It's not obvious, because it seemed as though you were lacking contextual information.

But context isn't important, right?

Also, the server is not a separate product because a server isn't a product in this case. The game is.

prod·uct

/ˈprädəkt/

I don't know about Heavy Rain or Portal 2, but there are several single player games on PSN that require you to be signed in to play them. During the outage Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 was the most notorious, I think, and some Final Fight game was affected too. I've noticed that I can't play my digital copy of Far Cry 3, not even the single player part, when PSN or Uplay is down for maintenance either, so that certainly happens on consoles.

A couple of people have mentioned this, but even console gaming has its problems in terms of convenience. Some single player games on consoles downloaded from PSN/XBL, and even a few disc games, don't work unless you're signed in the respective game network. You haven't encountered it personally. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Need I also remind you that EA is not all game developers and should not represent all game developers that develop games for PC. Also, stuff like graphics card issues are just things PC gamers tend to live with, especially if those issues only affect a relatively small number of users. If in the end is a better gameplay experience on PC than on console, then it's usually worth it.

Wow. Doubling down, I see. Server access is part of the product. Without it, the game doesn't work. Period. So, if I download the game and don't buy a physical, manufactured disc, is it no longer a product?

Clearly the product is the software--the combined client and server software. Which is why denying access to one half of it (on the server) means that the product is broken. This isn't a difficult concept, you know.

@ben_h: well, for me I couldn't play D3 but once in the first week (in the middle of the day), could only randomly connect for almost a month, and lost all sorts of progress with disconnects so I don't know how much "better" it was than this.

I think some people have been wearing rose-colored glasses with respect to how horrible the D3 launch went and at least EA/Maxis is owning up to this and offering a free game unlike Blizzard who seemed to blame it on too many people buying their precious game and provided zero compensation of any form.

@haggis: I'm not arguing with you. You're arguing with something I agree with and is tangential to the original person's post. Jesus Christ. Go back to the original post I replied to and get some context.

You're not arguing with me? Seems like you are. There's not a lot of context here. Someone claimed the game wasn't ready to be released because the servers weren't ready. Your response was, "what was it about the game itself that is not ready to launch? p.s., servers aren't part of the game itself."

Except servers are a part of the game itself, and as I pointed out, even with the servers up, key functionality wasn't working correctly.

And you've been arguing with me since then. Unconvincingly, but still arguing. I wasn't the only one who pointed out that your perspective on this seems out of date, given the facts. So, if I'm missing some crucial context here, please point out exactly what that is.

@haggis: RTFT

@magzine said:

That's what I thought. :/