoenigma said:
What are you talking about son? I'm talking about PC, where you can crack games with ease.

Console users just have to deal with online and say it isn't so bad. that's the price you pay for convenience.
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I was under the impression this thread was all about next gen consoles and if they'll have always online DRM. But yes, current trends with PC are present in here maybe what most people are insinuating.
 
jetsetfluken said:
Easy? What if a game like Uncharted was online only?
You'd just...miss out...?

Also. Nobody said you'd all need super fast internet to be able to play if this was in place. Just internet. You can have a super weak signal or terrible speed in general but still stay connected. Playing online multiplayer would be laggy, but isn't that an issue that would exist even without online only? Your SP games would be fine.

Sorry, I am just fully for anything that would prevent the manipulative end user tinkering and ruining the system (like they did this one with trophies/achievements/custom firmware).
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Have you played Diablo 3? I have, it sucks. 200ms of latency in a solo game is not fine.
 
Saty said:
If it's inevitable to have such launch problems why not disable the DRM in the first weeks and then enable it region by region, easing everybody in?

Make it clear that the game uses always-online DRM; communicate that in the first 2 weeks the DRM will be disabled to let everybody play the game with no issues (and to better prepare the servers); start enabling the DRM section by section after the 2 weeks.
Click to expand...

If that happened, the end users would try to find holes and manipulate it for whatever reason (piracy, achievement cheating, game modding, etc) on time before the "rule" was activated. Especially if they announced it. You think MS or Sony would give them an opportunity like that? To have the end users blow open holes so early on that then can't be repaired or prevented matter how many firmware updates are released?
 
I feel like it would be more accurate to ask "Always online DRM or a competing game in the genre with no always online DRM?"

The latter is currently always the better option as far as I'm concerned.
 
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