Demon's Souls servers shutting down

Johnny Novgorod

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Atlus confirmed it a couple of days ago: they're shutting down the Demon's Souls servers on Feb 28, 2018.

https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/27/16704974/demons-souls-online-service-ending-from-software-ps3

So if you've never played the game or like me fell short from finishing it, now's your final shot at the "true experience".
Even if this doesn't affect gameplay all that much, I'm gonna miss the player ghosts and "helpful" messages. Feels like an integral part of the experience is going to go away forever. Sucks for trading too.

EDIT: Just booted the game, here's the list of features that will disappear by Feb 28, 2018:

-Multiplayer (cooperative, invading other worlds, challenge play)
-Hint messages
-Other players' bloodstains
-Wandering apparitions
-Viewing rankings
 

CritialGaming

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Just makes you aware of all these games we have today with online features, that at some point will no longer be the same, or in some cases, even playable.

One thing about old Playstation 2 and older era games is that, if you have the working hardware and disc, you can play the full game just as it was the day it came out.

How many games that come out these days can you say that about?
 

Erttheking

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Well, I suppose its hats off to them for keeping them up for so long.

Still sucks.

And I keep screaming to the high heavens that Demon's Souls should be A. Renamed to Demon Souls because that's less awkward to say, and B. given a remake. Come on From, you made Dark Souls 2, Scholar of the First Sin, you can make Demon's Souls for people who missed it because Dark Souls kicked things off and/or never had a PS3. Even if you have to make it exclusive to PS4, you can still appeal to the people who bought a PS4 for Bloodborne.
 

Dalisclock

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Does this make it more or less likely we're gonna see a PC Port? The PS3 is no longer being produced, the servers are shutting down, there's no reason for Sony to keep it Hostage anymore.

I mean, other then to be a dick.
 

Xprimentyl

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Wow, that sucks; I never got to play it! Ironically, I?m listening to a Let?s Play of Demon?s Souls right NOW, and was just thinking about picking it up. (I?m only listening because the Let?s Players have hilarious banter, but I DID notice there?s an enemy in there who?s laugh track was repurposed for Smough?s highly-modulated laugh in Dark Souls!)

Yeah, the ?online? aspect of modern games has us by the balls, has for a while. I got into Chromehounds (another FromSoft game!) just a few months prior to them shutting down the servers, sadly, it was a 90% online multiplayer game; the only offline components were a handful of tutorials for the various mech types, so just when I started getting good with my mech with a huge sniper rifle sticking straight out from between his legs, the ?lights went dark? and I was left alone with my giant perversion of mechanical engineering. Sad times?
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Dalisclock said:
Does this make it more or less likely we're gonna see a PC Port? The PS3 is no longer being produced, the servers are shutting down, there's no reason for Sony to keep it Hostage anymore.

I mean, other then to be a dick.
If anything I think a PS4 remaster is more likely. Not ideal but better than nothing.
 

stroopwafel

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CritialGaming said:
One thing about old Playstation 2 and older era games is that, if you have the working hardware and disc, you can play the full game just as it was the day it came out.

How many games that come out these days can you say that about?
For a lot of MP games that is true ofcourse but I don't think for Demon's Souls as this is an extremely fun game even without the online component. You can't blame these companies to look at server activity and then when it gets really low to pull the plug. Demon's Souls was already a ghost town in online mode. For such a relatively niche title they still kept the servers going for almost a decade so in this case absolutely no ill-intent from any of the publishers. Still hoping for a remake/remaster though. :p
 

Sniper Team 4

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So I guess I should just ask now:

Does anyone have a Pure Bladestone they want to give me? While they're at it, does anyone have the Foe's Ring too? I'd like to get the Platinum trophy for this game, but that Pure Bladestone is a nightmare--two weeks of farming and nothing--and I'd rather not just keep hoping.
And getting the Foe's Ring requires doing stuff that I'd rather not do, but I guess I can suck it up.

Anyway, since the game is going offline, figured it couldn't hurt to ask in one last ditch, hail Mary attempt.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

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CritialGaming said:
Just makes you aware of all these games we have today with online features, that at some point will no longer be the same, or in some cases, even playable.

One thing about old Playstation 2 and older era games is that, if you have the working hardware and disc, you can play the full game just as it was the day it came out.

How many games that come out these days can you say that about?
So much this!
Overwatch, Battlefront, World War One, Destiny, For Honor, countless others. They'll be shut down one day and no one will be able to even play a single-player match.
 

Headdrivehardscrew

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Makes me wonder. When we are able to crowdfund castles in the sky and utter shite garbage, why are we not allowed to crowdfund another ten years of Demon's Souls servers? I never stopped playing Demon's Souls... I don't like the idea of being all alone.

Demon's Souls is not a title that should ever be abandoned, really. Every new generation of players should be allowed to discover things through following player apparitions... after they've been thorougly freaked out by them. Players should be allowed to summon other players, forever. If the hardware of the PS3 starts to fail, port the thing over to PS4. No retro subscription service, please. Just the game, pure, adorable and inspiring as it is.
 

demoman_chaos

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Sniper Team 4 said:
So I guess I should just ask now:

Does anyone have a Pure Bladestone they want to give me? While they're at it, does anyone have the Foe's Ring too? I'd like to get the Platinum trophy for this game, but that Pure Bladestone is a nightmare--two weeks of farming and nothing--and I'd rather not just keep hoping.
And getting the Foe's Ring requires doing stuff that I'd rather not do, but I guess I can suck it up.

Anyway, since the game is going offline, figured it couldn't hurt to ask in one last ditch, hail Mary attempt.
Oh you poor poor dear. I spent literal days doing nothing but going from the Old Hero archstone back up past the Reaper and using Soulsuck (?) to instant kill that BP Katana Skeleton that only spawns on Pure Black World Tendency. There is a VERY good reason I have no shame using Cheat Engine or other such things to skip grinding in games, and it is because I already put my time in grinding for that fucking Pure Bladestone.

May the Old One have mercy upon your soul.
Umbasa
 

Drathnoxis

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That really sucks, that Old Monk bossfight was one of the most interesting PvP concepts ever used in a game. Secretly making an actual player the boss was nothing short of brilliant. All the crazy things you'd see the other players do when playing as the monk...
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

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Demon's Souls is still the best and even though this sucks, eventually it had to happen. Wish they'd have ported it to PC though... then we could have had some sort of player server thing going. Though its gonna be a bit easier for me to do some of the world tendencies without online connectivity skewing the bar.
 

thepyrethatburns

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Silentpony said:
CritialGaming said:
Just makes you aware of all these games we have today with online features, that at some point will no longer be the same, or in some cases, even playable.

One thing about old Playstation 2 and older era games is that, if you have the working hardware and disc, you can play the full game just as it was the day it came out.

How many games that come out these days can you say that about?
So much this!
Overwatch, Battlefront, World War One, Destiny, For Honor, countless others. They'll be shut down one day and no one will be able to even play a single-player match.
It goes even further than that. If you look at Steam's EULA, you get nothing if they decide to shut their servers down. (Yes, Gabe said that they would release a patch if that were to ever happen which would allow you to download DRM-Free copies. However, he said that in the days before Half-Life 2 when they were still trying to sell people on Steam. Having been on the receiving end of a few tech shutdowns/outsourcings, even IF upper management wants to hold to that, the rank and file are going to be too busy sending out resumes and covering for those who do get hired away to worry about whether you can play Sin Episodes after the shutdown.)

It's the same with games bought off Live/PSN/Wii Store. MS already shut down the Xbox 1 servers removing that content permanently and have tried to move old games off the 360 Live servers at least once. If Live shuts down, your Indie games are immediately gone along with a few Arcade titles such as Castlestorm. Everything else lasts only as long as your HDD does.

It's always been something gamers have never really wanted to think about.
 

Vendor-Lazarus

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thepyrethatburns said:
It's always been something gamers have never really wanted to think about.
Couldn't agree more. It's why I've haven't really bought a game since '05, when steam took of.
Those few games I've bought have all been DRM-free. steam is DRM.
 

Dalisclock

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Xprimentyl said:
Wow, that sucks; I never got to play it! Ironically, I?m listening to a Let?s Play of Demon?s Souls right NOW, and was just thinking about picking it up. (I?m only listening because the Let?s Players have hilarious banter, but I DID notice there?s an enemy in there who?s laugh track was repurposed for Smough?s highly-modulated laugh in Dark Souls!)
Demons Souls, ironically, doesn't benefit from MP as much as the other games in the series. Mostly because of World Tendency. Not only is it effected by things you do, but also(apparently) things other people do as well, so other peoples games can screw with your and if you're actually trying to manipulate world tendency for sidequests or enemies, this can be frustrating.

Granted, I haven't beaten the game but this is my understanding.
 

Phoenixmgs_v1legacy

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Imperioratorex Caprae said:
Demon's Souls is still the best and even though this sucks, eventually it had to happen. Wish they'd have ported it to PC though... then we could have had some sort of player server thing going. Though its gonna be a bit easier for me to do some of the world tendencies without online connectivity skewing the bar.
You can still do player run servers on PS3, MGO2 can still be played today on PS3 via player run servers.
 

Cette

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So they're making it better then by removing the worst features of that franchise?

KEEN!
 

Chimpzy_v1legacy

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That is sad for the people who liked the online features, but I suppose inevitable.

Still admirable of Atlus to keep them running for so long, considering Demon's Souls was and is a pretty niche title.