mass effect Pc- 2nd hand ?

clapton is god

clapton is god

clapton is god

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i'm thinking of going on the infamous auction site to hunt down a bargain version of Mass effect, will it be poss to buy a 2nd hand version that installs legally and that allows one to d/load the d/l content ?

i've been lucky with Stalker and Bioshock, will i be ok if i find a cheapish Second hand copy of Mass effect for the pc ?
 
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Flying Gribble said:
I wouldn't bother - too risky. There is a 3 activation limit and no way to find out how many activations have been used.
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Surely no games company is stupid enough to have implemented that idiotic idea! What if you need to un-install/re-install it yourself for whatever technical reason?
 
It's limited to being installed and activated on 3 machines. If you uninstall it and re-install it on the same machine/OS then it allegedly doesn't use up an activation. Upgrading the machine might - but they won't say what types of upgrade would trigger a re-activation. It all happens silently in the background on game startup so you've no idea if it's used one or not until you run out.

If you run out of activations, then you can contact EA support and they may give you more on a case-by-case basis.

See here for the official FAQ.

Like I said - I just wouldn't buy this 2nd hand since you may just end up with a shiny coaster and no game to play.
 
This just got me thinking, how come buying second hand isn't viewed as piracy of sorts?

The manufacturer is losing out on a sale, and the original buyer is reclaiming some of the money they spent.

Should it turn out to be a coaster, how would then getting a cracked copy online be any worse?
 
I don't see the problems selling games (retail games obviously).

I can't see how it could be piracy at all as you are selling the game and licence with it and basically saying I'm not using it anymore. Thats the entire principle of selling anything really.



M.
 
m4cc45 said:
I don't see the problems selling games (retail games obviously).

I can't see how it could be piracy at all as you are selling the game and licence with it and basically saying I'm not using it anymore. Thats the entire principle of selling anything really.


M.
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But from the company that made the game's point of view, how is it different from pirating the game to a select number of people (the number of people that buy the game from eachother over a period of time)?

The company only sees money from the initial purchase, and is denied any revenue that could have come from the people that subsequently buy the game from the next person.

How is it different form me buying the game, and making copies for 4 of my mates?
 
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clapton is god said:
at least bioshock has a removal tool.
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And you don't even need that anymore.


From 2K Elisabeth on their site
Good news! As promised, all activation restrictions, including install limits, have been removed from BioShock PC as of today. You don’t have to patch or install anything for this to go into effect for your copy of BioShock – it’s already done!

Enjoy your time in Rapture, and thank you for supporting BioShock and the 2K teams.
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Our other methods of copy protection remain. You will still have to activate your copy, and you will still need to keep the disc in the drive. SecuROM has not been removed -- just the activation limits on number of installs and number of computers you can install BioShock on simultaneously.

As I promised that the activation limits would go away, I can promise that if we ever stop supporting BioShock in the ways you speak of, we will release a patch so that the game is still playable. I believe, as you seem to, that BioShock will be the kind of game we will want to revisit 5, 10, 15 or more years from now. I want my copy to be playable, just as you do, and so does 2K.
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krooton said:
But from the company that made the game's point of view, how is it different from pirating the game to a select number of people (the number of people that buy the game from eachother over a period of time)?

The company only sees money from the initial purchase, and is denied any revenue that could have come from the people that subsequently buy the game from the next person.

How is it different form me buying the game, and making copies for 4 of my mates?
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Because a licence is not for one person, it's for one person at a time...
They should stop whining, if people can wait then they have every right of buying it 2nd hand later on, it prevents overproduction...

You sell stuff you don't need, that's life, you finish an sp game then you sell it, you don't have all your previous cars standing in your garden either do you? Well manufacturers don't earn anything from 2nd hand cars either...

There's no need for a publisher to make more copies of a game when the copies can just be passed on from person to person. As with cars, there's no point in making 100 million extra golfs in a year, as people will buy old ones.
There's just no need at all to make more than the demand...

Same thing with a film, I see it once, and will try selling it on after I've seen it...
 
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snowdog said:
Because a licence is not for one person, it's for one person at a time...
They should stop whining, if people can wait then they have every right of buying it 2nd hand later on, it prevents overproduction...

You sell stuff you don't need, that's life, you finish an sp game then you sell it, you don't have all your previous cars standing in your garden either do you? Well manufacturers don't earn anything from 2nd hand cars either...

There's no need for a publisher to make more copies of a game when the copies can just be passed on from person to person. As with cars, there's no point in making 100 million extra golfs in a year, as people will buy old ones.
There's just no need at all to make more than the demand...

Same thing with a film, I see it once, and will try selling it on after I've seen it...
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You cannot compare cars to movies and games though, the latter have specific lifespans based on the individual owner's view on it's lifespan.

No-one would ever buy a car, drive it once, then sell it. A car stays useful after hundreds or thousands of uses, games and movies do not apart from rare circumstances.

If you go by the one licence per user route, then would the following not be similar:

Man A buys game, and therefore licence to play. He completes the game, and shelves it, never to touch it ever again. As he is no longer using the licence, then that would 'free up' someone else to do so even if they don't own it. The fact that they don't own it makes no difference to original company, as the situation for them does not change even if Man A had sold the game on. Either way, they get no money and make no sale.

I'm not saying games shouldn't be sold, but it has an identical impact on companies as small scale, social circle only piracy would do.
 
krooton said:
You cannot compare cars to movies and games though, the latter have specific lifespans based on the individual owner's view on it's lifespan.

No-one would ever buy a car, drive it once, then sell it. A car stays useful after hundreds or thousands of uses, games and movies do not apart from rare circumstances.

If you go by the one licence per user route, then would the following not be similar:

Man A buys game, and therefore licence to play. He completes the game, and shelves it, never to touch it ever again. As he is no longer using the licence, then that would 'free up' someone else to do so even if they don't own it. The fact that they don't own it makes no difference to original company, as the situation for them does not change even if Man A had sold the game on. Either way, they get no money and make no sale.

I'm not saying games shouldn't be sold, but it has an identical impact on companies as small scale, social circle only piracy would do.
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Look at steam: if you get bored with your games, you give the details to your mates and let them have a go for awhile on your games :).
That's one legal way of doing it I guess...

But you're right, I'm not against p2p at all and see your logic.
 
You cannot compare cars to movies and games though, the latter have specific lifespans based on the individual owner's view on it's lifespan.

No-one would ever buy a car, drive it once, then sell it. A car stays useful after hundreds or thousands of uses, games and movies do not apart from rare circumstances.
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That is rubbish.
 
kdd said:
Look up poignant in the dictionary.
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–adjective
1. keenly distressing to the feelings: poignant regret.
2. keen or strong in mental appeal: a subject of poignant interest.
3. affecting or moving the emotions: a poignant scene.
4. pungent to the smell: poignant cooking odors.
 
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