Why does Crash 4 require always online?

[Kuriishi]

I can't think of any good reason. This requirement is exclusively on the PC version. Other platforms like Nintendo Switch don't require an internet connection to play so it's clearly possible to work without it.

[Andrei]

there is indeed no good reason for doing that especially for a singleplayer game. my guess is they want to protect their product it can be pirated atleast for now.

[Kuriishi]

引用自 Andrei：

there is indeed no good reason for doing that especially for a singleplayer game. my guess is they want to protect their product it can be pirated atleast for now.

I guess if you look at it from that standpoint, rather than paying Denuvo for a license for anti-tamper encryption, they can just force always online in-house which is cheaper to develop.

I don't think that's really a good reason either and just proves them to be anticonsumer if that's really the case...

[tyl0413]

It's bc battlenet and activision are trash.

[Mrs. DarkAngel]

Already cracked lol

[Kuriishi]

tfw legitimately buying games nets you an inferior experience. Gotta love AAA publishers sometimes...

[Casurin]

The funny thing is - countless companies put some money into researching how much profit they miss (they like to claim it even somehow magically produces losses) just for them to lock away the reports and never talk about that again... might that, just maybe, have a little bit to do with the research of other groups that have shown that for games "piracy" to be more likely to actually increase sales?

Anyways - "always online" is a sure-way of killing the game in the future, also making it easier to sell a "remaster" later on.

[Mugiwara]

do you even turn OFF your internet on the pc.
i dont think so.

[Kuriishi]

引用自 Mugiwara：

do you even turn OFF your internet on the pc.
i dont think so.

Don't forget that a single player game being tied to a server relies just as much on the platform holder's servers being online as it does the client (i.e. your PC being online).

Already, there have been instances where Battle.net servers have been down and people haven't had access to the game. It's completely pointless

[Schorsch Wadschinken]

引用自 Mugiwara：

do you even turn OFF your internet on the pc.
i dont think so.

1.) PCs aren't just desktops. There are laptops and handhelds too. Mobile internet is still garbage in this day and age.
I actually played part of the N. Sane Trilogy on my GPD Win that I use a lot on train rides, always-online would mean I literally couldn't play the game then.

2.) Always-online DRM is disastrous for game preservation. Luckily in this case the game was cracked quickly but in general it's not a practice I want to support.

3.) Adding to 2.), for games that don't have their DRM cracked, you are at the whim of the corporation to keep their servers running. You can't play the game when these servers have outages or when they're shut down for good.

[NBOX21]

引用自 Sus Shako for 2 Refined：

引用自 Mugiwara：

do you even turn OFF your internet on the pc.
i dont think so.

1.) PCs aren't just desktops. There are laptops and handhelds too. Mobile internet is still garbage in this day and age.
I actually played part of the N. Sane Trilogy on my GPD Win that I use a lot on train rides, always-online would mean I literally couldn't play the game then.

2.) Always-online DRM is disastrous for game preservation. Luckily in this case the game was cracked quickly but in general it's not a practice I want to support.

3.) Adding to 2.), for games that don't have their DRM cracked, you are at the whim of the corporation to keep their servers running. You can't play the game when these servers have outages or when they're shut down for good.

You pretty much summed up everything I wanted to say on the matter. I will add to this, however, by saying not everybody lives in an area with stable or smooth internet and all they may want to do is just download the game with no other strings attached, and even if your connection is super smooth, you may never know when you'll get an unexpected outage on your end. Even I sometimes get disconnected from the internet for no real reason sometimes which should never be an issue for a single player game with no networking features.

[HistoricKombat]

Typical business decision to protect copyrighted works despite it is almost always cracked within the same week of launch.

[Toad ex Machina]

引用自 Mugiwara：

do you even turn OFF your internet on the pc.
i dont think so.

Oh, well clearly you know more about this topic than the rest of us smoothbrains. I mean, who can argue with the logic that, because you never turn off the internet yourself, doesn't mean certain conditions could lead to outages that make an always-online game unplayable. The rest of us should just shut off Steam and go watch some Rick & Morty until our individual IQs are as high as yours.

Dumbass.

[cybermastah]

引用自 Sus Shako for 2 Refined：

3.) Adding to 2.), for games that don't have their DRM cracked, you are at the whim of the corporation to keep their servers running. You can't play the game when these servers have outages or when they're shut down for good.

An excellent example of this is Sony now shutting down their old stores, closing off access permanently for many titles.

Also, as to the guy who was asking if we even turn our internet off:

Yes I do. The issue though is even though we're required to always be online, companies refuse to follow their own requirement. When we're online, servers aren't necessarily up and running. I've had problems with Diablo 3 switching itself off because of issues with battle.net rather than internet issues on my side.

With a game like crash bandicoot, the last thing you want is to get halfway through a difficult level only to be booted out of the game and be forced to do it all over again NOT because you messed up, but because the servers went offline.

[NBOX21]

引用自 cybermastah：

An excellent example of this is Sony now shutting down their old stores, closing off access permanently for many titles.

They have very recently reversed this decision after community backlash. You're still not entirely wrong, however, as we've seen this example already with the Wii Shop Channel and quite a few exclusive Virtual Console and WiiWare titles, some of which are not available on newer consoles in any form.

引用自 cybermastah：

引用自 Sus Shako for 2 Refined：

3.) Adding to 2.), for games that don't have their DRM cracked, you are at the whim of the corporation to keep their servers running. You can't play the game when these servers have outages or when they're shut down for good.

Also, as to the guy who was asking if we even turn our internet off:

Yes I do. The issue though is even though we're required to always be online, companies refuse to follow their own requirement. When we're online, servers aren't necessarily up and running. I've had problems with Diablo 3 switching itself off because of issues with battle.net rather than internet issues on my side.

With a game like crash bandicoot, the last thing you want is to get halfway through a difficult level only to be booted out of the game and be forced to do it all over again NOT because you messed up, but because the servers went offline.

The worst part about all of this is that from what I've seen and heard, this usually happens to single-player games that don't require any form of online connectivity to function on a basic level. It even happens to multiplayer games with a single-player campaign, where we still need to be connected online even for single player.

Always online DRM for games that don't actually need it has become quite controversial over recent years ever since I believe EA's Sim City 2013 as well as Blizzard's Diablo 3, which don't actually require online servers to function despite their claims. You would think that these companies would learn their lesson by this point, especially considering how quickly these games get cracked and have their online requirements removed.

[Mutant Overlord]

引用自 Kuriishi：

I can't think of any good reason. This requirement is exclusively on the PC version. Other platforms like Nintendo Switch don't require an internet connection to play so it's clearly possible to work without it.

Does this looks like Crash 4 forums to you? No? The go post on Crash 4 forums.