What you proposed is a bit too dependent on the internet for my taste (being online to uninstall mainly, the rest i find acceptable), others may find it ok though and it's still better than a constant connectivity requirement.
I actually outlined my idea of how an online activated version could work with minimal hassle for the player, which to be honest is not my idea that much. It's actually based on the way Starcraft 2 works with a small but important change tailored to the importance of single player mode for many flight simmers.
What you do with SC2 is create a free battlenet account, tie your CD-key to it and login with this account when you run it.
However, if your internet access is disabled you get the option to enable offline mode.
Advantages:
1) Easy, one time activation. No limited activation/deactivation business, rootkits or registry keys that monitor your PC components and stop working the time you install a hardware upgrade because the key doesn't match with your latest hardware components.
2) You can download the installation files by logging into your battlenet account even if you don't have the physical installation disk at hand or because you want to install on a different PC.
3) You can log in with your account from other PCs than your own (eg, when playing against friends in a LAN party or contest).
4) You can play against the AI when the internet is down (clarification on this below however).
Disadvantages:
1) Everything multiplayer goes through battlenet, meaning i could be playing against a person in the same room and still have lag. There's no direct LAN support in order to prevent people from totally sidestepping the authentication, but this is worked on. A proposed solution is to connect to battlenet first for authentication, then revert to LAN mode once the players are invited into the game lobby.
2) You can't activate if your internet is down for whatever reason.
3) In order to enable offline mode you first need to connect on game start-up. Yes, you first need to go online each time before offline mode is available, which pretty much defeats the whole purpose of it if you are on an extended downtime.
Number 3 is my main gripe with it (it's actually pretty stupid the way it works in that regard), but i ended up buying the game because all i do with it is multiplayer with and against some friends, among ourselves or online on battlenet.
So why did i buy it if i dislike DRM so much? The answer is that it's far from a perfect system but it works well enough
for what i want to do.This is also a very important factor when considering DRM, how do you intend to play the game?
If i was interested primarily in the single player mode, then i would find it unacceptable having to connect on each game launch. However, SC2 just like the original SC is mainly a multiplayer game. It has a nice storyline and amazing cutscenes in the single player campaign, but you can burn through it within a week tops. The real value of the game lies in its well-balanced unit mix that creates a highly dynamic rock-paper-scissors type of multiplayer.
However, since flight sims have a strong single player component and Oleg Maddox said himself that 80% of IL2's sales were offline players even if they had access to the internet, if we copied SC2's system we'd have to make sure the people who fly offline and/or lack access to the internet due to travelling/work/etc are not getting shut out, because this translates directly to lost sales amid the 80% the offliners constitute.
What i would do for SoW is copy SC2's system almost verbatim with two small but important changes:
1) Having a single authentication server in place of battlenet. No need for the publisher to handle all the multiplayer network traffic and pay the associated bills, when just an integrated, in-game server browser similar to Hyperlobby would be enough.
2) Validate the game online on each launch,
but only as long as an internet connection is already present. If no internet connection is available but the installation is already activated, skip straight to the offline mode. And if you are really worried about people exploiting this to share their cd-keys, make it expire after one month. One log-in needed per month would be manageable even for people who travel a lot and play on gaming laptops, or those who suffer connection problems.
The bottom line is that all these big publishing companies are not stupid. If we make it clear that their games won't sell well if they ship with troublesome features, they will change them sooner or later and come up with something clever enough to protect the game without making it a pain to use for the legitimate buyers. You are the customer, you can demand the inclusion of a few things that work in your convenience's favor
Anyway, i think i've said more than enough on this issue and made my point as clear as it can be made. I'm out of this thread, thanks for keeping it civil everyone
