As a dev, you could do a game with these features and a subscription, while also making the code available to self host and host for others.
You could also configure it in such a way that much of the generation isn’t in real time, so periodic connectivity is needed for the feature to work correctly, but persistent access is not, and have reasonable fallbacks so the game still works without it. You could even make the protocols open even if the source isn’t to make it easy for others to replace your server as tech develops.
Most of the things leading to always online connections to publisher servers are deliberate choices to exert control, not things that can’t be done in other ways.
As a dev, you could do a game with these features and a subscription, while also making the code available to self host and host for others.
You could also configure it in such a way that much of the generation isn’t in real time, so periodic connectivity is needed for the feature to work correctly, but persistent access is not, and have reasonable fallbacks so the game still works without it. You could even make the protocols open even if the source isn’t to make it easy for others to replace your server as tech develops.
Most of the things leading to always online connections to publisher servers are deliberate choices to exert control, not things that can’t be done in other ways.