I believe it doesn't

by Dean Hofmeyer (unhh) , Warsaw, IN, Thursday, March 21, 2013, 15:41 (4053 days ago) @ Cody Miller

That's a fairly valid - though incomplete - definition, but it doesn't match up with what we know about Destiny. The game's always-online state is to allow the player access to the persistent world. It's an integral part of the game's functionality, not a restrictive measure.

I want to agree, and I totally see where you are coming from and have the same sentiment, but in practice I don't think this is so, simply because Microsoft or Sony is the one determining who can connect, and thus who can play. With something like say, Unreal Tournament, which is likewise nearly essential to play online, you can play regardless of what anybody from the industry says, either by connecting to your favorite private server, or by creating one yourself.

It doesn't sound like a private-server model would work for what Bungie has in mind for Destiny. You're comparing apples to oranges and telling me the apples are awful because they don't split into nice sections.

Sure, Destiny will be unplayable on a banned box, but that doesn't mean Destiny will have DRM, it means XBL has DRM.

And since XBL and PSN are integral parts of Destiny, then Destiny by extension has DRM.

However you put it, that DRM is a moot point when discussing Destiny itself, as any online Xbox or Playstation game will be subject to the same rights management.

Be it DRM or not, the measure isn't in place to control Destiny specifically.

Always being required to connect to the publisher's / developer's server seems to me to be the epitome of trying to control their game. If the game won't operate without a connection, and they mediate the connection, then they control who has access to the content.

Whether it's about piracy or not is a totally separate question. DRM can be used for much more than just stopping pirates.

Take out the R in DRM, and you're completely right. A constant connection to Bungie's server is absolutely about digitally managing the game - but I don't think you have any reason at this point to believe it's about managing the rights of ownership.

To bring Sim City back into the discussion, its online connection can be said to be DRM-driven because it had no necessary effect on gameplay. Destiny, from what litle we know, seems to be toward the other end of the spectrum: gameplay necessarily relying on a connection to a server. The game's all about exploring the galaxy with your friends. It simply wouldn't work without an internet connection. Stop reading so much into it until you have more to read.