I certainly do not want to defend Ubisoft since I do not see the need for such a system on a niche game like a subsim, but I presume they have done their homework on how this will work.
As I see it, best case scenario, it works as painlessly as STEAM, which I presume is what they are aiming for to not only: a) authenticate installs, but also b) sell games over the internet.
Secondly, no matter what Ubisoft is saying now, they will have to include some sort of offline playing mode, like STEAM. They will soon realize that requiring players to be connected 100% of the time is impractical.
Worst case scenario, the system is a hopeless nightmare and Ubisoft will release a patch in a few months (after most of the sales have been made) to allow the game to be played offline. They will not leave players in a lurch since that would open Ubisoft up to a class action suit.
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