BioWare Lifts the Lid on Dragon Age 2 DRM

[SenseOfTumour]

I'm all for Steam's DRM, and all for any DRM that's close enough to it, I do understand that they've got to be doing something, and got to be SEEN to be doing something, even if, in the end it's not that effective.

Banks still get robbed, even with the security guards, plexiglass in front of cashiers, foot thick safe doors, etc. There'd be an outcry if we just got rid of it all, just because it slowed down customer access to their money.

I would however encourage games companies to patch the DRM out after 6 months to a year, as there's no point in annoying gamers with DRM to cover a game that's now $5 in the Steam sale (Yes Riddick, I'm talking to you).

In the end, if it doesn't interfere with gameplay, it's not so bad as DRM goes, and I'm no fan of DRM. Anything like Ubisoft's original 'Force you to restart the level every time there's a dip in your bandwidth' however, not smart, and I'm glad to hear Bulletstorm dropped that.

 

[Sovvolf]

I think you missed the joke by my use of "Metaphorically speaking"

No, I got the joke... However people do think like this and I was pointing out that they are indeed just part of the problem.

Anyway, Bioware isn't stupid enough to think that DRM actually does anything to prevent Piracy. At most all it does is delay it a couple hours (Or in more severe cases, like AC2, a month). They need to look like they're doing something about it so the investors who don't know a damn thing about Piracy or games think that it's a solvable problem (It isn't).

Delaying is still better than nothing. Again you don't pretend to look like your defending your property, specially not if its just going to piss off your customers. Its counter-intuitive. Also, I imagine most investors are pretty well versed in the video games industry given that their investing quite a bit of money into it.

And yeah, I'm okay with 100 people pirating a game I like as long as I don't have to fuck around with registering stuff, and codes, and random online checks. Fuck that.

Then you are, as stated... Part of the problem. You're okay with an hundred people pirating the game because you don't want to sign a few forms and put a few codes in? Yeah, you also okay with them killing the entire industry too? Why do you think the games industry as shifted more into console gaming? Why do you think the games industry keeps puking out safe investments like samey FPS's?

Its thinking like that, that got us here in the first place and yet people are shaking their fists at the big bad evil company when it tries to defend its property. You want to show that you care for the industry and for gaming turn your hate and protesting on the thieves.

 

[Lordmarkus]

It's interesting that Ubisoft and EAs DRM were so horribly broken and bad that we see any DRM that isn't like that a blessing. Combine that with the fact that dedicated servers is now a selling point for PC games makes some really fucked up reality.

Imagine if you ask someone ten years ago that a PC-game today is considered PC-centric with company-run dedicated servers, a hint of mod-tools down the line and a DRM-system that's only a bit restrictive.

 

[FoolKiller]

... and this is why I play games on consoles.

 

[TheXRatedDodo]

And a version with the DRM completely removed will appear on torrent sites within weeks, thus rendering the DRM completely pointless and providing pirates with an unarguably superior product. I love how we've gotten to the point where a limit of 5 installs and periodic online verification is considered "generous". And by love, I mean hate. Oh, how "generous" of Bioware to allow me to play the game I legally purchased! That's so considerate of them, you know?

You've said all that I was going to say, so I feel perfectly justified in quoting your post for truth.
Five installs and periodic verification is not generous, it's taking the fucking piss.

 

[Athinira]

... and this is why I play games on consoles.

Too bad that Dragon Age is vastly inferior on console.

 

[camazotz]

And a version with the DRM completely removed will appear on torrent sites within weeks, thus rendering the DRM completely pointless and providing pirates with an unarguably superior product. I love how we've gotten to the point where a limit of 5 installs and periodic online verification is considered "generous". And by love, I mean hate. Oh, how "generous" of Bioware to allow me to play the game I legally purchased! That's so considerate of them, you know?

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. The idea of random login checks is actually more infuriating to me than Assassin Creed 2's "always online" policy in many ways, not least of which is that implemented poorly it can be immersion-breaking. At least with AC2 (which I also will not buy because of the draconian DRM) I'd technically only have to worry if the AC2 servers went down on their end, since I have cable internet and it is always on.

In fact, I don't even see how they could say that you aren't technically required to have an always-on connection for Dragon Age 2; random spot checking compared to some home server? That requires an internet connection, which sounds to me like the game will stop while it waits for you to connect online if you're someone without a consistent internet connection (say, on a laptop or something).

I'll still get DA2, on Steam (which is technically a bad deal since I can only run it on one active Steam account/login at a time) but I can't say random creepy spot-checking like they're proposing does anything to bolster customer confidence that they see me (and all leigitmate customers!) as anything more than lousy criminals who just happened to have ponied up for the game "this time."

 

[CoL0sS]

"....game will periodically perform a login check...."

This is the only one that worries me.

 

[CatmanStu]

Publishers are never going to get rid of piracy, I think we can all agree that's a given. What they can do is make the boxed versions have more intrinsic value.
Back in the days of the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga if you bought a game you would not only get the disks with the software on but also additional documentation that enhanced the product as a whole. Whether it was a booklet that gave you background to the game world, or promotional material like a poster or mini comic, there was usually something that made the package worth owning.
My suggestion to Bioware/EA would be to completely remove the map from the game and include it in the box, as well as making all the back story they write into a small booklet rather than having it take up unnecessary gameplay space. Will this stop people pirating the game? Of course not, but it might make a large portion of 'casual thieves' think buying the boxed version is worth the investment.

 

[Xanthious]

People, DRM anymore isn't a means of guarding against pirates, hell all but a few of the really stubborn publishers/developers know that ship has sailed and they missed it, no what they are combating is secondhand sales. I'm going to ask a really simple question and I want you all to think about it. Has DRM more effectively halted piracy or secondhand sales? Honestly, look out there. Christ I could teach a chimp to pirate most any PC title. However, the secondhand market for PC games is dead and buried. It's just better PR to say your trying to curb piracy than it is to say they are raping you of any value your game might have post sale.

 

[logiman]

Dear game developers,

HACKERS ARE SMARTER THAN YOUR CODERS AND WILL FIND A WAY TO GET THROUGH ALL YOUR DRM, SOMETIMES EVEN BEFORE THE GAME LAUNCH DATE, A FEW DAYS LATER OR A MONTH AT THE MOST (AC2 - props to Ubisoft for that). WHEN WILL YOU GET IT? PIRATES WILL PIRATE !!11!!one!!1

I just had to say that, getting tired of all the "this game will have this DRM lolololololol unhackable"

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

If I buy a game in a box at the store then it is mine. I'm not going to ask anyone's permission to install my purchase on any computer I want as many times as I want. I'm not going to jump through hoops to lend it to my friend (just like I can lend any other product I own).

No sale guys, but then again the last good PC game was probably STALKER since it wasn't a simplified console port.

 

[mireko]

The online verification for every install is annoying, but it's not a dealbreaker. At least if you can register the retail version with Steam.

 

[Jodah]

Eh, this is one of those lesser of two evils things. We all know DRM will be included, no matter how stupid it is. This seems to be the least intrusive. Basically, if we are going to have to have DRM I would rather have this than some of the alternatives.

 

[archvile93]

Delaying is still better than nothing. Again you don't pretend to look like your defending your property, specially not if its just going to piss off your customers. Its counter-intuitive. Also, I imagine most investors are pretty well versed in the video games industry given that their investing quite a bit of money into it.

Actually delaying really doesn't provide any benifit since you'll be losing the same amount of money anway, it'll just take longer. Yes intrusive DRM is counter intuitive, but do you think companies are smart enough to see that? Just look at AC2's DRM. They probably lost money with that since it would likely increase piracy, not because it's cheaper, but because the pirates have the better product (I. E. the one that doesn't throw you out of the game because you lost your connection for a second). Also, most investors don't know anything about the industry, all they can be bothered to see are the stock value and some sensationalized and far too generalized information.

 

[butteforce]

There are parts of the world where you aren't guaranteed to have an internet connection all of the time. Dragon Age was one of the ways I killed time in airports and late nights when I took a trip last year.

So what it really means is that you don't get the Steam version and then you crack the hell out of it. Which is probably what any sane person already did with any game that had a pointless disc check. Two things I'm not going to do: swap discs or carry them with me when I go somewhere.

 

[Darkauthor81]

Sounds like the retail version and non-Steam digital versions use the same kind of system as Steam. I have never had a problem with Steam games, you can even play them offline for a set amount of time before requiring you to sign in again to verify. This is security that makes sense and won't ruin the game for anyone. Though, if you don't have an internet connections it's complete bollocks. I am not a big fan of required internet connection to play a single player game. I raged against this for like 2 years when Half Life 2 came out.

On the other hand, this is nothing to software pirates, but it's best to just forget about those folks. They aren't lost sales anyway, just people who didn't pay to play the game. In the end, even the most draconian security measures doesn't stop them.

This is true. They'll have it hacked and up on a torrent site within two or three days. DRM only punishes the people who pay for the game.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

Man constant internet connection is kinda an annoying thing for a single player game. Not everyone is going to want to play connected when they aren't really using it anyway. Of course there are also those people who still don't have reliable internet connections who won't really be able to play at all. And lets not forget that incident with AC2 and their DRM.

This is going to be such an annoyance, well it would be if I weren't buying it for the 360. Too bad I'm not one of the "PC Master race".