Game Activation Uproar

div0 · 23 Aug 2007 at 08:44

Dano said:
Half Life 2 retail was as bad, not only did it require steam but also required the rom in the drive, I know I sent mine back in disgust.

Really?

I never need my DVD when playing HL2. I just needed the DVD initially to save Steam from having to download all of the game files. Steam now keeps the game up to date, and I've never needed the DVD since.

div0 · 23 Aug 2007 at 08:45

This thread has done wonders for the level of activity in this forum

Dano · 23 Aug 2007 at 08:57

div0 said:
Really?

I never need my DVD when playing HL2. I just needed the DVD initially to save Steam from having to download all of the game files. Steam now keeps the game up to date, and I've never needed the DVD since.

The disc requirement was removed some time after release, I'd like to think that the complaints from the community led to it happening.

z0mbi3 · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:01

div0 said:
This thread has done wonders for the level of activity in this forum

Words like "Uproar" send the forum activity though the roof. It's roughly comparable to boobs & arse.

div0 · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:01

Dano said:
The disc requirement was removed some time after release, I'd like to think that the complaints from the community led to it happening.

I bought the game on the day it was released. I don't ever recall needing the DVD to play over Steam. But it was a LONG time ago, so I might have forgotten about it.

Got any links?

eyetrip · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:01

Dont' know what all the fuss is about. I already have to go through this for Oblivion, which I bought through Direct2Drive. I get 5 activations, thereafter I need to contact them to get the number of activations reset.

Sure, 2 may be a bit of a low limit, but I am sure they will increase this when they hear how unhappy so many people are with it.

Oh, and for those who don't think it's illegal to bypass the CD check, yes it is! That is not to say I have anything against people using this method when they have a legal copy of the game - I have had to resort to using it myself as a game I recently purchased would not recognise the disk.

The only problem I foresee is if many people start using this system, you would have to uninstall EVEYTHING from your system before doing a re-install. Would take bloody forever. LOL.

It's a flawed copy protection system. It's not Armageddon. People get so worked up over such little things.

z0mbi3 · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:03

ffallic said:
Oh, and for those who don't think it's illegal to bypass the CD check, yes it is!

No it isn't!

eyetrip · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:10

z0mbi3 said:
No it isn't!

Perhaps this is a point people will have to agree to disagree on?

z0mbi3 · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:14

ffallic said:
Perhaps this is a point people will have to agree to disagree on?

Only if people insist on posting with nothing to support their comments.

eyetrip · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:30

z0mbi3 said:
Only if people insist on posting with nothing to support their comments.

It's bypassing copy protection... what on earth is there to back up? A simple disk check is all there used to be in the way of copy protection, as people insisted on bypassing that, we now have systems such as the one 2K are implementing.

playworker · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:37

ffallic said:
It's bypassing copy protection... what on earth is there to back up? A simple disk check is all there used to be in the way of copy protection, as people insisted on bypassing that, we now have systems such as the one 2K are implementing.

That doesn't make it illegal though - you've bought the game, you're fed up of swapping CDs so you modify the code so that you can play without the CD in the drive - what law has been broken?

It's probable that distributing the crack is illegal but that's not what we're talking about, copying the game and cracking it is piracy but again that's not what we're talking about either.

manic_man · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:40

z0mbi3 said:
No it isn't!

Right or wrong im fairly sure most standard license agreements will state that reverse engineering of any kind is strictly forbidden.

Therefore hex editing an EXE or even simply altering a line in an INI to bypass a CD check would be deemed reverse engineering and would therefore be a breach of copyright.

I believe its a civil offence and not criminal, only resale and distribution would be a criminal offence. Civil is a still a type of offence though.

z0mbi3 · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:47

manic_man said:
Right or wrong im fairly sure most standard license agreements will state that reverse engineering of any kind is strictly forbidden.

Therefore hex editing an EXE or even simply altering a line in an INI to bypass a CD check would be deemed reverse engineering and would therefore be a breach of copyright.

I believe its a civil offence and not criminal, only resale and distribution would be a criminal offence. Civil is a still a type of offence though.

I'm being pedantic if I'm honest. ffallic might as well have posted that circumventing copy protection is illegal because fairies told him so. Just because we're talking about copy protection doesn't mean you'd be correct in assuming it's illegal. The thread would benefit from a few more facts and less sweeping statements.

FTM · 23 Aug 2007 at 09:54

seems daft to cancel an order for whats likely to be a superb game over something so trivial

talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face

barf0r · 23 Aug 2007 at 10:11

Well the bloody activation servers are down for 2K at the moment :rolleyes:

Idiots with these protection schemes...

FTM · 23 Aug 2007 at 10:21

I thought you couldnt activate it until tomorrow?

Dano · 23 Aug 2007 at 10:22

div0 said:
I bought the game on the day it was released. I don't ever recall needing the DVD to play over Steam. But it was a LONG time ago, so I might have forgotten about it.

Got any links?

Update: As of a recent Half Life 2 update released via Steam, the disc check for Half Life 2 has been removed - you no longer need to keep your CD/DVD in the drive to launch and play the game.

http://www.tweakguides.com/HL2_4.html

If the steam forums had archives you could have seen the mess it made.

Tejstar · 23 Aug 2007 at 10:25

FTM said:
I thought you couldnt activate it until tomorrow?

I thought that was only with Steam?

Margaret · 23 Aug 2007 at 10:26

Tejstar said:
I thought that was only with Steam?

It is.

Bioshock site is down ATM should be back up soon enough, some people activated the PC version yesterday so it's definately not blocked until tomorrow.

Ozzie Dave · 23 Aug 2007 at 10:31

A law abiding customer usually doesn't like being treated like a potential criminal. That's what it comes down to at the end of the day. Over zealous copy protection can only harm sales in the long run, not enhance them. And it certainly won't get rid of piracy!

I bet some of the programmers/artists at these game houses must cringe when they see what rubbish their work gets wrapped in. I'd be embarrassed if it was me....it's no way to treat honest customers.

The pirates must be laughing their arses off....the more the challenge is, the more fun and satisfying it is to them.