What's next?

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by HundertzehnGustav

NO GUYS...

read the website for the online platform

they promise to let you play offline.

No doubt it will be playable off line. Some games check for updates then load. Others don't.

[bigboywooly]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

No doubt it will be playable off line. Some games check for updates then load. Others don't.

From Seeadlers link

Is there an "off-line" option?
No. The added services to the game (unlimited installs, online storage of saved games and the fact that you don’t need the game disc to play) require you to have an online connection while playing the game

[GoldenRivet]

Also from the Q&A

What if Ubisoft decides not run these online services in the future? Will my game stop working?

Ubisoft is committed to being a forerunner in providing new exciting online service. If any service is stopped, we will create a patch for the game so that the core game play will not be affected.

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

Also from the Q&A

What if Ubisoft decides not run these online services in the future? Will my game stop working?

Ubisoft is committed to being a forerunner in providing new exciting online service. If any service is stopped, we will create a patch for the game so that the core game play will not be affected.

This is disingenuous at best and besides what else are they supposed to say. If UBISoft is sold down the road they will no longer own the game and so any promises of a magic patch are not worth the electrons it took to bring them to your screen.

Have a look at other game franchises where the original publishers have changed hands. Inevitably what happens is a "new" version is cranked out aimed at a new audiance and the legacy owners are hung out to dry.

Supporting the previous owner's software makes no business sense but remarketing a new and shiny version with no backwards compatibility will still find a market if the market was there in the first place. A couple of examples even though DRM didn't figure with any of them:

TOAW - COW vs. TOAW 3
Harpoon 3 vs. Harpoon ANW
Legion Gold vs. Matrix Legion Gold

And there's more. If this represents the future of PC gaming I think I'm going back to chess.

[Torplexed]

Wow. I'm late to the party (or funeral depending on your POV) and I've been absorbing it all. I must say I'm saddened too at the direction the industry is going in. I guess all the glorious eye candy is coming at the price of the game only ephemerally being yours...as long as they support it. Frankly, I worry if graphic applications will start going down this road too in the future.

Originally Posted by Randomizer

And there's more. If this represents the future of PC gaming I think I'm going back to chess.

I may go back to my old cardboard & counters wargames.