Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs is about a world set in the near future where people are always connected to networks and databases by the technology they own. Currently, most first-world countries are close to reaching that point of complete technological saturation but none are quite there yet. Ubisoft doesn’t seem to understand that, however.
Similar to the mistakes that Microsoft almost made by including components of the Xbox One that require a constant internet connection, Ubisoft is punishing players just because they lack an internet connection. In Watch Dogs, if players decide to play offline or even lose their internet connection temporarily, they face the risk of a multiplayer stat wipe.
A leaked screenshot shows a warning that pops up when players attempt to disable Online Invasions. The prompt threatens to reset the player’s Notoriety to 0 and to erase any Notoriety skills that the player has unlocked.
In Watch Dogs‘ multiplayer Notoriety is like experience and having more of it makes your character stronger. Increasing your Notoriety also unlocks skills that can be used.
Players That Don’t Want Online Invasions In Their Game are Punished
Online invasions, similar to those in Dark Souls, allow other players to infiltrate and hack your game for an added challenge. Not all players would enjoy this feature though and the ability to turn it off should be available to everyone. By punishing players for not accepting Online invasions, Ubisoft is hurting its consumers.
People that buy Watch Dogs and either lose their internet connection or dislike the idea of other players messing with their single-player experience are apparently out of luck unless Ubisoft decides to change this before release.
