Ah, well yes you need to buy multiple copies to play multiplayer online. Why wouldn't you?
Just to clarify, I
personally could care less. But there's a lot of people (including on this forum) who are heavy supporters of LAN play, and requiring multiple copies is a big change from the games of the past.
forsaken is either being intentionally dense, or he was born less than twenty years ago, missing the era when it was normal to play one copy of a game on a LAN just as easily as you would play split-screen on a console.
No, I remember that era. I also know that era is more or less dead. You know the game will be using steamworks, so obviously it will check your CD keys when you hit their matchmaking server. I'm sure someone will eventually come out with a crack for it either way.
The whole point of LAN play is that you connect, ya know, over a
LAN.
It's not "playing multiplayer with multiple people in a house" - that's easy, just switch Steam's ports and you're good. A proper LAN game never goes past your router, and theoretically (say, if Steam is 'offline') can be played even if you don't have a pipe to the outside world at all. And, since you aren't bouncing commands off a remote server, LAN play is practically lag-free - the signal delay between rooms is negligible, especially in comparison with the pings to, say, the other side of an ocean.
And, while it's certainly less popular these days, LAN gaming isn't entirely "on the way out". Many developers are shying away from it, true, much like how many FPS developers are shying away from dedicated servers - and the response has been pretty similar, if on slightly different magnitudes.
EDIT:
At least a lot of games still have hotseat, right?
...Wait, no. Simultaneous turns in Civ5 huh. Dammit. Well, that should still work as long as it's "everyone gives orders then they all happen at once".
Eh... not from what I've read. The whole point is to
avoid you having to sit around and wait for stuff.