Technicalities, the wiki, and always online DRM

[Wolfinston 4]

Recently I tried launching Red Dead Redemption 2 on Steam to be greeted with a message that required me to authenticate the game by connecting online; imagine my surprise when I had done so a day before. Once I got my internet to be stable again, I decided to do a test to see when and how did Rockstar decided RDR2 required you to authenticate your purchase. I authenticated the game by connecting online, then closed the game, I made sure to not turn my pc off, then I went to Windows settings and disabled my internet adapter; the game asked me to authenticate it again.

This leads me to categorize the game as an "always online" title, because even if the game runs without requiring an internet connection after you launch it, it still requires you to launch the program -the most significant aspect of starting any application I would say- whilst connected to the internet.

I added this to the wiki, and then a couple of days later a user by the name "Killerclownz" undoes my edit; I inferred from what he typed and specified: "The game requires an internet connection at launch" that he was emphasizing a technicality; the game requires an internet connection every time you launch it, but only then, not after when you're playing. To me this is an arbitrary observation; if the game requires internet to launch, every time you try to start it, then it doesn't matter if you can keep playing the game offline after. You still require online to start the freaking thing, every time you want to play the game, you still require to authenticate, each time, through an always online authenticator.

So I get the edit on one hand because technically it isn't an always online game, but it requires an always online authentication every time you boot it up.

I know this seems silly, and like I've been spending too much time on the site, but I think it's important to discuss this, what do you guys think? What do the admins of the site think?

Is it an always online game a game that can't literally function without an internet connection? Or does it fit the category to call an always online game a title that demands an online connection every time you start it?

[Aemony 159]

I am not sure what have happened, but this was discussed and handled back in January where we added support for a new “offline=postlaunch” argument to the DRM call made just below the availability table. See this earlier revision from January:

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/w/index.php?title=Red_Dead_Redemption_2&type=revision&diff=1369744&oldid=1369604

I recommend transitioning back to using that as that is, currently, the proper way of handling this with PCGW’s current setup. “Always Online” indicates the game becomes unplayable if the connection is lost during gameplay — it does not mean a game requires a connection only at launch (RDR2), nor the occasional peridioc one (Denuvo protected games).

The “postlaunch” value is not recognized within the Availability table itself since this game is the only one of its kind, so it’s handled a bit uniquely.