Need for Speed - online connection required

[Vixremento]

Just read it via Eurogamer, seems pretty sad (why can't we just race offline like we've been able to in our favourite games from the past?).

The publisher broke the news on Twitter last night in response to a fan's question on the subject, but reassured that "the benefits are nice" for requiring the restriction.

Nice for who exactly?

Anyway I guess it'll be a bit more of this for a while to come until eventually we have zero choice but to rent our games (because what will we do with these things when their servers inevitably go offline in a few years from now? Actually would be quite interesting to know if any games (and how many) are no longer playable at all because the original servers are no longer around...maybe it's not as bad as I suspect?

[Wesley]

Actually would be quite interesting to know if any games (and how many) are no longer playable at all because the original servers are no longer around...maybe it's not as bad as I suspect?

Many of the GFWL titles that I have in my collection are unplayable because the servers are no longer available for authentication, so I can't play DiRT 2, for example. Or Crysis and Crysis Warhead.

Or Batman: Arkham Asylum. Or Prototype. Or Company of Heroes. Or Bioshock 2. IIRC, Far Cry 2'a authentication servers are no longer online either, so that probably won't work either. I've had to re-buy many of these games on Steam or Origin.

[Vixremento]

Many of the GFWL titles that I have in my collection are unplayable because the servers are no longer available for authentication, so I can't play DiRT 2, for example. Or Crysis and Crysis Warhead.

Or Batman: Arkham Asylum. Or Prototype. Or Company of Heroes. Or Bioshock 2. IIRC, Far Cry 2'a authentication servers are no longer online either, so that probably won't work either. I've had to re-buy many of these games on Steam or Origin.

Thanks for answering on that, seems it is as bad as I had suspected. It's sad and I guess I wouldn't mind if they just at least provided a patch that could be downloaded when they do take their servers offline OR if you were guaranteed to at least keep your servers online (at least for authentication) but this forced online mode with benefits that we typically don't want is a pain.

Looks like we are destined to rent our games in future (even though with Steam we generally are only renting nowadays anyway)...just hate having to be connected to some other server all the time (I remember trying to play AC2 originally with that forced data retrieved via their online service and it was horrible).

[GregRedd]

But why? Why? Why?!!
Don't they know that we have the most frustratingly erratic internet connections in the world down here? And about the kakkest connection speeds on the planet?

[TechThief]

siiiiiiiiiggggghhhhh, well shouldn't expect anything else these days, well now unless they somehow change it to not require internet, it will never be better than the first 2 underground games.