The gamers taking on the industry to stop it switching off games

Post by 0x59 » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 11:48 PM UTC

rolph wrote: post #43

aurareturn wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should not be allowed for a developer or device manufacturer to kill or nerf any product remotely, once it was bought and paid for. This is silly. No developer should be obligated to support an online game forever. Imagine a highly complex online game that requires a few people and tens of thousands a month in cloud costs to keep it running. Now imagine that this game is 25 years old and only has 100 players total…

what is truly silly, is the practice of online requirements, to operate software.

Post by datsci_est_2015 » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

0x59 wrote: post #122

datsci_est_2015 wrote: post #119

My lateral solution: don’t let the companies use the words “purchase” or “buy”, force them to use the words “rent” or “license”. You can only use the words “purchase” or “buy” if you can install / move the files to a device that is completely airgapped from the internet and continue to use the product indefinitely. Extend it to movies and music as well. Use established language to enable consumers to make an informed…

I like where you're going and obv industry will just have you buy a license

Post by add-sub-mul-div » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 11:58 PM UTC

aogaili wrote: post #102

Am I the only one finding the dependency on those videos games to be concerning?

Post by CivBase » Mon, Jun 08, 2026, 12:05 AM UTC

datsci_est_2015 wrote: post #119

My lateral solution: don’t let the companies use the words “purchase” or “buy”, force them to use the words “rent” or “license”. You can only use the words “purchase” or “buy” if you can install / move the files to a device that is completely airgapped from the internet and continue to use the product indefinitely. Extend it to movies and music as well. Use established language to enable consumers to make an informed…

Post by datsci_est_2015 » Mon, Jun 08, 2026, 12:11 AM UTC

CivBase wrote: post #127

datsci_est_2015 wrote: post #119

My lateral solution: don’t let the companies use the words “purchase” or “buy”, force them to use the words “rent” or “license”. You can only use the words “purchase” or “buy” if you can install / move the files to a device that is completely airgapped from the internet and continue to use the product indefinitely. Extend it to movies and music as well. Use established language to enable consumers to make an informed…

This is a good step, but it's not enough on its own. The core issue with game licenses is that they can be terminated at any time for any reason. There needs to at least be a well-defined timespan for the license. But of course that'd be seen as an "expiration date" and no publisher wants to put that on their game.