Just wondering why a constant connection is needed?

First - I know that local (no-internet-connection required to play) skirmish is planned for the future (at least I'm pretty sure I read that).

Second - I love this game and will support it to the ends of the earth. Total Annihilation has always been my favorite game, as it does so many things I wish all strategy games since would do (like mines that don't collapse because you dared to use them), and for the first time in decades this is a strategy game that captures all those elements I loved of TA, and makes them better.


That all said - why is a constant internet connection needed to play? I'm hoping this is just for the sake of gathering feedback and usage-statistics for ongoing development, and not an anti-piracy measure. Because if it is an anti-piracy, then the main people this will hurt (in my own very biased opinion) is people that actually bought the game.

While the following may not be a problem in America, here in Australia internet connection is not something you can rely upon to be absolutely constant all of the time. As a result, I just lost a multi-hour skirmish game because the internet went down for a second. And not 'lost' as in defeated, but 'lost' as in - the connection went down for a second, so 'lost connection to the server,' and the game instantly ended without warning or saving.

If this is the way the game is always going to be (requiring a constant connection to play), then it will not be playable for me, as at any moment any game could end, losing all progress, without any warning at all. All as a reward for buying the game legitimately.

I am aware piracy is a serious concern. But if needing a constant internet connection to play is another anti-piracy measure, then what it achieves best is punishing the people who actually bought the game. Again, in my own very biased opinion.

You're communicating with a server. You're playing on the server.

Having an Internet connection is a vital part of being able to do that.

As Gorbles already said, the actual game runs on Uber's servers. Even if you are playing against the ai, all of the actual game logic is not running on your computer.
All your PC does, is displaying the information the server sends to it.

There are a couple of reasons for this but the most important thing for you to know is that this restriction will stay till the game was officially released and afterwards the server code will be able to run on your own computer (if it is powerful enough) and therefore you will be able to play offline (and no, you won't have to host multiplayer games anymore to play vs ai).

Except when the server is on your computer ... and the plan is to give the server when PA is officialy released

They force online play for the pre-release development to not let the server code to be spread in the nature and to gather data when people play : crash reports, etc...

But . . . we're not live yet.

Essentially – because the game isn't finished yet.

We'll have offline play at 1.0 release.

Actually the 'lost connection to server' is a server bug, it means the game was ended server side. You can reconnect to any games if your client crashes or your internet blips. When you log in again it will give you the option to reconnect to the game you were in.

They need the processing power for Sorian's AI.

At the moment, as they build the game, it is bug-tracking, collecting stats, anti-piracy, and version limiting.

On release, they will release server and you can start and play on a game on your own computer without having to connect to the internet.

Right now, taking it off server removes a lot of things that helps them. They might release server "soon"?

Thank you everyone for your informative responses!

And YAY! I hoped it was for development, which makes much more sense. I mean, who on earth would make actually make a fully released single-player game that required a constant connection to play?

Oh wait - Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - another game I was giddily excited about (the game going back to the original move-set and thus the gloriously good feel of Sands of Time), but it became [reconnecting to server] difficult to play and [reconnecting to server] enjoy the flow and build of [reconnecting to server] anything when even a moment's loss of internet would [reconnecting to server][reconnecting to server]... you get the picture. The horrible, horrible picture.

So sorry for assuming the worst. I will recommence being as excited as a kid in a candy store... eeeeeEEEE!!!

Yeah, that sucked. This game is a fairly marvelous technological creation. It will be pretty pimp and baller when it is technology ran on one machine and you can lan party with it or play choppy thrown together player campaigns aflood.

I also never got the "attach to internet life support" single player games either. They do it to dangle their influence into the game and control over it's purchase and playing. Then, a guy 3 days later reverse engineers the server and makes a crack to patch both on the same machine together and bypass checks.

Really, hurts the paying fan of the game, doesn't affect the tech savvy pirate anyway. Really, who doesn't want to make a fully functioning game anyway, it is harder for a locked-down game to continue it's life into the future.

Once heard an expression that's stuck with me regarding the war on piracy.

The war is already lost - stop shelling your own!​

It seems an unfortunate truth that modern pirates will crack any game, no matter what security features are included. Meaning that for anyone wanting to play a game there is a completely free alternative. So why would they pay for it?

My reason: to support the developers of marvelous creations who deserve to be paid for their amazing work, and will hopefully continue to make more. I'm not saying that should afford me special treatment or gratitude just for doing what's right. But to be punished for doing what's right - to have to endure anti-piracy features that are so obnoxious, intrusive and just plain painful all because I legitimately bought the game? (Not that that applies here - referring to Forgotten Sands and its ilk).

Yeah, I have gotten used to the EA mindset, but I still prefer even small games one can buy, that sell you the actual game. Like, the whole thing gets installed to your computer, standalone playable.

Free to play, sure, it makes sense you have a client to play, and they have the game itself, i mean you get what you pay for. But an EA game, full price, just to get only a playerside copy and servere limitations? The limitations kill it, you think a big game like that, they want you to build a modbase nexus for to keep sales up longterm like on steam and such (which steam is a form of mild drm).

Many people are excited for the release of the solid form of this game, plenty of models to build and change as skin packs and such, maybe some custom fan units.

Re: game - I entirely agree and couldn't possibly be any more EXCITED THAN I AM NOW!!! EEEEEE!!!!

Re: EA. I think mindset may be the biggest factor. Take World of Warcraft versus Guild Wars 2 - slightly off topic but I find it to be a very useful exercise in explaining how game developers treat their players, and the game that results.

World of Warcraft is, in my biased opinion, an expertly constructed money engine. 'Well yes player, you did just save up all the gold you needed to buy a flying mount. Oh you wanted it to fly? Oh that means you need to buy all the expansions. Also how's that monthly fee coming?' Why I quit is because I very much felt treated like a wallet, as if the game and its developers' main priority was finding new ways to trick or force me into paying them. And so I really didn't want to pay them a cent.

Then there's Guild Wars 2. I bought the game what, two years ago now, and have never been asked (explicitly or implicitly) to pay a cent since. No subscription fees, no surprise paid expansion-pack needed for normal gameplay, nothing. All while I've been given an ever increasing set of new items, new adventures, new story, new everything. It makes me feel special - like they are doing everything they can to provide me with a great experience, and asking for nothing in return. And so I trip over myself to find ways to pay them, buying items on the gem-store (none of which are pay-to-win btw), and if they ever do bring out an optional expansion I won't hesitate to buy it, even if I never plan to use it. It feels like their priority is to provide me with a great gaming experience, and so I actively want to repay them.

The very same thing seems to happen with piracy. Those companies whose games treat everyone as paying players will always feel better than those companies whose games treat everyone as pirates, even (or especially) those that bought the game.

Also - wait a minute! This thread started with me highlighting something I personally didn't like about the game (which turned out to be based on an inaccurate assumption on my part), and also mentioning my internet connection.

Where's the person telling me to just 'upgrade your connection, lol' ?

Where's the person saying 'I never had that problem, so it's you' ?

Where's the person saying 'if you don't like it then leave' ?

Where's all the other singularly unhelpful responses you ALWAYS get to this kind of thread. Instead it's just people being polite and very helpful and providing useful and accurate information. Where am I?


In all seriousness thank you all for being so awesome. I am a little perturbed - my world view needs altering, but in a very good way. Thank you.

If you want, I'm more than capable of being enough of an *** to confirm your existing world view

<3

You were lucky. This time.

That's because a perfect copy protection is a pretty impossible thing. Your customers NEED to copy the game and run it to play it. There is no way around that. So your copy protection has to have holes in it for your customers that can always be found and abused by some people with very advanced technical knowledge. Some companies may try to make the holes smaller and smaller, until their own customers do not fit through them anymore, while the pirates just have to work a bit harder to dig their own hole.