They could still have all these social/online features and not require internet-DRM to play.

You play your game, and if you want to do something social and the servers are down -- it sucks, but you can still play, and take part in the social stuff when it is up and working.

For online saves -- there is a local backup for when the online system is down.

These are not difficult things. They are just trying to fight an ever-losing battle against piracy.