[mookiemookie]

Looks like more anti-piracy measures. I think the game companies are starting to wake up to the fact that draconian measures like SecureROM, (god forbid) Starforce and "phone home" authentications are not stopping anyone. They see the need to give the user a reason to actually purchase the game. If you can get them to log in to your servers and give them freebies for achievement points they earn and you keep track of on the game company side, you can get the user to buy in while you get to authenticate the software. You're putting the pirate at a disadvantage, not by crippling their game, but by having them miss out on extras and freebies.

I'm pretty okay with the idea.