Always online does not equal DRM

by kapowaz, Monday, March 25, 2013, 16:04 (4043 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Are CD keys DRM? Most people would say yes, since if you have a game disc, but no CD key, you can't play.

So you want to play online, and you can't do so without a CD key. The server checks your CD key to validate it, and if it's not valid or pirated or in use by someone else it refuses you a connection. DRM? Most people would say yes.

Let's get one thing out of the way up front: that a majority of gamers might agree to these assertions is meaningless. It doesn't make them any more (or less) true than any number of other widely-held yet fallacious assumptions.

That aside, what you're describing is copy protection. These are explicitly anti-piracy measures, which is only a subset of what DRM is about in the context of software. There's no region-specific functionality being granted, no facility for them to alter or revoke your rights dynamically (other than the wholesale removal of them, as with a CD key ban, and even then that usually only prevents online play); in fact your rights aren't enumerated digitally at all here – they're written down in the software license you agree to when you install the software, then don't change.

As Claude put it, you've got your own definition of what DRM constitutes, which is fine so long as you can accept that others might not agree with that definition. I for one think your definition is flawed, and I question what you're really bringing to this debate by steadfastly insisting that it is a certain kind of thing. What impact has it on whether or not people will enjoy Destiny, that is meaningfully different to (say) an MMO? As I've said elsewhere, that kind of always-online gameplay is not remotely new, so I'm dubious that it's anywhere near as big a problem as you're making out.