So as many of you may know, SimCity released this week. A lot of websites have said the game itself is pretty good, and it looks like it from the videos and demos I've seen. Unfortunately, its always-online requirement has made it [url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/03/07/simcity-team-adds-servers.aspx]a little bit[/url], [url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/03/07/simcity-fallout-continues.aspx]sort of[/url], [url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/03/08/simcity-burning-a-warning-to-microsoft-sony-and-all-publishers-on-the-dangers-of-always-online-drm]completely broken.[/url] For obvious reasons, people are in an uproar at SimCity, Maxis, EA, and always-online connections in general.
As we're all aware, Destiny also has a required internet connection. In my opinion, this requirement is justified for Destiny. Unlike SimCity, which can easily function as a single-player game without losing out on any gameplay features, Destiny (at least from what we've been told) must have on internet connection in order to access the multiplayer and co-op features that are the core of the game. Knowing this, I don't have a problem with the required internet connection. However, I am worried about the taste left in the mouth of the gaming community after the effects of SimCity and last year's Diablo 3. I fear that the mere mention of "always-online" for Destiny will now illicit a knee-jerk negative reaction, despite the necessity.
I think the safest thing to do would probably be to include a single-player offline option, but it's probably way too late in development for that, not to mention that it goes against Destiny's core concepts and I think it would show more innovative spirit to take the risk of being online-only. And above all, please hold a public beta to test server stress.
What do you think, community? Have recent "always-online" issues given you reason to be concerned with Destiny? Would you prefer that Destiny include an offline option? Or do you think Destiny should stick to being always-online?
Discuss.
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It's not recent issues that bring up the concern for me. It's my origins as an offline player that make me highly critical of the online requirement. While I'm disappointed that Destiny won't be offline capable, I can understand why. I just hope they add some sort of single-player or offline mechanic.