Dead Space 2 Fails
- Thread starter darkcommanderq
- Start date
So stop buying EA games.
Blizzard certainly noticed when they announced the Realid stuff and saw their sales figures tank almost 25% the week of, and after.
If you bemoan a company for protecting it's own IPs and products with intrusive methods and then turn around and buy them they're going to keep doing it because you're telling them that as much as you hate it, you don't hate it enough to stop buying their products.
Blizzard certainly noticed when they announced the Realid stuff and saw their sales figures tank almost 25% the week of, and after.
If you bemoan a company for protecting it's own IPs and products with intrusive methods and then turn around and buy them they're going to keep doing it because you're telling them that as much as you hate it, you don't hate it enough to stop buying their products.
Well, if you got it before midnight then the game wasn't really out yet, so why would the servers be online or give any one the right to play a game that wasn't out yet?
When COD:MW2 was released on the 360 a lot of people who preordered from play.com were banned from xbox live as pirates for trying the play the game a day or so early.The Wykydtron said:
NAO YOUR DECISION TO PLAY GAMES LOOKS JUST AS RETARDED AS THE REST OF US!1!1!1!
Now, I'll admit that a few hours isn't a gigantic issue, but the principle behind the whole thing is.
We, as consumers, have a very simple agreement with the people who make the things we buy: We pay money, and we get to use the product. If something changes this agreement (mandatory waiting periods on guns, street dates for movies, games, etc.), it's considered fair to inform a consumer ahead of time.
I don't think a lot of people understand the problem here. A consumer went out of their way to attend an event whereas a retailer opened their store outside of normal operating hours to allow customers to buy a product they were excited about as soon as the retailer was allowed to sell it. Here, we have the aforementioned agreement: You pay, we sell. Everyone's happy.
The problem arises when a company says "Hello, paying customer. We don't really give a shit that you paid good money for our game. Since other people don't, we're going to punish you by not implementing our security until we're good and ready. Sure, if we cared, we could've had the servers running as soon as the clocks hit midnight GMT, but that would require more effort than we felt like. But, we already have your money, so what are you gonna do?"
Other industries would never be allowed to get away with this:
Imagine going to an auto dealership. You trade in your old car, sign all the paperwork, and get all excited to drive your new car off the lot. Suddenly, you're told that the car's ready to go, but you'll have to wait a few days until they feel like putting the wheels on.
Now, imagine going to a doctor because you're sick. You get examined, get a diagnosis, and the doctor gives you your prescription. Now, imagine going to the pharmacy and being told that you'd have to wait for them to perform a criminal background check because "hey, a lot of drug addicts would love to get meds this easy, and this is the best way we can think of to prevent it."
DRM- as it's being implemented now- is a huge problem, and a huge "screw you" to consumers. I firmly believe that it could be handled in a way that was neither intrusive nor inconvenient to paying customers if only companies actually cared about their customers. Unfortunately, companies that use DRM know that they have gamers by the genitals, since the vast, VAST majority of us lack the willpower to boycott a beloved series or exciting new product if we don't agree with a company's policies.
The only way we can change the industry is to speak with our money. I know it may be hard to pass on a game that you really want, but buying a game and then complaining about the security on an internet forum isn't going to change anything (OP, this isn't aimed at you, since you had no idea that the security would be an issue for you). No matter how much you complain, even if you complain directly to a company, they won't care if they have your money. I know a lot of people are still going to say "it was only four hours," but the DRM issue is just another way that game companies are showing their lack of concern for customers. Authentication servers are a terrible idea; sure, it's only four hours this time, but next time the servers go down, you won't be able to play the game until they get the issue fixed. Go ask anyone who's ever been disconnected in the middle of a game of StarCraft because the authentication server went down and cancelled their connection. Another example of game companies' lack of concern for customers can be found with Fallout New Vegas: The game was released in a virtually unplayable state, and it took over two months for the patch to be applied to the console releases. In any other industry, the release of a faulty product with no recall and no compensation to consumers would be absolutely unacceptable. Why are we willing to accept faulty products and terrible security programs just because "it'll get fixed eventually?"
We, as consumers, have a very simple agreement with the people who make the things we buy: We pay money, and we get to use the product. If something changes this agreement (mandatory waiting periods on guns, street dates for movies, games, etc.), it's considered fair to inform a consumer ahead of time.
I don't think a lot of people understand the problem here. A consumer went out of their way to attend an event whereas a retailer opened their store outside of normal operating hours to allow customers to buy a product they were excited about as soon as the retailer was allowed to sell it. Here, we have the aforementioned agreement: You pay, we sell. Everyone's happy.
The problem arises when a company says "Hello, paying customer. We don't really give a shit that you paid good money for our game. Since other people don't, we're going to punish you by not implementing our security until we're good and ready. Sure, if we cared, we could've had the servers running as soon as the clocks hit midnight GMT, but that would require more effort than we felt like. But, we already have your money, so what are you gonna do?"
Other industries would never be allowed to get away with this:
Imagine going to an auto dealership. You trade in your old car, sign all the paperwork, and get all excited to drive your new car off the lot. Suddenly, you're told that the car's ready to go, but you'll have to wait a few days until they feel like putting the wheels on.
Now, imagine going to a doctor because you're sick. You get examined, get a diagnosis, and the doctor gives you your prescription. Now, imagine going to the pharmacy and being told that you'd have to wait for them to perform a criminal background check because "hey, a lot of drug addicts would love to get meds this easy, and this is the best way we can think of to prevent it."
DRM- as it's being implemented now- is a huge problem, and a huge "screw you" to consumers. I firmly believe that it could be handled in a way that was neither intrusive nor inconvenient to paying customers if only companies actually cared about their customers. Unfortunately, companies that use DRM know that they have gamers by the genitals, since the vast, VAST majority of us lack the willpower to boycott a beloved series or exciting new product if we don't agree with a company's policies.
The only way we can change the industry is to speak with our money. I know it may be hard to pass on a game that you really want, but buying a game and then complaining about the security on an internet forum isn't going to change anything (OP, this isn't aimed at you, since you had no idea that the security would be an issue for you). No matter how much you complain, even if you complain directly to a company, they won't care if they have your money. I know a lot of people are still going to say "it was only four hours," but the DRM issue is just another way that game companies are showing their lack of concern for customers. Authentication servers are a terrible idea; sure, it's only four hours this time, but next time the servers go down, you won't be able to play the game until they get the issue fixed. Go ask anyone who's ever been disconnected in the middle of a game of StarCraft because the authentication server went down and cancelled their connection. Another example of game companies' lack of concern for customers can be found with Fallout New Vegas: The game was released in a virtually unplayable state, and it took over two months for the patch to be applied to the console releases. In any other industry, the release of a faulty product with no recall and no compensation to consumers would be absolutely unacceptable. Why are we willing to accept faulty products and terrible security programs just because "it'll get fixed eventually?"
Things like this upset me. Even if there is a plethora of other things one can do should a midnight release end up being botched. But the fact is the dude wanted to play it as soon as possible. He paid for the luxury of such (By investing the time into going out on midnight, finding a store that'd be open at midnight to sell him a copy etc.)
Just another story of the consumer being screwed over.
Just another story of the consumer being screwed over.
Would you like some cheese with your whine? At the time of post it was just some minutes, it's not going to hair lip you to be patient and wait for midnight. Saying there's no point in the DRM this close to midnight is the same as saying there's no point in making a thread like this over such a trivial thing.
So... this is one great big nitpick. Now that you OWN a physical copy as you stress so strongly, you can play it ANY TIME after the LICENSE FOR THE GAME activates. You didn't buy the house, you paid for a time share. Don't complain how this isn't so because it's in the terms of service agreement which you digitally signed by clicking "I agree."
I'm sorry, yes, DRM is a pain and all, but... Criminy, it's a wait of a few hours. This is really not that big a deal.
No. Stop. Please, don't reply about how consumer's rights are being horribly violated, and please don't run through the lather-rinse-repeat "they assume we're all pirates, let's get back at them by pirating" cycle. It's a few hours wait. Annoying. Unpleasant, especially if you scheduled a specific time to play and found that option unavailable to you. But, seriously, if this is what gets you into torches-and-pitchforks mode, you're just making it that much harder for games companies to take customers who have more serious problems or grievances with DRM seriously.
Remember Starforce? This is DRM that made my laptop do a hard crash and reboot until I went online and figured out for myself that I had to update the copy protection's drivers in order to make the game not crash when the system was running my firewall software.
Or Spore and the various other games that were ready to shut you out if you had to reinstall it more than once? Or Ubisoft's "if you aren't connected, you're kicked out, pity if you just lost hours of play time from not saving" happiness?
Or- in another field- Turtle Beach/Voyetra, whose recent decision to shut down its software division left users of its software without the ability to authenticate their legitimately purchased software at all?
There are, and have been, problems with DRM that prevented people from using the software they legitimately purchased altogether. Compared to that, we have... Waiting a few hours. With respect to which the disproportionate response begins to sound like threatening to burn down the airport because security made you take off your shoes.
Game companies will do this, just like American movie companies will make people in Australia wait an extra month for a big release, or British book publishers will make Americans wait an extra month to see Iain Banks in paperback. If it's too much to bear, don't buy it... Or do the sensible thing and wait a month before you buy it, at which point it will probably be cheaper anyway. If it's worth playing one minute after release, it's worth playing then.
If the whole experience is so deeply rooted in being one of the first people on the planet to play the game that anything less causes feelings of deprivation... I honestly can't relate. And, true, maybe that's just me. But that being the case, it's hard for me to take it as a matter of course that such an experience is something the publisher owes everyone.
No. Stop. Please, don't reply about how consumer's rights are being horribly violated, and please don't run through the lather-rinse-repeat "they assume we're all pirates, let's get back at them by pirating" cycle. It's a few hours wait. Annoying. Unpleasant, especially if you scheduled a specific time to play and found that option unavailable to you. But, seriously, if this is what gets you into torches-and-pitchforks mode, you're just making it that much harder for games companies to take customers who have more serious problems or grievances with DRM seriously.
Remember Starforce? This is DRM that made my laptop do a hard crash and reboot until I went online and figured out for myself that I had to update the copy protection's drivers in order to make the game not crash when the system was running my firewall software.
Or Spore and the various other games that were ready to shut you out if you had to reinstall it more than once? Or Ubisoft's "if you aren't connected, you're kicked out, pity if you just lost hours of play time from not saving" happiness?
Or- in another field- Turtle Beach/Voyetra, whose recent decision to shut down its software division left users of its software without the ability to authenticate their legitimately purchased software at all?
There are, and have been, problems with DRM that prevented people from using the software they legitimately purchased altogether. Compared to that, we have... Waiting a few hours. With respect to which the disproportionate response begins to sound like threatening to burn down the airport because security made you take off your shoes.
Game companies will do this, just like American movie companies will make people in Australia wait an extra month for a big release, or British book publishers will make Americans wait an extra month to see Iain Banks in paperback. If it's too much to bear, don't buy it... Or do the sensible thing and wait a month before you buy it, at which point it will probably be cheaper anyway. If it's worth playing one minute after release, it's worth playing then.
If the whole experience is so deeply rooted in being one of the first people on the planet to play the game that anything less causes feelings of deprivation... I honestly can't relate. And, true, maybe that's just me. But that being the case, it's hard for me to take it as a matter of course that such an experience is something the publisher owes everyone.
you're really messing with my whole zen thing man! just chill out and wait till it's time pissing and moaning won't solve it and your just stressing yourself. go watch downfall or read the comic. (which was radical)
If then you still feel coolikly unbalanced about the whole thing send a polite but strongly worded E-mail to EA.
If then you still feel coolikly unbalanced about the whole thing send a polite but strongly worded E-mail to EA.
Wow, Im really quite shocked at the number of people who think its A-ok for a store to sell a product that effectively does not work at the time of purchase and not tell the customers*.
If you take my money your product should function once its installed, I should not have to wait 'x' time until you decide that you will deign to activate my product, at least not without an upfront notice so I can say "fuck you, no money for you". Once again, people who pirate are unhindered and financially better off than people who are silly enough to actually expect to not be treated like a criminal and still people whine about "why do people pirate, dont they know its wrooooooooooong" .
*Yes, I know its the publisher who puts the DRM in but the retailers should know if their product works or not
If you take my money your product should function once its installed, I should not have to wait 'x' time until you decide that you will deign to activate my product, at least not without an upfront notice so I can say "fuck you, no money for you". Once again, people who pirate are unhindered and financially better off than people who are silly enough to actually expect to not be treated like a criminal and still people whine about "why do people pirate, dont they know its wrooooooooooong" .
*Yes, I know its the publisher who puts the DRM in but the retailers should know if their product works or not
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Hey, OP?
I called the Waaaaaaaaahmbulance. They should pick you up in a couple of hours.
Seriously, how is this an issue? If it's not time X yet at THEIR timezone, it will not be ready to play. For the love of god, because it's not X in your timezone yet, ...AH I can't even say it, you make me so angry. You entitled little jerk!
I called the Waaaaaaaaahmbulance. They should pick you up in a couple of hours.
Seriously, how is this an issue? If it's not time X yet at THEIR timezone, it will not be ready to play. For the love of god, because it's not X in your timezone yet, ...AH I can't even say it, you make me so angry. You entitled little jerk!