Comment by Stephen East on March 14, 2013 at 2:32pm

way i see it not everyone can play online but EVERYONE can play offline.I have lived in two seperate countrys and online connection has been spoddy in both places.Diablo 3 has frustrated me as i play mostly in singleplayer and the fact i am getting lag that kills my character infuriates me as even if my connection works i feel like things out of my control affect my enjoyment.

my biggest fear is that games cannot become retro as its no longer available to play in 10 years.But even thinking about dlc and patches while i will be able to play say borderlands 2 in the future will i still be able to access the patches and dlc to get the complete experience 

Comment by StarBound on March 14, 2013 at 3:36pm

The PC no longer has the element of personal in it. Unlike console players the PC crowd is forced to open up and allow access to our machines. My concern has always been on if I allow Origin, steam, securom to scan my computer and browser data that it might take more than just what is applicable to said program.

There is no real world reason to justify why a PC game should always be connected to an online source. Console gamers are free from requiring any form of online activation or status apart from the season pass.

I could blame the public that insists on buying games that need always connectivity but the truth is the blame lies with whoever decided to add the restriction in the first place.

Comment by Fredrik Pedersen on March 14, 2013 at 5:26pm

EpicBattleCry, this week with double the epic!

Comment by Berserkaren on March 14, 2013 at 6:38pm

EpicBattleCry, this week with double the crying!

Comment by AK Eyh on March 14, 2013 at 9:36pm

 Sometimes the violence in games does go two far, but critics should consider games are an interactive media. By design they must have a tangible sense of control over the in game avatars. If game devs keep telling gritty and violent tales then we will continue to see violent action. More mature (or maybe veteran) players yearn for different and complex types of stories and options.  I however don't like games without comfortable mechanical controls. It seems too often that its either a violent game or a game void of all conflict.

 Viewers may remember DK's thoughts on Tomb Raider. A game, which to summarize, broke the harmony between the story and the action on screen. Or even Dishonored which didn't incentivize player appropriately for picking a stealthy approach. Few video games' stories and mechanics perfectly harmonize and immerse the players through the entire experience. The situation can be improved by telling stories unreliant on life or death conflicts which don't hinder mechanical sense of involvement of the players.

Comment by Christopher Brady on March 14, 2013 at 10:02pm

The problem with Payday the Heist was that the game broke down into the same pattern every single game.  And that got boring.

Comment by Amrit Randay on March 14, 2013 at 11:33pm

What I don't like about always online DRM with games is that it doesn't seem to enhance the experience for the player.  It only seems to screw over the die-hard fans that went out and bought the game day one.  Sure, EA or anyone using online DRM will say it's there to prevent piracy which is true to an extent I guess, but it's probably more so there to sell you micro-transactions and other DLC nonsense.  

Another thing I don't understand about people supporting online DRM is that the game has a limited lifetime.  What happens when EA decides it doesn't want to support the servers for Sim City anymore?  The game will be pretty much unplayable and the game will be useless.  

I think it was Jim Sterling who talked about this in one of his Jimquisition videos, but I agreed with his point.  It's funny how publishers and developers expect us to trust them wholeheartedly by pre-ordering season passes that include DLC that we have no idea about, while they treat their fanbase like criminals by requiring always online DRM to keep tabs on the player base.  We as gamers need to switch this dominance back in our favor by not supporting always online DRM and other crap.  Instead of "shut up and take my money", it should be "shut up and EARN my money."

Oh, and Brent, I'm with you with not agreeing with the Red Dead Redemption mention in that "Slow Down the Violence" video.  I was pretty shocked that the person who made the video lumped Red Dead Redemption into the category of games with senseless violence.  No one talks shit about my beloved Red Dead Redemption...NO ONE!   

Comment by best_jeppe on March 15, 2013 at 12:34am

Regarding Sim City, apparently it wouldn't be so hard to make it run offline as Maxis have said. This according to an anonymous Maxis-employee: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/12/simcity-server-not-neces...

Also, a modder have been able to make it run offline: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/14/modder-runs-simcity-offl...

Comment by Clinton Case on March 15, 2013 at 6:00am

SimCity, lets face it is at its core a single player experience regardless of what silly social network integration EA is pushing. And it is EA pushing this nonsensical unnecessary and unwanted online components to all their games. It was noble for Maxis to take the bullet for them and all but when looking at EA's other games, especially in the mobile space they are all using this always online required model. I am not fooled for a second by what EA is telling us, It is about DRM plain and simple, Sims and simcity games are some of the most pirated of all time so their concern is valid for sure, however DRM simply does not work. Aggressive DRM only affects the legitimate paying customers, the pirates will just circumvent the drm and have a better experience than the paying customers which is quite sad because the game is quite fun but the "Service" they are pushing is not. Nobody asked for it and nobody wants it. My point is proven by the modder who made the game that is supposedly impossible to play offline without extensive alteration by the developers. by simply changing the value for the 20 minute server check in the debugging mode to "zero" Miraculously SimCity is an offline game that everyone can enjoy forever. So EA/Maxis is lying and seemingly going out of their way to sabotage their own franchises and hurt their fans and paying customers.

Comment by Derto on March 15, 2013 at 10:12am

Goddag - nice show!

Not to defend the "TUN: slow down the violence" too much, but I think that you got a couple of things wrong Brent. He actually said that Red Dead Redemption had a a use for the violence in that game, but he felt that it took a little too much space; it was part of telling the story, but it wasn't such big part of the story as the gameplay made it out to be. That's why he felt like commentating on it. Sure, it's a fundamental theme, but he was primarily mentioning it as a comparative analysis, where one game really didn't need the violence, but still had it. Where as the other needed the violence part, but it had an unnecessary adherence to convention in his opinion. He didn't say that it was bad - actually on the contrary, he just said that it was too much.

The second part is that - as Daniel said: both dialogue mechanics and first-person-shooter mechanics have evolved during the last decade or two; he's not denying that (although in which ways and whether or not they're good, is another subject). The problem - when considering the media as a whole, is that it's primarily (not just: only) FPS mechanics that have evolved in quite a lot, whereas dialogue hasn't recieved the same amount of attention.

I must admit that I'm tired of seeing the same type of shooting games, where you pretty much do the same thing, but in a different setting - if you simplify it. I'm looking forward to games like "The vanishing of Ethan Carter", because it's not going to feature the standard puzzles or shoot your way out to the next cutscene, but instead try a different aproach to story telling in the interactive media (/they think "Dear Esther" had something going for it). Again: violence has its place, but when it's pretty much all we see, the media starts to get fatigued.

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