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Comment by BlueTemplar | Hacker News Reader

Yeah, but then ActiBlizz has been doing the "online only" thing at least since Starcraft 2 (2010), also removing multiplayer not through Blizzard's servers in the process !

And they recently did the same with the Diablo 2 """remaster""", preventing multiplayer-heavy mods running in the regular online mode from operating !! (They are not allowed on battle.net, partially for anti-cheating reasons of course.)

Meanwhile other games still allow normal connection through IP/server name, provide a matchmaking server for players to organize their games, including modded ones, and provide an *optional* ban list for server owners using the official matchmaker to enforce on the worst offenders that in no way affects the singleplayer or the direct connection multiplayer experience !

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I've always enjoyed playing and modding D2, so when D2R launched I bought it and again went into modding and what not, all single player. A while after that i got an email saying i had been banned. I tried hopping on a single player game and it worked so i didn't care too much since i don't play online anyways. However, to my surprise, 30 days after the ban when i tried to play i was greeted by a message saying that i had been offline for too long and needed to log back in to "verify ownership" of the game, which i obviously couldnt since i got banned, so i couldn't even play offline/single player.

Luckily i managed to get in touch with an understanding support rep who unbanned me, but not without a "stop modding if you don't wanna get banned again" message, which is absurd. I paid for the game and i should be able to do whatever i want with it within the confines of my own computer.

> I paid for the game and i should be able to do whatever i want with it within the confines of my own computer.

Most of the time you buy a one time license to use the software, which is tied to your account and platform.

It's still your platform, though. "License" is not a contract, you paid them not the other way around. What they are doing is probably illegal nevermind immoral.

I.e. it is a form of slavery, which I guess you are paying for? Which is a type of scam. The mgmt who work at these AAA shops belong in the dumpster bin of humanity.

You hand over rights to your platform which you, not they, bought and paid for, and provide them with lucrative information, and are now bound to do whatever they say? Some hot nonsense, if I ever heard it.

Then why buy the game? It’s not like it’s a new thing for Blizzard/Activision/EA. It’s literally some unholy trifecta that I just do not buy games from any more.

"Then why buy the game?"

While I agree you "shouldn't" buy the game, we shouldn't even be giving legitimacy to these practices at all. We generally try to prosecute snake-oil salesmen, shutdown hucksters, put con-men out of business, etc..

There are unfortunately many reasons why people might buy the game - false advertising, lack of proper research, peer pressure from a poorly informed populous. You may be tempted to say "you should do your research", and while I agree you generally should, its also true its impractical to research everything. The same way I shouldn't have to go into a grocery store and have to worry about if the peanut butter is poisoned with salmonella, a consumer be able to purchase a product, and have the reasonable expectation that they can do what they want with the product within the confines of their own home.

Finding out after you have purchased a game that it is arbitrarily locked down, and that you have little recourse to get your money back, is a form of fraud.

Yeah, even though I did know, inertia kept me going, still buying both StarCraft 2 (and expansions) and Diablo 3 (and expansions)...

They want to be in control of the mods (for 'security' reasons). So they can sell you extra service on top of it. We're moving towards GaaS (gaming as a service) really quickly and it's disheartening to see.

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