" As longtime poweruser all the dark patterns and user hostile behavior was astonishing."
Two or more computers in a network become and behave as a single PC, so if you buy any client-server software you are literally stealing programs for yourself. Because all programs are the same to a PC. AKA all programs executables can be divided into two or more exe's and run over a network it's called the client-server or mainframe dumb client model of computing and you don't want that because that's the end of the personal computer you own and control. Client-server apps are the ultimate security risk because you can't audit the code.
The last 23 years there's been a war to kill the general computer.
If you've touched steam, xbox live or mmo's, they are all client-server exe's, windows 10 is a client-server operating system.
They've been stealing software from 1997 with ultima online, how can you be astonished when valve and everyone were stealing PC games from 1997 onward?
See this patent by microsoft here:
https://www.theregister.com/2001/12/13/the_microsoft_secure_...
On games:
It's not, the average gamer and PC buyer has been stealing software from himself for the last 23+ years. Straight, steam/mmo's are just back ended c applications, there's no reason for any piece of software to require a "internet connection" (aka a second computer) half a world away.
The 1990's were great because it was before the computer illiterate got internet. Everyone was expecting level editors and free maps, mods and skins
Level editors
https://icculus.org/gtkradiant/
Free maps mods and skins
https://ws.q3df.org/models/
... to continue in all the big budget games but that didn't happen because the computer illiterate masses gave up game ownership giving birth to all the evils of modern gaming (shut down games, mtx, always online drm, which is the same as mmo's, aka client-server back ended c apps). So we're losing game history down the shitter and games just disappear from history because stupid got internet.
Pub g and Apex, are just back ended quake 3 and UT2004, minus game ownership.
When the computer illiterate started buying MMO's (which were just rebranded rpg's with stolen networking code), the game industry started stealing PC games on a massive scale, notice how Transformers fall of cybertron a game from 2014, doesn't have basic features like dedicated servers and server lists like every fps from 1996-2004. (aka pre-steam, pre-mmo).
Once game developers realized gamers were stupid in 1997, there was a war on on local applications.
Don't think so? Don't think mmo's killed quake 1-3 and warcraft 1-3?
See here the ultima dev's themselves:
https://youtu.be/lnnsDi7Sxq0?t=1134
Ultima 9 was cancelled for the scam game ultima online, so there was no ultima 10, ultima 11, ultima 12, with dedicated servers and level editors. So we didn't get the awesome future of PC gaming, we got the computer illiterate dumbass future that undid the personal computer revolution taking us back to mainframe computing of the 60's and the average gamer is unaware of it.
Everyone was expecting diablo 2+ to have server browsers and level editing and huge modding, that never happened because they started stealing RPG's and rebranding them mmo's and just started back ending the shit out of every PC game, once they realized the public was stupid as fuck at computers.
Don't think so? We already had infinite multiplayer game sin the 90's with quake 2, until the shit for brains who bought UO and everquest fucked up the future of the personal computer and gaming more generally, taking us back to mainframe computing of the 60's.
"No limit to the # of players - JC, quake 2
https://youtu.be/TfeSMaztDVc?t=95
We could take quake 2 engine an clone all "MMO's and have those same games run locally with ability to host multiplayer from your machine with no logins, subscription fees.
If you have to infinity multiplayer videogames, one allows you to own it and costs $60, and the other has an upfront costs + sub.... guess who got swindled?