Mass Effect Requires Online Validation Every Ten Days to Function

I fail to see you point? If the market is smaller - then why would developers develop for the PC market if they make more money on consoles? The fact of the matter is; there are less titles coming out on PC then there used to be and the ones that do get released are normally sold on one of the other consoles (and they are normally developed with that console in mind and then ported over).
If your consumer base is smaller then you're going to make less revenue on your games. Crytek have recently realised this, despite impressive sales for Crysis, and have decided to throw their dummy out of their pram about piracy and develop for consoles as well in the future.

Maybe I miss-read the article, but I'm pretty sure it said the main reason for the increase in revenue was because of the Burning Crusade release.
Actually it only cited it as an example, but of course a user base of about 8 million people buying an expansion pack is going to help the PC games market a bit. :D

It's a deterent; if people see they have to crack it - some people won't bother. Especially if it's quite complicated to do.
You better tell that to Crytek and EA then since they're the ones whinging about piracy. :p
 
Was it a blip? More than likely - yes (although I have no proof to back that up:D)

Probably more to do with the weak year in PC games in 2006. The big games that year where Half Life 2: Episode 1, which will only have retail numbers available for people to look at, and everyone knows it will sell a lot more on Steam. Company of Heroes, despite being an excellent game, its not going to have Halo 3 numbers. And then NM2 and Oblivion, both big games, which did pretty well.

Then you look at the huge list of awesome games in 2007, and its easy to see why the market did so well.
 
You actually sound like anti-piracy actually makes a bit of difference. :o

I guess it depends what you want to play.

SP games, pirates have it easy. Multiplayer Online games, not so.

afaik, it's not possible to play pirate copies of WoW, TF2, UT3, ET:QW, CS:S, C&C3 etc online..

Hence, the authentication systems are doing their job in preventing pirates from freely using the software.
 
I guess it depends what you want to play.

SP games, pirates have it easy. Multiplayer Online games, not so.

afaik, it's not possible to play pirate copies of WoW, TF2, UT3, ET:QW, CS:S, C&C3 etc online..

Hence, the authentication systems are doing their job in preventing pirates from freely using the software.

They all just need private servers, I know there's a big community around for private WoW servers, not sure about the other games though.
 
If your consumer base is smaller then you're going to make less revenue on your games. Crytek have recently realised this, despite impressive sales for Crysis, and have decided to throw their dummy out of their pram about piracy and develop for consoles as well in the future.

This is exactly my point; there are less PC exclusive games coming out (does anyone know how many the PC had last year actually?) and the cross platform games are 90% console-to-PC ports :p.

As the amount of money to create a game increases, the amount of projected revenue needed increases as well - this is why the PC gaming scene is dieing. It will always be second best to consoles.
 
This is exactly my point; there are less PC exclusive games coming out (does anyone know how many the PC had last year actually?) and the cross platform games are 90% console-to-PC ports :p.

As the amount of money to create a game increases, the amount of projected revenue needed increases as well - this is why the PC gaming scene is dieing. It will always be second best to consoles.
See, this is where we half agree and half disagree.

Yes the PC gaming segment is smaller, no it's not dying whatsoever. I mean we're talking about exclusives but it's not like consoles drown in them either, there are ports galore going around. :p

I bought Crysis and The Witcher last year as PC exclusives, but on the flipside I bought Project Gotham Racing 4 and Mass Effect for my Xbox 360. I also bought a ton of cross-platform games for one or the other.
 
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The whole point of pirate copies though is that they're the same product, just free/stolen.
Exactly! And the whole point of anti-piracy is to somehow attempt to establish a way to differentiate between them!

Just because:
You actually sound like anti-piracy actually makes a bit of difference. :o
Doesn't mean games companies aren't going to continue to try, as long as there's money to be lost by it.

The analogy is stealing, I thought you would've gotten that. :p
Yes, but due to various factors, stealing a TV is a lot harder to do, and can be reported on a crime-by-crime basis. Your TV gets stolen, police can check your home for evidence. A game gets copied and distributed online, and it's a pain to find everywhere.

Not as a primary function, as I keep saying. If I connect to a game or MMO server it's not to prove I have the game, it's to play online with other people and that must be done through a server.
But it checks your authenticity in the background! Just like Mass Effect is doing!

I already have a receipt for the games I buy so why do I need to activate?
Did you ignore my comparisons? Why do you need to show your ticket to a train inspector when you've already paid for it?
 
This is exactly my point; there are less PC exclusive games coming out (does anyone know how many the PC had last year actually?) and the cross platform games are 90% console-to-PC ports :p.

As the amount of money to create a game increases, the amount of projected revenue needed increases as well - this is why the PC gaming scene is dieing. It will always be second best to consoles.

Sins of a Solar Empire
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
Crysis
SimCity Societies
Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
The Witcher
Sam & Max: Season 1
Civ IV
STALKER
 
See, this is where we half agree and half disagree.

Yes the PC gaming segment is smaller, no it's not dying whatsoever. I mean we're talking about exclusives but it's not like consoles drown in them either, there are ports galore going around. :p

Aye, you're right - but then even cross platform games normally come out on the consoles before PC, which means a lot of the PC sales that could have happened, don't - simply because people are inpatient and get it on the console before they do on the PC :D.
 
Exactly! And the whole point of anti-piracy is to somehow attempt to establish a way to differentiate between them!
Nope, it's to punish pirates. But really it just punishes legitimate buyers.

Doesn't mean games companies aren't going to continue to try, as long as there's money to be lost by it.
Which is what I am saying. They are flushing money down the toilet, they might as well just put the money in a bag of rocks and chuck it in a canal for all the good it does to stop piracy.

Maybe they should focus on making better games, good games make money even without anti-piracy. :)

Yes, but due to various factors, stealing a TV is a lot harder to do, and can be reported on a crime-by-crime basis. Your TV gets stolen, police can check your home for evidence. A game gets copied and distributed online, and it's a pain to find everywhere.
It was purely an analogy, if you don't get it then never mind.

But it checks your authenticity in the background! Just like Mass Effect is doing!
You mean it checks the authenticity while I am connecting to other players to join or start a multiplayer game, the authentication having no bearing at all on single player mode. Not the case with Mass Effect.

Did you ignore my comparisons? Why do you need to show your ticket to a train inspector when you've already paid for it?
Because the train is not mine, I am not driving my train to where I want to go. But the game, if I bought it legally, is mine and I expect not to be harassed into proving I own it every ten days.
 
Sins of a Solar Empire
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
Crysis
SimCity Societies
Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
The Witcher
Sam & Max: Season 1
Civ IV
STALKER

Thank-you kindly :)

One area PC's will pretty much always reign supreme; the RTS genre :D
 
I'm all for it if it reduces piracy and encourages developers to create more PC-exclusive games. Something has to be done and it seems online validation is the only way forward.

lol how little you know, it'll be cracked a week after release at most.
Same as with windows, and all other software.

It's a deterent; if people see they have to crack it - some people won't bother. Especially if it's quite complicated to do.

Lol

There are pre cracked releases and modified rips out there you know.

For every guy working to create copy protection there are bout 10 others trying to break the code. Anti piracy measures will never succeed, at most they'll stop you from playing on official servers.

Yes, but due to various factors, stealing a TV is a lot harder to do, and can be reported on a crime-by-crime basis. Your TV gets stolen, police can check your home for evidence. A game gets copied and distributed online, and it's a pain to find everywhere.

It aint stealing, it's illegally cloning other peoples property, not stealing though.
In no law afaik on the world is copyright infringement same as stealing.
The original copy does not disappear, unlike a stolen tv.

I wouldn't mind if someone pirated my game on my hdd, I can still play it, I don't mind you copied my game: have fun with it :).
If someone steals my tv though, I can't watch tv, and as a result, I want to put a bat in that someones face :(.
 
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It aint stealing, it's illegally cloning other peoples property, not stealing though.
In no law afaik on the world is copyright infringement same as stealing.
The original copy does not disappear, unlike a stolen tv.

lol. ok I'll mention that to Sony and Paramount and FACT and all the other corporations that might try to take me to court lol, I can't believe they never realised that lol. If only they had your l33t. lol. lol. LOLZ
 
lol. ok I'll mention that to Sony and Paramount and FACT and all the other corporations that might try to take me to court lol, I can't believe they never realised that lol. If only they had your l33t. lol. lol. LOLZ

They can't take you to criminal court unless you are distributing/selling copies though.


In britain they can't even go for punitive damages.
 
lol. ok I'll mention that to Sony and Paramount and FACT and all the other corporations that might try to take me to court lol, I can't believe they never realised that lol. If only they had your l33t. lol. lol. LOLZ

As tefal said.

In some countries it's not even illegal to download games as long as you don't spread it. You only break the license agreement, which aint protected by the law.

Eg article 16b of the dutch copyright act :

http://www.ivir.nl/legislation/nl/copyrightact.html said:
Article 16b

1. It shall not be deemed an infringement of the copyright in a literary, scientific or artistic work to reproduce it in a limited number of copies for the sole purpose of private practice, study or use of the person who makes the copies or orders the copies to be made exclusively for himself.

2. In the case of a daily or weekly newspaper or periodical or book or the score or parts of score of a musical work and other works that are reproduced in these works, the reproduction shall furthermore be limited to a small portion of the work, except in the case of:

a. works of which it may reasonably assumed that no new copies will be made available to third parties for payment of any kind;

b. short articles, news items or other texts which have appeared in a daily or weekly newspaper or weekly or other periodical.

3. In the case of a work as referred to in article 10, paragraph 1, sub 6°., the reproduction must differ considerably in size or process of manufacture from the original work.

4. The provisions of paragraph 1 concerning a reproduction made to order shall not apply to a reproduction made by fixing a work or part thereof on an object which is intended to play a work or to show it.

5. In the case of a reproduction permitted under this article, the copies made may not be given to third parties without the consent of the copyright owner, except in connection with judicial or administrative proceedings.

6. We may determine by order in council that, with respect to the reproduction of works as referred to in article 10, paragraph 1, sub 1° . the provisions of one or more of the preceding paragraphs may be departed from for the purposes of the public service and the performance of the tasks with which institutions serving the general interest have been charged. Further rules and conditions may be laid down to this end.

7. The preceding provisions of this article shall not apply to the imitating of works of architecture.


Even the wiki stated what tefal said :
There are many misconceptions about copyright laws:

Although copyright infringement is often compared to theft, when something is stolen the owner no longer has access to the stolen property.
 
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Will the validation server still be running in 15 years time? I have pc games that are getting close to that old I can still load them up on an old system. Now if a game needs validation there will come a time when their servers are no longer there. I will pass on any game that needs validation.
 
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