Demigod Piracy Running High

[Milkman Dan]

I guess this is good news / bad news. Good news is, so many people enjoy the game that they are overloading the servers. Bad news is that many of them apparently chose not to pay.

 

[I3uster]

They are complaining that no one buys their rip-off of a free wc3-funmap?
Wait...what?

 

[meatloaf231]

This makes me very, very sad.

Sadness is most definite.

 

[sneakypenguin]

In reply to KDR.

Long answer: CD keys are based on an algorithm of the software signature, where the publisher makes a change to the data file on the CD. Any good cracker can crack a CD key as well, and what this causes to happen is that the pirates are then basically imitating actual paying people who are out there. Any copy-protection based on this risks tossing out the legitimate use in favor of the pirate. That's why Steam has a whole subsection on if you think your game key has been hijacked.

If CD keys are so easy to figure out, why don't people make, say, a key gen for MS or Nintendo points cards or prepaid cellphone charge cards? And what can stop the pirates from just hacking any account on the server then? Do the pirates somehow get access to the key generation algorithms in the authentication server? No, brute forcing should not work. If they just keep a database of the keys that were issued there should be no way to find a key reliably (provided the keyspace is large enough, of course but that's trivial to do), the only thing a pirate could figure out is if there's an algorithm in the installer that accepts/rejects keys and perfectly matches the one in the server (just putting a hash part into the key would be enough to make a system that detects incorrect entries without divulging the key algorithm though it'd probably be simpler to just check the key with the server). If you make it possible for people to break your key system you're doing something really, REALLY wrong.

Chinese hackers have hacked point cards for a few different services already. Apple being one of them.

Also most phone/live/iTunes cards are activated at the register. Hence why we leave stacks of them lying around. So it doesn't matter even if you have the code, you still have to have verification(activation from store) that it was paid for.

 

[nova18]

GOGO PIRATES!

This makes me very, very sad.

This obviously doesn't mean that DRM works. What it does mean is that virtually all claims of supporting piracy based on high-minded principle are complete garbage. People pirate because they can, plain and simple, and it seems pretty clear that while DRM as we've known it thus far is a failure, some form of effective copy protection is necessary and justified.

My thoughts exactly.
All the pirates tried to sound dignified by saying that they were going to use a cracked copy of any game with DRM because of the principle of it, but now they are just proving that if they can take something for free, they will.

If they really wanted to help the industry, they wouldnt be fucking over companies that are making an effort to provide a good customer service. We are in a global recession, things like this can cripple a company so fast right now.

 

[SirDorius]

The fact that Sins of a Solar Empire was not very pirated although being DRM free was just a coincidence. This should teach everyone that you need a minimum of DRM, as long as it's not intrusive. So the minimum is a serial. I don't even know if Demigod has a serial but I'm assuming not from what I read since just this would keep 90% of warez users out of the official servers.

 

[nova18]

I pirate simply because I can: pirating isn't even against the law here.

Which isn't to say I do it constantly, I simply have no compunctions against doing so if I choose.

a) Where do you live?*
b) Does it not feel selfish that your taking money from the people who made the game you got for free? Your just contributing to one of the problems that stops this industry from flourishing.

*Not so I can come over and give you a moral lecture, just was curious as to where Piracy isnt even illegal.

 

[scotth266]

*snip*

I think you've misunderstood me: I dislike DRM. I was praising the company that makes this game and bashing on the pirates that stole it. Just to be clear

 

[oliveira8]

I pirate simply because I can: pirating isn't even against the law here.

Which isn't to say I do it constantly, I simply have no compunctions against doing so if I choose.

a) Where do you live?*
b) Does it not feel selfish that your taking money from the people who made the game you got for free? Your just contributing to one of the problems that stops this industry from flourishing.

*Not so I can come over and give you a moral lecture, just was curious as to where Piracy isnt even illegal.

A) Canada. Nobody can be held legally responsible for anything we find online; it's not our fault it's there. As long as we aren't hosting it, we break no laws by downloading it.
B) No, not really. I mostly download music anyway; I dare you to tell me that's flourishing. Without laughing out loud, I mean.

Music is very different from gaming. The people that get hurt when you pirate music is the editors and most of them are souless people.

A professional musician makes most of their hard earned money from concerts and not record sales.

 

[nova18]

I pirate simply because I can: pirating isn't even against the law here.

Which isn't to say I do it constantly, I simply have no compunctions against doing so if I choose.

a) Where do you live?*
b) Does it not feel selfish that your taking money from the people who made the game you got for free? Your just contributing to one of the problems that stops this industry from flourishing.

*Not so I can come over and give you a moral lecture, just was curious as to where Piracy isnt even illegal.

A) Canada. Nobody can be held legally responsible for anything we find online; it's not our fault it's there. As long as we aren't hosting it, we break no laws by downloading it.
B) No, not really. I mostly download music anyway; I dare you to tell me that's flourishing. Without laughing out loud, I mean.

Damn you Canada, damn you to hell.
Always wanted to visit though, I hear good things.

Back on topic, this may sound hypocritical but I dont care if people download music for free, cause I dont care about the industry. But as a gamer I feel like I'm screwing myself over by taking money from the people who I rely on for entertainment.

Then again, if you live in a country where you can do it, then I suppose that part of the blame lies with them. After all, isn't Canada the 3rd largest country for games development?

 

[Rack]

Lets use a tiniest thread of logic shall wel?

This does not show that DRM stops piracy.

This does not show that DRM does not restrict legitimate users and encourage piracy.

It does show that less than 100% of piracy is caused by DRM, but seriously who on earth ever claimed that in the first place?

 

[mooncalf]

I think it's about time Developers think of a new way to hinder piracy without affecting their honest customers.


Bring out the MMO-tactics, meaning having to stay online/connected to actually play a game. A log-in interface to their network to be able to access and play the game content; you probably shouldn't be able to stay online to be able to play the game, but you still need to validate your account with the system to get access to the game itself.

If the game lit up pirates like christmas trees somehow, the legit players would probably cuss and shame and nag them into leaving if they didn't get sick of it themselves.

Stardock are fighting a good fight, it sucks to hear they're in the thick of it now, but I trust they can be clever in their response. Their legitimate customers are behind them, that's an army 18 thousand strong, those people need to know the accounts of the ones making it tough for them to play.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

The people who pirated the game, were going to do it anyway - and Stardock caught them, and probably won't let them play the game. I suppose this is just what they were planning for. I hope they can handle it. It's not like DRM could do that anyway.

 

[GoldenShadow]

Here is my awesome idea for a game developer to try out.

Seed the torrent for your own game yourself. make the game totally unrestricted at first. It worked perfectly, online multiplayer and everything. This will ensure that it becomes the primary copy all of the pirates will download and redistribute.

Your authentication servers now distribute a day 1 patch update required to play the game online. When the pirate version gets the update, the game goes haywire. The gameplay becomes really unbalanced with things likw god mode, unlimited ammo, other misc cheats and intentional unbalances that become enabled(depending on your game's genre). It pretty much ruin the gameplay for everyone who didn't buy the game legitimately.

The retail legitimate copy is unaffected by the patch.

But otherwise, you give the appearance that your game is working flawlessly and tell people the problems are due to a mod they must have installed. Tell them they have to reinstall the game from the DVD to fix it. Thus they have no DVD, so they will hopefully go and buy it.

The number of trouble tickets or support calls you recieve will give you guys a clear number of how big the problem really is. Since you control the pirate version's code. you can hide all sorts of surprises in there.

My theory on this idea is why would a pirate hack a game that is already been hacked and posted on the torrent sites?

 

[Valiance]

DISCLAIMER: I too am appalled at this. The majority of my post may make it seem otherwise.

I loved SupCom.
I love GPG.
I love Stardock.
I loved GalCiv and Entrepreneur.

I was honestly considering going to pirate this game.

Not to smite the company. Not to selfishly, effectively steal it, but to try it out.

I first tried Fallout 3 from a pirated copy and I ended up purchasing that.

I'd like to have a demo of Demigod available for download, since that's all I'd pirate it for anyway. To try it. And if I don't like it in a few hours or the first few levels, I uninstall it. And if I love it, I buy it. Not just for the online features, but for supporting the company.

Not many people feel this way, I'm sure, but personally, I think torrents are a wonderful tool that companies should be using more for their advantage. Leak demos of the game and such that people will hype themselves up about and share with their friends.

I keep hearing about it being just DotA with better graphics, which I am not paying 50 dollars for. I'd like to see it in action before automatically dismissing it. I looked up youtube videos and it seems like a slow-paced version of DotA. Would you pay much for a custom map from an RTS you got in 2005? Surely you can understand where I'm coming from.

I figure maybe the game is different, maybe some heroes are different, but they say there's only 8, and I hope that they just release more as DLC, but if they do that, hey, pirates shouldn't be able to easily download it, but I digress.

The point that I meant to get at is that I like to try things before I drop 50 dollars on a purchase. Let alone a purchase that (if it lives up to its hype of being a DotA clone) one that I already have.

I'm not going to say I sympathize with the pirates, but I'm saying maybe 5% of them have a reason for doing what they do, and I bet 90% of the people torrenting the game wouldn't have ever played it otherwise. Maybe the companies involved should just take it as a compliment of "Hm, people are interested..." but you know, they'd get the same effect if they had released a demo of their game as a torrent. I personally know that if the game wasn't readily available, I would wait until it was 20 bucks before I even consider picking up the box.

I don't think any game should be pirated so much (okay, maybe Big Rigs). I honestly wish it was more difficult to do. Maybe it would be used better. But I simply don't know a solution. Any DRM will eventually be cracked. No DRM will be rampant. Stardock is a great PC strategy game dev and publisher, and they deserve better.

But I would feel somewhat justified in pirating this game, playing 4 skirmish matches, and then uninstalling it. It's unfair to expect me to pay for what might certainly be a shitty product without even really knowing what it is.

~~~~

 

[TsunamiWombat]

This makes me very, very sad.

It's not because of their lack of potection, it's because of the GameStop street break. I think.

 

[Citrus]

This makes me a sad panda.

 

[mrhertz]

Well, people dont want DRMs, but also they dont wanna PAY for the games too.

How the FUCK the company will pay for the game´s production and management without the payout of thousand of users?

Either people are STUPID ENOUGH, or THIEF ENOUGH.

Wanna show that theres no need for a DRM, BUY THEM, YOU STUPID KIDS!!!!!!