The Evolution of Multiplayer Games and Online Play 244
Ranga14 writes "The recently announced Command & Conquer 4 seems to be following the same path of Blizzard's Starcraft 2 in having no LAN/offline multiplayer. They will require users to be logged in at all times to even be able to play any facet of the game. What will this mean for LAN parties, gaming events and those who don't play online? Is this a sound business decision, or do EA & Blizzard not get that this method of attempting to thwart piracy will fail like others have?"
So they're not actually charging for the game? (Score:5, Interesting)
If you can't play the game except through their online service, I assume they're not actually charging you for the game software itself?
No, of course not. They'd never double-charge people for a game, would they?
Re:When was the last LAN party you went to? (Score:4, Interesting)
Also it is not a heavily used feature as you said about LAN Parties are obsolete.
I agree that LAN parties are obsolete, though for an entirely different reason. Picture this situation: you have friends at your home, and you all happen to have the itch to play a video game. They don't have their PCs with them for any of several reasons:
The solution came in three pieces:
So LAN parties, which had been popular throughout the eras of Doom and Quake, eventually became less necessary because friends can sit on the sofa and play console or HTPC games together.
Summary (Score:3, Interesting)
do EA & Blizzard not get that this method of attempting to thwart piracy will fail like others have?
leaves little room for opinion. Makes you wonder why do they let us comment at all, since the truth has already been established.
Re:When was the last LAN party you went to? (Score:4, Interesting)
I guess that's the fate I have to face, unless some get smart and realize that I'd buy their games if they didn't rely on a rental system.
Not sure why it will fail. (Score:4, Interesting)
If they really have taken this decision as a measure to prevent piracy I am not sure why the summary above is so sure it will fail. Sure, the game will still be pirated and will still be available on the Pirate Bay in no time however this measure will probably reduce piracy.
If I was required to buy a legal licensed copy of the game to play online I probably would. The alternative is I download a hack that enables me to play a pirated copy, but if they ever patch the game or server to detect this hack that is massive risk as they have a permanent record me having used a hack.
My favourite online game is Americas Army. If you do well on my server I will look you up on this site (http://www.aa-accounthistory.com/). If I see a linked banned account, your gone and added to my server as a MAC ban. Since this history site links accounts by IP, MAC and the GUID associated with your account getting a banned account listed on it can be a right pain. To be thoroughly clear you may need to change you IP if you have a static address and also use a MAC changer (or buy a new network card).
To play any game well online takes practice. If you are going to download a pirated copy and then play until you get caught and your account banned that practice is wasted since any sort of online league play is out of the question. Also, if they implement a similar history tracking site then you may find you a new legal account from a bought copy is also banned as it is associated with a hacked previous illegal copy. There is nothing legally wrong with this as the shrink wrapped licence you have to agree to when you install the software probably mentions this could happen.
Ultimately this is what they are aiming for, they do not want to stop all piracy of their game since that is obviously impossible. They do want to keep it to a minimum by preventing illegal copies from being able to play online and hence they people using them will miss out on a large part of the gameplay. This is a major reason why game companies are moving towards games that involve an online component, it gives people an added reason to buy a legit copy.
It's stupid really... and will fail (Score:4, Interesting)
This will only encourage people to build add-ons for the game that allow LAN play. Its happened with dozens of games and frankly this is just plain stupid.
LANS are there for people to get together and have a good time. A LOT of people use wireless connections in their house and that shit is attrocious for LAN play. You can say what you want, but most home hardware that people buy just isn't designed for 6+ people gaming over the internet at the same time. Forget the connection... just the hardware.
A $20 hub lets 10 people play in a LAN where it costs a lot more to setup the same level of connection over the internet in one location. You can try to argue with me but the fact is you're wrong.
I love LANS. People in the same room, talking smack, eating pizza, it's so much better than being on a headset talking over ventrilo. You can see their expressions when you nail em or overwhelm their defenses... It's also being able to come to a physical location, and as we get older, there are no kids, no annoying significant others (we have women in our group so saying wives would be wrong) who keep interrupting. They are there and not being hit with interruptions.
I've lost all real desire to play SC2. I was so excited about it... but the whole point of SC2 is playing with friends and removing LAN play removes half of the reason I play games like that. Sure... we can play online... but it limits us, or requires us to move equipment to other parts of the house so we can all hook up to the router physically since wireless is terrible, and most of us don't have wireless cards for our Desktops. Any gamer who thinks they can beat me while using a laptop is in for one hell of a spanking.
A step towards charging to play (Score:3, Interesting)
I think your point is accurate. I am absolutely certain the eventual goal is to squeeze money out of every second of time the gamers play the game, and the first step towards that goal is to have a means to account for all the time played.
What was free must now be monetized... how else can the business grow?
Re:Not sure why it will fail. (Score:5, Interesting)
Super. Now, will it increase sales?
Re:It won't fail, though (Score:1, Interesting)
As usual, you crooks who rip off games because you want free stuff are just screwing it up for everybody else.
I usually purchase my games and then download a cracked copy so I can, you know, do what I want with my game.
Re:When was the last LAN party you went to? (Score:5, Interesting)
I only own one of the two, and it isn't the 360. However, from my limited experience with the system, it would seem you're wrong about piracy on the 360. There are quite a few chips for it, but for the most part, and this is mostly where my "experience" with the system comes from, it's mostly a firmware hack.
A mate of mine makes a nice profit off of buying new 360's, using some well-documented hole (like the Zelda hack for the Wii) loading some special firmware onto it then selling it at a higher price with the knowledge that the end costumer will be able to play, errr, backups .. *cough* *cough* Yeah, let's go with "backups".
He doesn't do any actual development, got all the training he needed from material on the web and trying it out on some 360s (which he later sold at a profit, so no loss whatsoever), and the special code is obtained on the web, if you know where to look. He doesn't actually mod anything physical, the warranty is left intact (though he does need to open the system for it to work -- but as long as the seal isn't broken, subsequent inspections wouldn't find anything) and he is yet to have people complaining about it.
Seriously, from what I understood, it's so easy anyone could do it. Microsoft tend to put a wrinkle on things whenever they release a new mandatory firmware update (which is few and far between) or when the newer models get upgraded parts (the disc drive is the crucial component here), but that only lasts a few days, couple of weeks at the most, then it's back to business as usual.
Oh, and there's no problem with XBL too, since there are no actual physical changes, and whatever "magic" is worked on the firmware serves only to allow non-original disks to play. Yeah, that thing with the hard drive is still locked, as far as I know, but pretty much the only thing that you can't do with this method is download a yet-to-be-released title and then try to go online with it. You _can_ play it before release date (he bragged about finishing a couple of major titles before they were even officially released -- Halo 3 comes to mind), but you must be careful to stay offline the whole time, else the XBL system will "see" what you're doing and you risk a ban.
As a PS3 owner, it _is_ a bit irritating that the competition is open to such exploitation -- you get to shell out your hard-earned cash for every single title worth its salt while your mate gets to play any title he likes for free.. But that usually means he's got so much (crap?) to choose from, he can't stick with any title long enough to finish them (bar a few notable exceptions).
Re:This is (Score:3, Interesting)
You're living in a hell of a bubble if you think Internet access is "assured."
We are, we understand a money grab hidden behind market speak very well.
Pretty damn consistently since 2004, really.
I don't think anyone truly expects to play an MMO offline (though, funnily enough, Tanarus and EverQuest had *some* offline play capability).
TF2, however, is 100% playable on a LAN. What you talkin' bout?
You're right, people like me may pass on StarCraft II because I can't bring it to the LAN party I go to every 3-4 months and play it. I can however continue to play my OLD games like WarCraft III at said LAN parties.
I fail to see how convincing me NOT to buy their game helps Blizzard?
I find it especially amusing you throw "blu-rays" in as an example of people who are technically hip... When last I checked Blu-Rays were still behind HD-DVD (the *dead* format) in uptake and if anything, upscaling DVD players have obviated the need for "high def" video formats for the time being for most people. I think people like you (and Blizzard, in this case) seem to greatly overestimate the penetration of and willingness to use newer technologies by the average person by assuming you represent the "average" when in fact you're rather far towards the edge of the curve.
Battle.net 2.0 will require an Internet Connection, which may not even be an option on some connections (ISDN, filtered, Satellite, etc.) and requires that the LAN PCs have internet access... When hosting LAN parties, I generally don't give 'net access to anyone if the party includes people I don't know very well.
This is just a stupid money grab and ridiculously annoying, as now effort has to be wasted on coming up with a server emulator to make the software usable, and will probably mean those involved will have to spend time in court defending themselves, etc, etc, etc...