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I completely love the anno series of games. Now I have bought anno 2070, install it, activate it, and now when I run the game, I am required to login.

There is an "offline mode" button in the launcher, but even if I click on it, as the game starts, I am asked to login. No offline mode button this time.

The manual states the following:

You need an active broadband internet connection to activate Anno 2070, to receive updates and to play the online features.

I have already activated the game, I have already updated it, and I don't want to play the online features. Yet I seem to be required to register.

The point is I don't want to register. I purchased an offline game, and I want to play it offline. There is absolutely no valid reason I see why it is mandatory to give personally identifiable information in order to play my game.

So, how do I play my game without having to register?

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    You don't -- the game is designed to cripple itself when playing offline. See also: gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/46623/… – Shadur Jan 19 '12 at 10:47
  • if it's like Might & Magic 6 you are required to have internet only to install the game. After that, you can play without an internet connection, although you do miss out on special items. – Rodolfo Jan 23 '12 at 19:19
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You don't.

From the Steam page:

Internet Connection: Temporary broadband connection for product registration, permanent broadband connection for multiplayer.

Translation: You must register online even if you only want to play it offline.

And it gets worse -- if try to play offline after registering online it'll still cripple the game for no apparent reason other than to punish you for daring to want to play the game without an internet connection.

This isn't even the worst customer-hostile DRM decision Ubisoft has made recently, but it's a good example of why I stopped buying Ubisoft games after Assassin's Creed 1.

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  • I don't normally complain when someone downvotes my answers, but I would like to know why in this case. Not informative enough? – Shadur Jan 19 '12 at 11:39
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    It mentions that it requires an internet connection, but doesn't mention anything about requiring the registration. I suppose that's lawyerspeak at the maximum. I would have really preferred if they had clearly stated that registration was required. That way I would have saved myself 50 dollars. – mahoromhr Jan 19 '12 at 13:25
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    Ah, but if they'd clearly stated what their DRM requires of you, you wouldn't have bought the game. So mission accomplished as far as Ubisoft's concerned. – Shadur Jan 19 '12 at 15:12

protected by Community♦ Jan 13 '13 at 3:45

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