Last year during the summer sale, I bought the first Borderlands for PC. It was the Ultimate edition at that, and came with all 4 of the expansion packs. After reading the TOS sometime last year after installing it (yes, I read those), I discovered that there was DRM in the game that was not mentioned on the Steam page at all when I bought the game (still isn't, btw) and whisked myself away to Google to learn all I could about it.
My adventures there lead me to discover that the dreaded Securom that I've heard so much yet knew so little about installed with the game and was already on my laptop, yet remained dormant and inactive until I ventured into one of two specific DLC areas that could otherwise be easily avoided in the game (the other two DLC areas would be fine). It was also a complicated task to remove from what I've seen, so I said fuck it and didn't bother with that. At this point, it was most likely too late to try to get a refund for the game as it was at least several months later and I avoided actually playing the game while trying to figure out what to do.
Well, about a month ago and many months after the above happened, I sent my PC in for repairs and they ended up having to completely wipe the hard-drive after backing up a select few folders and reinstalled Windows 7 afterwards. Almost all my gaming content was lost because of this and Securom was most definitely cleared as well (My epic New Vegas rebalance mod that I spent so much time on was lost as well T-T. I still have my notes though!).
After getting my laptop back, I was looking back on my Steam library and reinstalling all my games that I cared about again and I still noticed Borderlands sitting there faded out like all uninstalled games and I'm back to this same old dilemma again, but this time with the option of never having Securom on my system on the table as I haven't redownloaded it since the hard-drive wipe.
The answer may seem obvious - don't reinstall the game and move on - but upon rethinking this over again, I find myself coming back to some of the same issues that bothered me back when I debated this topic the first time around. First off, I've already spent money on this. Gearbox has my money for this game, and I doubt I'm ever going to get it back (it's at least 9 months later). Secondly, Gearbox removed the DRM entirely for Borderlands 2, so they've already learned their lesson on this particular topic and thus not playing the game doesn't seem like it would make much of a statement to anybody, especially the guys who already have my money. There's also the point of the DRM being inactive until those specific DLCs sections are visited, which I can avoid and thus never actually activate. This point in particular I've had numerous forums explain to me (I even think I had a previous thread here on the Escapist asking about this as well, with the same explanation happening), so I've got good reason to believe that it's true. Finally, I don't quite remember just how bad Borderlands 1's version of Securom was and how privacy invading it was. Keep in mind that I'm the type who refuses to use Punkbuster because their TOS explicitly stating that it can be considered invading your privacy (found that out during one of the Red Orchestra 2 free weekends) and I don't use that Facebook account that somebody once made for me because of it's infamous privacy issues. However, I do use Steam obviously and do consider it's TOS fine. That should give you a rough idea of what I consider acceptable, so with that in mind those of you more knowledgeable on BL1's Securom (which I understand is different from what it was back in the Spore days) will have a good idea of whether I would consider it acceptable or not.
With all that in mind, what would you - my fellow Escapists - say I should do about this? I got a game that I would like to play and already spent money on, yet am pretty serious on privacy issues and the thought of Securom on my system makes me uncomfortable. Still, not playing the game over an inactive DRM that the devs abandoned after said game seems like a pretty pointless endeavour, and I tolerate Steam even though it's also a DRM. Hopefully, you fine ladies and gentlemen (and Daystar. BUUURN!!! >
[footnote]Plz don't ban me for that, mods. 'Tis a joke.[/footnote]) can help me decide on this subject that has troubled me for so long. A poll is going up for you lurker types (I can relate there), and thank you all for the help.
My adventures there lead me to discover that the dreaded Securom that I've heard so much yet knew so little about installed with the game and was already on my laptop, yet remained dormant and inactive until I ventured into one of two specific DLC areas that could otherwise be easily avoided in the game (the other two DLC areas would be fine). It was also a complicated task to remove from what I've seen, so I said fuck it and didn't bother with that. At this point, it was most likely too late to try to get a refund for the game as it was at least several months later and I avoided actually playing the game while trying to figure out what to do.
Well, about a month ago and many months after the above happened, I sent my PC in for repairs and they ended up having to completely wipe the hard-drive after backing up a select few folders and reinstalled Windows 7 afterwards. Almost all my gaming content was lost because of this and Securom was most definitely cleared as well (My epic New Vegas rebalance mod that I spent so much time on was lost as well T-T. I still have my notes though!).
After getting my laptop back, I was looking back on my Steam library and reinstalling all my games that I cared about again and I still noticed Borderlands sitting there faded out like all uninstalled games and I'm back to this same old dilemma again, but this time with the option of never having Securom on my system on the table as I haven't redownloaded it since the hard-drive wipe.
The answer may seem obvious - don't reinstall the game and move on - but upon rethinking this over again, I find myself coming back to some of the same issues that bothered me back when I debated this topic the first time around. First off, I've already spent money on this. Gearbox has my money for this game, and I doubt I'm ever going to get it back (it's at least 9 months later). Secondly, Gearbox removed the DRM entirely for Borderlands 2, so they've already learned their lesson on this particular topic and thus not playing the game doesn't seem like it would make much of a statement to anybody, especially the guys who already have my money. There's also the point of the DRM being inactive until those specific DLCs sections are visited, which I can avoid and thus never actually activate. This point in particular I've had numerous forums explain to me (I even think I had a previous thread here on the Escapist asking about this as well, with the same explanation happening), so I've got good reason to believe that it's true. Finally, I don't quite remember just how bad Borderlands 1's version of Securom was and how privacy invading it was. Keep in mind that I'm the type who refuses to use Punkbuster because their TOS explicitly stating that it can be considered invading your privacy (found that out during one of the Red Orchestra 2 free weekends) and I don't use that Facebook account that somebody once made for me because of it's infamous privacy issues. However, I do use Steam obviously and do consider it's TOS fine. That should give you a rough idea of what I consider acceptable, so with that in mind those of you more knowledgeable on BL1's Securom (which I understand is different from what it was back in the Spore days) will have a good idea of whether I would consider it acceptable or not.
With all that in mind, what would you - my fellow Escapists - say I should do about this? I got a game that I would like to play and already spent money on, yet am pretty serious on privacy issues and the thought of Securom on my system makes me uncomfortable. Still, not playing the game over an inactive DRM that the devs abandoned after said game seems like a pretty pointless endeavour, and I tolerate Steam even though it's also a DRM. Hopefully, you fine ladies and gentlemen (and Daystar. BUUURN!!! >
[footnote]Plz don't ban me for that, mods. 'Tis a joke.[/footnote]) can help me decide on this subject that has troubled me for so long. A poll is going up for you lurker types (I can relate there), and thank you all for the help.
