I should be able to host my own WoW server on my LAN, play CoD split-screen on my TV, or run my own Battlefield tournament on my own LAN.

Using the internet as an option for multiplayer or other optional features of games is fine, but there is absolutely no reason why a video game should ever require an internet connection.

People deciding that it is somehow acceptable to require an internet connection to play a game is a big part of the reason why we have DLC, buggy releases, microtransaction riddled games, and shitty, invasive DRM.

If you have ever been involved in the creation of games that require an internet connection then I hope your asshole itches until the day you die.

Edit: if the game is only available through digital distribution then an internet connection is a requirement to play the game because you have to be able to obtain the game to play it.

Back in the day releasing a buggy game was costly because it meant you would have provide the option to your users to receive updates by mail or in stores. DLC (or expansion packs) would have to be meaningful, because it would mean having to press new discs or make new cartridges in order to provide that content to your users and it wasn’t worthwhile for the users to buy if it wasn’t substantial. Loot boxes and other microtransactions wouldn’t really be a thing because you would have no guarantee that anyone would be willing to buy them because they would have to be provided by mail or in stores on some sort of physical media.

DRM would consist of needing to have a disc in the drive and maybe having to verify that you had a unique activation key by verifying a cryptographic hash against a public key on the disc.

All of this made for better games because the games had to be worth the hassle of going to the store to buy them or waiting for them to be delivered in the mail.