I don't see that I'm missing the point, I understand how it works. Some people here a whining about DRM for the sake of having a whine. People hear DRM and have to jump on the bandwagon.
I'm "jumping on the bandwagon" because a flight sim that is coming out soon, which I have been looking forward to more than any PC game in years, is looking likely to be published by Ubi and have DRM on it. I oppose DRM both in principle (and why shouldn't I?) and because of the inevitable practical problems it causes for paying customers, whether many or few, regardless of whether I personally happen to be unlucky enough to be affected. I boycott games that have DRM (and as a result I may never play this sim). I don't pirate games, by the way. Though of the people I know who have an interest in PC gaming...
- There are a few people who pirate every damn thing without considering paying for anything, and DRM won't affect them - they bypass it. I don't agree with their behaviour but they aren't going to be stopped.
- There are a few who buy games but occasionally torrent them first to try them out, and have bought games (and persuaded friends to buy games) they wouldn't have bought without having tried out the pirated version first.
- There are a few who don't pirate games. I'm one of them. I occasionally find useful the feedback that those who do pirate games can give on the quality of a game, though. If a game developer considers that minor aspect of things bad then they should make better games.
Please, someone tell me how any of these groups of people are affected by DRM in a way that can be considered positive.
I'm by no means pro-DRM, but I'll take the lesser of two evils any day. Between this and "online only" DRM, this is the option that's going to affect me least (or not at all).
I'll take no evils at all, thanks very much.
I've never bought into the whole "Piracy = lost sales" either.
But I'd still rather eradicate piracy. If people don't want to pay they shouldn't have the opportunity to play.
Can't be done. Sorry.
The quality of games, and lack of second hand sales does nothing to justify piracy.
Agreed. Piracy still can't be stopped though.
Given that...
So your saying that developers should entirely lay down arms against piracy?
I can't say whether he is or not, but I am!
I'm more than happy for developers to try whatever they want against piracy provided it doesn't stop me playing.
Hopefully, one day they'll find something that works seamlessly without any interruption to any legitimate players.
They won't. DRM doesn't work and never will. The only DRM that approaches being effective is the kind that is so restrictive that it screws with paying customers a LOT. Like the always-on DRM you would prefer not to have. And by "approaches being effective" I mean "slightly delays the arrival of the cracked version on the torrent sites", at the cost of losing a hell of a lot of goodwill in the community and hence a hell of a lot of legitimate sales.
When I think of DRM I am reminded of a quote from
The Complete Yes Prime Minister:
...the Politicians' Syllogism:
Step One: We must do something.
Step Two: This is something.
Step Three: Therefore we must do this.
Logically, this is akin to other equally famous syllogisms, such as:
Step One: All dogs have four legs.
Step Two: My cat has four legs.
Step Three: Therefore my dog is a cat.
The Politicians' Syllogism has been responsible for many of the disasters that befell the United Kingdom in the twentieth century, including the Munich Agreement and the Suez Adventure...
Game Publisher: Piracy is awful! Look at the huge number of downloads going on at this torrent site! Surely we are losing loads of money because of it! Think of the children!
We must do something!
And so they slap DRM on their games. It doesn't work, but at least they are "doing something". Though game publishers seem to be so far out of touch with reality and with what customers want that I doubt they even realise it doesn't work.
If you've paid for your game you have the right to instal it as many times as you wish. I agree something needs to be done to combat piracy but punishing your customers for being honest and loyal and actually doing things the right way is not the way to go about it.
