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Microsoft Studios' creative director has some choice words about always-online

Ingeniero

Member
I recon they "may" be doing this (nothing official yet) to protect the developers and to stop piracy.

Games I play nowadays:
StarCraft 2 is multiplayer focussed, I'm always online.
Diablo 3 needs "always online" too, yet I still spend hours playing and having fun.

Yes mi internet sometimes goes down, so I disconnect, but after a few minutes it's up again so I log in again and continue, no biggie.

I'm OK with this.
 
It's 5am in PDT... let's wait and see what happens when Steve Ballmer wakes up.

ghostballmer.gif


But seriously, he's gonna bust a testicle or something.
 
I just realized that if they really go ahead with this but authorize used games, online passes will probably become mandatory for single player.
 

LiK

Member
It doesn't matter if you have the best fucking Internet in the world. Whenever MS decides to have server maintenance or the equivalent, you will need to wait before playing your game if this always-on thing is required. It's already annoying with online games, but imagine the SimCity situation but for all your games.
 

jorma

is now taking requests
The pseudo-conspiracy theorist part of me is beginning to wonder if this is some sort of elaborate PR ruse conspired by Microsoft, aiming to convince Sony to flip their switch to block used games, right before they pull a bait and switch on the whole thing. Typical Ballmer plan.

Is this the weakest best case scenario ever? :p
 

Corto

Member
It has sounded logical to me for over a year now.

It's also pretty scary, because I think it will succeed beyond our wildest imagination -- in the US at least.

I feel that that is exactly Microsoft strategy. Focus on gaining a considerable US marketshare with Cable deals and aggressive subsidization contracts and ignore the rest of the world.
 

Thorgal

Member
Damn, how did I miss this thread?

I don't want to dig through 4400 posts, can someone give me the highlights?

here

I'm not sure where that poster who does thread recaps is -- but I'll try my best..

  • NeoGAF user Shinobi screen caps the tweets of Adam Orth, Creative Director at MSFT Studios.
  • These tweets contain the fallacious analogies you see in the OP -- in defense of an always-online console box.
  • In conjunction with the Kotaku thread about the always-online rumors, this thread blows up.
  • The story is picked up by popular gaming sites including CVG, Verge, Kotaku, and others.
  • David Jaffe attempts to defend the character of Adam (they were former coworkers) -- but particularly his comments regarding rural towns in the US and their online infrastructure.
  • Adam attempts to excuse the tweets as jokes and locks his twitter account.
  • Detective-GAF then finds an alleged dev on a separate forum claiming one should keep up with their ISP bills (implying some truth to the rumor).
  • Detective-GAF then confirms that alleged dev to be an actual developer working on next-gen games.
  • The story continues to blow up on reddit, reaching the front page with thousands of comments.
  • A user in the reddit thread claims Adam is an ass in person and he insists on being called 'sweet billy.'
  • Detective-GAF then confirms Adam is in fact, sweet billy, here on GAF. And his tweets confirm he is, in fact, an ass.
  • Aaron Greenberg claims to be unaware of the existence of Adam Orth. [Insert Sweet Billy joke]
 

erawsd

Member
If it is true, half of you saying 'it's the end of xbox for me' will cave in time. Being all drama queen for the sake of it.

Honestly, it really wouldn't be hard at all. Now that 3rd party exclusives are practically non-existent I couldn't care less about missing out on the next Halo, Forza, or Fable.
 
This is getting way overblown, if your internet or Microsoft's servers are down you always have the option of playing games offline on the 360 while you wait. It's not going anywhere.
 

Haunted

Member
For those of you just joining us, the story so far.

iy6Fq77VplGA3.gif
This is beautiful because it works both as a summary of what Orth said to consumers (with not-perfect internet), and the gaming populace's reaction to the always online news. :p
 
if microsoft does decide to go the always online route i can see hacker groups specifically targeting them to make a point about how this is a terrible anti-consumer practice.
 

Digressive

Neo Member
This is Microsoft's way:

1) Get popular.
2) Profit!
3) Fuck it up.
4) Get back to being popular?

If this is true, I'm sooo out of the next-box. Good thing I've got a decent gaming PC hooked up to the TV these days.
 

Tiu Neo

Member
If half of the nextbox rumors are true, it'll be very easy for me to skip it.

Unless, of course, the games are digital-only, with greatly reduced prices. Then... well, if it has a lot of exclusives, it's something to consider.
 

Bedlam

Member
This douche fails to realise most people probably need a vacuum or a cell phone. Nobody needs an always online, kinect manditory set top box that will also need a gold sub.
Also: "necessity vs. arbitrary restriction". Electronic devices need electricity to function, SP games don't need to be online. That's all that needs to be said on this issue. Orth is an idiot.

As for the chances of this rumor being true: wouldn't MS have issued a statement by now if it wasn't true in order to stop this PR disaster? The silence is damning.
 

Cyport

Member
This is getting way overblown, if your internet or Microsoft's servers are down you always have the option of playing games offline on the 360 while you wait. It's not going anywhere.

That's not really a good solution. I have a new device and I want to play my new game on that device. Not every NextBox owner will have a 360 or even another games console for that matter.
 

dancmc

Member
While the always online issue doesn't bother me as I live in a very connected area (US-NE), and rarely lose power or internet (even with the hurricane last year I lost power for only 2 hours); I certainly hope the rumors aren't as extreme as GAF seems to make them out to be. Also; I am not a PC gamer; but would these supposed online required rumors be a lot different than PC gaming now (differences/preferences regarding Steam vs. XBL aside).
 

eznark

Banned
Sweet Billy is the perfect spokesman for this console. He seems to hate consumers exactly as much as Microsoft.

Has Geese come out and defended this guy yet?
 

Donos

Member
if microsoft does decide to go the always online route i can see hacker groups specifically targeting them to make a point about how this is a terrible anti-consumer practice.

just was going to type this. Not impossible in this times.

Even with this guy i'm not convinced that MS would do this (always online needed for games). Only If they have GTA5, AC and Madden as one year exclusives. Even then... no way.
 
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