Poll: Quick DRM Poll

[mooncalf]

My Opinion: The real pirates aren't stopped by SecuROM from what i've read (Spore, Bioshock and Mass Effect are all on the pirate scene...) So I wonder what it's there to achieve beyond a middle finger towards anyone using legitimate installation methods? I'm -gutted- to have to pass over Far Cry 2, but SecuROM sounds so damn sinister it actually SCARES me. Thank <deity/force> I still get to buy and play Fallout 3! Thanks Bethesda! I don't even have the hardware to play it yet, but I think I wanna get my copy early for props to the paying-crowd-pleasers and the sanest guys in the room!

Tried to keep the poll balanced for general impressions, but added a couple wildcards in case someone has some special experience to share. Thanks for participating!

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

It Sux because it's not trying to stop pirates, it uses that as a shroud for it's real intention:

Kill second-hand sales. - PC games have very long lifetime.

Far Cry 2's DRM is pretty lenient but it also has CD-Keys, and you need to put the disc in to play. Overall, it's pointless for "piracy" protection.

 

[DYin01]

I think the fact that Spore is the most pirated game ever (sources are in the wiki page on SecuROM and probably that of Spore too) speaks for itself. Within the first week of Spore's release, over half a million copies of the game were 'pirated' (downloaded). People were so damn pissed about the entire DRM thing on it, they decided to just download it instead.

Quite frankly, I agree. I think it's rediculous that we have to 'rent' the game from EA. Hell, it's actually benefitial to download it, instead of buying it! When I download it, I can install it as much as I want!

 

[axia777]

Death to ALL SecuROM and DRM(well, almost all). Nuff said....

 

[clarinetJWD]

As soon as someone comes up with a DRM that doesn't remove the gamer's right to resell, and that actually prevents piracy, I will be totally for it. SecuROM has driven SPore to become the most pirated game ever, while the best selling PC Games ever (Half-Life 1/2) have no install limit at all.

I'm still buying a good number of these games, I have Mass Effect, Spore, and Crysis Warhead, and I plan on buying Far Cry 2, Dead Space, and Mirror's Edge, but I keep hoping that after a while they'll follow 2K's solution: leave the limit until well after release, then kill it.

 

[reaper_2k9]

All they are doing is causing more people to pirate it instead of stopping it, people will always find a way around security measures so you have to be just as quick as they are and at least hold them up for a little bit

 

[insectoid]

As long as there is DRM, there's going to be people who will find a way around it. Simple.

All they're really doing by using such methods is angering the people who buy the game legitimately, sometimes even to the point where they will forgo buying the game and just pirate it instead.

 

[mooncalf]

Thanks for the responses folks!

I'd have liked to hear some reasons from the people who disagreed, perhaps they felt I wasn't fairly addressing that SecuROM implementations can differ from game to game as ElArabDeMagnifico points out, my bad!

Do ya'll agree that -some- kinda copy protection is a good thing? There's consumers out there who'd share software out of a honestly mistaken perception that a bought possession is theirs to do with. I don't have anything bad to say about Disc-In-Drawer except for the usual minor gripes of small occasional access delays and laptop users who don't like their optical drives hogging battery charge.

 

[Zrahni]

Things get cracked on first release day anyway those hackers are way above those who made drm in terms of knowledge. DRM only hurts sales because they loose the undecided people the ones that are trying to choose between getting screwed by DRM or getting Free non DRM version of game.

 

[LordCraigus]

They seriously fucked up with every aspect of DRM as a 'copy-protection' device and are seriously fucking over all the paying customers out there with it too.

 

[Zrahni]

Far Cry 2 was already cracked 2 days ago ... And it's working full version. DRM has no effect on pirates at all, it only affects paying customers. Only thing you need to protect your sales is unique Cd-key+nice multiplayer.

 

[Elim Garak]

Yup, it sucks. But cracks come out within a day or two of the game shipping, so it isn't too bad. The last three games I bought all had SecuROM issues that would cause them not to run. After a crack everything worked fine, though.

I guess it would be a huge pain though for people that play on-line where binary verification code is run to protect from hacks.

 

[Ravenbom]

Why is the industry so slow to change over to downloadable content? Steam is doing REALLY great. I speak from the POV of an unabashed pirate and even I would rather pay a little less to cut out the middleman(and sales tax) and get great DL speeds and no box.
It is a bit of an insult, and companies like Valve who have no install limit are raking in money hand over fist because of games like Spore.

Plus, did any of the lawyers who pushed the install limit on Spore actually play it? It's so shallow and casual, that you're practically encouraged to install it and play and uninstall it every few months. It's not WOW, or something that you're encouraged to keep on your computer perennially. Perhaps, because it is so shallow and casual, that's why it's being pirated, not just the "FU 3 installs only" DRM.

 

[stompy]

See, I'm pretty sure that most people here would like to reward developers and publishers for their hard work, and would gladly pay for video games. Yes, people will share, and yes, people will pirate, but the average consumer will pay for the material.

What people, such as I, hate is that DRM is infringing on rights of the consumer, doing stuff that would immediately be illegal if done in any other field. They use deplorable tactics, even resulting in wrecked hardware sometimes, in order to 'curb piracy'. I suppose the cherry in this metaphorical cake is that they aren't doing it for piracy, but in order to stop second-hand sales.

 

[Damien the Pigeon]

My Opinion: ...So I wonder what it's there to achieve beyond a middle finger towards anyone using legitimate installation methods?

I do use legitimate installation methods, and I constantly feel like I'm punished for doing what they believe is "right." The same goes for music. I pay for my music, and in return they put even more restrictions on me. I can't stand it.

 

[742]

DRM that makes sense.... something to prevent casual (burning a copy for a friend) pirating, maybe CD keys(see: what blizzard did), or something like steam. that r good. but anything else is overkill.

 

[karn3]

The DRM actually has the opposite effect to its desired one on me. I actually want to pirate it because it's such a piss take. I don't normally pirate games, and the fact that i want to is a big deal. The DRM doesn't stop pirating at all. Instead it just aleinates people who actually buy the games. Why should i spend my money just so i can have EA toss off in my face with that stupid DRM?

 

[Zrahni]

Gears of War 2 is on consoles and it's getting pirated like crazy.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Kill second-hand sales. - PC games have very long lifetime.

You genius. I didn't think of that. E-cookie for you!

Oh; and I strongly agree. It's stupid, and is not helping PC supremacists flaunting their processors.

The internet wouldn't be the same without them, and you can't give consoles a monopoly.

 

[Blayze]

I *will* play the games I buy, and I will play them in the manner *I* choose to. Nothing will stop me...

...not being branded a criminal and a pirate (As one guy on this forum once did) for my use of no-CD cracks in order to keep the discs I own in good condition (You wouldn't drive a car without going for MOTs, now would you?)...

...not the law and the EULAs that attempt to pass themselves as the law...

...not the opinion that all I purchased was a license, not a copy of the actual game (I own the CD, I own the content on the CD. Therefore, I own that copy of the game.)...

...not drive-breaking, system-invading DRM...

...not install limits, activation limits or *any* kind of limits (Newsflash, EA: I don't rent games -- especially not when I buy them. Fuck you.).

If I have to become a criminal in order to play the games I buy, then so be it -- we're already treated like criminals, so why bother trying to prove our innocence?

I *will* play the games I buy, and *nothing* will stand in my way. If I have to no-CD my games, so be it. If I have to download a cracked version because it's the only way to play the game without crippling my system, so be it. If I have to crack them *myself*, I *will* find a way.