ono

ono, rok temu (edited rok temu)

Unless they also refund the price paid for the game, this is theft (or fraud), and should be punished as such.

ono, rok temu

The problem is that online storefronts all lease you the games

They license them. (A lease would normally have an expiration, and it would be clearly stated, which does not appear to be the case here.)

Accepting money and then refusing to honor the terms of exchange, whether it’s an object or a license, is generally called fraud.

I miss actually owning media.

Yeah, I think most of us do.

ono, rok temu (edited rok temu)

with the clause that the storefront can ban/delete/deactivate your account for any reason.

I think you’re speculating in order to make excuses for a corporation. Show us the clause that applies in this case, and I will retract my statement.

Edit:

It’s disappointing that several people replied to me with walls of text to lecture about things that were not disputed, and in some cases not even relevant. We know online game stores typically license them rather than selling them, folks, and Valve’s license terms are not Ubisoft’s terms. Kindly read before replying next time.

One person actually brought an Ubisoft inactivity clause to the table. (Thanks, @LittlePrimate) Interestingly, that clause seems to be present only in the terms of service for certain regions. A quick search doesn’t find it in either the Canada or United States versions, for example. I wonder if that’s due to better consumer protection laws in some jurisdictions than others.

So depending on which regional ToS the gamer(s) in question agreed to, Ubisoft accepting money and then revoking access might or might not have been fraudulent behavior.

More importantly, it’s ethically wrong, and no amount of legal maneuvering will change that. Screw Ubisoft.

ono, rok temu

Some people find endless combat boring, and would like some multiplayer chill time for a change.

ono, rok temu

I’m a little surprised to see them put effort into an Activision Blizzard game that has never been on Steam. I wonder if they’re anticipating a change there, perhaps with the potential buyout by Microsoft.

ono, rok temu

Yep. It’s an outstanding game in the classic roguelike style. Nice to have it available on both mobile and desktop, too.

ono, rok temu

I was a bit confused when you said local co-op. It implies 2 computers on the same local network

My friends call that LAN play or LAN co-op. To me, local co-op has always been a more general phrase, covering all of the above.

ono, rok temu

Keep in mind that there are different schools of thought on what makes a good open world game.

I love exploration and discovery without much guidance, so point-of-interest markers and repetitive copy/paste events (as found in Horizon and Witcher games) bore me. Responsive controls and good user interface are also important to me, so Red Dead Redemption 2 was a miserable experience that drove me away, despite the great environments and character building. Some people consider those games masterpieces, though, so I have to assume their priorities are different from mine.

Subnautica is an outstanding example of what appeals to me. Beautiful world, unconfined exploration, excellent soundtrack, a story told through discoveries rather than exposition, multiple ways to accomplish things, and a departure from the usual “kill everything” approach to success. Fair warning: it is a first-person game.

Skyrim shares some of these strengths and can work pretty well in third person with mods like True Directional Movement and TK Dodge RE. Be aware that modding Skyrim is a deep rabbit hole that can quickly become a full time job. One way to solve this is using the Wabbajack tool to semi-automatically install a well-tested mod collection.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits looks like it shares some of its design with Breath of the Wild / Tears of the Kingdom, which is encouraging. I haven’t played it yet.