If you’re older than 20 then you probably grew up playing games in an era where DRM did not exist, online-activations where a rarity at best, and publishers relied on little more than a CD-key to protect their software from being plundered by pirates.
The games industry was a different beast altogether back then; one devoid of draconian copyright protection measures, and also devoid of the billions of dollars it generates today.
Naturally, as it has progressed to become one of the world’s largest revenue generating entertainment mediums, the companies which drive it have gotten rather serious about protecting the property which keeps them in the green.
One of the latest digital rights management tricks specifically targeting PC gaming is always-on internet. Publishers would have us dial up to their servers to authenticate our games before playing them. This means that you you cannot play certain games without being connected to the internet. Of course, the problem with this is that often the games are pirated anyways, and obviously the pirated versions do not require always-on-internet. Furthermore, having to be connected to a remote server raises problems for people with limited connectivity.
id Software’s Tim Willits believes that the always-on-internet requirement for games is “better for everybody.” Speaking at QuakeCon, Willits said that he believes that Blizzard’s move to make Diablo III require always-on internet is just what the industry needs.
“Diablo 3 will make everyone else accept the fact you have to be connected,” he said. “If you have a juggernaut, you can make change. I’m all for that. If we could force people to always be connected when you play the game, and then have that be acceptable, awesome.”
“I’m a big proponent of always connected. I’m always connected. Our fans are always connected.
“There will be a few people who will resent the fact you have to be online to play a single-player game. But it’ll change.”
The only real reason Willits gives for favouring always-on internet is as follows:
“Imagine picking up a game and it’s automatically updated. Or there’s something new you didn’t know about, and you didn’t have to click away. It’s all automatically there.”
You mean, like, exactly what Steam does without requiring you to be connected in order to play?
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