The power of the consumer - copy protection

Phazon88

Join Date 05/2007

The power of the consumer - copy protection

Mass Effect and Spore copy protection systems redesigned

Another case of the customer knows best. Recently you may have heard about how a intrusive form of copy protection was going to be included with Mass Effect and Spore that constantly connected to the internet (at the rate of every 10 days) just to check your serial was valid (with no check = no play).

There was a huge uproar as a consequence, with many potential buyers saying that they would just simply not buy their title (or even pirate it on purpose) just to get rid of this major intrusion.

If only publishers will learn that you must REWARD your customer for purchasing your game, not punish them. Make it easier to be a customer than to be a pirate.

Thankfully the voices were heard and the decision was reversed, with the new system being limited to one online check upon install and consequent checks when you download updates (which is reasonable enough). Still the limited installs is extremely annoying as you should have the right to install the game as often as you want since you payed for it.

Locked Post

Advanced Search

Watch this post

Do not email me updates for this post Email me updates for this post

Successfully updated karma reason!

Oh, and in response to Campaigner, if you buy the DRM heavy title and then crack it, it will be seen as tacit approval of such of the DRM by the company in question, which will lead to an even worse scheme for the next release. I don't think there is a 100% way to stop piracy, and any scheme that's less than 100% is 0% thanks to the magic of file sharing. Piracy in general is just a red herring, DRM just kills the game resale market and limits the rights (thanks to the DMCA making uses blocked by DRM illegal, regardless of their previous legality) of legitimate customers. Yeah, I could use an extra install (on one of those rare games that doesn't require a DVD) on 50 of my closest friends' computers if a company didn't limit installations, but they could download a cracked version anyway if they were inclined towards stealing the game.

Successfully updated karma reason!

My problem is they're keeping the 3 installation limit. At first I thought it'd be a real annoyance but not major, and then I thought 'well what if I have a bug+need to reinstall?', or 'what if you can do modding on the game, I do something wrong, and need to reinstall?'. That'd be my 3 installations gone straight away.

If I'm not mistaken I believe the 3 installation limit is the number of PC so you should be able to install it on the same PC as many times as you like. At least that's been my experience with anti-spy ware and anti-virus programs have been. Of course I could be wrong.

Can you imagine how much fun it is to play a 20 year old computer game with the same person you played it with 20 years ago?

All you young people who buy their first (copy protected and drm'ed) music or computer games legally (in the future even books?) are definitely not able to access these media in perhaps 20 years from now.

There is still a catch though: In order to play those 20 years old game (I still have all of my C-64) you got to have a working C-64. My C-64 is now on it's last leg so I probably junk my collection soon.

Successfully updated karma reason!

[quote]If I'm not mistaken I believe the 3 installation limit is the number of PC so you should be able to install it on the same PC as many times as you like. [quote]

This is correct. However, if you change your hardware 'significantly' (no clarification on exactly how much hardware change 'significantly' is), you'll trigger a new activation. As well, if you reinstall your OS, you'll also trigger a new activation.

But yes, you can install on up to 3 separate machines and you can uninstall and reinstall as many times as you like on the same machine.

But that's a limitation of hardware failure (and may possibly be repairable, depending on the problem), not an artificial limitation intentionally imposed by the game publisher as would be the case with this DRM.

Successfully updated karma reason!

I have 2 computers here, on a Lan. My main compuer is a pretty decent dual core, but the other one that Sins is installed on is getting pretty outdated, and I'm going to replace it soon, so, does that mean I lost my second install of Sins? I also reinstall windows like about every year or so, do I loose the install count for that too? And as a gamer of 30 years, I can't beleive I really have to worry about things like this now.

I beleive this is what my friends in their 50s-60s are communicating: If their watching a DVD/movie, they would NEVER let the movie company come in and inspect their DVD/VCR player and TV every time; when they listen to CDs and tapes, they would NEVER allow the company to come in and examine their CD/record/tape player each time. So they can't figure out why this generation is saying "Sure, come on into my PC every time I try to play a game; look around; check things out; send yourself some info back too if you want; I might be a pirate, so I have to let you know detailed information about my computer to play your game; play it 3 times if I'm lucky, and never again if you shut down anything on your end". The very fact that any company somehow even knows what computer your playing on and what it's stats/configurations are sends shivers down the spine of most my older friends, and it kind'a sounds like the "Cardasion" justice system. . .

Successfully updated karma reason!

Considering that Mass Effect had been out for the XBOX three-sexy for a year(ish) already I would have thought they did everything they could to sell a few copies of the game on the PC, and that would mean making it as EASY AS POSSIBLE to get and play the game. Without any DRM at all.

I am sure they will complain that the game does not sell as much as they expected on the PC platform, and just like that whiny bastard CliffyB they will claim it was because of "piracy" (not the swashbuckling kind, the one that murdered, pillaged and raped. But something much more evil... Copyright Infringement!) and not beacuse the game came to a platform 1 year after it was launched on the consoles, and it required an investment in computer hardware 2-3 times higher than the cost of the console.

Successfully updated karma reason!

As long as a game has a strong online element to it (e.g. Sins, BF2) there is no NEED for DRM. Just ensure that a user logs into an account with a password and away they go. It has worked for WoW.
And if you can play single player with no dramas and then get hooked on the single player version, you are going to want to buy a copy to play online...

I generally pay for a game as I can afford it and can get it on sale if I wait a little. Sins was the exception. I couldn't wait for it and with no release in Australia for ages after the overseas release, I got a copy from soneone and played 1.0 heaps while I counted down the days.
But once it came out in Australia and I could get a copy (some places ran out) - I went and got one, registered and downloaded the 1.05 patch. And the best thing about this was that while I still had to learn the changes between 1.0 and 1.05 and how brutal MP can be comparted to SP, I DID at least understand the game as opposed to alot of the noobs who try and play online who just got the game and wonder why they got their backside serverly handed to them.
My only problem now is that I think I am addicted (Fiancé defiantely thinks so) - 50 games in less then a month...

Successfully updated karma reason!

Quoting Hack78,

reply 6

As long as a game has a strong online element to it (e.g. Sins, BF2) there is no NEED for DRM.

DING DING DING. If you update and patch your game enough or have a significant online element you discourage pirating and at the same time... wait for it... add value!

Blaming pirating is just an excuse for companies with shi**y games. Look at WC3, that thing is SUPER easy to pirate yet they still have people buying up that game in the masses. The reality is that pirating for the most part is done by people who wouldn't have bought the game in the first place. Companies are just looking for an excuse to blame for the reason their venture failed so they look for government support to attack other people when they should be looking internally at what they are doing wrong.

Anywas. Just a thought or two.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Wow! Just wow! Thread necromancy of the first order!!!

Successfully updated karma reason!