Gaming

In the case of Diablo IV, I really think it needs to do more to earn its always online status. I’m hoping that future updates and things will bring more MMO-like features as I think it would be a perfect fit

I really don't find it much of an issue in 2023. In the seven years I've lived in my current flat, I think there's been maybe an hour where my internet has gone down.

I do see the issue with games that have no online elements but still require a server but D4 is a kind of psuedo-MMO with it's world elements like world events, bosses, etc so it makes sense there.

I like it. I like to know that people likely haven’t hacked their chars. I’ve never had my crashing or rubber banding. It’s been seamless and while an offline version would be fine for me, that would never be the real game and you should never be allowed online.

Same experience as you with D4. Fun game but the always-on requirement is a tad annoying. Not deal-breaking for me, but I have had my fair share of rubber-banding on my SteamDeck, especially with Bluetooth headphones connected. D2R worked well offline, why not have an offline mode here?

I probably hate it less than most people but it doesn't excuse bad design. Warframe, for instance, requires you to always be online - but if your instance is set to Solo, you can pause the game.

Hate it with a passion

I almost exclusively play single-player games. I'm not sure I own one that is always online, since I pretty much always have WiFi on and wouldn't notice the difference, but I don't see why any of my games would have to be always online.

I try to avoid games with always online as much as possible but sometimes you don't have choice. If you want to play Diablo IV there's not much else you could do. But at least Diablo has some form of multiplayer. If you have a solely single player experience with always online, it's just bullshit. The DRM is only punishing players that pay for the game. If you insist to implement this kind of DRM then please go ahead but then you also have to run the servers forever. If you don't then why should I buy your game?

Ironically I think GTAV did a pretty decent job of this - you can pause at any time during the single player, however I don't remember if it requires a connection to play single player mode.

Imo if a game has a single player mode, being online for it should never be a requirement.

Concerning gaming with a newborn, you should also look for games that you can play with one hand, so you can hold the baby with the other. Europa Universalis 4 is a great game if you've got a kid who will only fall sleep while being held.

I don't buy always online games. Period.

It made me stop buying games and consoles in the first place.

You have to be online, the game has to be downloaded on the system, there will be bugs and it has to be patched.

Just let me buy a game and play it. I may sound like an old fart but I really enjoyed the days that I could go to a store, buy a game and play it immediately on my console.

Especially the fact that bugs are literally shipped like features now and you just have to accept that your game of 80-90 dollars is ridden with bugs, yeah fuck off really.

With Starlink and an obstructed view of the sky, I really hate online only games because they get interrupted whenever a satellite goes behind a tree. I’ve basically had to use my phone’s hotspot to play games like hitman or multiplayer games like deep rock. It doesn’t use a ton of data once you’ve downloaded the games assets and have everything up to date. I tend to avoid online only games unless they are heavily discounted.

On another note, I have a 5 month old and the Steam Deck has been a godsend. The ability to pause a game and suspend the deck has saved my ass quite a few times and allowed me to get in some quick game sessions. I’m able to play maybe 20-30 minutes sessions during naps or when I’m in the toilet. I mostly stick with single player offline games these days. I have such a large backlog of steam games that have been a blast going back and completing. Also, emudeck has kept me flush with some nostalgic retro games. Even though I have a ps5 and a gaming PC, I almost exclusively use the deck these days. Good luck and congratulations!

@Parellius I prefer games that I can play offline if I need to, but I have been a Diablo fan for over 20 years. Of course I purchased Diablo 4.

That and FOMO mechanics are a dealbreaker for me. I love playing video games, even spending a lot of time on them, but they are priority number 3 at best.

I quit War Thunder after grinding some battle pass and realizing I would need to keep up while having the time of my life on an Icelandic vacation. I just stopped, and that feeling of withdrawal is what I associate it with now.

I let it lie on my hard disk for a while, but after trying to play a few times and always feeling that it's the game that's going to play me so I won't enjoy even one match I just gave up and uninstalled.

This was not because of the recent and ongoing crap with the economy btw.

I started playing D4 two days ago and constantly try to pause the game when I need to give something else attention. It should also be easy to do when you’re alone in a dungeon. There are games that are online but let you pause when you’re alone (though I can’t remember which game I am thinking of right now)

I think when it makes sense it's fine, but I would only really say that for multiplayer games, if it's a single player game there is a really unfortunate reality, which is that pirating it will result in a better gameplay experience.

Is there an offline crack yet? I would have assumed piratws would have for sure gotten that done