Game Activation Uproar

[Nullvoid]

I think you're misunderstanding my point completely

Why would anyone pay money for something without someone 'proving' to them that it will benefit them?

You ask how you can 'prove' that anti-piracy features work. My point is simple. If a company is prepared to spend a large amount of cash implementing these features then you have to assume that someone has 'proved' they will benefit the company. The particular 'proof' may be up for debate, but there must be sufficient 'evidence' that this sort of thing does work - otherwise companies wouldn't bother.

Most large software companies implement some form of anti-piracy measures. As much as we may not like them due to additional annoying steps during installation/activation - if it was as simple as 'they have no effect on piracy' - then companies would simply not waste money implementing them.

I agree with Ulf's comments, that most current anti-piracy features only affect genuine buyers, as pirated versions aren't affected by the annoyances of Activation etc. BUT these anti-piracy features must be doing something to put off some people from pirating the software in the first place. Any profit-making organisation is going to want to see evidence of a return for their investment before deciding to spend real money on something. That includes software companies and anti-piracy features. The debate as to how much of an effect anti-piracy features have on reducing piracy is open to debate, but I think you have to accept that there must be sufficient 'evidence' of some reduction, because software companies are prepared to spend real money on implementing it.

I think I did get the gist of your post, I just didn't give the most illuminating of replies

I don't see how there can be sufficient evidence in a scenario such as this. There's no way the producers of something like securom can say "implenting our product will achieve a reduction of x% in the number of pirated copies/an extra x% extra sales due to piracy prevention". So it just boils down to anecdotal evidence or a conviction that because such measures are taken, there must be an effect (imagine how incredulous those funding the game development would be if you tried to tell them it might just be more effective to release the game with no anti-piracy measures).

Surely the key indicator is how quickly a game is pirated and in this case, it's only taken one day from the official release (if that). With that in mind, how can these anti-piracy measures be judged to be effective/successful?

 

[sid]

A scandal?! You really think that?!

Tell me how the limit of 2 PCs affects you?

I think the scandal is the pirates forcing the devs to employ such measures. You should be moaning at them, not the software company.

Simply because it exist. I don't want to be told it can only be installed simultaneously on 2 pcs when I have more than 2. Even office liscence is more lenient.

The guy who called me a drama queen can jog on

sid

 

[FTM]

it is really complaining for compainings sake I think


the vast majority of users will install to the PC and operating system that gives them the best performance in game and wont bother with multiple installations anyway..why bother installing it on the same PC twice with different operating systems if one gives better performance than the other?

 

[sid]

it is really complaining for compainings sake I think


the vast majority of users will install to the PC and operating system that gives them the best performance in game and wont bother with multiple installations anyway..why bother installing it on the same PC twice with different operating systems if one gives better performance than the other?

Possibly but this is setting a precedent for things to come.

The whole point of steam is to be able to play games where you want. How does hardware activation help that?

sid

 

[Darkwave]

it is really complaining for compainings sake I think

How about consumer rights? How about convenience? How about peace of mind?

If you have no qualms buying a game knowing you're being treated like a pirate, fine.

 

[Tonytank]

@sid

Hes right though, you ARE a drama queen...

People like you never get it, your the same as the idiots who flock to GAME everyweek, skulking around the pc section taking snipes and digs at pc games you claim to despise you cant stop playing and/or discussing...

You think purposefully not buying a game makes you a martyr and something of a out spoken person in the "war" against "heartless corporations.." and the bad products they provide...

Newsflash sweetheart, you arent...

Your just another cynical, pessimistic, ungrateful and grossly ignorant consumer who think the worlds owes him and then some...forums are perfect for people like you cus you can peddle your "anti everything" bullhockey and then hide behind you online aminimity with all the grace and ignorance of those before, and unfortunately those after you too...

Dont buy bioshock, cus you dont deserve it, and lets be honest, if it wasnt this it would be something else you would be bitching at...

So....yeah, You JOG on sunshine...

 

[Shamikebab]

How about consumer rights? How about convenience? How about peace of mind?

If you have no qualms buying a game knowing you're being treated like a pirate, fine.

if you think your rights are being violated then investigate legal action or something, dont just moan about it on some internet forum.

 

[Darkwave]

if you think your rights are being violated then investigate legal action or something, dont just moan about it on some internet forum.

So you're saying you don't mind being treated like a pirate, even though pirates won't have to tolerate this? That's cool with me if it's cool with you, it's just not how I want to be treated as a customer.

P.S. I hope you know that the cost of this (useless) copy protection will be factored into the R.R.P.

 

[sid]

@sid

Hes right though, you ARE a drama queen...

People like you never get it, your the same as the idiots who flock to GAME everyweek, skulking around the pc section taking snipes and digs at pc games you claim to despise you cant stop playing and/or discussing...

You think purposefully not buying a game makes you a martyr and something of a out spoken person in the "war" against "heartless corporations.." and the bad products they provide...

Newsflash sweetheart, you arent...

Your just another cynical, pessimistic, ungrateful and grossly ignorant consumer who think the worlds owes him and then some...forums are perfect for people like you cus you can peddle your "anti everything" bullhockey and then hide behind you online aminimity with all the grace and ignorance of those before, and unfortunately those after you too...

Dont buy bioshock, cus you dont deserve it, and lets be honest, if it wasnt this it would be something else you would be bitching at...

So....yeah, You JOG on sunshine...

Go rant elsewhere kid

I am making a valid point about fair use, this hasn't happened before in pc gaming so i think you are one not buying games.

sid

 

[ergonomics]

So you're saying you don't mind being treated like a pirate, even though pirates won't have to tolerate this? That's cool with me if it's cool with you, it's just not how I want to be treated as a customer.

P.S. I hope you know that the cost of this (useless) copy protection will be factored into the R.R.P.

i think youre overreacting a bit mate

 

[Shamikebab]

So you're saying you don't mind being treated like a pirate, even though pirates won't have to tolerate this? That's cool with me if it's cool with you, it's just not how I want to be treated as a customer.

P.S. I hope you know that the cost of this (useless) copy protection will be factored into the R.R.P.

Im fine with it, cant see how it would possibly affect me. Why on earth would i need to install it on more than 2 machines at once unless i was doing something very naughty?

 

[Darkwave]

i think youre overreacting a bit mate

Why? I'm not even that mad because I can bypass it if I have to.

I'm just wondering what benefit 2K Games think there will be from such a system and how they think it'll affect piracy, because the answer is "it won't." It's a wasted gesture, at the cost of the consumer.

Im fine with it, cant see how it would possibly affect me. Why on earth would i need to install it on more than 2 machines at once unless i was doing something very naughty?

That's not the point. I've repeatedly asked people to tell me how this measure will discourage people from pirating Bioshock, when in reality a pirate copy won't even have this measure.

I'm wondering how companies such as 2K Games think that releasing an inferior product is effective.

 

[ergonomics]

Why? I'm not even that mad because I can bypass it if I have to.

.

careful what you say mate

 

[Darkwave]

careful what you say mate

Aye I'm being careful, don't worry.

You won't see me even hint as to where and how you can get the means to do this, which is what the FAQ says. I won't ever provide links or information about "warez" or "cracks", but I'm not breaking the forum rules by saying "it can be done and I'll do it if I have to."

I just think it's kind of sad someone should even have to think of cracking a game they bought.

 

[barf0r]

Im fine with it, cant see how it would possibly affect me. Why on earth would i need to install it on more than 2 machines at once unless i was doing something very naughty?

But if you format without uninstalling first, then that counts as 1 install used up. Do that twice and then you are buggered. Need to make an expensive overseas phone call to get it sorted I would assume.

Now obviously this won't happen over a few days to you, but there are some very plausible examples which could happen: install on vista and xp dual boot system. That's two installed used up. Get a virus / hard drive crash / anything. Fix the problem then try and install again - oops you can't. Expensive phone call for you.

Now this issue won't affect some guy who has torrented a pirate version. Its the paying customer who suffers with these types of measures.


EDIT: And also, what happens in 10 years if I want to play the game for old times sake, but the activation servers are long gone and the people who made the game are out of business? I'll need to go hunting for a crack / pirated version even though I'm the poor sod who forked out for the game.

 

[sid]

Aye I'm being careful, don't worry.

You won't see me even hint as to where and how you can get the means to do this, which is what the FAQ says. I won't ever provide links or information about "warez" or "cracks", but I'm not breaking the forum rules by saying "it can be done and I'll do it if I have to."

I just think it's kind of sad someone should even have to think of cracking a game they bought.

Agreed

This is gonna go the wrong way and encourage piracy to avoid this activation nuscience (sp?)

I simply can't believe they would have 2 hardware config limit,

Even retail VISTA isn't this bad and clearly that is a differnt league.

sid

 

[Darkwave]

But if you format without uninstalling first, then that counts as 1 install used up.

They're just going to say "well, that won't affect me because I don't reformat my hard disk every week like some geeks around here." Which is silly because, what if this sort of activation became the normal way of installing a game? You'd have to make sure all your games were uninstalled properly when you do need to upgrade your motherboard etc. and God forbid you have 5+ activated games on your hard disk in the event of a hardware failure.

Now this issue won't affect some guy who has a pirate version. Its the paying customer who suffers with these types of measures.

Yup, that's my entire point. This measure makes the official copy of the game technically inferior to a pirate copy since a pirate won't have to deal with any such measures, and since this measure won't stop piracy anyway then why put it in? To bug people who buy it?

This is gonna go the wrong way and encourage piracy to avoid this activation nuscience (sp?)

I can see a lot of people doing it, I mean a lot of people do it. I've done it with games I legally own in the past because some copy protections like Starforce and Securom can cause problems.

I don't know why developers and publishers can't carry on the trend of games like Oblivion and Company Of Heroes, both immensely popular games with zero copy protection. I don't think you even need the CD in to play them.

 

[Teki187]

What exactly do you want them to do...put their game out there with no protection only to find within minutes iso files are popping up all over the net and thousands and thousands of sales are lost?!

I could download Bioshock full crack, with fixed exe last week on Friday. But with games that deserve the right for my money, i bought it.

With regards to peoples comments on software anti-piracy its useless. Within hours of a release you can download anything. They dont do anything other then waste money and time. Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit cracked, fixed auto online geninue check with 60 product keys is easy to find on google now and people said vista would be hard to pirate.

Best thing developers can do is produce high quality goods to make us buy it and stop releasing Vanguard games.

 

[barf0r]

Exactly.

A good game encourages people to buy.
Draconian copy protection schemes discourage people to buy.

 

[NightSt@lk3r]

Yup, that's my entire point. This measure makes the official copy of the game technically inferior to a pirate copy since a pirate won't have to deal with any such measures, and since this measure won't stop piracy anyway then why put it in? To bug people who buy it?

then buy the game install it use a crack then you dont have to worry about activations or disc checks and you get the piece of mind that have helped support the developers.