Dating Sim Girls Dump Pirates

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Dating Sim Girls Dump Pirates



Pirates of wildly popular DS dating sim LovePlus+ received an unpleasant surprise when their in-game girlfriends dumped them ... for being pirates.

Last September, I said something along the lines [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94524-Arkham-Asylum-Pirates-Get-a-Gimpy-Batman] of "I love creative DRM." Not the painful, irritating DRM that makes it harder for legitimate owners to play the game like limited installs, but little catches in the game that trip up pirates.

LovePlus+, the "special edition" of the very popular DS dating sim LovePlus, has creative DRM. Released in Japan last week, it was quickly ripped and uploaded to the internet - but there was a catch. According to posters on massively anonymous message boards 4chan and its Japanese equivalent 2ch, people with pirated copies can't get the girls to ever return their affections, no matter what they do.

[blockquote]"I was dating her normally, but when I next restarted she was pissed at me! I can't get her to like me, and she's always annoyed at me... it's the ultimate anti-piracy measure!"

"I tried the friend part of Love Plus+ again to get some scenes I missed - you're right, she wouldn't let us become lovers!"

"After 100 days she still won't let me become her boyfriend. She completely ignores me and won't send me any mail. The events aren't happening either - brutal."[/blockquote]

What makes this all the more satisfying is that, since LovePlus+ is a DS game, it's harder to circumvent this sort of copy protection. PC pirates could just download a secondary crack or patch for this kind of thing, but it'll take more time for the ROM itself to be hacked to remove this most insidious and unrelenting DRM.

It'll eventually be cracked, but in the meantime the lovestruck pirates must face a terrible choice: Either they pay real money to get their virtual girlfriends, or they stay lonely until the girls can be patched.

(VGTribune [http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/06/25/love-plus-ultimate-anti-piracy-measure-youre-dumped/])

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Deofuta

New member
Nov 10, 2009
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Holy Fricking BRILLIANT!

Give the man who thought this idea up a cookie, he certainly deserves it.
 

Sebenko

New member
Dec 23, 2008
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Hey, I'm smiling. That's pretty funny.

Ubisoft, has your DRM made anyone smile? Fuck no.
 

Jack and Calumon

Digimon are cool.
Dec 29, 2008
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YES! Why can't people have much more creative DRM like others do? Ubisoft, take notes.

Calumon: Dating sims... Jack needs on...MMMMPHFHFH!!!

Jack: I'M WITH A GIRL RIGHT NOW CALUMON!
 

Dorkmaster Flek

New member
Mar 13, 2008
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That's almost as awesome as the Arkham Asylum gimped Batman DRM. Or the Earthbound, massive enemy spawn + final boss freeze and save game delete DRM. I don't think anything is going to beat that one.
 

The DSM

New member
Apr 18, 2009
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Best Anti-Pirate method since Earthbound.

Earthbound deleting your save infornt of the final boss is brutal but this....

This is something else.
 

Daemascus

WAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!!!
Mar 6, 2010
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Yay creative DMR. This is much better than forceing you to matain a connect to some ones severs.
 

BonsaiK

Music Industry Corporate Whore
Nov 14, 2007
5,635
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Brilliant. Ubisoft take note (although they won't because Ubisoft never listen to anybody).
 

Sparrow

New member
Feb 22, 2009
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...wow.

Dating sims always confuse me. Why don't they just do what every other sad and lonely male does and search up some porn? Quicker (in most cases) and requires less effort (again, in most cases). Regardless, I must applaud the genius who came up with this. Next thing you know, Mass Effect will have scenes in which a Krogan jumps you just before you start getting jiggy, then proceeds to get jiggy with you instead.
 

RoyalWelsh

New member
Feb 14, 2010
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Pirating a dating sim? Sad!

Brilliant use of creative DRM there though. Ubisoft, take note.
 

Trivun

Stabat mater dolorosa
Dec 13, 2008
9,831
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Jack and Calumon said:
YES! Why can't people have much more creative DRM like others do? Ubisoft, take notes.

Calumon: Dating sims... Jack needs on...MMMMPHFHFH!!!

Jack: I'M WITH A GIRL RIGHT NOW CALUMON!
I could call the RSPCD on you, you know. Anyway, since you're on this site posting, I'm more inclined to believe Calumon here... ;)

As far as the topic is concerned, I think DRM like this is definitely the way forward. I said it before, during the Arkham Asylum stuff, and I'm saying it here. Thing is, DRM will always get cracked, so there's no point worrying about making 'uncrackable' DRM. Just like with cryptography, there's no such thing as unbreakable. All we can do is make DRM as difficult to crack as possible. But developers put too much effort on that to the point where it makes it harder for legitimate gamers and not the pirates. Like with Ubisoft's policy. So seeing something like this is a breath of fresh air, and funny to boot. And it follows the most basic rule of DRM too, which is also the most important. Punish the pirates, without hurting the proper gamers.
 

Vaccine

New member
Feb 13, 2010
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The guy who made it must've been like "ahahaha this'll fuck with those lifeless otaku bastards for a few months!".
 

Mistermixmaster

New member
Aug 4, 2009
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Holy macaroni, this has to be the most creative and win-filled DRM ever! Give that company a medal or a cookie or something for inventing the most creative DRM, and let them lecture Ubisoft for a couple of days! =D