Is DRM really that bad?

davedudes · 24 Sep 2010 at 20:08

Looking to purchase settlers 7 and ive seen a lot of people having problems with the DRM. What are the Good points and bad points?

Streeteh · 24 Sep 2010 at 20:12

The good point is that if it works it prevents piracy.

The bad point is it never works.

Don't bother, the DRM is one issue, but the fact it's a pretty naff game in comparison to its predecessors is another, much larger issue.

cmndr_andi · 24 Sep 2010 at 20:24

+1 to what Streeteh says.

Is DRM really that bad? In some cases, not at all (steam case in point), however when it prevents paying customers from playing the game then it is very bad.

Personally I am protesting the DRM in Assassins Creed II (another ubisoft DRM masterwork) buy simply not buying it. If I were you, i'd forget settlers 7 - supposedly a not particularly good installment in the series.

Considering Civ 5 came out TODAY - there are many good alternatives

orderoftheflame · 24 Sep 2010 at 20:50

DRM will never be enough to stop me buying a game I want to play.

It's an inconvenience, but it's not going to get in the way massively in the long run.

gronf · 24 Sep 2010 at 21:08

cmndr_andi said:
buy simply not buying

Hmmm...

cmndr_andi · 24 Sep 2010 at 21:20

Typing fail - "by simply not buying" it should be.

Basically they ain't getting my money until they sort it out.

MouthBoy · 24 Sep 2010 at 22:03

Streeteh said:
The good point is that if it works it prevents piracy.

The bad point is it never works.

First thing today that actually made me laugh out loud.

Ravenger · 24 Sep 2010 at 22:45

The only DRM which works is not shipping executables with the game to stop zero day piracy.

All other forms of DRM at best inconvenience the customer (having to uninstall / revoke activations before you can install an OS for example, or beg the publisher for more activations via a premium rate phone line) or at worst deny access to your games at all.

Don't buy any games with limited activations or requirements for constant internet connections - you only encourage the publisher to keep on adding DRM if you do. There are plenty of games out there without those draconian DRM systems. Give them your custom instead.

Tefal · 24 Sep 2010 at 22:49

Ravenger said:
Give them your custom instead.

stardocks impulse is a good one, think steam but you don;t need to have it running to play the games.

bhavv · 25 Sep 2010 at 00:00

Ubisoft DRM is terrible, I will never buy any of their games, regardless of how much I want Settlers 7 and Assasins Creed II:

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2010/04/07/ubi-settlers-7-drm-still-not-fixed/1

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2010/03/26/ubisoft-compensating-for-drm-with-free-game/1

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2010/03/08/ubisoft-s-drm-servers-go-down-games-unplaya/1

This kind of DRM actually gives me a reason and makes me want to want to pirate the game, but I havnt done. Yet.

Ubi DRM makes steam far more tolerable, Impulse sounds even better if you dont actually need to have it running to play.

I find it major annoying having to load games through steam, but at least it can be done without internet connection.

GoogalyMoogaly · 25 Sep 2010 at 00:19

bhavv said:
I find it major annoying having to load games through steam, but at least it can be done without internet connection.

Really? I don't find Steam that bad. I usually have it open to chat to friends and it means I don't have to have the CD/DVD in the drive in order to play it, which I find more annoying.

bhavv · 25 Sep 2010 at 00:25

GoogalyMoogaly said:
Really? I don't find Steam that bad. I usually have it open to chat to friends and it means I don't have to have the CD/DVD in the drive in order to play it, which I find more annoying.

It is far more annoying than being able to play a game without having to load and click through other programs every single time to get it running.

Once the online activation is done, you should be allowed to play games without any other software or disks.

gronf · 25 Sep 2010 at 00:40

cmndr_andi said:
Typing fail - "by simply not buying" it should be.

Basically they ain't getting my money until they sort it out.

Hmmm...

Ubisoft and Valve are like night and day with DRM. The latter reasonable and the former boycott-worthy. Then again, I am a bit of a Valve/Steam fanboy.

GoogalyMoogaly · 25 Sep 2010 at 01:00

bhavv said:
It is far more annoying than being able to play a game without having to load and click through other programs every single time to get it running.

Once the online activation is done, you should be allowed to play games without any other software or disks.

But surely this means it would have to store the fact that you've been authorised to play it on your PC. Only a matter of time until someone finds out how to fake that. I'd imagine having to be authorised every time is harder to crack.

Tefal · 25 Sep 2010 at 01:32

bhavv said:
It is far more annoying than being able to play a game without having to load and click through other programs every single time to get it running.

Once the online activation is done, you should be allowed to play games without any other software or disks.

you knwo you can make desk top short cuts to steam games.

or just right click thw quick launch.

BloodyL · 25 Sep 2010 at 01:38

Indeed Tefal, that argument always confuses me considering one of the windows that pops up during a game installation is asking whether you want a shortcut on the desktop.
I can only guess that they don't realise the shortcut loads the game up directly.

btw, enjoying your alcohol?

bhavv · 25 Sep 2010 at 02:36

Tefal said:
you knwo you can make desk top short cuts to steam games.

or just right click thw quick launch.

Im doing that, right now I were trying to play in online mode to unlock achievements, but steam was taking over 5 minutes just to log in, and then another 5 minutes to start the game up.

BloodyL said:
I can only guess that they don't realise the shortcut loads the game up directly.

It still has to connect through steam even if you use the shortcut. You cant play the games at all without a steam window popping up.

Its still taking many minutes stuck on the preparing to launch window, and Civ V crashes whenever I try to load a saved game, both those dont really make for a pleasant gaming experience.

Tefal · 25 Sep 2010 at 02:37

why not just have steam start on start up?

also if it's taking 5 minutes to start the game there's something wrong with your pc.

bhavv · 25 Sep 2010 at 02:42

Tefal said:
why not just have steam start on start up?

also if it's taking 5 minutes to start the game there's something wrong with your pc.

The game starts up fine. Steam is taking 5 minute to start up, not the game. Theres no problems in offline mode, as soon as I want to play online for achievements, it takes a very very long tome to both log into steam, and then launch the game.

Tefal said:
why not just have steam start on start up?

Because I dont want lag from loading apps when booting up my PC, having steam start on start up slows startup down sigificantly.

I ran a speedtest while steam was taking ages to load, it said 1.2 Mbps. I started a download and it is running at 250-300 kbps, but steam was still stuck on the connecting and loading screens for several minutes each.

orderoftheflame · 25 Sep 2010 at 10:51

bhavv said:
The game starts up fine. Steam is taking 5 minute to start up, not the game. Theres no problems in offline mode, as soon as I want to play online for achievements, it takes a very very long tome to both log into steam, and then launch the game.

I've never had this issue with Steam.

bhavv said:
Because I dont want lag from loading apps when booting up my PC, having steam start on start up slows startup down sigificantly.

To be fair, I've never had significant slow down caused by Steam on boot.

Set Steam to launch a minute or 3 minutes after boot? Job done.

bhavv said:
I ran a speedtest while steam was taking ages to load, it said 1.2 Mbps. I started a download and it is running at 250-300 kbps, but steam was still stuck on the connecting and loading screens for several minutes each.

As before, this five minute launch seems to be an issue for you only.