Companies forcing us to play online?

[pcgamer]

Have you noticed how these companies are trying to make us play online to maximize their revenue as well as to curb piracy? It's impossible to pirate an online game. Besides that, they can always impose the micro transactions and various other tactics to milk as much as they can. What do you think about that?

 

[Goldie]

I think it is their right as business owners to do whatever they want with their products and the market would just cast their votes with their money, so if they eventually go too far they will surely know about it by acquiring losses. I'm not a fan of being forced online either but I realize it's important to keep the developers in business so they can continue to make fantastic games.

 

[Squigly]

Part of the reason for this is to curb piracy, many games are removing single player, or making multiplayer run in a separate, fully online instance, so that they can ensure that only legit purchasers are able to play the game with other people.

 

[Supreme]

I note that the games companies are forcing player to play online to protect themselves from piracy loss. The Settlers VIII is an example. We cannot play when there is no internet connection with their game servers. I do not like this because it can cause instability to my game playing.

 

[glen]

In my opinion, it's not really a bad thing. Besides, it's the developer's choice to decide if they want to make the game online or not. The online-only thing is really just for security, and I think that it is a smart move to make games like this as it deters potential pirates and hackers (which are really annoying!). It can get annoying, but overall, it's for the better.

 

[sorrowscall]

I don't have much of an opinion of this either way. I think it depends on the product consumer's feelings about a game. Most companies that come out with a game via only online have their reasons for doing so. In fact, a lot of companies also make offline compatible games for single-player mode run-through if you don't want to play it online.

 

[Squigly]

In my opinion, it's not really a bad thing. Besides, it's the developer's choice to decide if they want to make the game online or not. The online-only thing is really just for security, and I think that it is a smart move to make games like this as it deters potential pirates and hackers (which are really annoying!). It can get annoying, but overall, it's for the better.

It's more than an annoyance to some people though, particularly those working offshore or in remote areas, they can't always rely on having a stable internet connection. Sad to see that such people are unable to enjoy games in their free time

 

[Vegito12]

I think some games are alright to play online as, long as the computer does not freeze or get too hot from being loaded with the data which is used. I use the Origins server and have to be logged in to play the games even though have downloaded the game from the site, which is strange since I have go the game on my desktop and still have to play online and sometimes the connection can be bad which is annoying. Some developers probably want more online traffic and, get more players to play online and join others and sometimes that can be good when playing fantasy games and requires teamwork.

 

[pcgamer]

Part of the reason for this is to curb piracy, many games are removing single player, or making multiplayer run in a separate, fully online instance, so that they can ensure that only legit purchasers are able to play the game with other people.

Ubisoft is leading in that area. Most of their their games are online only now. Just have a look at their upcoming titles like The Division and The Crew

 

[gh0st233]

Well, it is possible to pirate an online game, and play it on private servers and stuff like that. It's harder to pirate but it is possible. I am not endorsing piracy, don't get me wrong, just saying it's possible. Well, I like when games have a multi-player mode or co-op. But if a game is based a lot on the single-player, they shouldn't ruin the single-player and focus on multi-player. In case of Assassin's Creed, they didn't ruin the single-player mode, but they managed to insert a decent multi-player mode and a good co-op system.

 

[shreklock]

I hate the developers for making a game require an internet connection even if it doesn't do anything besides constantly checking if the game is genuine. I have some favorite games that need internet connection for extra stuff, but don't ask for it if I play single-player. For example Assassin's Creed IV - you can connect your pc and mobile together so you can play minigames away from home.

 

[Inglenook]

It's disgusting practice. If I could be online, I would play online games. When I want to enjoy a single player game in my cabin or whatever I want to just bring my laptop and a downloaded file and not have to worry about an internet connection. I'm fine if you have to log into Origin or Steam once to verify after download but it's absolute bullshit that I need to be online when my game has exactly zero online content. At least they work in offline mode sometimes...

 

[js85]

I think multiplayer is a lot of fun and adds a lot to every game. That said, I don't think it should be forced on you as a gamer. To verify that my copy isn't pirated is fine, but not everybody wants to play in a multiplayer/online situation every time (nor can, with bandwidth issues etc)

 

[valiantx]

Bullocks OP! No game companies or corporations, are "forcing" any humans to play their games! Who go out of their way and buy games? Oh right, humans who wish to play games go out to retailers and sellers to buy video games, and then complain about it. Have some responsibility, otherwise, be the whining persons you are.

 

[Inglenook]

Bullocks OP! No game companies or corporations, are "forcing" any humans to play their games! Who go out of their way and buy games? Oh right, humans who wish to play games go out to retailers and sellers to buy video games, and then complain about it. Have some responsibility, otherwise, be the whining persons you are.

Pretty clear that he meant we're forced to play online if we want to play the game. But since I assume no one is irrational enough to expect people to bloat their titles over small technicalities, I assume you must be trolling...

 

[Azrile]

This is what happens when people ´celebrate´ stuff like Piratebay. Some of these games are costing a hundred million dollars to make, you think they will keep doing that if people can just throw the game on a torrent and everyone can download it for free.

 

[Ridge]

It's 2014. We all have the internet at this point, and we all have our consoles connected to it. This being a requirement isn't that big of a deal...

 

[Atlas_Hope]

It's disgusting practice. If I could be online, I would play online games. When I want to enjoy a single player game in my cabin or whatever I want to just bring my laptop and a downloaded file and not have to worry about an internet connection. I'm fine if you have to log into Origin or Steam once to verify after download but it's absolute bullshit that I need to be online when my game has exactly zero online content. At least they work in offline mode sometimes...

Nice to see someone who gets it, most people here seem to think that providing a product = dictating how we use it. If you look at something like SimCity or the original plans for the Xbox One, always on online is an idea that a majority of gamers hate and rightly so.

 

[Cereus]

Honestly, I don't want companies forcing online connection in order to play a game. Not everyone has internet all the time and people go through hardships now and then. I've been there a few times myself and the ability to play games kind of took my mind off the stress. I mean even if people pirate games, developers have gotten clever over the years to put in quirks that make the game unplayable at a certain point. Also the thing about forced online connection makes me wary because I value my privacy and there's no way in hell that I want them to collect data off of me while I'm playing a game.

 

[cyberpinoy]

It is not "impossible" to pirate an online game. A lot of the games out there do not take the time to combat such problems. I do know companies are pushing for an online gaming experience because they make more money. They can put the digital copy of the game up and sell that copy thousands, millions even billions of times, they dont need to buy DVDs, DVD cases, they dont need pay to print the covers, even the walkthroughs can be written one time and digitally distributed hundreds of thousands of times. Combatting against piracy is only 1 logical conclusion to forcing your customers to use the online gaming. It actually saves a gaming company millions of dollars a year. You would think by saving all these costs they could reduce the price of their product right?