Rant: Constant Internet DRM and Origin Haters are Idiots.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Before I rant on this subject let me make one thing clear, I'm not a big PC gamer. I have a middle-range Compaq laptop that can barely run Team Fortress 2 at a playable framerate so I won’t be playing Skyrim or Battlefield 3 on the PC any time soon. While my Steam collection of games is quite respectable most of them aren’t even downloaded and quite a few would have no chance of running, even with all the settings down. I’m not some PC wonder-wizard.

But I’ve been seeing a lot of stuff about the state of PC gaming within the last few weeks, ranging from the DRM issues with ‘From Dust’ to the Origin exclusivity of Battlefield 3. Everyone is frustrated at EA or Ubisoft or Blizzard complaining about all of this and from the perspective of a mainly console-focused person that I am this argument is making everyone look like complete idiots.

The people complaining about the DRM in ‘From Dust’ are idiots. They’re pissed because ‘From Dust’ requires an internet connection when booting the game. I can understand this being an issue 5 years from now when those servers may not be running but if you are reading this then you are obviously on the internet. Let me ask you a question: When was the last time you played a recent release almost completely offline? Let’s say that a recent game is one month after release. I doubt any of you have. Most of the recent releases would only be playable on a desktop anyway as only a select few enthusiasts would have a modern gaming laptop. But even those people would be playing at home or at least on a table. Who wants to play something like Skyrim on the bus? The only people who would genuinely have an issue with this is people who don’t have internet (which would be 21% of the American population according to Gizmodo ). But of course the people who don’t have internet cannot get ‘From Dust’ because they have to download it. So the people complaining about this are doing it for no reason or at least not a serious reason.

But something that genuinely frustrates me is the thread titled: Did you not buy a game because (it’s) not on Steam? There are people in that thread who didn’t buy Starcraft 2 and aren’t going to buy Battlefield 3 SOLELY because it’s not on Steam. These people are lazy, moronic, retards. You are missing out on some of the best games within the last 5 years because you can’t be bothered to open a launcher on your desktop. While yes it would be nice to have all of your games in one launcher it’s not an extremely hard thing to open another launcher or pay for a game on a another website. As a console person this translates to me to ‘I’m not buying Modern Warfare 3 because I have to change the disc’.

Seriously, fuck these people.

"Works fine for me and my specific circumstances, fuck everyone else"

Opinions, man.

Oh look, another one of these.

This is one of the few occasions where I consider a post consisting of nothing other than "u mad bro?" to be a perfectly valid response.

Additionally, I'd like to add that although you (as in the target of the above post, not the author) may be upset about some DRM, or Origin sucking, or a game not being on Steam; as a PC gamer you should still be supporting PC gaming as a whole in some capacity so as to show that PC gaming is still a viable option for companies to make money, thus they continue to dev games for the PC.  Boycotting games/services/etc only really hurts the gamer in the long run. 
 
@Lights_Up_The_Shaft:  While I agree with the spirit, (and yes it has literally been YEARS since the last time I played a game w/o an internet connection)  The argument against "always-on" internet DRM is still a valid one.  Remember, DRM only hurts the honest customers who actually pay for the game.  From Dust was cracked in what? 12 hours?  Its really just a way to please shareholders who are stuck in the stone age.

If you don't know the difference between internet connectivity and internet stability, as well as how the state of the internet is at a global context and not just your own local environment's, then you have no business talking about an issue you clearly aren't affected by and/or will properly understand.

Yes, because paying 60$ (Swedish prices, YAY!) for a product that you are limited from using is great! 
You are wrong and silly.

Uplay be suckin, yo.

The main issue with From Dust is that Ubisoft said specifically that they would not use that DRM, people bought it and realized it did have it.

I give you a C for effort.

Because everyone has constant access to unlimited bandwidth at all times. 

@Lights_Up_The_Shaft:

This is a factual inaccuracy and objectively wrong.
 
also, YOU ARE >:[

@Lights_Up_The_Shaft:

The problem wasn't the DRM it was the fact that they lied about what it would be and the port was a poorly done console version. I buy games on steam and on a disc, but origin won't accept any of my credit cards, so my problem with origin is a functional one, it just flat out won't accept my american express.

Before I rant on this subject let me make one thing clear, I'm not a big PC gamer.

@Lights_Up_The_Shaft: ok, so let me make you a question, your internet link stops working for whatever reason, be it a problem on your end or your ISP's, say it takes a month to fix it, that's an entire month you was unable to play a single player offline game you paid 60 bucks for because of some stupid invasive useless DRM, is that OK with you?  That's just one scenario, that are lot's more things that could affect you internet hence affecting your game, these types of draconian DRM measures don't stop piracy AT ALL and end up only hurting paying customers in the end, worst yet pirates get it better, since they have the version that plays no matter what your internet connection status is.

When was the last time you played a recent release almost completely offline?

I play a lot of Steam games at my grandmother's house. She has no internet because she is essentially blind and can no longer leave the house on her own, myself being one of the few people who she gets to have any contact with on a weekly basis.
 
Good job, you're a jack ass.

What's with the rash of threads over the last couple of days that are created specifically to complain about other people? There are people hating on Brad's Quick Looks, people hating on the staff for disliking GameStop policies, people complaining that others cry troll too quickly, people complaining about the staff's language, and even people complaining about other people complaining. Now, there's this one that ends with, "Seriously, fuck these people."
 
What is the purpose? If you see something you don't like, maybe creating a new thread to whine about it isn't the best idea. If it bothers you how about just responding where you see it take place? There's so much negativity in the list of forum topics right now. Chill out, none of it is even a big deal. 
 
Summer is winding down in the northern hemisphere. Go out and enjoy it. If the hurricane is limiting your options you can still get plenty of negative attention by mooning a Weather Channel camera crew.

Constant connection DRM haters are in the right. Origin haters are indeed idiots.

@Lights_Up_The_Shaft: you should get out of the house every now and then and interact with other people. you'll find they all don't live the same lifestyle you do. They even make different decisions than you do, with good reasons.

I have a 2 year old Lenovo laptop that plays new games with no problems. It wasn't even that expensive really. I download games from Steam and elsewhere, install them, and then play them when I'm away from home. Usually with no internet or very limited internet - bandwidth and limited connectivity.

Before I rant on this subject let me make one thing clear, I'm not a big PC gamer.

A non idiot wouldn´t make a post calling large group of people idiots just because they are displeased with some abusive policies.

I would try to back up my argument with a bunch of sophist arguments but HEY! INTERNET!

Even if they're idiots, you're an asshole. Fuck off.

Origin is spyware. That is all there is.  
 
As for "From Dust" People where plain lied to. Thats why they are mad. They said " From dust will have no DRM" ANd guess what happens as soon as you turn it on.  

@Lights_Up_The_Shaft said:

But of course the people who don’t have internet cannot get ‘From Dust’ because they have to download it. So the people complaining about this are doing it for no reason or at least not a serious reason.

Yeah- unless they have access to- ya know, a McDonalds or Starbucks or something. There's a dude in my town who's playing Warcraft in my local McDonalds every night at 3AM.

You have no idea what you are talking about. 
 
I travel on a regular basis for work. I am a graphic designer and consistently meeting with clients all over the country.  I have a gaming laptop. Some nights I get to my hotel 10pm + and leave before 8am. I've literally stayed in hotels that have wifi that costs 30+ dollars per day. Why should I have to pay wifi fee's if I wanted to play a SINGLE player game for an hour or two before bed?  
 
During college, my internet would go out on a regular basis. For the last 2 years at my university, we suffered from some serious network problems. It would be fair to say that a night or 2 per week the internet would be down. The only way I was able to play a few games that I had legitimately purchased were by patching them to get rid of always on DRM.  
 
A friend of mine moved to a part of the country that only has satellite internet available. From what he has told me, it works when it feels like it/weather permitting.   Clearly when it isn't functioning he can't play games that he had purchased, such as From Dust. 
 
These are only three reasons why always online DRM makes for a horrible DRM/Business model. I am sure there are plenty more situations where this type of DRM screws over people also. The only thing that happens is people who purchase games are getting fucked over, DRM is generally a non-issue for pirates, if there is a will there is a way. 

This rant reminds me a lot of the type of person who goes on and on about how you're a paranoid ignorant fucktard if you give a damn about privacy and various civil liberties, because you have to give up some liberty for security and that the only reason to care about privacy and your various liberties is if you're doing something wrong and have something to hide. Not precisely the same, but along the same angry, ignorant, backwards, frothing-at-the-mouth, anti-consumer sentiment where they angrily insist that you should just shut the fuck up and take things how they come or get the fuck out yadda yadda yadda.

Directly on the topic - whether I am or am no connected to the internet and whether or not it is stable and whether or not a thousand other variables and circumstances, I don't fucking care. It is a matter both of practical importance and of principal. That's the thing you stand on when it may not directly impact you, but you still care about it because it's the right thing. You know, like how I don't just dismiss censorship and rating of material for younger people because "hey, I'm not underage, so it doesn't hurt me".

By the way - I don't need to justify to you my reasons for being against things that are vile. Like draconian DRM, treating customers like criminals, inconveniencing legitimate customers, stripping your right to first-sale, installing root-kits, spying on users, etc any more than I need to justify to you my reasons for being against, say, censorship.

It kind of hurts my brain and this kind of attitude speaks to a much larger state of mind that is quite unfortunate (and you, the original poster, are certainly not alone in this attitude or mindset, either).

I don't mind a game that requires activation over the internet (i.e. because this usually prevents the need for disc-based DRM, which is far more annoying) but any game that requires you to be connected to the internet each time you launch or even throughout the gameplay session is problematic IMO if it does not have any provisions to allow you to play the game offline. Steam has an always online DRM but it allows you to play games offline if you can't connect to the internet for some reason. Though most of us who play PC games have access to broadband internet, not all ISPs are reliable (the ISP I have for instance gives me 20mbps downstream but I get temporary outages from time to time) and hence it would suck if I were not able to play a game that I paid for just because my internet was down for the day or even for several hours. Also, what do I do if I want to play the game while I'm on vacation in a place with spotty broadband (as is the case most of the time I am on vacation) or no broadband at all? The answer to that question is that I'm probably going to download a crack that bypasses the DRM. A paying consumer shouldn't be forced to download cracks just to play their games while they are offline.

@The_Laughing_Man said:

Origin is spyware. That is all there is.

Right, clearly that's what it's meant to be and the only function it serves.

@Khann said:

"Works fine for me and my specific circumstances, fuck everyone else"

And yell about fucked everyone else is.

to op: /mirror

Oh, look, another complaint from an individual who can't think further than his own set of circumstan-

@Khann said:

"Works fine for me and my specific circumstances, fuck everyone else"

... And, beaten by the first response. Oh well, I tried.

I disagree with everything you said on every point. Too tired to go beyond that, but use your imagination to imagine one of my usual long thought provoking posts that allow you to see the error of your ways and recant your original opinions.

@The_Laughing_Man said:

Origin is spyware. That is all there is.

Right, clearly that's what it's meant to be and the only function it serves.

Before I rant on this subject let me make one thing clear, I'm not a big PC gamer. I have a middle-range Compaq laptop that can barely run Team Fortress 2 at a playable framerate 

Before I rant on this subject let me make one thing clear, I'm not a big PC gamer.

You guys may call him a troll or disagree but I'm willing to bet that the majority of people that bitch about drm will not even be effected by it.

I'm so tired of people bitching about DRM. Huh.....maybe people shouldn't steal and then there would be no DRM.

Before I rant on this subject let me make one thing clear, I'm not a big PC gamer. I have a middle-range Compaq laptop that can barely run Team Fortress 2 at a playable framerate 

If you don't know the difference between internet connectivity and internet stability, as well as how the state of the internet is at a global context and not just your own local environment's, then you have no business talking about an issue you clearly aren't affected by and/or will properly understand.

Internet, providing a soapbox for people to air there misguided and uninformed opinions since 1990 (est.)

This thread/blog is already a rape and should be locked. Is there any way to make blogs private?

I knew people were going to disagree but holy shit. Let me clear some things up.

First of all the statements about DRM and how it affects people who move frequently and have an unstable internet connection. All these problems though valid are still temporary. You won't be at your grandmothers for the rest of your life. Your internet connection will come back. My point is (even though it wasn't conveyed very well) is that people that do have steady internet, that do stay in one spot are attacking DRM just because it exists. DRM only effects those people who do that and they have every right to complain but the people that DRM doesn't effect still think that have the right to complain about it.

Secondly, all PC games must have some DRM. That's just how companies combat cracked games and illegal copies. Just look a the first Humble Bundle pack. Every one of those games were all DRM-free and 75% of all of those games played were pirated. This was something that could literally been 10 cents and was for charity yet people still took advantage and as a result they lost money. If the first Humble Bundle had DRM they could of raise a lot more money.

Thirdly, my statement on 'not being a big pc player' was less of 'I don't play a lot of PC games' and more 'I don't own a $3000 computer'. I play a lot more PC games than console these days, even if they aren't recent games. I've clocked over 200 hours of TF2 despite owning it for less than a year and I don't even want to think about my time in WoW. Just because I'm not a PC elitist doesn't mean my opinion isn't completely invalid.

I'm not a troll, I'm trying to get a reaction out of everyone I just doing want it says in the title, ranting. This is an opinion, you have yours, I have mine.

Also just want to let you know that the reason I didn't respond immediately is because I was outside, in the sun, with friends having lunch. That's something I do a lot.

@Khann said:

"Works fine for me and my specific circumstances, fuck everyone else"

Quoted for Truth.

Also, haven't you heard? Everyone in the internet is an idiot.

@Lights_Up_The_Shaft said:

DRM only effects those people who do that and they have every right to complain but the people that DRM doesn't effect still think that have the right to complain about it.

Wait so... you can only fight against something if it directly affects you? You can't show your concern over the treatment of others?

Secondly, all PC games must have some DRM. That's just how companies combat cracked games and illegal copies. Just look a the first Humble Bundle pack. Every one of those games were all DRM-free and 75% of all of those games played were pirated. This was something that could literally been 10 cents and was for charity yet people still took advantage and as a result they lost money. If the first Humble Bundle had DRM they could of raise a lot more money.

PC games DO NOT have to have some form of DRM. It does sweet fuck all to combat piracy. The Humble Indie bundle DID NOT lose money, it was enormously successful for all involved. Why do you think there have been 3 of them?

Just because I'm not a PC elitist doesn't mean my opinion isn't completely invalid.

The same goes for those who are.

Also just want to let you know that the reason I didn't respond immediately is because I was outside, in the sun, with friends having lunch. That's something I do a lot.

Well la-de-fucking-da, look at you. Despite what you may think, this community doesn't only consist of pasty white shut-ins who will be completely and utterly floored by your ability to have friends and leave the house.

Grow up.

You don't need a "$3000 computer" to play most games well.

@Lights_Up_The_Shaft: Guess what my internet out here in the boonies was just down for two fucking days, not everyone has a stable connection so that type of DRM is unfair to customers you can't be Expected to have a constant internet connection because there are PLENTY who do not.

Just to stress this point a bit more.. I don't live in a particularly busy area. I have a fast internet connection, but it's prone to go offline randomly, sometimes for hours at a time. Not being able to play a game I've bought because of that is ridiculous, and some days it makes playing online impossible. That's not a huge problem, because I'm not a big fan of online multiplayer, but if I want to play something like.. say, Diablo 3? That would be an issue, and it's why my money will be going to Runic for Torchlight 2 instead.

Again, just because it isn't a problem for you, doesn't mean others don't have issues with extremely restrictive DRM.

I do agree with you about Origin though. People who are so obsessed with only buying things from Steam are only hurting the PC gaming industry and turning something that was great into a monopoly. Having a couple of games from GOG, Origin, Impulse or GFWL isn't going to kill you. Competition is good.

@Lights_Up_The_Shaft: You apparently don't know the difference between "effect", and "affect". You must be an idiot.