I miss the days when all you needed to do was insert a cartridge in a console or disk in a PC and just play a video game. At worst, I had to enter a code that was somewhere in the oversized box. Consoles never had that issue.
Just to be clear, piracy is indeed a problem, but how big of a problem is something to debate about. Thing is, as soon as money was paid for software, there were already pirates. The interesting thing is that, despite all this, game developers during the time were still able to grow and make a profit. There was enough profit in the gaming industry that they have become this large bloated mess we see today - and that was when there was rampant pirating.
The different DRM (Digital Rights Management) technologies over the years have pretty much failed to curb piracy, but has succeeded in making gamer's lives more inconvenient. So ... hurray? The main problem with almost every DRM tech available is that, if it fails, it only affects gamers who buy the game, not the pirates. While we fiddle around entering codes of ungodly legnths, those with pirated games are enjoying the game as soon as they insert the disk.
The latest DRM trend is "always online". The game basically sends an occassional "all is well" signal to the developer that I am not a pirate. However, if the game is unable to send the signal, then I would be unable to play the game - even if it is a single person title.
Probably the most famous of examples is Diablo 3. Yes, there are some online aspects that requires an internet connection, but the core of the game is for single player. And yet, the game requires that you are logged in to the BattleNet servers to even get a chance to play.
What if I lose internet connection because of my ISP and no fault of my own? I can't play the game. Even as something to pass the time, there is no mode to allow me to destroy my pixelated enemies.
SIM City also had this problem, and, as it appears companies love the idea, the XBOX One will have this "feature" as well.
So if I buy a game on disk and, for some reason lose internet connection, I won't be able to play the game. Or any game for that matter.
Something there just ... does not sound right.
I can understand being unable to access online offerings, fine. But I should not be prevented from playing a single player game I had bought a disk for or have a legal copy on hard disk. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of buying the disk in the first place?
Yes, it is reasonable to think many people who play video games have a stable internet connection, but it is naive to think that MOST do. Even those with stable internet relies on their ISP to be 100% reliable, which they are not. From experience, multi-day outages can happen. Sure, there are other things to do, but if I paid $60 for a game, I better be damned able to play it when I want.
I was raised in a generation where buying a console meant I could play anytime and network connectivity is just an added plus. This kind of limitation to a hobby I enjoy just does not make sense. No, I will not go out of my way to get a workaround to play a pirated game. This will just make me stop buying games completely.
I am all for protecting the rights of developers and their right to make money. But going this far in an attempt to broaden profits just makes little sense. How about this? Make quality games at accessible prices and just let people enjoy it. Provide additional fun services for those able to go online and not make it a requirement. I'm pretty sure catering to the cost conscious will help raise those profit margins than spending exhorbitant amounts to fight piracy.
Let me play the games I paid good money for and don't punish me when things happen that I have no control over - like your online servers failing. *cough*diablo*cough*simcity*cough*
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