C&C4 Will Require Always-On Internet
C&C4 will require an "always on" Internet connection, however the game will ship without DRM.
Fans anticipating the release of Blizzard's StarCraft II--and the eventual release of Diablo III--have faced the bitter realization that the company has chosen to omit LAN support in both PC games. Outraged by the news, fans lashed out at the company in bitter protest, however Blizzard stands firm in its opposition against the inclusion of LAN. But now there's something else to protest: EA's upcoming fourth installment of Command & Conquer will require an "always on" Internet connection.
"As of right now, you need to be online all the time to play C&C 4," confirmed community leader APOC over on the CNCDen forums. "This is primarily due to our "player progression" feature so everything can be tracked. C&C 4 is not an MMO in the sense of World of Warcraft, but conceptually it has similar principles for being online all the time." This means that no matter what mode gamers are playing--whether it's the single-player campaign or the multiplayer portion--the game must be connected to the Internet at all times.
He also added that the team has been testing this feature internally with all of its world-wide markets. "We wanted to make sure it wouldn't take away any significant market or territory from playing the game," he said. "We have not found or seen any results that have made us think otherwise. You won't need a fast connection, in fact, you could be on age-old dial-up, and have the same single player experience as everyone else. Online all the time won't cause lag for single-player. We've also heavily worked on the online infrastructure such that people with slower connections will not lag other players with faster connections in Multiplayer."
A prior interview with designer Samuel Bass revealed that the "always on" Internet enforcement actually prevents players from cheating, as the game will be shipping without DRM.
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paranoidmage I don't cheat myself, but if someone wanted to cheat on a single player game, why would EA care? It's not really any of their business what people do on their own.Reply -
eddieroolz paranoidmageI don't cheat myself, but if someone wanted to cheat on a single player game, why would EA care? It's not really any of their business what people do on their own.Reply
+1, its our own desire to cheat on single-player. If it doesn't skew the stats in meaningful way, then there is no justification for this feature. -
hellwig So when my Craptastic er... Comcastic internet connection goes down again, I guess I'll just read a book or something. Not like I actually wanted to play that came I spent 50-60 bucks on. EA just has no freaking clue how to run a successful gaming company anymore. How many more ways can they find to alienate their customer base?Reply -
mickey21 Yaay, another game I wont buy... I swear these game developers dont like their customers at all and are willing to treat them all like thieves... And for what, because someone who will never buy their game steals it? I dont agree with playing a game you dont buy, but I also dont agree with DRM and working in policies that only hurt your loyal customers... Yet again I will let my wallet do the talking... There are many times the servers are slow or are not responding, and I wont be able to play the game. It only takes once to really piss anyone off to the point of frustration... I would rather not put myself in that situation and just buy games from developers who listen to their customers and sell them something they want and wont stop working on them the second something is out of line...Reply -
Does that mean that the game has a service that runs at startup and communicates with the internet at all times? Does this mean my computer must be turned on all the time. No thanks, there's enough big-brother-ware on a Windows PC, I see no reason why these game developers should be considered that trustworthy, or that capable of secure programming.Reply
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mickey21 And to think, I bought C&C3 twice, Kanes Wrath twice, Red Alert 3 twice, along with every past command and conquer game (even the gold editions) and I wont buy C&C4 no matter how many times they say it will be the last one on principle alone...Reply -
icepick314 so when your ISP borks and it's not your fault...say regular maintenance, lightning storm, or rats chewed your cable line, you can't play the game??!!?Reply
or how about laptop users who want to play during a trip?
this new gaming "requirement" is making me VERY VERY angry on one of the most anticipated game.... -
Given the success of WoW it seems that there is a huge market where requiring the internet is not an issue.Reply
Pirating is absolutely an issue here. It's much easier to get a cd key that works offline illegally.