DRM Encourages Piracy

[beetle]

Let's just find a way to get bullshit DRM outlawed. This shit is fucking ridiculous.

[Tessera]

Let's just find a way to get bullshit DRM outlawed. This shit is fucking ridiculous.

That isn't going to happen, Beetle. Our "lawmakers" have shown that they will consistently side with big business, regardless of how unfair it is to the We The People.

This is an issue that can only be fixed at the grassroots level... through organized boycotts and whatever else it takes to send a strong message to the industry: YOUR DRM IS COSTING YOU MORE MONEY IN THE LONG RUN THAN IT IS SAVING.

When that becomes true, then that's when they will stop this bullshit.

[anariel]

Let's just find a way to get bullshit DRM outlawed. This shit is fucking ridiculous.

Well... DRM and DLC are actually part of a civil contract, and I really don't see any reason for them to become a penal offense (I'd like them to, by the way). But you know, unlike penal laws, civil contracts can be not signed => they don't affect you (just don't buy the game).

By the way, sales season in Steam for Square Enyx and Eidos => Last Remmanent (strange RPG, a little like Final Fantasy X-something) and Tomb Raiders.
Also, RUSE free beta for the next 29 days. I'll try to make room in my HDD and try it, because the game is at least a novelty in the strategy genre (you don't win because you have superior tactics or firepower, you win because you bluff better XD). Only bad point: Ubisoft is the publisher >.<

[Recon Ranger]

No Anariel, what they're talking about would amount to industry regulation; and I don't want the government anymore involved in MY life than they already are. So, I'd have to go along with Tess. The only way to stop that kind of horseshit is to make it unprofitable. When THAT happens the guys in the boardrooms will put a stop to it. But, so long as enough suckers are willing to get gouged; they'll keep turning out the kind of bullshit deal.

[perez007usa]

       I Agree, we have been at this a long time, and yet, some of you guys still buy the shit, and you complain, about it, and we see it on the posts.

I think Tess is getting tired of writing, " I told you so".  You even get the game, then Tess says it full of shit, and you go crying to him, and better yet you send him a copy of the messed-up game to him. Now thats a double pay out to the Fat Cats in the boardroom.      

[Tessera]

I think Tess is getting tired of writing, " I told you so".  

You got that right.

[Cat]

All of the reviews on GameSpot are paid for in advance by the publishers of said games. That is a fact and it has been known for quite some time that GameSpot accepts payola on a routine basis.

My main reason for withdrawing the True VTMB Patch from GameSpot nearly two years ago was because I became disgusted by their dishonest and downright whore-ish business practices. And when it was revealed that GameSpot actually fired one of their veteran staff members for publishing an honest (and negative) review of a bad game... well, that was the last straw for me. That guy did his job correctly... and he was fired for it. Do you realize what kind of an example that sends to anyone looking for employment..? "Don't do a good job -- do a dishonest job. Otherwise, you'll get fired." I can't think of anything more shameful and repulsive. 

GameSpot may be a fun web site for gullible teenagers... but anybody with half a brain in their heads should avoid GameSpot and similar commercial gaming sites like the plague.

You can't get an honest review from the large commercial sites these days. They have very little morality and even less of a sense of ethics. Just steer clear of them, and get your reviews from smaller "fansites" which don't take any money from the publishers.

fansites can be filled with really basied fanboys.

[anariel]

fansites can be filled with really basied fanboys.

That's irrelevant: what you may consider a good game, I might see it as a boring, uninteresting one (for example, I don't really like soccer games, or basket, and the like). In the end, you are the one who is gonna play the game, so you should be the one deciding if that game is good or bad, hopefully before buying it. So, download the game (pirated), play it, and if you decide the game deserves it, buy it.

By the way, this Week Steam's offer: every expansion and the basic, plus a 30 days game time, and in-game item and a starter deck for their online CCG for Everquest at the cost of 1.95 euros... uuuhhh...
Ah, about R.U.S.E... I've been playing the Beta, quite good (and the game runs smoothly in my outdated desktop PC), but I don't know why I was thining it was turn-based instead of RTS... sigh, no good turn-based games get published nowadays, aside from the Sid Meier's sagas?

[VTM_I]

There isn't even anything worth pirating at the moment 

Well, maybe a few classics that aren't being sold anymore...

[Caspa_tfng]

Now getting back to extremely stupid DRM.  Does anybody remember Ubisofts "Always Online" DRM for Ass Creed 2?  Well being the fantastic company they are, EA have decided to pick up that ball and run with it on their next installment of Command & Conquer.

[Kandid]

According to C&C fans that franchise is already dead. This DRM is just closure between EA and the fans.

[anariel]

Isn't that reamrked in the youtube video in another thread?

Let's say it generally: if I need to have the CD inserted, and to be registered to be able to download the patches, AND to be online to be able to play the game... Why should I bother into buying such a piece of crap?

You know, as soon as the new Nintendo DSX reaches the market, if I can read .rtf and .pdf files in her, I'll buy it and enjoy a lot.

By the way, I bought Silent Hunter 4, without the expansion... What do I need to play in multiplayer with someone who has that expansion? (I can only find the patch for v1.4, but my friends have v1.5...).

[Tessera]

Why should I bother into buying such a piece of crap?

You shouldn't.

Only a no-life moron would pay for something like that.

[beetle]

as soon as the new Nintendo DSX reaches the market

This is the reason companies are adding more and more annoying DRM into computer games. To drive people towards consoles.

[perez007usa]

This is the reason companies are adding more and more annoying DRM into computer games. To drive people towards consoles.

    Why?  You willing to bet that they already do so with the consoles, with their "on-line" play, Yea, right!

[anariel]

Well... My main reason to want the DSX is to read books in it... 180 euros for the console VS 200+ euros for a book reader or a PDA (which will include a mobile phone), plus the WIFI... the games are a plus, frankly, and I doubt I will play them much... I'd prefer a PDA/Pocket PC, but today they are impossible to find unless using internet, and 90% of the time they have "extras" I don't want (phone, camera, GPS...).

By the way, RUSE will demand persistent HIGH SPEED internet connection too...

EDIT: I was browsing Piratebay, and it seems there is already a pirated version of Assassin's Creed 2.

[Cat]

Australian Gamers Struggling Under Ubisoft DRM

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99566-Australian-Gamers-Struggling-Under-Ubisoft-DRM

Gamers in Australia have been unable to play Settlers 7 since last week, thanks to issues with the Ubisoft authentication server

[anariel]

If they keep doing this, yep, all of Ubisoft's PC line will go to hell. But I wonder what are they going to do when PS3, XBox, etc... emulators (rightly working emulators) hit the 'net, and people start assembling computers more than able to perform better than a console without spending as much.

On a sidenote, I was able to install & play the expansion of Silent Hunter 4, in multiplayer, owning only the base game (the expansion was the same CD installed in the 3 computers). And I don't need the CD to play (at least in single player), so it's not protected ^^