From: bel@whipassgaming.com   
      
   >> I don't know about this man, I gotta disagree. MS didn't force Sega to   
   >> make it so that you couldn't even play PSO offline without a Live   
   >> account, Sega did that on their own. I'm guessing they did it so that   
   >> you'd be forced to use your 1 month(or is it 2?) trial immediately and   
   >> then possibly pay to play it for more months after that.   
   >   
   > It's not quite that simple. Since you can play offline in PSO and use the   
   > same character online, Microsoft was paranoid that people would be able to   
   > cheat by transferring and hacking the save files. Tying the game to a Live   
   > account forces you to download the online updates, to start. Then it signs   
   > all your saved games with a hash based on your Live account so it can   
   > validate the file befor any type of play, online or offline. PSO on the   
   > Gamecube and the PC moved a lot of those functions to the server side,   
   > which made it easier to deal with.   
      
   Oh damn, you're right...I keep forgetting that PSO used MS's servers   
   rather than letting Sega use their own. Yeah, with that newfound   
   knowledge I agree that it was definitely MS who pulled that shit. I'd   
   bet if they'd of allowed Sega to use their own servers it would have   
   been a disaster, as Sega just doesn't seem to care about cheaters, or   
   updates, or pretty much anything that goes on in it.   
      
   >> Hell, even Unreal Championship lets you play the game offline without a   
   >> Live account and online play pretty much is *the game*. ;)   
   >   
   > The difference being that Unreal sessions are instanced and ephemeral. PSO   
   > isn't exactly a persistent world, but player posessions and progress are   
   > supposed to be measurably cumulative each time you play. I agree with you   
   > that a better solution was probably within reach, but I still think that   
   > Microsoft was the holdout given what happened on other platforms.   
      
   Yeah, I agree. I don't know why I thought MS allowed Sega to use their   
   own servers for the game. This was *way* before the bullshit holdout EA   
   pulled, or even Square's insisting that FF be on their "PlayOnline"   
   servers.   
      
   > -KKC, who just finished the Nights into Dreams quest online.   
      
   How was it? Does Nights actually show up? Do you fight any enemies from   
   the Saturn game and whatnot?   
      
   Bel   
   --   
   Whip Ass Gaming: http://www.whipassgaming.com/   
      
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