[The Russian Bear]

One of the many reasons i game on PC. Dedicated servers means i don't have to worry about companies stopping support for online titles like EA did recently and the amount of user made fixes and patches can make almost every broken game very playable.

Being forced to rely on one service is horrible because as soon as that is discontinued, you lose everything. Its becoming a more pressing issue in PC gaming due to many games relying on Steam but the great thing is that even games that use Steamworks can be downloaded and played with all updates from internet. Technically its piracy but if i want to play fallout new vegas in 15 years time and Steam has died or been replaced then i can just download it from the internet without issue.

As for your main question, no i don't think collecting modern games is pointless. If your a big fan of Assassins Creed and you collect all games and special edtions etc, are you really affected if the servers go down and you can't play it online. As a gamer, sure you lose out but as a collector you don't since you still have all your nice physical special/collector's edition. Again if its a MMO and the servers shut down, i'd feel worse if i didn't have something to remember the game by such as a nice SE or CE.

I do agree that the future will go almost entirely digital and retail games will die. Its already happening on PC with the rise of Steam, Gamersgate, GOG and more. It seems to be a hell of alot more profitable than retail games. Look at Paradox Interactive, who report 95% of sales are made via digital distribution. I see consoles going the same way, not only is it much more convenient for the average gamer but it also substantially increases the profit margins of the publisher since they don't have to manufacture disks, cases, manuals etc.