Offline games will soon end, claims EA

[PurpleGaga27 40]

Info: http://www.gamezine.co.uk/news-story/2010/...n-end-claims-ea

Interview: http://www.develop-online.net/features/106...s-leap-of-faith

 

Well's that's bad news for C&C. MP add-ons are on the rise but I still rely on SP. The C&C series will definitely be dead for sure if it's all going MP. C&C was never meant for full online play in the first place. If that's so, C&C Arena or C&C Online should have never been canceled. Yet, we still haven't seen a C&C game matching up against Petroglyph's and Trion's End of Nations. I hope it's Generals 2, but then I hope that Generals 2 shouldn't be a MMORTS.

 

I think it's about time the C&C franchise will need a new owner in the next decade to handle SP. C&C wasn't about MP in the first place but EA thinking about the Facebook idea for their future games is becomingly imminent. Sounds like a downfall for EA and I think abandoning the SP experience is a big mistake to the gaming community.

 

I bet that EA game developers are getting too tired to make any more SP artificial intelligence in their future 3D games. Besides on how this will effect EA Sports? EA Sports will definitely go down big time if all of them had went MP only.

[Luk3us 63]

They're not saying there will be no more SP component in their future games. They are saying all future games will have an MP component as well as a SP component if applicable.

 

So instead of seeing games today were some are SP only and some are SP + MP. You're only see SP + MP and MP only type games, from EA at least anyway. Don't forget MP doesn't have to be gameplay it can be silly little things like social media crap where you can share with the whole world how much you suck at Tetris.

[Gben 20]

...but I don't suck at Tetris.

[rSquar3d 0]

It's a sound business strategy. Gotta admit that. Games that focus on SP are hit the worst by piracy since there are few ways of enforcing security. However, MP-heavy games, like say Starcraft 2, tend to be less pirated since they are worth way, way less without multiplayer, and since MP needs you to have a legit copy, then that's one way of enforcing anti-piracy stuff. Of course, free to play games are also on the rise, but of couse they also have incremental payments, so I think it's pretty possible that we'll see a C&C game that's online, free to play, yet needs you to make incremental payments every now and then to maximize the gaming experience.

[Nmenth 291]

I think it's pretty possible that we'll see a C&C game that's online, free to play, yet needs you to make incremental payments every now and then to maximize the gaming experience.

I hope not, because payments of any kind following the original purchase would kill what is left of C&C's good name.

[Doctor Destiny 41]

If EA makes the leap to "online only," I just won't buy any new EA titles. There will always be a company to fill the gap for singleplayer.

[rSquar3d 0]

Yeah, well, it is frustrating for fans of in-depth stories and single player modes. But that's the price of capitalism; they can't keep making games and suffer huge losses from piracy at the same time. Not that I am pro-EA, but I understand their point of view; it's kinda unfair to ask quality games from them while letting them suffer the bulk of piracy.

 

But there will always be other developers. Meh, I have high hopes for Bungie and Ubisoft. Both are making excellent games that don't need any online bull**** (although having Xbox Live Gold for Halo is pretty great >) and have great single player stories, etc., but lately I've been hooked to online games (I mean very few aren't) like Guild Wars and Cabal Online PH. I guess it's the heavy competitive environment of MMORPGs and online games in general that hooks many people up. But nothing can replace the single player experience; at most they can try to come close, but never replicate it in an online environment.

[Nmenth 291]

it's kinda unfair to ask quality games from them while letting them suffer the bulk of piracy.

No it isn't. Their goal is profit, yes, but their job is to produce quality games we want.

 

We as the consumers can choose to pay whichever company can deliver us what we want for the lowest hassle (including monetary cost). If EA or anyone else drives away their customers with annoyances (DRM for instance), or increases their prices too high, or releases sub-standard products, we have the freedom to take our business elsewhere. Their excuses are irrelevant, whether it be they are greedy, combating piracy, or just because running their company is more expensive. We are not obligated to buy anything from them or to be "fair". If a competitor can deliver quality games without any extra fees, you can be sure people will not be "fair" or loyal to EA just because they have to deal with piracy.

 

And that is capitalism.

 

[Doctor Destiny 41]

it's kinda unfair to ask quality games from them while letting them suffer the bulk of piracy.

It is? I wasn't aware that it was unfair to ask to do their ****ing jobs. That's like me saying it's unfair for people to need tech support. My job is to provide support, their job is to create a game worth ****ing playing. If EA decides to ram DRM down our throats, that will drive piracy up higher since no one wants that extra ****, or like Nmenth said, people will abandon that company. EA is just acting like a bunch of crybabies because we're tired of their ****.

[rSquar3d 0]

Looking back, yeah. I made a hell of a paradox it seems. They'll limit gamers if they suffer from piracy, but yo do have a point that the more limits there are, the worse piracy will be since nobody pays for crap, after all. Point taken guys. And loyalty isn't really what I meant about capitalism; I mean it's just the way companies pass burdens upon their customers. Or maybe it's just because that's the way things are run in my country that I see it as that way. Either way, capitalists will always try to find ways to make the most buck. Even if it means ripping us off.

 

And to be honest, I agree with your sentiments that an online-only C&C will suck. Big time. But, I agree with EA saying that offline games are on the decline. But I don't think they'll die out. That's my view in a nutshell.

[Doctor Destiny 41]

Well, capitalism is all about making money and each game company is a corporation at the end of the day and their goal is always to make a buck. That's not what irritates me about the whole thing cause I get it; that's their goal. But you said it best, they push their own burdens and insecurity into the face of the consumers and eventually, it's just too much. People get tired of it and their idea backfires, costing them money, which makes them try harder to limit piracy, which in turn makes it worse! It's a vicious cycle that only the production companies can stop - ditch DRM and a lot of this will cease. There will always be those people who refuse to buy things; they'll be in the fringe if companies would wise up and make their products attractive to buy. A ten dollar price drop, lowering of prices sooner and no DRM, short of CD keys, will set sales on the rise. And that includes games that are SP oriented.

[rSquar3d 0]

Yeah. That's how the music industry dealt with piracy; they adapted to it. The internet, once solely a source of pirated, well, downloaded music, was turned into the LARGEST music store. And they cut production costs, and relieved consumers of additional costs in buying music (which is often due to the production of cases, covers and whatever bull**** crap that has actually nothing to do with the music). The game industry can still be saved, especially the single player ones, BUT the game companies have to think out of the box; they gotta adapt to the technology, instead of clinging to old ways (such as the practically worthless DRM bull****). After all, it's like a never ending competition between armor (anti-piracy tech) and guns (piracy tech); one will always one-up the other, and vice-versa; with the consumer becoming the casualty. The sooner they realize that, the better.

[Inferno 22]

I'm surprised there isn't a competitor to Steam yet. A big mistake if you ask me, because there's a lot to improve on when it comes to Steam.

[rSquar3d 0]

That's another thing. Steam is kinda like the iTunes Store for games; although the main difference is that Apple was rabid in making the iTunes Store better, while Steam... Well, let's just say the way things are, I still end up buying games in hard format. Plus there's all the nifty goodies. >