BioShock 2 DRM Explained

[Chirez]

From a practical standpoint it's worth getting worked up because it will not work.
I remember the original bioshock, and the horrors I went through to get it working.
Never again, if I want to play 2 I'll do it without securom, thankyou.

[edit] Oh, yeah and if you say GFWL is only for mp, no. You cannot save without being logged into GFWL, so MS basically hold your savegames hostage, not nice. Not useful and certainly not necessary either.
I miss the days when savegames had a savegame folder inside the game folder, rather than being handed over to windows' ridiculous filing system.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Putting sequins on your flip-flops won't hide the fact that they are flip-flops.

GFWL is just as obtrusive and bloatfull as securerom is.

 

[Snotnarok]

It may have changed but games like Farcy 2 do run shit in the background, how do I know? I installed the bloody game and it's clear as day in the process tree. If it HAS changed, it hasn't changed that it's still a anti-consumer software that does not fight piracy at all.

I'm not going to bother arguing with you anymore, be smug all you want, install what you want on your PC.

So you really have no idea what DRM even is, but you saw one program do something sketchy and now all DRM is the devil?

There are logically sound reasons not to like it, especially with music and movies which I may want to play on something other than iTunes, but a disc check and what amounts to a pin for online play? That isn't insane. What do you think the XBox does?

Okay I'm confused here, I know what DRM is. They've changed it is all, that doesn't make me wrong about DRM considering they haven't changed the DRM on the older games, so what's to miss about this? The reasons I do not like it is because it limits the installs I have on a game, I have games that are 12 years old that I still play.

Now if you had said that from the beginning, that would be valid. Except that has nothing to do with Bioshock 2. The limits in Bioshock 2 only apply to online multiplayer, which won't work anyway if the Windows Live service (which is who you'd contact if you ran out of installs) is closed.

Yeah, have fun not playing Bioshock 2.

The point is, they're limiting you anyway. And they're still under the guise of it's anti-piracy.

Have fun supporting a product with DRM in it.

 

[SimuLord]

SecuROM disc checking I can live with. I don't like it, not since I've been spoiled by Steam's very reasonable DRM, but I can live with it.

Activation/install limits can put a game off my list of games to buy.

 

[atalanta]

There's more to it than activation limits. I for one don't want Games for Windows Live. Won't use it, won't buy a game that requires it. SecuRom is just another nail in a long-buried coffin.

Its true, Games for Windows Live is what hurts the most.

Its just such a pointless yet terribly intrusive piece of software. I swear MS must be paying developers big money to put that shit in their games, no sane devs would voluntarily use it.

This, a million times this. I can deal with SecuROM if I have to, I can deal with activation limits if I have to, but being forced to use GFWL makes me want to punch kittens. Having to use it even if you buy the game on Steam is just so unnecessary and stupid.

 

[Wicky_42]

There's more to it than activation limits. I for one don't want Games for Windows Live. Won't use it, won't buy a game that requires it. SecuRom is just another nail in a long-buried coffin.

Its true, Games for Windows Live is what hurts the most.

Its just such a pointless yet terribly intrusive piece of software. I swear MS must be paying developers big money to put that shit in their games, no sane devs would voluntarily use it.

This, a million times this. I can deal with SecuROM if I have to, I can deal with activation limits if I have to, but being forced to use GFWL makes me want to punch kittens. Having to use it even if you buy the game on Steam is just so unnecessary and stupid.

Again, quoted for truth. Steam + GFWL is a retarded redundancy, made worse in DoW 2 where the only way to get the game was through Steam anyway, so what GFWL was doing there I don't know :/

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

Just get it on a console instead if you're really that worried about it.

You know that gaming is in a sad state when you feel obligated to buy an FPS title on the console instead of the PC version because it's just less hassle that way.

*Note: Yes, I am aware that some people actually prefer FPS games on the console. I am not one of those people.

 

[aaron552]

You cannot save without being logged into GFWL, so MS basically hold your savegames hostage, not nice. Not useful and certainly not necessary either.
I miss the days when savegames had a savegame folder inside the game folder, rather than being handed over to windows' ridiculous filing system.

You can, however, create an "offline profile" for when you don't have access to an internet connection. It worked for Batman: AA.

 

[Earthmonger]

I am NOT installing and running GFWL just so I can save my game. Securom, whatever, a hard disk wipe cleans up after it. But I won't be held prisoner by yet another shitty M$ app when playing. Crack Time. Pretty sad to do this with legal software (AGAIN), but they leave me no alternative except "Don't bother to play", which is unacceptable.

 

[Dogstile]

I'm going to get it for console. If it was a PC release only then i would even consider pirating it, but of course, i could never do that. But they make it tempting as all hell.

Idiots.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Buh? So you can d/l it on Steam but it needs to make a disc check? There's no freakin' disc...

GFWL is just another M$ heap of droppings to try and turn PCs into Xboxs.

Arkham Asylum nearly pissed me off with that - GTA 4 did piss me off. Never again. And I don't care if I miss Half Life Ep 3 because of it. No more shitty DRM.

 

[Malcheior Sveth]

Sweet. I'm still not going to buy it, because GFWL is shit, and telling me when/where/how many times I can do something is also shit, no matter what the limit is.

 

[BlackWidower]

Fine, I'll just do what I was originally planning on doing anyway: NOT BUY IT!

 

[hansari]

Even with 15 its a pain...if your exceptionally unlucky...

I cannot fathom any single gamer installing/reinstalling a game for his own personal use 15 times...

 

[Worgen]

meh, Ill wait and get it when its dirt cheap, stupid publishers fucking up good games with drm bullshit, I want to give you money, dont make it a pain in the ass

 

[Weaver]

IMO 15 is a lot of activations. So many I really don't see the fucking point in having it at all.

 

[Royas]

Not an improvement. How many damned layers of DRM do we need? Now instead of just SecuROM, we have GFWL also? And it still has activation limits (though more generous than is the norm)? Sorry, I'm giving this one a pass. Online activation for a single player game is not acceptable to start with. Any limits on the number of activations is less acceptable. Actually, anything beyond a disk check or a serial number is too much. DRM doesn't really work, and it annoys the customer when it goes beyond a certain point. So, I won't be getting Bioshock 2 until it's in the bargain bin, where all DRM limited games belong to start with.

And I'm a bit tired of this "it's someone else's fault" double talk that come up whenever unpopular DRM is announced. The dev blames the publisher (the dev signed the contract allowing the publisher to choose the DRM, the dev is to blame also). The publisher blames the DRM provider (publisher chose the provider and agreed to the terms, they are very much to blame). Is the provider now going to blame someone else? "Satan made us do it! It was a cosmic mind control ray! The panda commanded it!" If you know the decision is so unpopular that you have to pass the buck, try making a different decision. Jerks.

 

[Callate]

If 2K Games really wants to placate gamers, they should announce a patch to remove online verifications altogether within two years of release. I don't care about disk checks, but games you aren't playing online shouldn't require a damn internet connection.

 

[samsonguy920]

Those who say I will just get it for the 360 are only making Microsoft happy. If the DRM was Microsoft's idea, they probably figure it would drive more to just going 360, and putting more money into their pocket.
Frankly I have been on the fence about Bioshock2. The story and setting's interesting and all, but the first Bioshock I have yet to complete because I can't just keep my interest. Now that I know 2K wants to gimp its own software I would be paying too much already for, then I will have to pass.

It's always fun to see how people react to these things.

Because

1: SecuROM will most likely NEVER cause a problem for them by now. It didn't do it to me ever and I have used a few virtual driver programs.

2: Activation limits. Seeing that you now got 15 of them the odds of you losing ALL of them quickly enough is like one in a million. IF you are retarded enough.
Now most of you probably don't know that you can just contact them and ask for more. *Gasp* I know it's amazing.

This is like the internet version of Moon landing hoax. Keep em coming boys.

1: "most likely never" means a good number of people are still going to get really screwed by SecuROM having issues with their Antivirus software, their firewall, their other protection programs, plus any tweaking that people have done with their system that for whatever reason SecuROM will decide is bad.
2: Never underestimate the flaws in the idea of activation limits.

What is really the issue here, is once again a company is showing they can't trust paying customers because in their eyes half of them are only going to pirate it and sell illegal copies. This is basically 2K acting like we are miscreants when they feel more than free to install software that has the potential to A)Give 2K a free look into our computers, and B)Basically muck up a person's system forcing a reformat, and then using up an activation if the person wants to take a risk all over again.
Whoever thought this up is a greedy halfwit, and whoever thought up DRM in the first place needs to keep away from videogames anyway.
Good job 2K, way to alienate your customers.
Addendum: Yes there are other forms of DRM out there. My main argument is against SecuROM. If it does actually stay off your computer these days, then that is better. I still don't like 2K's attitude as well as its need to let Microsoft in.
(Is it just me or is Microsoft really begging for some legit antitrust litigation against it?)

 

[Weaver]

Seems like this copyright system will really throw a wrench in second-hand sales of the game. I can't tell if they're saying it can be activated on 15 Games-for-Windows accounts or if one GfWl account can activate it on 15 different systems/hardware configs.

The PC hasn't had second hand sales since like the early 90s. That's right, when we buy a game we're god damn stuck with it, yet another reason piracy on the PC is so high. We can't just turn in the game for a sizable refund and buy another, we have to be very careful with our money because bought is bought -- forever. Also, we can't just rent games and most games now don't even get demos (or the demos are like 3 minutes long).

Trust me, if they could do this on consoles they would. And I bet you next gen we're going to see some crazy lockdowns. Why? Because gaming companies have turned into mega-corporations fueled by the whiniest dick-bags in existence. They cry that no one buys their games, even when their shit. They whine that people steal steal them and then as a result punish no one but the consumer. They actually complain how much money they lose on second hand sales, and I KNOW they want those gone.

But you know what? Fuck them, they're enormous douchebags and they feel they can wring money out of their consumers with inflated prices, shitty DLC and online subscription fees. When someone FINALLY turns around and dicks them back (eg: gamestop and used games) they just whine and whine about it. Fuck them, they deserve worse.