EA investing in always-on DRM

limitedaccess said:
Actually in terms of distribution level DRM GoG (and with a limited title selection) is not the only digital retailer that operates like that. Amazon also operates in the same way. Once the installer files are downloaded to your computer it is stand alone apart from the actual DRM included with said game (some of which have no DRM).

Also I think people should now separate the concepts of game DRM and distribution DRM. Game DRM has actually existed before digital distribution became vogue. Distribution DRM is the newer concept with the arrival of digital distribution. In the past with physical purchases what you bought for example was no longer under the control of say Gamestop or Bestbuy after your purchase. However it is now in some cases with digital distribution.
Click to expand...

You would think everyone should know this by now as common knowledge.
 
bigdogchris said:
Technically, Steam is "always on DRM" and people are willing to drop to their knees to please Gabe and use his product.

People are very selective about how and by whom they are willing to be controlled by.
Click to expand...

This. And origin is less intrusive yet fools flock to whine and scream about it.
 
Thing I like about Steam is even the oldest game I've bought from them I can still play whenever I want. You are always hearing where EA is shutting down game servers when the level of players gets too low. I don't buy a game for a limited time access to it, I buy to be able to play whenever I wish to.
 
RW2112 said:
Thing I like about Steam is even the oldest game I've bought from them I can still play whenever I want. You are always hearing where EA is shutting down game servers when the level of players gets too low. I don't buy a game for a limited time access to it, I buy to be able to play whenever I wish to.
Click to expand...

Not if it's an EA game.

P.S. EA is shutting down multiplayer, not the actual game, anyway.
 
b4utd5.jpg
 
GoldenTiger said:
This. And origin is less intrusive yet fools flock to whine and scream about it.
Click to expand...

steam has a dedicated offline mode, that every game published by valve uses, and 3rd party publishers all have at their disposal, what part of this are we not understanding here? it's not even a good troll at this point, should be common knowledge by now.

that is the complete opposite of what we're talking about here, simcity can't be played offline and there are no local saves. the app will be totally useless without a connection, not like any fully steamworks compatible game at all.
 
mas said:
steam has a dedicated offline mode, that every game published by valve uses, and 3rd party publishers all have at their disposal, what part of this are we not understanding here? it's not even a good troll at this point, should be common knowledge by now.

that is the complete opposite of what we're talking about here, simcity can't be played offline and there are no local saves. the app will be totally useless without a connection, not like any fully steamworks compatible game at all.
Click to expand...
Not sure if serious. Origin games mostly can be played offline as well.
What exactly is your point? Some games on steam require persistent drm, more than on origin. Steam is much more onerous on their drm than origin overall. Origin also has live chat, phone, and email support with consumer friendly policies while steam is no refunds no help period with slow email only responses.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Not sure if serious. Origin games mostly can be played offline as well.
What exactly is your point? Some games on steam require persistent drm, more than on origin. Steam is much more onerous on their drm than origin overall. Origin also has live chat, phone, and email support with consumer friendly policies while steam is no refunds no help period with slow email only responses.
Click to expand...

You will find most people don't use Origin. And they think they know everything about it. If they actually tried it. They would find. It actually does alot of things better then Steam.

And yes that is one of the best features of Origin. You can play every game that doesn't require origin without Origin. Think there is 3 that require it.
 
GoldenTiger said:
This. And origin is less intrusive yet fools flock to whine and scream about it.
Click to expand...

Uh oh....it was only a matter of time until the resident steam basher arrived to a thread about EA. I am yet to see anyone put forward a cogent explanation as to how steam employs "always on" DRM.

GoldenTiger said:
Not sure if serious. Origin games mostly can be played offline as well.
What exactly is your point? Some games on steam require persistent drm, more than on origin.
Click to expand...

Are you intentionally being disingenuous? You should know full well that has nothing to do with steam or valve and is a matter up to the individual publisher/developer who insist on using crappy DRM :rolleyes:

GoldenTiger said:
Steam is much more onerous on their drm than origin overall.
Click to expand...

Wow.....both require you to login beforehand to access your games, I am not seeing how steam is any more onerous than Origin. And before you roll out the old chest nut of "most EA games do not require Origin to be running", there is a very good reason for that and it is because all of those games pre-date Origin.

Ignoring the fact that all future EA games are going to be inextricably tied to Origin as a DRM platform to support an argument that Origin is better than steam is just intellectually dishonest. The fact EA is now openly stating that they are actively investing in always online DRM simply reinforces a conclusion that all future EA games are in all likelihood going to require origin to be running in the background.

GoldenTiger said:
Origin also has live chat, phone, and email support with consumer friendly policies while steam is no refunds no help period with slow email only responses.
Click to expand...

This is probably the only significant advantage which Origin currently has over steam as a digital distribution platform.....assuming you don't get some clueless numpty on the other side which invariably tends to happen.

Dion said:
You will find most people don't use Origin. And they think they know everything about it. If they actually tried it. They would find. It actually does alot of things better then Steam.

And yes that is one of the best features of Origin. You can play every game that doesn't require origin without Origin. Think there is 3 that require it.
Click to expand...

Given the number of people who own BF3 or ME3 on these forums (including myself), you will probably find that a very large proportion of people on these forums have in fact used Origin. As for "hurrrr durrrr you can play Origin games without Origin" see my reply above.

Whether origin does lots of things better than steam....well I guess that is a matter of opinion, but if you made a table comparing the features offered by each platform I would hazard a guess that most users would be inclined to agree that steam is far more feature rich than origin.
 
Dion said:
You will find most people don't use Origin. And they think they know everything about it. If they actually tried it. They would find. It actually does alot of things better then Steam.
Click to expand...

They do a better job of shutting down game servers. EA Shutting Down More Game Servers
They do a better job of keeping prices high. Steam sales "cheapen intellectual property" says EA Origin boss
Origin also does a better job of collecting and selling information about its customers.
 
Plague_Injected said:
Defending EA = Battered Gamer Syndrome.
Click to expand...

Ok, here we go.

There is a difference(most of the time) between people who defend steam and people who defend origin.

With steam it is usually the "steam or nothing" crowd that loves steam so much and would love it to be a monopoly(yeah good idea :rolleyes:). They will slam everything that isn't steam and will be fine with anything steam does so long as it is convenient for them.

People who defend origin usually just "don't mind it". They don't love it, but they understand that it is not as bad as people make it out to be and that you can live with it. No "OMG I LOVE ORIGIN" compared to the steam fanboys.

Now you can say I "like" steam, but I "don't mind" origin. It is just stupid to see people say steam is so amazing and then bash origin. The DRM thing...if I play a game I bought through steam, there is no way I can play it without steam. If I am in-game and exit steam/force close it, boom there goes the game I am playing. That means Steam is in a way, an always on DRM as well.

I prefer to buy games through steam, but I won't limit my other options.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Not sure if serious. Origin games mostly can be played offline as well.
What exactly is your point? Some games on steam require persistent drm, more than on origin. Steam is much more onerous on their drm than origin overall. Origin also has live chat, phone, and email support with consumer friendly policies while steam is no refunds no help period with slow email only responses.
Click to expand...

except nobody here is criticising origin? the thread is about EA Games. where yet again the same parrots are constantly spewing the same rant about 3rd party drm on steam for no apparent reason, this platform that does not and could never hope to enforce their own drm practices on all their partners.

this is the same answer to every other thread you paste your mindless bs in, valve as a publisher does not enforce or otherwise endorse required connections to play their games, where EA does. it's a simple concept with zero room for debate. doesn't matter if they throw you a bone once in a while, they still use it in places where it doesn't belong. so here we point out yet another example of a single player game developed and published EA, that will be unplayable offline.
 
With always on DRM, you will have more to worry about than Origin or Steam :)

Such DRM are title specific, and so they rely on how profitable it is to keep the service up for each individual games. Just look at that case where EA ended the service for one of their games which basically kills the entire game itself.

If you are fine with playing Sim City 5 for several years and then completely lose it once EA shuts down its service, no one can stop you. Go right ahead and support it. Everyone just need to know what they are getting into.

Sim City 4 is one of those classics that a small number of fans still enjoy even to this day. How is that possible? The first requirement is no always-on DRM. Sim City 5 will NOT be such a game. Diablo 3 will not be such a game. This has got nothing to do with its quality, but rather, its reliance to an online service that will not always be there.

Publishers today no longer care about making such a game. Hell they don't want you to stick to a game for many years. They want you to buy a new one every year!
 
Bigbacon said:
Steam seems like the perfect option to me. It isn't intrusive, you can play offline if the game allows and it doesn't effect your ability to play the game while playing (like SP diablo 3 being messed up by lag sort of thing)
Click to expand...

Steam offline mode is broken and on more than one occasion then losing my internet connection I've lost the ability to play my Steam games. Steam isn't perfect. I'll take a drm free copy over a steam copy any day.
 
defiant007 said:
Uh oh....it was only a matter of time until the resident steam basher arrived to a thread about EA. I am yet to see anyone put forward a cogent explanation as to how steam employs "always on" DRM.

Are you intentionally being disingenuous? You should know full well that has nothing to do with steam or valve and is a matter up to the individual publisher/developer who insist on using crappy DRM :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Are you ignoring reality on purpose, buddy? Steam *REQUIRES* you to be online for ALL gameplay, persistently, except an offline mode that requires you to login first to activate through an annoying process that then has to be reversed once you want to play online again. Origin, for 99% of its titles, doesn't even have to be running, let alone online, to run their games. So yes, it is fully up to Valve/Steam as to whether to be requiring this, and it is a requirement of their platform in addition to any extra DRM the individual publisher/developer adds in. :rolleyes: at you, buddy... :rolleyes: at you.

I don't mind Origin's DRM, and find Steam to be more annoying, but I still don't mind it either. I find you zealots who bash Origin for things that aren't even done on it, yet are done on Steam and you bend over backwards to praise for doing so, hilarious, however.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
Steam offline mode is broken and on more than one occasion then losing my internet connection I've lost the ability to play my Steam games. Steam isn't perfect. I'll take a drm free copy over a steam copy any day.
Click to expand...

Yep, Steam's "offline mode" is notoriously buggy. As far as DRM, same. I'll take DRM-free over Origin, and Origin over Steam, any day myself. DRM-free being a mile ahead of the other two, of course.

xIronCrossx said:
Ok, here we go.

There is a difference(most of the time) between people who defend steam and people who defend origin.

With steam it is usually the "steam or nothing" crowd that loves steam so much and would love it to be a monopoly(yeah good idea :rolleyes:). They will slam everything that isn't steam and will be fine with anything steam does so long as it is convenient for them.

People who defend origin usually just "don't mind it". They don't love it, but they understand that it is not as bad as people make it out to be and that you can live with it. No "OMG I LOVE ORIGIN" compared to the steam fanboys.

Now you can say I "like" steam, but I "don't mind" origin. It is just stupid to see people say steam is so amazing and then bash origin. The DRM thing...if I play a game I bought through steam, there is no way I can play it without steam. If I am in-game and exit steam/force close it, boom there goes the game I am playing. That means Steam is in a way, an always on DRM as well.

I prefer to buy games through steam, but I won't limit my other options.
Click to expand...

Well said. I buy games primarily through Origin and Steam, unless a DRM-free option is available from Amazon. I certainly am not getting on my knees and begging Lord Valve for their blessing however like some of these... (I hesitate to call them "people" because I think they might be computerized automated shills).... people do, gnashing my teeth and snarling at anyone who dares not do the same.
 
mas said:
this is the same answer to every other thread you paste your mindless bs in, valve as a publisher does not enforce or otherwise endorse required connections to play their games, where EA does.
Click to expand...

Wrong, son. Valve *REQUIRES* all games on Steam to be online persistently for DRM purposes through the Steam service for authentication and playing the game. If you close Steam or get disconnected, your game ends. EA does not require this of any of their publishers on Origin, in fact they don't even need Origin to be running on 99% of titles available there from any publisher. By the way, since when is commenting a few times over the course of a few years about DRM services in an objective manner doing "answer to every other thread you post your mindless bs in", when I see you and your ilk posting the same "Praise LORD VALVE and the glory of Steam!" every single day non-stop, exactly?
 
xIronCrossx said:
With steam it is usually the "steam or nothing" crowd that loves steam so much and would love it to be a monopoly(yeah good idea :rolleyes:). They will slam everything that isn't steam and will be fine with anything steam does so long as it is convenient for them.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree a monopoly is never a good idea. Gabe isn't going to be around forever. The original ideals that EA had when they started are far different than the EA of today. I'm sure that at some point the same will happen with Valve. Its going to turn into another faceless corporation one day.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Wrong, son. Valve *REQUIRES* all games on Steam to be online persistently for DRM purposes through the Steam service for authentication and playing the game. If you close Steam or get disconnected, your game ends. EA does not require this of any of their publishers on Origin, in fact they don't even need Origin to be running on 99% of titles available there from any publisher. By the way, since when is commenting a few times over the course of a few years about DRM services in an objective manner doing "answer to every other thread you post your mindless bs in", when I see you and your ilk posting the same "Praise LORD VALVE and the glory of Steam!" every single day non-stop, exactly?
Click to expand...

Wait what? Steam only goes online before you start the game.... and that's if you're not in offline mode. Steam doesn't care about your connection after that point. "Always on" means the game phones home during gameplay to make sure you're still connected. If not connected you get kicked off the game, or your gameplay stops. Steam hasn't done that unless it's an ubisoft title, which has nothing to do with steam. Do you know something I don't?

I definitely agree that the DRM free solution is the ideal choice.
 
Parmenides said:
Wait what? Steam only goes online before you start the game.... and that's if you're not in offline mode. Steam doesn't care about your connection after that point. "Always on" means the game phones home during gameplay to make sure you're still connected. If not connected you get kicked off the game, or your gameplay stops. Steam hasn't done that unless it's an ubisoft title, which has nothing to do with steam. Do you know something I don't?

I definitely agree that the DRM free solution is the ideal choice.
Click to expand...

Actually it's not even that bad, you just need a connection to start Steam in online mode. I just double checked by disabling my NIC with Steam open in online mode and launched DEHR:Missing Link without any issues.

DRM free is the best and Steams offline mode is awful but I'm not sure why anyone would try to claim the Steam uses always on persistent DRM.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Wrong, son. Valve *REQUIRES* all games on Steam to be online persistently for DRM purposes through the Steam service for authentication and playing the game. If you close Steam or get disconnected, your game ends. EA does not require this of any of their publishers on Origin, in fact they don't even need Origin to be running on 99% of titles available there from any publisher. By the way, since when is commenting a few times over the course of a few years about DRM services in an objective manner doing "answer to every other thread you post your mindless bs in", when I see you and your ilk posting the same "Praise LORD VALVE and the glory of Steam!" every single day non-stop, exactly?
Click to expand...

so fanboys now? so predictable and sad :rolleyes:

people just feel bad for others who rage about drm they don't understand, and are clueless about games that seem like they don't demand a connection or some client to run. while they use the same kind of protection behind your back, in hidden programs without your permission, possibly even cutting you off when your connection goes down. so you're thinking "wow! no login to waste 3 seconds of my precious gaming time, I'm having fun!", you stay oblivious to what it's really doing.

either way this isn't something you have to worry about games that use steamworks drm only. you can see above posts for simple ways to figure out exactly wtf is going on, instead of blindly hating on one platform or another.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Wrong, son. Valve *REQUIRES* all games on Steam to be online persistently for DRM purposes through the Steam service for authentication and playing the game. If you close Steam or get disconnected, your game ends.
Click to expand...
No, it doesn't.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Wrong, son. Valve *REQUIRES* all games on Steam to be online persistently for DRM purposes through the Steam service for authentication and playing the game. If you close Steam or get disconnected, your game ends. EA does not require this of any of their publishers on Origin, in fact they don't even need Origin to be running on 99% of titles available there from any publisher. By the way, since when is commenting a few times over the course of a few years about DRM services in an objective manner doing "answer to every other thread you post your mindless bs in", when I see you and your ilk posting the same "Praise LORD VALVE and the glory of Steam!" every single day non-stop, exactly?
Click to expand...

th_shill_alert.jpg
 
GoldenTiger said:
Are you ignoring reality on purpose, buddy? Steam *REQUIRES* you to be online for ALL gameplay, persistently, except an offline mode that requires you to login first to activate through an annoying process that then has to be reversed once you want to play online again.
Click to expand...

I don't know what warped reality you live in "buddy/chum/son/friend/champ", but Steam DOES NOT REQUIRE you to be ONLINE for ALL gameplay! That is simply false! As long you have logged into your account, if you disconnect, if your internet goes down, if you pull the damn network plug out, steam will automatically go into offline mode and you will NOT be kicked from any gaming session. I don't know where you get your information from but what you are spouting is 100% verifiable bullshit!

Do I also come across as more authoritative when I address people in patronizing terms? :cool:

GoldenTiger said:
Origin, for 99% of its titles, doesn't even have to be running, let alone online, to run their games.
Click to expand...

I am really starting to think you are an EA shill, because it is difficult to reconcile how someone can blindly regurgitate this line of argument whilst completely ignoring the fact that all future EA games are going to require Origin to be running in the background.

GoldenTiger said:
I don't mind Origin's DRM, and find Steam to be more annoying, but I still don't mind it either. I find you zealots who bash Origin for things that aren't even done on it, yet are done on Steam and you bend over backwards to praise for doing so, hilarious, however.
Click to expand...

It is indeed hilarious to see you spout misinformation and blindly cling to misconceived arguments because of your preference for EA's platform. For the record, I have my entire collection spread across steam, amazon, greenmangaming, origin and steam, so I hardly consider myself a zealot.....I just prefer the platform that offers more features and community tools which makes the trade off in DRM a more palatable experience.

GoldenTiger said:
Wrong, son. Valve *REQUIRES* all games on Steam to be online persistently for DRM purposes through the Steam service for authentication and playing the game. If you close Steam or get disconnected, your game ends.
Click to expand...

If I have not already made this clear enough, you are 100% categorically WRONG!
 
Plague_Injected said:
th_shill_alert.jpg
Click to expand...
Defiant, your entire rant is unrelated to what I am talking about. Ea games may use drm but they will do so regardless of digital distribution platform. Steam, origin, retail box, etc. As far as origin, no, not all games going from now will need online connections, just ea published ones. Steam requires a connection already and many of their games do require persistent connections, which isn't really much different from having to login to play in the first place.


Thanks for proving you have no argument. The picture is adorable, by the way.
 
Last edited:
GoldenTiger said:
Defiant, your entire rant is unrelated to what I am talking about. Ea games may use drm but they will do so regardless of digital distribution platform. Steam, origin, retail box, etc. As far as origin, no, not all games going from now will need online connections, just ea published ones. Steam requires a connection already and many of their games do require persistent connections, which isn't really much different from having to login to play in the first place.


Thanks for proving you have no argument. The picture is adorable, by the way.
Click to expand...

You have your facts completely wrong and won't admit it. Your argument is based on fallacies that any casual observer could point out. Arguing with you at any kind of intellgent level is an exercise in futility.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Defiant, your entire rant is unrelated to what I am talking about.
Click to expand...

LoL wut!?! It is pretty clear than when a person makes statements such as "Steam *REQUIRES* you to be online for ALL gameplay, persistently" that everything I said is directly on point.

GoldenTiger said:
Ea games may use drm but they will do so regardless of digital distribution platform. Steam, origin, retail box, etc.
Click to expand...

EA games from now on are going to be inextricably tied to Origin, splitting hairs about older games available on other digital distribution platforms is neither here nor there.

GoldenTiger said:
As far as origin, no, not all games going from now will need online connections, just ea published ones.
Click to expand...

So the smattering of indie games distributed on Origin without online DRM somehow validates all of your arguments that Origin doesn't require an online connection. If I wanted those games I would buy them from Amazon.

But nice selective reasoning nonetheless....you do realize that many non-EA games published by the likes of THQ and Capcom still incorporate their own online DRM's? And last time I checked, the discussion concerned EA PUBLISHED GAMES.....that is of course until certain users decided to come in and spout nonsense like "HURRRR DURRRR STEAM IS ALSO PERSISTENT ONLINE DRM".

GoldenTiger said:
Steam requires a connection already and many of their games do require persistent connections, which isn't really much different from having to login to play in the first place.
Click to expand...

Please list the steam games which require "persistent connections", because this is obviously the only way we are going to understand the basis of your assertions.
 
Steam DRM is for the most part unobtrusive and doesn't cause huge issues. I don't think gamers mind DRM in general, as long as it doesn't impact their ability to play offline on an airplane, or kick them out of a game when their internet goes down, etc. There's a lot of love for Steam because of this- as well as steam allowing much smaller independent developers to show off their wares. Steam does the balancing act between having *some* DRM and not aggravating their customers too much. EA doesn't give a single fuck about their customers. Thats why there is so much hate for EA, and Ubisoft, and its why a lot of gamers told Blizzard to fuck off with Diablo 3.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Steam requires a connection already and many of their games do require persistent connections
Click to expand...
...is one hell of a far cry from:
GoldenTiger said:
Wrong, son. Valve *REQUIRES* all games on Steam to be online persistently for DRM purposes through the Steam service for authentication and playing the game. If you close Steam or get disconnected, your game ends.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top