ECA President: DRM Has Gotten Worse, Not Better

[Atmos Duality]

They will tighten their grip until they start to lose substantial numbers in sales.
Then they will attempt to win their customers back by using clever marketing saying "LOOK! WE REMOVED SOME OF THE EVIL DOUCHEBAGGERY WE PUT INTO OUR PRODUCT! WE SCREW YOU LESS THAN OUT COMPETITORS! LOOK AT ME! BUY MY PRODUCT!"

A good marketer can put a happy spin on a funeral.

 

[antipunt]

DRM alienates people

so true, so true.

And if anything, it probably romanticizes a pirate's cracking process, because now they're up against 'the evil corp'

 

[oranger]

"..common sense should prevail.." but it won't: many of the people responsible for some seriously reprehensible things in the game industry are still turning wheels, making decisions. Why shoudl they change now all of the sudden?

 

[Atrayo]

Hi Guys,

I have a simple question.

Does the software industry as a whole, aside from the gaming industry. Also have issues with DRM, or is it just a particular sticking point to the games industry?

Thanks for a response.

 

[poiuppx]

While it's nice to hear this from him, honestly, he's got bigger fish to fry right now.

Also, sidebar note; he mentioned the idea of ownership vanishing for gamers in the future. I contend this possibility exists, but only for new games. I have a thick stack of PS2 and PS1 games that are rather well and far removed from any developer's capability to muck with, not to mention the cartridge games and their ilk. If down the road companies decide to just go full-on draconian and declare games to be their property alone... well, while those companies burn as more and more gamers walk away, I can work through my backlog and joyfully loan out my multitude of games to anyone I know with a compatable platform to play them on. I might miss buying new games, but at least I can finally beat Phantom Brave and Metal Saga.

 

[Albino Boo]

Hi Guys,

I have a simple question.

Does the software industry as a whole, aside from the gaming industry. Also have issues with DRM, or is it just a particular sticking point to the games industry?

Thanks for a response.

I run a small software development company that writes specialist commercial software. I don't need DRM at all for the simple reason there isn't anyone one who wants to pirate risk management tools for gas pipelines or a program to convert CAD designs into code that can be understood by a 20 year old computer controlled lathe. The big applications developers ,e.g Corel, Adobe and SAP, do get pirated but at very low percentage of their overall sales. The hefty price tags and large margins also give them room to ignore piracy. Microsoft have heavy DRM on their products for the simple reason they are the most pirated software in the world. In other words the need for DRM is directly proportional to amount of piracy.


The games industry is entitled to protect its intellectual property from the ever advancing horde of pirates that want something for nothing. I see all the nonsense about EULAs not being valid and if you buy a book your entitled to do what you want with it. To all of them I suggest they photocopy the latest Harry Potter or Twilight book and stand on a street corner and hand them out for free and see what happens. Piracy is stealing directly form the shareholders of the companies, well you might say "who cares they are all fat cats anyway" but this is untrue. The vast majority of those shares are owned indirectly by the public, they represent peoples pension funds, collage funds, health insurance and life savings. If you use pirated software you are stealing money from yourself or your family, it might not but much each time over 10 years it add up to a significant amount.

The games industry needs adjust its attitude to the way it implements DRM. There has to be some give and take, perhaps the best platform is steam. The IP (Intellectual Porperty) holders get DRM and prevent resale and the consumer gets the right to re-download any software, install it on multiple computers and particularly for multilayer games somewhere to promote your dedicated servers. However I don't see all the games companies are going end up using steam, it risks creating a monopoly on distribution that cost them money. Mass effect2 and Dragon age have seen Bioware take the first tentative steps down the road to their own steam like system.

 

[Danpascooch]

Developers are so focused on "ending piracy" that they make DRM that is so annoying that consumers have no choice but to get a copy that has the DRM cracked off of it. Not only is current DRM not solving the problem, it's actually making it worse. It's unbelievable. Even if a person is supportive of company's trying to protect their property, you have to agree that at this point they are simply shooting themselves in the foot, no matter what their intentions are, the DRM is hurting EVERYONE, customers, and developers, the only people it's not hurting are pirates!

If company's could focus on reducing piracy through continuing support and extra features rather than ending piracy by trying to make "unbreakable" (lol) DRM, both the developers and consumers would be better off.

It's like trying to make something to end air pollution, it's not going to happen, but if you try to reduce air pollution, you may actually achieve something beneficial for everyone.

 

[Mysnomer]

As it happens, I'm personally fine with DRM provided I'm able to play the game fully with no hassle, without having to be online at all times (especially as I always use a wireless connection anyway), and have the right to sell my games to places like Game or CEX when I'm done (aside from Steam stuff of course, but the stuff I buy there is usually stuff that I have no intention of getting rid of anyway...).

So in other words, you have a problem with DRM.