Games and DRM...

[Kelainefes]

So, i'd like to know what you guys think about this type of proection that comes with many of the new games, like Spore, Bioshock, Farcry 2, etc...
Basically it doesn't require you to insert a CD/DVD every time you play a game, but you need authorizazion every time you install it, wich means that if you change your video card or something else in your pc you'll have to reactivate. Problem is, the number of authorizations is limited (Spore has 3) and then you have to phone EA and ask them to allow you to install again.
What if in 5 years they take down the auth server?
What if you are intersted in single player only, and do not have an internet access?
And not only that, but the DRM could be pretty much classified as malware as uses rootkits, is able to and will prevent you from using drive emulators like Nero Image Drive, Alcohol 120%, Daemon Tools and others, and won't be removed when the game is uninstalled! As a matter of fact it is necessary to remove it manually...

I have to say that I won't buy any game that contains this kind of DRM, not because i am in favor of making life easy for people that make cracks, but simply because i don't want to have malware that prevents me from using software i need, and phones home without me having any control over it; what do i know that it doesn't have bugs that could be exploited to hack into my system?
It is also useless as crackers WILL find a way around it as they always have, making the whole thing pointless.
It strikes me as kind of ironic that people that didn't pay for the game will enjoy a better experience than the ones who bought it.

Why don't game makers unite and develop a unified anti copy system that is hardware based, and that uses a USB pen on wich licenses are stored? This is the way licenses for Protools plug-ins are protected, at least if you must have the key to be able to use the software, that key is something physical you can carry around, that won't be switched off in the future, and you can use for unlimited installations.
That way it would be impossible to just borrow the game from a friend, copy it and use it like it was DRM free, people unwilling to pay would still need to find and download cracks and patches and use them in the right way, not everybody can do that.
But at least the ones who own a legit copy won't have headaches.

[Clunk]

3 installs is ridiculous.

If they charge a small amount for each install and give the game free, that might be a better option.

I wouldn't want to pay £30-40 for a game, only to find I could only install it three times.

[Kelainefes]

They say that they will give you more activations if you phone them but, even not counting the fact that i find it ridicolous that i have to ask someone to authorize me to use the software i already paid for, reports are popping here and there of people that have been told "I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to buy another copy".

[Clunk]

I would say that a refund from the place you bought it from would be possible then as it isn't fit for purpose...although they could argue that they said they will only give 3 activations and that's what they did.

[Kelainefes]

Luckily i didn't buy it and i won't, so i don't have to deal with all that pile of crap.
And i thought switching CDs was annoying.

[IceChant]

I don't buy DRM period.
If the game is on steam I'll pay for it as steam force it's own DRM, that is acceptable for me.

[Kelainefes]

Farcry2 will install Securom even when downloaded through Steam it appears.

[affiliate13]

A compromise needs to be found wherein both the developer and consumer are protected.

I would suggest a region based activation datacentre for each global zone, paid for by the copyright owners wether they be music/software publishers or movie studios.

The idea being whatever you buy a licence for it would be logged in this datacentre and allow you to activate software as many times as you need with your own pin and original licence code.

Same for movies and music if you need to move them to another format eg DVD to Blueray then since you have already bought a licence for DVD then you can order the Blueray media at a discount.
this would be much fairer for people who have large collections and get raped on the price of new media. I have just under 500 VHS - what i am going to do with these i do not know, but if there had been a record of my purchase then perhaps i could have moved to DVD more cheaply as a reward for not pirating.

These datacentres would be cooperatively run by the copright holder and regulated by the governmental consumer watchdog for each country involved. That hopefully wouldnt add more than a couple of pence to each item but overall should make it cheaper to buy legal copies since all digital media could be downloaded and then burned to its corresponding media.

I think this kind of system would make it easy to buy upgrades and move to other formats easily and if you were protected then the temptation to pirate would be easier to avoid for some folks.

Unless the whole thing gets hacked, which it would but i reckon there is merit in there somewhere.

[Kelainefes]

So in the end, a few games with heavy DRM are out already, did you buy one or not?
If yes, did it cause you any problems?

[Tigerboyce]

nop, avoided them all afaik. Only one I know I already have was bioshock.

I mainly game on my 360 nowadays.