[Destructiod] EA investing heavily in always-on DRM - Page 16

the article categorically states they ARE implementing always on DRM with direct quotes from EA. Steam is different from the horrendous Diablo model. Ubisoft did U play for Assassins Creed and were shot down for it, so much I read they're looking at a diff approach for Far cry 3.

EA are not copying anyone else, they're using this as a tool to further monetise games by making them a service instead of a product.
Edited by Rubers - 7/16/12 at 12:36am

Bioware are an EA company and do everything at the behest of EA. Developers do not want DRM, publishers do!

Is the DRM that orign has as severe as securerom or starforce protection? Besides, in order to play a steam game you need steam just like origin. Also to activate a game on steam you need to be connected to the internet and have steam installed so that's anotther form of DRM.

You can't resell your steam games(not yet) nor can you trade them amongst your friends. Origin is just trying to be like steam if not better. There is nothing wrong with having a bit of competition and the service they provide are getting very similar.Yes origin has it's ups and downs but so did steam and still does.

Doesn't change the fact that Bioware games are the only games I haven't been able to play offline because of DLC(happened in dragon age: origins too, until they fixed it with a patch).
Edited by qwertymac93 - 7/16/12 at 12:55am

I have no problems with Origin as a DRM service since it imitates Steam in many ways.

The original article, here, states is quite clearly that SimCity will feature an always on DRM similar to Diablo.

Basically saying they won't (or will try not to) make the mistakes Blizzard did and the game was unavailable for people.

They don't once say in the interview that it will be a choice of being on or off. They neglect to say "sure you can be offline and play singleplayer"

So, really, whatever they're doing with SimCity != Steam, it sounds exactly like Diablo. If I sign into Steam and load up, say, The Chronicles of Riddick, then kill my router, the game doesn't quit or ruin my gaming experience. Also, with the hindsight of knowing how their offline mode works, I've entered offline mode once in a while to make sure I can sign in offline without a problem and play my games.

With Steam there aren't many games that will require you to be always online, and those are generally not Valve made games and not a problem within Steam itself.

I'm not a huge Steam fanboy. I loath some of the things Valve have done (Steamworks, for example, locking retail games into Steam accounts), but everything EA does seems like a Laurel and Hardy film.

It's just that you mused over whether it was EA or Bioware... it's 99% likely stuff like that is the publisher and not the developer. Sure, the devs have to implement stuff like that, but it's all usually top down coming straight from the publisher. Especially when it's stiff like Bioware and EA, since EA own Bioware.
Edited by Rubers - 7/16/12 at 1:24am

Providing a really great service?
Give it two months before EA tires of the concept's unprofitability and scraps the service..

Origin is basically a similar game service to Steam. A difference is that some of EA's own older games available on Origin still have third party DRM.

Blizzard Battle.net 2.0 is a similar service to Ubisoft UPlay. Starcraft 2 requires you to connect to Bnet 2.0 even for single player iirc. No LAN play even at big tournaments like DreamHack. Then of course there is Diablo 3's always online requirement. Ubisoft Uplay ranges from always online to one-time online activation. It seems that older games may have UPlay removed on some stores.

SimCity seems to be something like Bnet 2.0 with more leeway for dropped connections. I am not sure if multiplayer economy is a worthwhile feature for the player. It seems to be more of a benefit to the publisher.

Blizzard and Valve tend to get a free pass for some reason. Perhaps they have not angered their fan bases enough to get so much resentment.

I was super interested in Diablo 3, but the always on DRM stopped me dead. Same for Starcraft. Two games from my childhood that I loved gone down the pipe. I dread to think what a Warcraft 4 game would be brought out as.

Steam get a "free pass" because they don't do this stuff. I'm sure some would say "but of course you have to be signed into Steam and their offline mode doesn't work as well" but that's not the point and not entirely true. The point is being disconnected from Steam won't shut down your game or interrupt your ability to save. Steam offline mode works. Origin offline mode works. But Origin offline mode isn't going to allow SimCity to work at all since it has an always on requirement. Which isn't a smear against Origin at all, but more of a bad mark against EA.

And in the interview they have the cheek to say it's a teething issue with "new technology" as though this is a break through in gaming. It's not at all it's another form of control over content and the introduction as games as a service instead of a product.

Make it so games have to be online and make it so the only place to get new content is the publisher and you have a way to make the most amount of money out of one title. Don't let fans create their own content and don't let them use the product how they want. No more custom user created stuff = non-custom official paid-for DLC.
Edited by Rubers - 7/16/12 at 1:31am

- Companies have always online DRM

- Many PC gamers like I boycott the company and/or game

- PC Sales go down

- Companies put even less work into PC games, Console Ports, and PC in general.

I don't have much a problem with DRM. The only type that boils my blood in limited installs. I bought the god damn game, I can install it as many frigging times as I see fit.

Considering EA had a part in that, my avatar is thus justified.