Blizzard did that with SC2, and as much as it pained me to not buy it, that's what I did. I'm sure the game is great, but if you can't play via LAN because of the DRM, then I'm not buying it.

It sounds like at least with Darkspore that I'm not missing out on much.
And Blizzard would even let you install a couple extra clones so that you didn't have to own a copy per computer. It's a shame that didn't become more popular with publishers. It's getting so hard to justify not pirating materials when the developers arrr the way they arrr

Well let me tell you how hard it gets, now my kid wants to play co-op everything. We didn't have much co-op outside of very arcade-y titles (think Asteroids) when I was a kid, just due to our systems' limitations. Now you can do co-op on XBox Live or just over wireless, not to mention LAN. So if I want to be legit it's 2xevery game, oh and that DLC that costs 10 bucks? Yeah that costs me 20 if I get it, so we can play the expanded story together. A few games feature couch co-op, and you're okay with a single copy of the DLC and the game in this case, but a game like RDR can cost 100 bucks, on sale, with on sale DLC, to get it so we can play co-op and all the portions together (I have a single copy of RDR, I did buy all the DLC when they had it included in the Undead Nightmare pack on sale during Christmas though).

Those Arcade titles that "only" cost 10 bucks, well they're 20 for me if they're awesome co-op and my daughter wants to play.

It's a racket and it gets to be a bit much at times, sometimes i have to just say no, because even if I can get the game for 30 bucks a pop that still adds up really fast.

And I don't blame my kid, co-op experience is awesome playing as a family. It's so much better than the sit on your ass in front of the tv "bonding" my family did growing up. Heck, we were running through Pokemon strategies earlier today (the new game is great, btw).

Back in the day it didn't cost multiple copies of games, or rarely, as you said. You could clone copies for the few friends that didn't have cash to buy their own at a LAN party. Now, I have to buy a copy for everybody or half of them will show up with pirated copies (and no beer, man some of those friends are tools!).

This.

Yeah this is what you call a multiplayer, action RPG. If you want to call Diablo 2 a MMO, along with Titan Quest, etc. sure this is a MMO.

Having an option for strong multiplayer co-op and pvp does not make it a MMO and doesn't require constant connection to their servers. Also, I talked to one of the Devs about his toolkit, they could totally release some of those tools, they may not be providing a story, but there would be community ones. This game is perfect for that and they're missing the boat, sadly. As much as I like Maxis, they haven't done anything outstanding in recent memory, it'd be nice for them to not be "that company that made The Sims".

That's the gameplay, yes. That doesn't mean it has a real narrative though, and the game takes place in little mini-levels you load up from a menu where you meet other players. Not sure if it will still be there in the final release but the menu even has constant messages telling you to find other players and team up.
I didn't call it an MMO, I said it functions LIKE one. Also it is not a game with a co-op option, it is built entirely around co-op. There is no real campaign, you just load a level and choose who to play with, or if playing solo which creatures to take.

That's the beta anyway.

Ah I see they make it "non-transferable", I think this is the real reason, they want all games, Steam or not, to not be resold. If the game won't function without their servers, they guarantee you register and get it locked to you.

I guess. Honestly though it's an online-focused community game with social aspects at the core of it, I don't think they're way out there making it online-only. If you don't want to play online you don't want this game.

KingofGnG's interest in pirating a game he wouldn't have touched in ages otherwise: risen from 0% to 33%....

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-18-darkspore-release-date-pushed-back

Damn it! I pre-ordered this game a week ago. $%#&!