Xbox's "Always On"fiasco.

[Old Manus]

(SPOILER)i think he's hitting on you man just be cool

[Iceglow]

Huxley can'r be cool in these moments Manus, first he gets all nervous then giggly like a school girl before eventually he works himself up so hard he pukes in the corner.

[Aulayna]

What good does it do me that Diablo 3 is always online? Yes it sold a lot, but it was in spite of that, not because of it.

See what I said earlier about the Auction House and player trading and it being an attempt to create a safe environment for people to do that rather than all the dodgy D2JP type sites that were scam central during Diablo 2. Did it work out? Not really. But to claim it was done squarely to shaft people is pretty silly.

I'm arguing that if something doesn't benefit the player then it's a pretty questionable addition.

Yes and Microsoft haven't even unveiled this new console yet and people are just assuming that it's for DRM related reasons only and that there isn't any other conceivable reason why they might be going down this route that might actually :o benefit the player!

So all I'm getting at here is: maybe hold back on the pitchforks until all the cards are on the table?

[Loony BoB]

Wonder if they'll also be charging people who wish to use online multiplayer still, despite the massive amount of catching up made by Sony over the PS3's life cycle thus far.

[Pike]

Huxley can'r be cool in these moments Manus, first he gets all nervous then giggly like a school girl before eventually he works himself up so hard he pukes in the corner.

(SPOILER)I'm pretty sure he was talking about you, mate

[the_best_noob]

So, the Xbox is always connected, the ps4 isn't backwards-compatible except through emulation, I think this leaves a big room for the steam box when it comes out.

Or just get a good pc with all that money you were gonna spend on the new consoles

[Pike]

Steam Box I can't wait for that

[the_best_noob]

I won't be getting one but I am excited to see what the final product will be

[Quindiana Jones]

So all I'm getting at here is: maybe hold back on the pitchforks until all the cards are on the table?

I'm going to rephrase the original post for you.

"This may just be a rumour, but apparently Microsoft's next console might require a stable internet connection to be used at all. Give your opinions on this, and discuss the potential consequences if it turns out to be true."

There we are. Now you can stop with the "it might not be true, so let's not talk about it" stuff. Much obliged.

[Aulayna]

Alright, care to point out where I ever argued that it might not be true?

All I'm saying is that maybe we should wait and see what the deal with it being Always Online is before we start blasting them for it. If people aren't big on the idea because they don't have stable internet connections then fine. But spouting off trout about DRM and how the big bad company is troutting on the little guy etc (alright, slightly paraphrased) for something we don't have the full story about it just a tad silly.

Also, BoB:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news...-Always-Online

[Shauna]

I think its entirely reasonable that people's first response is to think it'll be negative. The industry hasn't given us much reason to think they'd do this for the good of the people. x3

[Unbreakable Will]

Odds are that it's just a rumor. C'mon folks, anyone with a brain stem can see that this is a marketing disaster and totally reprehensible, the buyers won't put up with it and they have a good amount of people who use their console but don't have an internet connection. They could and, in my opinion, will lose vast amounts of revenue from such a decision.

Pics and an official statement or it won't happen.

[Roogle]

This won't affect me much as I'm always online anyway. Still, it's a notable annoyance and I can see why people are frustrated. I know I'd be really annoyed if my internet cut out and I suddenly lost my progress or something.

Yes, that is the only concern that I would have. My Internet connection rarely goes out these days, but I would still be annoyed if I had disconnected from the Internet briefly and lost progress or was unable to play completely because of it.

[Skyblade]

What good does it do me that Diablo 3 is always online? Yes it sold a lot, but it was in spite of that, not because of it.

See what I said earlier about the Auction House and player trading and it being an attempt to create a safe environment for people to do that rather than all the dodgy D2JP type sites that were scam central during Diablo 2. Did it work out? Not really. But to claim it was done squarely to shaft people is pretty silly.

It wasn't done to make it safer, it was done to ensure Blizzard got a cut of the profits.

I'm arguing that if something doesn't benefit the player then it's a pretty questionable addition.

Yes and Microsoft haven't even unveiled this new console yet and people are just assuming that it's for DRM related reasons only and that there isn't any other conceivable reason why they might be going down this route that might actually :o benefit the player!

So all I'm getting at here is: maybe hold back on the pitchforks until all the cards are on the table?

And what has Microsoft done in recent history to make you think that they even have the player's interests remotely in mind?

[Mirage]

Alright, care to point out where I ever argued that it might not be true?

All I'm saying is that maybe we should wait and see what the deal with it being Always Online is before we start blasting them for it. If people aren't big on the idea because they don't have stable internet connections then fine. But spouting off trout about DRM and how the big bad company is troutting on the little guy etc (alright, slightly paraphrased)

That's what it is though. DRM is almost definitely(*) the primary function, and it disconveniences the little guy, so why should the little guy not stand up against the big bad company?


*) Of course, it might be for something else, but that's sort of like saying that atomic bombs might just be made because scientists have a lot of fun building them.

Also, here's an interesting question: What if a weakness in MS' online system is discovered, one that is similar to the PSN trout Sony had to deal with. How many days was it that PSN was down? Now imagine that either Sony or MS required you to be constnatly authenticated to one of their servers, and a massive security hole was discovered, forcing them to shut down the servers for over a week again. That's one week where not a single paying customer can use the product they paid for.

Is that fine too?

The more things that can go wrong you add to a system, the more often you will run into things going wrong. It's as simple as that.