Live service hate thread - Apex Legends player's EA account permanently disabled after typing "stfu" in game - All games on his account stolen, unable to log in to download them

The downside regarding video games that require an always online connection to their servers is you maybe can pirate them but you can't play them unless the game is peer to peer which could have code in the game files that can enable offline mode.

Its why you can play a pirated version Payday 2 and can't play a pirated version of Payday 3, one is peer to peer and the other requires connection through a server.

I have heard that with a hex editor and if you alter some code in the TheCrew.exe that there are references to an offline mode and local save data function which makes it possible to play The Crew 1 offline.

Nobody should ever feel guilty for pirating any software when the industry themselves has made it clear that they don't care about the quality of their products let alone care about the satisfaction of their customers.
 
Games should be products FIRST, "services" second. A "service" implies regular maintenance and updates to your product AS A service to the consumer. Once that service stops, the product ceases to exist. Your GaaS is practically on life support, but still asks for additional money upfront to maximize one's temporary enjoyment.
 
Games should be products FIRST, "services" second. A "service" implies regular maintenance and updates to your product AS A service to the consumer. Once that service stops, the product ceases to exist. Your GaaS is practically on life support, but still asks for additional money upfront to maximize one's temporary enjoyment.
This is how games used to be run. You pirated the product, you got the product but nothing else. You bought the product and you had access to service, so they'd take help calls and troubleshooting, send regular updates, and so on, and all of these is a one-time payment short of additional products you can buy (expansion packs, so on).

The problem usually comes is dealing with deprecated products. Asking payment on something that no longer runs on current machines is not good. And if you withdraw it from sale completely, don't complain if someone if offers it for free. The best practice is to guarantee service for x years, then lower the price until it goes free/unsupported (they still own the ©).
 
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I have a mild schizotheory that the bans would be even worse were these companies not scared of chasing off the whales that singlehandedly keep their lights on with microtransactions. I have some RL friends that play Valorant and they only get temporary voice bans for saying shit that would probably get you banned off any other service, and I'm totally convinced the reason the only reason the bans are temporary is because they can't milk thousands out of you if they ban you.
 
Crosspost from the Mad at the Internet thread because companies patching in DRM after release technically makes any game a service.
https://twitter.com/PC_Focus_/status/1745436188624797764
Capcom is patching DRM into their old games because the japanese are mentally ill. They have chosen Enigma for this, which - judging by these posts - is 100% currycoded.
View attachment 5628299View attachment 5628301

https://archive.is/Rsi0F
They already deleted the thread within hours.
Do not buy AAA games, I implore you.
How fucking vile.
 
The downside regarding video games that require an always online connection to their servers is you maybe can pirate them but you can't play them unless the game is peer to peer which could have code in the game files that can enable offline mode.
It's worse. They often lock stuff like the NPC or enemy A.I. server side. So even if you can rip the textures, maps, models, music, and so on. The actual enemies and certain aspects of the game are far more difficult for pirates to get access to. Blizzard did this for their Diablo games where the A.I. routines would run off of the servers to prevent fans from recreating certain game modes in the offline builds.
Nobody should ever feel guilty for pirating any software when the industry themselves has made it clear that they don't care about the quality of their products let alone care about the satisfaction of their customers.
It's beyond piracy at this point. These companies do not allow anyone to own software. And perfectly functioning software is turned into abandonware to make space for some DRM riddled subscription model version. They have gone from selling a complete game to renting you an incomplete and unfinished game. And now removing old versions of games that could be purchased and replacing them with subscription versions. This is basically Microsoft's entire business model with Office and now Xbox.
 
Piracy for pc gaming is going to remain (relatively) niche as the paid options have never been cheaper (i get AAAslop from bundles on fanatical/humble for palsy sums of USD, anything i searched a crack for I apparently already redeemed for free on EGS) but in turn it all exposes how thin the profit margins are for games for the initial sales, especially in the digital landscape. Even full priced titles are accounting for inflation have never been cheaper - but as we know we aren't getting a full game for said full price anymore.

The real money as we all know is everything released afterward, so when that gravy train runs dry (licensed franchise expires, whales ditch to another title, etc) there's no incentive for them to put any money in supporting it. This means that expanding the breadth of the gamer demographic is of an all time importance, and you see long standing franchises that were for a specific type of nerd turned into mass market slop. Its a losing battle as the people who hold standards in gaming don't hurt profits and a bunch of normies make EA and 2K billions.

The only options to vote with ones wallet is to make games that delivered on a basic promise a lot of hype/money, even if /v/ thinks BG3 is Tencent shilling or the Sharty thinks Coffin of Andy and Leyley is more morally corrupting than drag shows for kids. Don't take this as publisher shilling, this logical leap is entirely broken with the bullshit CAPCOM are pulling.

I in general miss the retail game discount bin, a real rarity as a PC gamer. There was a sense that time itself was irrelevant if the game was good, even if it had MP, because in the pre gamespy shutdown days (any year before 2014) there'd be some kids/boomers/weirdos who were logging into some game with 20 active players every weekend if not daily basis. Steam sales or the bundles mentioned above don't really make much of an impact on a library minus a new line of text in a library or a new jpeg.

tl;dr fuck these publishers, don't twist my words
 
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