Poll: Does DRM ever actually affect your purchase?

[karloss01]

You know, Bnet2.0 is actually the 101 of 'how to fuck over your customers' and acquire full control.

OT: I avoid every abusive DRM and stopped buying games of several publishers, e.g. I would have liked to get the new Heroes, but no Ubisoft games for me...

ah well i don't play online and i've been able to play starcraft 2 without an internet connection (the might have changed that) i prefer to play starcraft against bots rather then the Tourny players that dominate it (though it isn't as bad now with the regional servers). the only reason i've stopped playin though is because of a memory pool overload problem that kept occuring every hour, and not being Tech swarvy on the hardware side of PC gaming i didn't know how to solve it.

 

[Valanthe]

Simple answer: Yes, it has completely changed the way I buy games.

Longer answer: I have no problem with the basic premise of DRM, and when done legitimately and properly, it is as inobtrusive as the old CD keys (Weren't those the good old days?) and twice as effective. However, due to Draconian and borderline criminal business practices on the part of very large companies, most notably Ubisoft and Electronic Arts, my hand has been forced into passing up games I would likely have adored such as the Assassin's Creed series and Arkham City because I simply cannot in good conscience support a company that makes it -very- clear that they don't want my business.

Ubisoft I have completely boycotted (And yes Jim, I am using that word seriously, to my memory, the last Ubisoft game that I purchased was Splinter Cell, the original one), and I don't buy EA games, I buy Bioware games, it is a sad concession that I realize my support for good companies indirectly supports criminals, but I cannot have my cake and eat it too.

 

[Chesamo]

I'll never understand why publishers will use multiple forms of DRM. If I purchased your game on Steam, then why the fuck do you need GFW:L on the Steam version? (Example: Bioshock 2) I can sort of see using other forms of DRM for retail copies (ones that don't use Steamworks, like the brick-and-mortar retail version of Bioshock 2), but when they get layered it just screams "lazy publishers" to me.

I have never and will never install Origin on my system. I wanted BF3 for a long time but I absolutely refuse to allow that piece of shit platform onto my computer. Sorry, EA... I don't like your games that much.

 

[Korolev]

Yes but only once, and it was for a game I wasn't particularly interested in anyway. It was due to Ubisoft's "always-online-all-the-time" DRM. I'm not going to pretend I was on some sort of noble crusade when I decided not to purchase the game, as I was on the fence about purchasing it (and didn't care terribly about getting it), but the DRM tipped me towards the decision not to buy it.

I will admit that if Mass Effect 3 or the next Fallout game had the same DRM, I would buy it. I care about DRM.... I don't care enough about it to deny myself some of life's little pleasures.

 

[Vrach]

Yes.

I didn't get battlefield 3, i won't be getting Mass Effect 3 or Old Republic because of Origin.

Old Republic has nothing to do with Origin. Even when you buy it via Origin you download the game from a website and play it without ever turning Origin on.

Everyone keeps telling me that, but then i read this from the FAQ section of the TOR website;

Will I require an Origin account in addition to a SWTOR account?
Yes, you will require an active Origin account in addition to a Star Wars: The Old Republic account. You can create a new Origin account by going to the Origin Account Registration page, entering your email address in the appropriate space and clicking ?Start my EA Profile.? This will take you to a screen where you can create your EA Master ID and set your password. You can also start a new Origin account by logging in with either your Facebook or PlayStation Network accounts, or by downloading and running the Origin client for the first time.

Origin account is what EA account is called now. It basically means username and password and if you've ever had an EA account in the past (which I'd say is a good chance you've had), it's been converted to an Origin account. If not, just make one. Even for that, you don't need to go anywhere near Origin, making an account on the forums makes an Origin account automatically.

Bottom line, you don't need Origin to play the game.

 

[DanielDeFig]

I've never actually had a game with a Always-Online DRM (All my Assassin's Creed games are for the PS3), and I simply happen to never come across a title I wanted that also had that kind of DRM.

Have I bought Steam-only games? Yes. Have I specifically bought a physical copy of a Steam game because my internet is too slow/the game file is too huge, only to find out that Steam forces me to download the whole thing anyway? Yes. Irritating? Yes. Enough to keep me from buying the games? No.

Still, if I ever do come across a game with Always-Online DRM that I might want to buy, I'll probably pass, my internet speed is too unreliable (I spend a lot of time in third-world countries, and and generally move around a lot).
For Example: I heard the new Might & Magic Heroes VI game has Always-Online DRM (PC Gamer Review included a side-note of how the reviewer lost a few hours of work because the internet failed and there was no autosave for these inevitable situations). I don't think I'm enough of a fan to want to deal with that just to see If I'll get some mild enjoyment out of the latest game.

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

Steam is the DRM equal of a Console. You NEED a console to play the game, thats DRM there.

Yes, I won't buy a game with a Onilne pass no matter what it is to me. I shouldn't need to type in a 90 digit code and wait several hours for it to verify.

It depends on how BAD the DRM is, if its just that I need Steam, I'm OK with it. If its a online pass or one that blocks of 50% of the game then I won't.

It's one of the main reasons I'm not a PC gamer.

You do realize that your DRM is worse then ours, yours is a 200$ console, ours is a free downloadable game auto-installer that keeps accounts safe and across the webs. Also, we don't have any actual DRM that isn't broke in a week. Infact, all PC games now can be bought over the interenet are legal copies. We have a different DRM that is supposed to fight piracy which doesn't work.

I'd also like to point out that if your box there gets broken by some mechanical failure, its usually cheaper to buy a new one. Not counting that we don't have the code entering online passes, or ones that cut off a part of the game for DRM.

Now, tell me again, your proud to hate on PC's yet can't see past your own console?

By your own bizarre logic, PCs themselves are also a form of DRM, because you need them to play PC games. Which, by the way, are much more expensive than consoles.

 

[AD-Stu]

There are some titles where I guess I'm willing to deal with whatever the DRM implications are just to play them - Mass Effect 3 will be one of them.

Short of those few must-have titles though, draconian or pain in the butt DRM will certainly sway me away from buying a game. I don't ever want to play another G4WL game if I can help it, for example. I don't want to use Origin either: so far I've been forced to in order to get my Mass Effect 1 DLC back but that's all, though I've got no doubt I'll be forced to use it again at some point for ME3.

 

[jpoon]

Absolutely, I've avoided all game from ubisoft ever since they've been using their bullshit DRM. I avoid a lot of developers games when they use nosy, pointless, consumer punishing DRM. They definitely deserve a loss of sales for strict DRM.

 

[Darh Abdomino]

I'm a console gamer, so not really. It's annoying to have to input the codes for online play and that I have to be connected to Live to play any ME campaigns with DLC on them, but I hear you PC gamers are getting it up the butt.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

I have never encountered a problematic DRM.

 

[Tayh]

I'm wary of any game requiring steam.
I really wanted to try out Skyrim, Saints Row 3, Civ 5, and a few more games I can't remember right now, but I'm still going to wait 'till there's a legit, steam-free copy available somewhere.
Avid peruser of gog.com, though.

 

[Mobius Evalon]

The problem with digital rights management is that the pirate receives the superior experience over the consumer who legally purchases and uses the game. This is because DRM works the same way the law does -- you are treated as a criminal until proven otherwise.

What's particularly silly is how they think these measures are preventing anything. Before purchasing the 1.1 Terraria update during the recent sale on Steam, I was given a torrent link to a cracked 1.0.5 some time ago to play with friends. It did not require Steam or anything else to run, it was simply an EXE, which is only a small example of how effective DRM actually is.

 

[J3bba]

I won't get any Origin game cause of the DRM. It's practically spyware you install your self. I can't get any of the Ubisoft "permanent connection" games either cause my internet has a tendency to drop in and out.

 

[ph0b0s123]

I actually have more of a problem with Batman using GFWL than secureROM. The amount of save games GFWL has killed for me.

If you look in the files you can find those save games. It's just that when you log in the game looks for saves in the account folder instead of some other folder. Just click and drag them in to the account and you should be good to go. I had to do this with Fallout 3.

-snip-

The problem is that GFWL for some reason encrypts your savegames. The key to those saves is only on your current GFWL install, not linked to your account. So if you rebuild your PC, or need to re-install GFWL the save games are dead. Also moving from an offline to online profile to get updates (i.e recently with batman), will render them useless. Even though you are using the same account. The are 100's of threads about it and has affected all the GFWL games I have played. No amount of moving the save games between folders helps.

This makes GFWL the worst of the systems out there.....

 

[Emergent System]

I'm at the point where I'm seriously considering deliberately pirating Ubisoft games out of spite just because of the DRM. When I sit down to play my expensive game and it tells me I'm not allowed to because Ubisoft's online service is down, that actually pisses me off.

There's not even any incentive for me to buy the games rather than pirate them. Pirating them makes them *easier to use* most of the time, doesn't do annoying shit like limit you to a number of installs, and it's *free*. As of right now, only my frankly amazing (*pats self on back*) moral convictions and self-restraint make me buy them rather than take the easier, cheaper, more rational route...

 

[Spy_Guy]

Origin can rot.

...and the only Always-On game I got was Silent Hunter 5 (which as a submarine game is unattainable elsewhere).

Apart from that, exception, if the DRM is being bothersome, then I won't get a game.

I also noticed I won't do that with shady DLC either.
See Saint's Row III for an example (three throwaway DLCs launched before the game? Oh you, Volition and THQ)

 

[Aprilgold]

Steam is the DRM equal of a Console. You NEED a console to play the game, thats DRM there.

Yes, I won't buy a game with a Onilne pass no matter what it is to me. I shouldn't need to type in a 90 digit code and wait several hours for it to verify.

It depends on how BAD the DRM is, if its just that I need Steam, I'm OK with it. If its a online pass or one that blocks of 50% of the game then I won't.

It's one of the main reasons I'm not a PC gamer.

You do realize that your DRM is worse then ours, yours is a 200$ console, ours is a free downloadable game auto-installer that keeps accounts safe and across the webs. Also, we don't have any actual DRM that isn't broke in a week. Infact, all PC games now can be bought over the interenet are legal copies. We have a different DRM that is supposed to fight piracy which doesn't work.

I'd also like to point out that if your box there gets broken by some mechanical failure, its usually cheaper to buy a new one. Not counting that we don't have the code entering online passes, or ones that cut off a part of the game for DRM.

Now, tell me again, your proud to hate on PC's yet can't see past your own console?

By your own bizarre logic, PCs themselves are also a form of DRM, because you need them to play PC games. Which, by the way, are much more expensive than consoles.

If you already own a pc, even a old one, you can make it to the specs of a console for less.

Consoles are DRM since you need that specific thing to play the game, while PC's are a DRM for PC specific things. Its not backwards, its true. I need Steam or Origin or Direct To Buy to play games on my PC. Consoles are the = of steam, since you need a console to play a game as much as you need Steam to play a game. Consoles just are the 'classic' way of playing a game, that doesn't stop them from being DRM.