Redfall - Arkane

[WingedKagouti]

Why does a single player game have to require an always online connection in the first place? Issues with internet connections are not exactly unheard of. And it's not always the ISP that fails, sometimes it's the publisher that fails to provide a reliable service.

From the customer's point of view, it has no benefits and only potential downsides.

It also means the publisher can essentially "turn off" a singleplayer game, which is unacceptable.

Besides, it's not like they actually need that data unless the development team is incompetent or they want to not do any QA in the first place. I interpret stuff like:

It allows us for telemetry, like, if everybody's falling off ladders and dying, holy shit that shows up.

to mean that he either has absolutely no confidence in the QA team or he's trying to deflect the question because the real answer would undermine everything else he said.

[Jason Moyer]

I'm a massive luddite, and will stop listening to new music or watching new movies if I can't own them on physical media. Some may argue this has already happened. Anyway, for gaming it bothers me significantly less, because I'm using a device that's always connected to the internet to play them. I think there's an argument to be had when console systems/games require persistent online nonsense (requiring internet to use your Steamdeck is hilarious), but my PC is pretty much a brick at this point if my DSL goes down.

If a persistent online requirement hurts the experience of playing the game, of course, all bets are off.

[Starker]

Besides, it's not like they actually need that data unless the development team is incompetent or they want to not do any QA in the first place. I interpret stuff like:

to mean that he either has absolutely no confidence in the QA team or he's trying to deflect the question because the real answer would undermine everything else he said.

Telemetry and metrics-driven design has been an industry buzzw a thing for over a decade now and somehow all these other companies seem to manage without an always online requirement.

[Aja]

Not to mention people who live in rural communities or other places where internet connections can be slow and spotty.

[Jason Moyer]

I think this looks great.