ChuckBeaver: Paid for 3 games i can no longer play.
Through no fault of the publisher or the company which sold them to you, yes.
ChuckBeaver: The company is responsible to make them function offline.
So if Microsoft abandoned Intel chips and forced everyone who wants to use Windows to run an ARM chip, would you hold BioWare responsible for providing you with a version of the game that works on ARM, even though at the time BioWare sold you the game, Microsoft had shown no interest in such a course? (This is not as theoretical or silly as it sounds. Apple is actively selling non-Intel hardware, and old Intel-based software works only because of an emulator. Based on Apple's history, I fully expect them to stop offering that emulator at some point.)
ChuckBeaver: That is the agreement.
I suggest you check the EULA. Software companies are infamous for agreeing to almost nothing, and getting your money anyway.
ChuckBeaver: Rules changing out of their or my own control is a moot point and doesnt change the deal.
Could you elaborate on this? Taken literally, it reads like you believe that it's BioWare's responsibility to keep the game working no matter what crazy hardware or software changes other companies make, decades after the sale.
ChuckBeaver: Nor the point of the product being able to be installed "offline".
This is inconsistent with the original problem report. Are you sure you actually have a DirectPlay problem? The original poster had no problem installing the game offline. The game just didn't work afterward, until DirectPlay was installed.
ChuckBeaver: Placing the burden on the customer is the part I have a problem with and im done debating with you people.
We were trying to help you.
ChuckBeaver: You are not company.
Which the company probably won't. I encourage you to go complain to them instead, though. Since they took your money, maybe they will be more inclined to help you than we were.
ChuckBeaver: You also are making no valid points to solving the problem for which it still stands.
We don't need to solve the problem, because it was solved 5 years ago, in the response that Hickory posted on the same day as the original question. Enable DirectPlay in the Windows control panel. Did that solution not work for you? How did it fail?