C&C 4 to require 'always on' internet.

BabyHeadCrab

BabyHeadCrab

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arstechnica reports

AT said:
"As of right now, you need to be online all the time to play C&C 4. This is primarily due to our 'player progression' feature so everything can be tracked C&C 4 is not an MMO in the sense of World of Warcraft, but conceptually it has similar principles for being online all the time," Community Leader APOC wrote. No matter what mode you're playing, no matter what you're doing, if you want to play Command and Conquer 4, you're going to need to have a working Internet connection.
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Sounds like a similar statement made by some folks on the Blizzard staff as of late in regards to Starcraft 2. Seems equally nonsensical and ill thought out, too.

There's already a thread on CNC4 with some information on this, I realize, but I felt this was worthy of it's own thread as a discussion of recent DRM strategies. I cannot seem to understand why gaming companies feel the need to spout these lines about stat tracking when it's been proven in several shipped products that that sort of thing can and should be optional. Does anyone out there actually believe this to be a legitimate reason to require an always-on connection?
 
Unfortunately this DRM is still easily worked around by Pirates, who will most likely just crack the file that tells the game which server to point to to a different, pirate server. Or maybe even something easier. Either way, it will only harm legitimate customers.
 
Not only that, it more or less encourages piracy--especially if you prefer your game not to constantly report back to EA with stats or desire hassle free offline LAN play. These sorts of decisions have me totally lost.
 
Oh dear...when you read things like this...
This is primarily due to our 'player progression' feature so everything can be tracked C&C 4
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You're instantly thinking 'just admit it...it's an anti-piracy feature'. I wish they would just say that rather than dressing it up.
 
I'm also not sure the best way to appeal to the Command and Conquer demographic is demonstrating that their game supposedly shares the same "principles" as World of Warcraft.

They could at the very least take a good hard look at their PR squad and keep it hush hush until they've established a decent customer base for a franchise which is seemingly already on the rocks and appears to be sliding into obscurity.

"conceptually has the same principles as MMOs" is not only one of the least articulate statements I've seen from a game company representative, it's also patently rubbish circular logic.
 
Hectic Glenn said:
Oh dear...when you read things like this...You're instantly thinking 'just admit it...it's an anti-piracy feature'. I wish they would just say that rather than dressing it up.
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This. If I were a CnC player I might have said "Ok I'll buy the game for online play, but might have a pirated version when I want to go LANing with friends". However the deception would just make me want to not buy it and pirate it instead. If they think I'm stupid, I won't buy their game.

I think this will be a lesson for them when this situation becomes like Spore.
 
Hello pirates. My internet connection can't handle these kind of DRMs and I want this game.

I wish game companies would learn their lesson from this type of aggressive anti-piracy software, and no I don't buy that 'player progression' BS either. It's a DRM.

There are actually many gamers out there who aren't stupid AT. :arms:
 
These publishers and developers can make game developing look incredibly easy when they do stupid stuff like that.
 
Game will be pirated as usual anyway and some legit users will use a crack to bypass all the unwanted shit.

Why don't developers/publishers get this?
 
If this wasn't DRM they would give an option to turn off player progression. Once again legitimate customers will be punished and freeloaders like myself will have no problem.

Not that I'd be infecting my system with another generic C&C game anyway. They couldn't pay me to install this.
 
I'll probably buy it legit and just find a cracked .exe when the pirates create one.
 
stemot said:
If this wasn't DRM they would give an option to turn off player progression. Once again legitimate customers will be punished and freeloaders like myself will have no problem.

Not that I'd be infecting my system with another generic C&C game anyway. They couldn't pay me to install this.
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They won't be punishing anyone but themselves if devs keep this shit up.

Probably even a lot of hardcore franchise fans are going to be majorly turned off by this. Amazingly, more people do not have broadband than many people who take it for granted might think. There are plenty of other problems associated with this type of DRM too though.
 
I'm not interested in this game, but I wouldn't buy any game with DRM like this.
 
I've had every real C&C game when they came out since the first one was released, and I have a fast always-on DSL connection, and I won't be getting C&C4 if this is true.
 
Terrific.
*sarcasm*


P.s

The devs usually have very little to do with the drm features of any game.
It's the publishers that enforce this sort of thing.
 
Well, I guess this sucks if you lose your internet often.
 
*Play C&C4*
*Sudden internet connection problem*
*Forgot to save for 8 hours*
*All progresses lost \./ *

Seriously, WHY DIDN'T THEY SPEND MORE EFFORT ON MAKING A BETTER GAME?
If a game is good enough, pirates may feel guilty if they don't buy the game. And others may want to buy the game for collection purpose. This is the true way to increase the sale. NO ONE can win piracy by hard resorts. The hackers out there are always the smartest.
 
People pirate games because they are too poor to buy them. The best DRM in the world does not mean more people will buy the game. It doesn't even mean less people will pirate the game. Intrusive and annoying DRM only hurts people who buy the game.

Besides, studies indicate that people that pirate games also buy many more games than ordinary gamers.

Sure, protect your software from piracy, but not at the expense of paying customers. Not when you don't have to.

Annoying DRM is holding PC games back. I buy games for enjoyment and entertainment, not to be hassled and annoyed! Dumb asses.
 
VirusType2 said:
People pirate games because they are too poor to buy them. .
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Not true. People pirate games because it is cheaper than buying them. I don't care how much money you have, zero dollars is always better than >0 dollars as a price.
 
Mikael Grizzly said:
Does not compute.
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I don't know about you, but I could never get round to finishing a single-player game that I pirated. I just wouldn't feel the same excitement as if I'd bought it, so I buy it. Then again I don't really play games other than HL2/CSS anymore, so piracy isn't something I've done in ages. Lack of good games and shitty DRM means I won't even bother my bandwidth pirating them.
 
EA never learns, first it was with spore then the backlash they faced when they tried to make Mass Effect re-activate every 10 days. This will be cracked no doubt about it.
 
There is only one reason I never bought CoH: Opposing Fronts. There's several reasons I won't be getting this, but this is one.
 
Mikael Grizzly said:
Does not compute.
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What I mean is that they don't have enough money to buy all the games they want.
theotherguy said:
Not true. People pirate games because it is cheaper than buying them. I don't care how much money you have, zero dollars is always better than >0 dollars as a price.
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If you think about it, it means essentially the same thing.

Virus: pirate because they don't have the money to buy them.

theotherguy: pirate because it's cheaper than buying them.

I mean, this goes with what I'm saying above to M.Grizzly. I might have 100 dollars, but that doesn't mean I can spend it on games. People have bills and necessities. Games are a luxury.


Anyway, don't mistake me for a pirate advocate. I've never pirated a game, and don't plan on it. I just won't play it if I don't like the DRM.
 
VirusType2 said:
People pirate games because they are too poor to buy them.
Click to expand...
Not in my experience, the most common logic I get from pirates is that "It's cheaper to pirate than it is to buy"; not "I can't afford it so I pirate".

Seriously Virus, sometimes I'm wonder what kinda pills you are on.
 
Do you know how often I use a computer with no internet access? Never. I'm sure that also applies to practically everyone here.

Stop complaining.
 
Dumb Dude said:
Do you know how often I use a computer with no internet access? Never. I'm sure that also applies to practically everyone here.

Stop complaining.
Click to expand...

You would be surprised at the amount of people without stable internet access.
Just a couple of streets away my friend can't get broadband and his 56K is very unreliable so that rules him out.
Just because you always have access to an internet connection doesn't mean you have to be a prick towards those who can't.
Also i like it play games on my laptop when for example i have a long train journey guess i can't do that.
 
Dumb Dude said:
Do you know how often I use a computer with no internet access? Never. I'm sure that also applies to practically everyone here.

Stop complaining.
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I have dial up at home and when I go back to college I'll have none. Until the last year or so many of my friends were in the same boat. Two of them still are.
 
Gargantou said:
Seriously Virus, sometimes I'm wonder what kinda pills you are on.
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I'm anti-drug abuse.

Gargantou said:
Not in my experience, the most common logic I get from pirates is that "It's cheaper to pirate than it is to buy"; not "I can't afford it so I pirate".
Click to expand...
It's cheaper to pirate? That would imply that it costs something.

'I can't afford it' does not necessarily mean 'I don't have enough' money. Go ask your mom for $50 for a new game and she'll be like, 'We can't afford it.' Does that mean your mom doesn't have $50 in the bank? Probably not!
 
The idiots continue to alienate legitimate PC gamers. DRM is nothing but adware/spyware.
It's just a matter of time till Anti Spyware/Virus software starts detecting it as such.
 
Saturos said:
Adaware-SE and a-squared detects FEAR's secuROM on my machine. Or at least I think that's what it is.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I had F.E.A.R. installed on my machine recently along with Adaware and there was no conflictions. Maybe you should investigate it further.
 
Kyorisu said:
People pirate software because.

1. It's cheap.
2. It's easy.
Click to expand...

There are a lot more different reasons people pirate things. Guys, not everyone are freetards, believe me. Some people genuinely try them and if they like them, they buy them. Maybe when it goes on sale. :shrug:

Case in point, I know someone who downloads camcorded films, so he can see if it's worth seeing in the theater, or to see if it's fit for his children.

I know someone who downloads music from bands he never heard of, just to see if he likes it; to discover new music. The band gets new fans which is like a snowball effect, if he tells other people about them. If you like it enough, you'll want the full quality album, or other albums or EPs by that artist, so you buy the CDs, or you'll go to the concerts, buy the DVD's, T-shirts, posters, whatever. The concerts are where the artists make most of their money anyway.

Back to games: Getting the pirated version working isn't always 'easy', is it? Probably not as big a hassle as the store bought versions with DRM anymore, though.
 
The only reason why i have ever pirated games was because either the European launch was delayed for no reason, i'm looking at you Ghostbusters or the price is significantly higher Modern Warfare 2. I refuse to pay double the price just because i live on the other side of the pond.
 
I'm going to have to echo VirusType2's sentiments that people often pirate games because they are too poor to buy them.

At least certain kinds of pirates anyway... the kind who if and when they do get money do buy games, and buy a lot of games. And those ones being people who buy games far more than the average gamer.

I'm sure there are just as many if not far more less-than noble pirates out there too who simply do it because they can, and never would take the purchase alternative when they have the means to do so.
 
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