A recent report stated that Microsoft was to have the next-gen Xbox shut down games if they go without an internet connection for too long, causing a bit of an uproar with those against always-online systems. This, in turn, caused Microsoft Studios creative director Adam Orth to respond to these comments.
Adam Orth commented using his own personal Twitter account (which is private)
"every device is now 'always on'..That's the world we live in," he then added the hashtag "#dealwithit".
Senior Bioware Designer Manveer Heir responded in kind: "Did you learn nothing from Diablo 3 or SimCity? You know some people's internet goes out, right? Deal with it is a sh***y reason."
Orth replied with a very simple "Electricity goes out too."
Heir counter-argued with, "You've lived in LA, San Francisco, Seattle... very connected places. Try living in Janesville, WI or Blackburg, VA."
"Why on earth would I live there?" Orth replied, and concluded the conversation.
It should be noted that both men personally apologised to each other, and both called each other good friends, so it appears no feelings were hurt. Indeed, Heir believes that Orth was merely trolling him at the end of the exchange. However, Microsoft still felt the need to issue a statement about the argument through Major Nelson.
"We apologise for the inappropriate comments made by an employee on Twitter yesterday. This person is not a spokesperson for Microsoft, and his personal views do not reflect the customer centric approach we take to our products or how we would communicate directly with our loyal consumers. We are very sorry if this offended anyone, however we have not made any announcements about our product roadmap, and have no further comment on this matter."
Microsoft did not deny that the initial rumors that stated this all are true, so we could very well see an Xbox that requires an online connection 24/7 soon.