You didn’t do much research then. The server emulators allow you to “log in” and load… an empty version of the demo.
Everything that makes Diablo, Diablo: the AI, the items, the level layout, it all lives on the server.
The server literally tells the game what and where to spawn, when and where to use x ability, and where x creature is moving to next, or who it’s attacking next. Unless some enterprising hacker with AI, path finding, level design and game design chops decides to essentially program Diablo 3, no one is going to get to actually play the game.
Piracy has been so rampant and even arguments on here from posters that it is perfectly fine to pirate because “I won’t buy the game” or whatever excuse is popular has led us in this direction.
I have seen PC gaming go constantly downhill over time and be eclipsed by console games and part of this reason is piracy.
Well, the grave is dug and we have to lie in or or leave the PC gaming community.
The only sparkle I have seen in this downhill slide has been Steam and many games I can get on there. However, from what I have seen people say on here, Steam is THE DEVIL.
DRM or the equivalent is here to stay because the alternative are not games without it…but LITTLE/NOTHING from which to choose.
As the maker of that video posted in a thread on the EA forums, though the city needs to be downloaded from the server initially, it’s just a DRM tool, and offline play is possible (despite the reasons EA gave for needing to make the game server-based). Pirates are going to crack the shit out of this game.
PLus, I’m pretty sure PC gaming has never been so large in absolute terms, and has likely been growing relatively over consoles by leaps and bounds.
One thing to note about piracy is that a lot of it doesn’t comes from the US or developed, English-speaking countries. So a lot of pirate-critics are aiming at the wrong audience entirely. And even so, there’s actually little evidence that piracy noticably impacts sales or profitability. On the other hand, anti-piracy measures almost certainly do impact both…
Again, though, there’s more to the game’s problems than DRM. Lots and lots of very popular games have you connected to the Internet periodically or frequently. The most lucrative game in the history of the PC is World of Warcraft, which is purely an online game. People don’t complain about Steam one hundredth as much as they’ve complained about this one particular game.
the problem is that SimCity 5 is inherently flawed, and one of the biggest flaws is a very, very ill-devised online component. And then the company, inexplicably, lied about it, so now people distrust them.
I might be confusing the Dope with bitching from my son and his friends…plus I am getting old and the years blur together. Confusing 2005 with now is only a couple years so I dont think things could have changed that much
Your son and friends don’t know how good we have it with Steam. No need to keep CDs and activation keys around, no worries about scratching your copy of the game, no hassle if you upgrade to a new computer. Log in, download what you want to install, and play. Lots of sales, lots of old and new games available.
And fuck EA for making such a shitty version of it with Origin.
I haven’t really followed all the Sim/EA stuff, just this thread, but it sounds like they wanted to make it like Farmville. Because everyone loves Farmville and forcing others to do shit for you so your farm doesn’t die. Fuck that.
No need to keep CDs and activation keys around, no worries about scratching your copy of the game, no hassle if you upgrade to a new computer. Log in, download what you want to install, and play. Lots of sales, lots of old and new games available.