EA does Blizzard one better: C&C 4 online all the time

Post by **GeneralAdmission** » 14 Jul 2009, 20:45

As of right now, you need to be online all the time to play C&C 4 -APOC

No Internet = you've got a $50 coaster with pretty box art.

Previous C&C games used to be among those I always carted around on my laptop for some portable fun while on vacation or traveling. Not anymore. :(

Soduka · Post by **Soduka** » 14 Jul 2009, 21:38

whismerhill · Post by **whismerhill** » 14 Jul 2009, 23:17

yes that's true or else you're an evil pirate ;) :P

mengzor · Post by **mengzor** » 14 Jul 2009, 23:39

didnt they say it was just for stats tracking and stuff though?
Surely they wouldnt be stupid enough to--- oh wait its EA.. hmm..

Post by **The_cranky_hermit** » 15 Jul 2009, 03:44

I was getting sick of Command & Conquer anyway.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 15 Jul 2009, 12:18

This is a serious problem in the UK, where an ISP (Pipex) has just started blocking Steam throughout most of the day. Day being all hours that could be considered 'peak' plus a few others. Certainly enough that means if you have a day job, you can't get on Steam.

What happens if they block the C&C servers?

It's no longer a case of 'you need internet, and if you don't have it, get it'... you're now completely at the whims of your ISP, too.

Bloody ridiculous.

It's not like I was gonna buy C&C4 after the complete horror that was Red Alert 3, but EA... you're doing more to kill my interest in PC gaming than any other company out there.

Hopefully this gets picked up by Kotaku or one of the other ultra-popular tech blogs, and the internet catches fire - and EA burns in the conflagration. Let's face it, Bioware backed down over the 'every 10 day check' on Mass Effect... maybe EA will back down on this, too.

X-Warrior · Post by **X-Warrior** » 15 Jul 2009, 16:47

Quite the optimist, aren't you ?

Anyway, personally I couldn't be bothered really. I'm online 100% of pc-time anyway. Plus I'm on the type of ISP that would never do something ridiculous like blocking specific sites (unless ordered by government, and probably some highly illegal stuff). Therefore I'm not quite as strongly opposed to online checks as many others.

Doesn't mean I don't hate EA though. I haven't bought their games for years. Last one in the C&C series which I bought is Tiberian Sun...

DaFox · Post by **DaFox** » 15 Jul 2009, 17:54

Anyway, personally I couldn't be bothered really. I'm online 100% of pc-time anyway. Plus I'm on the type of ISP that would never do something ridiculous like blocking specific sites (unless ordered by government, and probably some highly illegal stuff). Therefore I'm not quite as strongly opposed to online checks as many others.

I'm completely with you It doesnt really affect me at all. And the ISP blocking problem isnt a flaw of the games or steam in the noted case, thats just a case of a shit ISP.

Post by **The_cranky_hermit** » 15 Jul 2009, 19:58

A game shouldn't require a good ISP to play offline. A game shouldn't require *any* ISP to play offline.

DaFox · Post by **DaFox** » 15 Jul 2009, 20:35

A game shouldn't require a good ISP to play offline. A game shouldn't require *any* ISP to play offline.

But you cant call it offline. Your playing online.

"A game shouldn't require a good ISP to play singleplayer." would be more suitable.

Post by **The_cranky_hermit** » 15 Jul 2009, 20:41

That's what I meant by "offline."

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 15 Jul 2009, 21:54

Quite the optimist, aren't you ?

No. I'm not. Optimism precedes experience. Cynicism follows. ;)

Anyway, personally I couldn't be bothered really. I'm online 100% of pc-time anyway. Plus I'm on the type of ISP that would never do something ridiculous like blocking specific sites (unless ordered by government, and probably some highly illegal stuff). Therefore I'm not quite as strongly opposed to online checks as many others.

I'm not online 100% of PC time. If I'm doing something that doesn't require me to be online (like playing a *gasp* single player game!) I won't be. If I'm working I'll be online for stuff like Endnote to search journal databases. But the way ISP's behave in the UK, you'd think that we weren't paying them for the service provided. But we are - they certainly aren't doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. Often, we're paying a heck of a lot.

...

To be honest, I don't know why I really care what EA are doing. I've been watching PC gaming going down the pan for years now from five directions: competition, piracy, anti-piracy measures, greed and lethargy. PC gaming won't die (as long as you've got bedroom programmers it won't die) but over the last five or so years, it's certainly taken a serious beating.

Post by **GeneralAdmission** » 15 Jul 2009, 22:57

No offline SP is an issue, but to me the whole "my product is non-functional unless I can successfully connect to a working EA server every time" is the rub.

EA could have avoided any issues by simply giving their customers a choice: online required for stat tracking/special achievements/etc., offline play without the perks. To each his own--good times for all. Alas, I think someone round-filed that memo.

I would also bet money there are at least a few EA shareholders giddy at the thought of full control over product obsolescence.

KreK · Post by **KreK** » 16 Jul 2009, 19:29

If the game is entirely installed on the hard drive, doesn't require a DVD in the drive, doesn't install any of that SecuROM/Starforce bullshit, then I, for one, welcome this new online-only copy protection overlord.

Soduka · Post by **Soduka** » 16 Jul 2009, 19:32

Hell, I don't get why they just don't stop selling the game completely, and only sell CD Keys in boxes.

Then, when you get home to log in to their website, put the key in and it downloads a small package that hooks you up to their servers, where the game actually is. Then, you just play the game over the Internet on their computers, using yours as a proxy.

Pirating is then 99% impossible.

KreK · Post by **KreK** » 16 Jul 2009, 20:49

Soduka, it's coming. They call it OnLive: The Future of Video Games

http://www.onlive.com/

In theory, it allows one to play Crysis at maximum details on a cheap cell phone. Most people agree the technology is still a few years off. Once this thing becomes a reality, the gaming piracy is history because the games will never reside on your computer. No such hope for music and video industry, though.

In the meantime, copy protection requiring constant Internet connection is just a way to slowly prepare us for the OnLive technology or whatever it will be called once Microsoft and Sony get their patents on it.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 16 Jul 2009, 21:40

Hell, I don't get why they just don't stop selling the game completely, and only sell CD Keys in boxes.

Then, when you get home to log in to their website, put the key in and it downloads a small package that hooks you up to their servers, where the game actually is. Then, you just play the game over the Internet on their computers, using yours as a proxy.

Pirating is then 99% impossible.

It might be coming, but we need fast, 100% reliable internet connections before that's realistic. And by 'fast' I mean 50Mb/s or faster.

They'd probably charge a monthly fee, as well - after all, we'd be using their server hardware!

X-Warrior · Post by **X-Warrior** » 16 Jul 2009, 22:04

Why of course it would cost a monthly fee. However, you'd probably not have to buy the games themselves. Pay per Play I suppose.

50Mb/s internet is available as we speak in some regions. It's only a matter of time before it's standard throughout the modern world.

whismerhill · Post by **whismerhill** » 17 Jul 2009, 13:38

let me say one thing
How come there is WoW private servers when clients don't have server side code hum ? Same problem here, maybe it is a bit more difficult to pirate (not even sure about that) but 99% impossible to pirate is far off ...

Then you could argue that private servers are slow bullshit & the like
Ok then but since we are talking about protecting single player nothing would prevent a pirate from running his own server with some virtualization help...

Finally technically, 50Mb/s everywhere is a bit far from today ...
some regions are still on 56k !!!
not even talking about people with real homes which would be among the last to get optical fiber ...

and even at this rate, you need very very very low ping to get a responsive game enough...

Still technically 50Mb/s is probably too low for triplehead or the next generations of quality on PC like true 3D (with 3D screens, this is only the beginnings for now) or others I probably can't even imagine ...
Not even thinking about my own case where my bandwith is limited by what my girlfriend does... Or even my cousin's case which has about 6 computers & a lot of visiting friends ...

All in all, I don't see onlive as being predominant on the market... Though it could be an alternative for sure...

Soduka · Post by **Soduka** » 17 Jul 2009, 17:45

let me say one thing
How come there is WoW private servers when clients don't have server side code hum ? Same problem here, maybe it is a bit more difficult to pirate (not even sure about that) but 99% impossible to pirate is far off ...

Then you could argue that private servers are slow bullshit & the like
Ok then but since we are talking about protecting single player nothing would prevent a pirate from running his own server with some virtualization help...

Finally technically, 50Mb/s everywhere is a bit far from today ...
some regions are still on 56k !!!
not even talking about people with real homes which would be among the last to get optical fiber ...

and even at this rate, you need very very very low ping to get a responsive game enough...

Still technically 50Mb/s is probably too low for triplehead or the next generations of quality on PC like true 3D (with 3D screens, this is only the beginnings for now) or others I probably can't even imagine ...
Not even thinking about my own case where my bandwith is limited by what my girlfriend does... Or even my cousin's case which has about 6 computers & a lot of visiting friends ...

All in all, I don't see onlive as being predominant on the market... Though it could be an alternative for sure...

You don't seem to be getting the idea. The game is NEVER PASSED OUT TO THE PUBLIC. World of War Craft is still installed on your computer. The games I am talking about wouldn't be, therefore you can't run private servers.

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