That’s another drawback. And it’s one I’d rather have than stutter too (of course I’d rather have neither but let’s assume that’s not on the table).
Games these days are often not even ready until a year or so after release meaning if you don’t trust the patch distribution to continue for a long time one shouldn’t even buy the games.
An online requirement is pretty easy to patch out after a while. Obviously you trust the developer to actually do it, and I wish more would. A good distributor could prove that they are reliable and patch away the online requirement after a year or so.
After all DRM is usually about protecting a first crucial period of sales.
I haven’t really played a game that doesn’t use another online resource (data, opponents, DLCs…) in a very long time so perhaps I’m underestimating the problem of online requirements compared to someone who would e.g ever play an older offline game.
Importantly, when I “buy” (I use that term lightly for software) a game, I don’t expect it to be a perpetual functioning license that lets me show it to my kids in 15 years. I see it more as a movie ticket for brief entertainment. It's an unfortunate state of affairs - but I'd rather have 1 year of non-stuttering gameplay than a perpetual re-playable but flawed game if I'm forced to choose.
Man that's a bleak view of games if you're ok with them being relevant for a couple of years so you can get brief entertainment. Might as well train an AI to constantly spew images and sounds that you like at you and call it a day.
That’s basically what buying AAA games these days is. First year unplayable because of bugs, then a brief lifetime as you finish it (single player) or the user count dwindles (multi player).
Games these days are often not even ready until a year or so after release meaning if you don’t trust the patch distribution to continue for a long time one shouldn’t even buy the games.
An online requirement is pretty easy to patch out after a while. Obviously you trust the developer to actually do it, and I wish more would. A good distributor could prove that they are reliable and patch away the online requirement after a year or so. After all DRM is usually about protecting a first crucial period of sales.
I haven’t really played a game that doesn’t use another online resource (data, opponents, DLCs…) in a very long time so perhaps I’m underestimating the problem of online requirements compared to someone who would e.g ever play an older offline game.
Importantly, when I “buy” (I use that term lightly for software) a game, I don’t expect it to be a perpetual functioning license that lets me show it to my kids in 15 years. I see it more as a movie ticket for brief entertainment. It's an unfortunate state of affairs - but I'd rather have 1 year of non-stuttering gameplay than a perpetual re-playable but flawed game if I'm forced to choose.