Always on DRM = fine when Bungie does it?

There have been no complaints about needing to be online to play Destiny, even though really it doesn't need to always be online. I mean most of the game I played alone until friends popped on for a few hours before saying the game was shit. I have no desire to run around looking for people on a tower, which seems to be the only reason for it to be online all the time. Bungie could have quite easily gotten rid of that tower, added matchmaking and it would have been a lot better and you'd only need to be online for that.

I do find it funny though that they managed to sell everyone on this idea, yet Microsoft got lots of shit for it. We'll see more and more of this and I bet in a couple years, we'll have to always be online for most the games we play. If you look at how many people are buying and playing Destiny, it seems like everyone has the internet and can play just fine.

Just all a bit weird tbh, I mean we have to be online with Steam, offline mode doesn't work all that well and I find constantly when trying to play games with offline mode on, that Steam doesn't let me. Yet 80 million people use Steam just fine and don't complain...

I think Microsoft should have stuck to their guns, done something interesting with the Xbox One, rather than just turning it into an underpowered PS4.

Destiny is an online game though built for multiplayer.

You haven't been looking around if you think there have been no complaints, but besides that, they were advertising this game as if it were an MMO and you have to be online to play an MMO.

I feel like publishers making games as MMOs are cop outs for them to use DRM (ie Diablo 3).

This game was marketed as an online co-op/multiplayer game, so of course there will be DRM. I don't see it as a problem with this game, because the servers are actually stable and function like they're supposed to. I've had some minor connection issues, but that's because my online connection isn't exactly the greatest.

First off you don't need to be online to play steam, I have about 200 games on steam and most of the day I do not have access to the internet on my laptop and despite logging in tons of hours on my laptop I have never ever had a problem with offline mode.

Having said that, I am extremely against games that are online only, but if a game is tailored to be a MMO style of game than having to be online to play makes sense. If developers try to force you online to play games with a robust single player mode, then we will have a problem.

isnt this a mmo or somethin

I just don't buy into the whole MMO thing. I mean, if you can play through most or all of the game by yourself and it's a 20 hour game, how does it qualify as an MMO? The way the game is, it could easily have gone without the forced online interactions. I'm basically seeing it as Borderlands but you have to be online. I just don't get it.

@gajbutler: Destiny is basicly an MMO, it's set around being online all the time

I'm not saying you're wrong about how you view Destiny, but as for the MMO thing... You can play through almost all of almost every MMO in the past decade by yourself.

Is there anything that I can't do in the story mode by myself? If I can do everything in the game without playing with a single other person, then it should be able to be played offline, regardless of the game being designed for multiplayer. We really shouldn't be excusing this. Did we not learn from SimCity and Diablo III? Quit being enablers. Fight back. Don't just sit back and say, "Welp, that's just the way it is. Do dee do."

Yes, but from what I understand, you can play the story mode all by yourself. There's no need to be online for that. It doesn't matter how stable their servers are. You just stated that your own connection isn't all that great. Your connection can fail you, not Bungie's servers. People who don't even have internet won't even be able to play Destiny's story mode. It really is inexcusable.

Here's a perfect example of an online game that can be played offline. Dark Souls. Sure you can benefit from being online as you can summon and be summoned to fight bosses together, and there's the thrill of being invaded and invading others. The hint system is also a great online mechanic, but guess what? The game's perfectly playable offline.

Every "MMO" needs an offline mode. That's why Titanfall didn't get my money. So funny that Titanfall. We all fought for anti-always-online when the Xbox One was getting ready to release, yet the majority of Xbox One gamers gobbled up Titanfall... an always-online game.

Destiny hasn't experienced any major online hiccups like Diablo or Sim City.

There's a difference between a system were every single game on it must be connected online to be playable and picking up a game or two on their own that need to be played online.

Why is it inexcusable for needing to be online to play this game? If this is how Bungie wanted and envisioned their game to be and play like then don't they have a right to make the kind of game that they want to? Certainly you're not obligated to buy it and the fact that people without internet won't be able to play it is blatantly obvious.

Well, if you're going to fight for a system that isn't always on-line, but then start buying always on-line games, it kinda sends the wrong message.

But it just seems like you're completely ignoring my point. If there's no reason to be online to play a single player game (please, if anyone knows of a reason, state it now), why is it online? Why limit your audience like that? Why frustrate people who have spotty connections? Why prevent people from playing a single player game in the eventuality that your server crashes, or you take it down for maintenance? "Because it's there game" is a piss poor excuse.

Yet, people without internet couldn't play either at all.

@JustPlainLucas: No it's not the same as having an online system where all the games are only playable if you're connected online. It is their game and they can make it however they want. Of course they took everything into consideration regarding how many people have internet and at what quality so I'm sure they made an informed decision and it's not like they want to intentionally frustrate and limit consumers. They obviously had a purposeful idea for the game and that was an online game where various players would populate a game world and have a variety of public occurences. You and other's may not like those kinds of games and that's fine, don't buy them but that hardly allows you to dictate what developer's should have to do with their games by calling such choices as 'inexcusable' etc. I'm all for consumers voicing opinions and suggestions in reasonable manners. Also this isn't an established IP that they've changed the fundamentals, this is new so there's no franchise attachment here. This being their game to make is a perfectly valid reason for them creating the game that they want to make.

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to hear those people complain considering that they don't have internet.

Again, you're ignoring my point. If I don't need anyone to play the game, why do I have to be online to play it? Give me a good reason why I need to be and I'll concede.

Doesn't change the fact that they still couldn't play those games, and doesn't change the fact that they lost sales as a result.

@JustPlainLucas: It's somewhat MMO-esque in that while you can play solo the idea is to have other people running around doing their thing as well but you can help them kill enemies or revive them if they die. Sometimes a public event will pop-up and anyone in the area can join up to take on the event. They have other different events that they put up daily, evenings, weekends, and weekly. It seems like they'll introduce new vendors and contests at various times of they're choosing. In all likelyhood it was probably done as online only because it was the easiest way for them to change and introduce new elments at a moments notice.

Still isn't necessary to me. Assassin's Creed 4 had events that popped up based on things your friends were doing at that moment, and they also had weekly challenges and whatnot. Still perfectly playable offline. I believe Need for Speed Rivals had it where you'd run into other players on the road if you were online, but you could still play it offline if you wanted. I need an actual instance story wise where I need other players to progress in the single player campaign to justify needing to be online for it. Updating vendors and contests isn't good enough. It may be an easy way to update the game by having the players always online, but if the player just wants to play the single player mode, there's no need to update it at all, so they should be able to play it offline.

It's an online game. Do you consider a game that only has online multiplayer to have multiplayer DRM?