Gamers Don't Get to Keep OnLive Purchases

[HK_01]

This is going to become more and more common - with everything from video games to ebooks now that the subscription model is the new norm. I hope it's just a phase, but there's the nagging feeling that this is the beginning of the end for personal ownership of electronic media.

Electronic media? If it continues like that soon you'll be "subscribing" to your couch.

 

[Delusibeta]

A question for regular Steam users (I have an account, but it's been inactive for years): What happens to the game data on their servers when Valve goes out of business? Would you be able to play your games without a connection to Steam? Could Valve arbitrarily delete content from your account - and please check your terms of service before replying, I'm asking about what could happen not what is happening now or is likely to happen anytime soon.

I'm not saying Valve's going under tomorrow or that they're out to screw you - I'm just saying that the rise of the subscription model (and Steam is a subscription service even if it happens to be a free subscription) has pretty significant implications for the future of privately owned digital media.

Internet lore suggests that Valve has a kill-switch in their DRM. The official word (via the Steam Subscriber Agreement) is as follows:

Either you or Valve has the right to terminate or cancel your Account or a particular Subscription at any time. You understand and agree that the cancellation of your Account or a particular Subscription is your sole right and remedy with respect to any dispute with Valve.
-snip-
1. In the case of a recurring payment Subscription (e.g., a monthly subscription), in the event that Valve terminates or cancels your Account or a particular Subscription for convenience, Valve may, but is not obligated to, provide a prorated refund of any prepaid Subscription fees paid to Valve.
2. In the case of a one-time purchase of a product license (e.g., purchase of a single game) from Valve, Valve may choose to terminate or cancel your Subscription in its entirety or may terminate or cancel only a portion of the Subscription (e.g., access to the software via Steam) and Valve may, but is not obligated to, provide access (for a limited period of time) to the download of a stand-alone version of the software and content associated with such one-time purchase.
3. In the case of a free Subscription, Valve may choose to terminate or amend the terms of the Subscription as provided in the "Amendments to this Agreement" section above.

The tl;dr version is as follows: Valve is under no obligation to release the games from the DRM should they go bust. Of course, that doesn't mean they won't.

 

[unacomn]

Ah, I see they use the patented "we have you by the balls" approach. Good, Ubisoft has been taking steps to compete in this market for some time now as well.

 

[Andronicus]

Pfft. I live in Australia, so there's no plausible way I could use the service without MAJOR LAGGAGE anyway. Besides, cloud gaming always seemed like one of those "good in theory, absolutely mind-numbingly horrible in practice" ideas to me.

 

[craddoke]

The tl;dr version is as follows: Valve is under no obligation to release the games from the DRM should they go bust. Of course, that doesn't mean they won't.

It does mean, though, that subscribers do not own the content they purchase on Steam - they're renting it.

 

[Ohlookit'sMatty]

I can see what they are trying to do here, but sadly one mistaken (and this looks like it) can hinder them // But in all fairness this is not going to be a problem for them for quite a while // Not until people start to lose their account and all their games cos of this

Then and only then is it going to become a problem for them as that is when the out cry will happen, or even people want to leave and figuar out that they will lost all there games that they may have spent over $100-200 dollars on // But until that happens they will be in the money

Plus in all fairness, now many people read the T&C for products these days?

-M

p.s. see how I didnt mention steam, wounder why that is

 

[Sebenko]

Sounds like a pretty crappy service to me.

If you want PC games, buy a PC- at least you get to keep them.

For all the other games, there are consoles.

I just don't see where onlive is better than anything else.

 

[Delusibeta]

The tl;dr version is as follows: Valve is under no obligation to release the games from the DRM should they go bust. Of course, that doesn't mean they won't.

It does mean, though, that subscribers do not own the content they purchase on Steam - they're renting it.

The difference here is that it's possible to crack a Steam game and not possible to crack an OnLive game, which, if you're paranoid about your access to a game, is a big difference. And anyway, I wouldn't be surprised to find similar clauses in Gamersgate's, Impulse's and Direct2Drives' terms and conditions.
[EDIT] Direct2Drive:

No Ongoing Obligations. Notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms, IGN and its licensors reserve the right, without liability to you, to change, suspend, remove, or disable access to any Products, content, or other materials comprising a part of or sold through the Service at any time without notice.

Gamersgate:

These Terms of Use are effective until terminated. You agree that GamersGate may terminate your log in access to the Website, including your user name and password, at any time for any reason without prior notice or liability. GamersGate may change, suspend, or discontinue all or any aspect of the Website at any time, including the availability of any feature, without prior notice or liability.

Can't find Impulse's Terms of Use, but they seem to prefer EULAs which pretty much universally have a similar clause. So, yeah.

To deviate from this line of enquiry, your friend and mine Wolfire Games has a blog post [http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/06/Thoughts-on-OnLive] about OnLive, and it seems to be The Real McCoy.

 

[Frybird]

While i definitely see the advantages of digital distribution, i failed to see the appeal of OnLive anyways.

So yeah, you can play any game you want on your crappy laptop and i guess thats pretty nice. But then again, you need a stable high speed connection (wich you probably won't have on public Access points, so no really "play games everywhere" argument) and the games played will probably look like Pseudo-HD-Internet Videos (as an example: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-hd-split-second/100331 ...perfectly fine for a video, but would you really want to play games looking like this after you played on an actual "HD" PC or Console?).

The concept might've been neat, but in it's execution it just fails for me

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Soo... 60 dollar rentals? Either way, that's bullshit.

 

[Lucane]

They should consider a "Offlive" subscription fee for extended offline safety net so you could say I want to go offline next month but if I don't return in say before the 12th month I premit a minimal fee to reset the year wait limit without game access that month but I can upgrade for a dollor more than the monthly rate in total (so minimum fee and upgrade combined is a $1 more than a standard month) as an option while they can still make a profit from players who take extended breaks without having to rebuy content if they choose.

 

[Royas]

A monthly subscription, for a service currently on your PC, when there are already digital services that do the same thing better that cost nothing. Yeah, that'll be a sure success. I wonder what they are going to charge for the console version for the TV. It'll have to be very cheap indeed to make up for the subscription model. I wasn't interested in this to start with, now I think I'm in the negative interest level. Hope it fails miserably.

 

[Krantos]

there's the nagging feeling that this is the beginning of the end for personal ownership of electronic media.

I doubt it. There will always be stupid people that will consent to be trodden on, but the simple fact is that consumers run the economy. If it ever comes to the point that eMedia is only available through direct download or what not, I guarantee that the first company to go back to tangible media will make a killing. The main reason stuff like this sells so well now is 1 part novelty and 1 part that it's an alternative.

Like I said, if it ever gets to the point that eMedia like this is only available through services like OnLive (which I doubt will happen), it won't remain that way for long because people will start to want hard copies again and whenever there's a demand, the first company to meet it gets rich.

 

[craddoke]

To deviate from this line of enquiry, your friend and mine Wolfire Games has a blog post [http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/06/Thoughts-on-OnLive] about OnLive, and it seems to be The Real McCoy.

Thanks for that link - that article is excellent even if I'm a little less sanguine than the author about the "software as service" model.

 

[Hiphophippo]

Quote me on this: This business model is the future of gaming. Onlive just hit the scene about 20 years too early.

 

[Treblaine]

I think this animated gif best depicts how OnLive treats their customers:

Fucking seriously... get OnLive PC games that are:
-more expensive
-lower quality than console games
-the controls of console games
-less options than console games
-laggy as all hell
-uses up your Internet connection
-you need an expensive subscription to pay
-and when you stop paying the subscription YOU LOSE EVERYTHING FOREVER!!!!

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Unfortunately, almost nobody reads the terms of service of any game or system. I'm glad the Escapist made this known, because otherwise it would blindside unsuspecting gamers. Considering this concerns the suspended use of products that the user has payed for and earned, this information is far too important to just be mentioned in the legal agreements. This should be known from the moment you make an account.

 

[AMMO Kid]

Oh well, not everyone can understand how to make something worth it I guess...

 

[Eggsnham]

I still dont like the idea of it...I prefer my media to be tangiable..

The exact same thing. I've never been into the whole downloading games idea.