A soldier's somewhat bizarr story

[Skybird]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/02/the-victims-of-pc-gaming-drm-one-soldiers-story.ars

I am wondering. should I be angry now about the total control DRM is going when needing players to be always connected to a server, which puts in doubt that what you buy indeed is yours - or should I wonder about worries that soldiers in wars zones cannot play videogames in their bases? It reminds me of a comment of a german war reporter from the Vietnam confloict, who writes in a book it stunned him to see the Vietcong having no0thing but their weapon and a small sack of rice, with GIs in their bases importing coca cola and cigarettes. That now it is video games makes it even more - bizarr.

I just had the image of edward James Olmos alias Commander Adama in Battlestar Galactica, and an ensign comes to him and tells him: "Sir, the troops and the pilots say they have a problem. They say the computer games they want to play do not function properly." I imagine the Old Man to find some very clear words for that!

Warriors in war worrying for playtoys. Yeah, I can imkagine the need of relaxation and mental recovery and all that. Still, this special discussion, if it really is a big story, sounds bizarr to me.

Hand out consoles. There are thousands of games not needing online connectivity. and stop this bizarr complaint. It gives a moral boost to the enemy, signalling him he is fighting against infantile whimps.

[OneToughHerring]

Indeed, very bizarr. You can't even go to a bazaar to fix this bizarr problem. :)

[Letum]

Some of the serving men and women you are calling "infantile whimps"
may well be both on this forum reading your words and out on duty
fighting for your country and subsimming when they can.

I say they have more right to any comfort avaliable, subsims included, than
most. Myself and you included SB.

[Dowly]

My nitpicking sense is tickling. :DL

[Skybird]

Some of the serving men and women you are calling "infantile whimps"
may well be both on this forum reading your words and out on duty
fighting for your country and subsimming when they can.
.
Thank you for turning words in my mouth once again. :down:

I did not label anyone here an infantile whimp. I said that the enemy gets a moral boost when reading stories like this, and that he must understand it as if he is fighting against infantile whimps.

[krashkart]

I can see your argument, Skybird, and I can certainly respect it.

My two cents:

Let the enemy believe what they may. If they think any of our troopers in the combat zones are pussified, it might just give the Coalition a little extra edge. OTOH, I think it's unlikely. Experienced combatants will know better than to underestimate their opponents.

[Schroeder]

I guess they have every right to complain about games that they have bought and can't play for half a year (or however long a deployment is) because they are away from stable internet. There isn't much one can do in a military base when one's shift is over. One can't go out with his buddies, there are only a few girls around, and doing BBQs is only fun for a while but after that one has to look for a different way of entertainment. Computers are perfectly suited to provide that entertainment. So here we are again with the question why people aren't able to play their (hopefully) rightfully purchased games wherever they want to?

[krashkart]

Hrm... you know, I have a stack of games that I haven't played in a while. Wonder if the USO would send them over. They're a little bit older, but it might help to alleviate those DRM/connectivity issues - along with boredom. :hmmm:

[OneToughHerring]

It might be too bizarr for the yank soldiers to play old games. After all, they've played games all their lives, it's not like they don't know good s*** from bad s***.