What happens when the DRM server closes after a bunch of year ? You'll have to download a crack. It will be okay then, but in the end you'll be downloading the exact same thing as the pirate and will probably be sharing it with those evil pirates as you download it.

Thanks to annoying DRM plaguing most CDs I use to buy (not playing on my Hi-Fi, not playing properly on my PC,...), I had to download (and therefore share) the albums I just bought so I could have a proper copy. After a while, you wonder why you have to get to the store to buy an album, when the music that will actually play comes from pirated mp3s and not the CDs.

The thing is some people cares about having products that work properly. If the legit version works fine, then there's no reason to look anywhere else. But if it's crippled, then the proper (pirate) version may look quite attractive. Too me, abusive DRMs do "promote" piracy in a way.

Sorry but no, I'm not looking for an excuse to complain. Making silly arguments about having no power won't change the fact that this game will have a new artificial philosophy of requiring an internet connection for OFFLINE PLAY. I think that's ridiculous.

This "keep screwing me, I like it" mentality is every businessman's wet dream. Keep supporting these practices, maybe next time it will be even worse.

Want some cheese with your whine? It requires an internet connection to verify you have a legitimate copy of the game once every 10 days. Do we hate updates for offline games now because they require the internet? The PC industry lives on connection. Online games, community services like Steam, and MMORPGS are what makes this market function effectively outside of the console market, which depends on local play. How is this screwing me? How is this screwing anyone? I mean do you realize how absolutely ridiculous your proposed scenarios for this causing a problem are?

I stand by my first diagnosis, although I'm worried your case is becomming chronic. If you don't relax and not take every minor inconvenience personally soon you may lose your ability to enjoy life forever.

Aren't you going a bit too far with your personal remarks here?

Regarding our little argument, here is one further retort:

Clearly, games bought on steam expect that you have an internet connection, and a good one at that. There's no such reasonable expectation for an offline game which you bought in a retail store.

You say my scenarios are ridiculous. Is it ridiculous that I sometimes go for vacation in the country side where I have no Internet connection? It's only ridiculous because it doesn't fit your own personal view of where your gaming PC is...

Mass Effect is not a MMORPG. It's not even an online-enabled game. It's simply a game on which they put an arbitrary and artificial requirement of online capabilities.

If you go on vacation drop by a Starbucks or one of the other half a dozen businesses that offer completely free internet access to renew your game. Or better yet, stop complaining about the portability of a PC game and buy a Nintendo DS.  As your situation of someone who happens to want to play their game on a laptop on vacation in a no-internet area is most likely far more uncommon than mine of a power outage.

I can understand complaints, but I still think this is getting blown out of proportion...it's not that big of a deal to have your game verified a few times a month. It's probably not the best thing EA could do (clearly), but I still think, unless you ACTUALLY don't have internet or get it sporadically, you're complaining for nothing.

I don't know what country you live in, but here I haven't had power outages for years, yet I often want to play games in places at which I have no internet connection. I must be really crazy or weird, mustn't I?

My argument is very simple - I won't buy a game which they slapped an arbitrary and artificial restriction on, both for a matter of principle and for a matter of wanting to play the game wherever I want to.

Go ahead and buy the game, you're free to do so and I understand your reasons. At the same time, I expect you to respect my reasons.

When I'm on a vacation, I generally spend my time doing other things than when I'm at home. Who goes on a vacation to play games anyways? Do you bring your stationary PC with you? Cos playing on a damn laptop with their extremely shoddy performance would annoy me much further than having no internet connection...
I don't like these protective measures myself, for the reasons stated on page one, but some of the arguments against it are at best ludicrous.

I don't understand your reasons.  Do you even have a laptop capable of playing this?  Are you complaining on principle of companies trying to protect their games from piracy (even if it's not the best service ever)?

Ok so most PC gamers have no issues with steam but they have one with this.
/boggle...

Where is the thread complaining that steam requires an internet connection then ?

Looks to me that either :
1) People are arguing for the sake of arguing
2) It's another opportunity to poke at EA
3) People were looking forward to get a pirate copy and now are worried
4) This site is full of altruistic people that are not worried about the impact this will have on them but are worried about the few that can't post here due to lack of internet but would be affected by this change and are posting on their behalf.

5) You have a custom desktop fitted in a backpack you carry with you and a screen integrated in glasses you wear and you walk around playing wherever you feel like.

Pick your choice !

Sadly knowing the human race I will pick 3 for a lot of posts in this thread :(

If your answer was 5) it's kind of a pity you didn't think of adding WiFi when you built your custom rig...

And stop arguing you have limited internet when you have 952 posts on this forum !!!!!

And stop complaining on the internet about stuff requiring the internet, if you took 5 seconds to step back and think about it you would laugh about it too !