Sega Talks Alpha Protocol DRM

[Hurr Durr Derp]

Le sigh. You just can't win with DRM. It's either a waste of money, an insult to customers, or both. Someone smarter than me needs to come up with something that works without sucking.

Online section closed off with an activation code and release new/unique weapons or items through that. Then give every weapon/item it's own ID number based on CD-key/digital signature and ban the items(accounts/computers) that appear on torrent sites.
It's not a perfect system but it should discourage a lot of casual uploaders and in a way the activations(tracked by the digital signature) could prevent that someone whose account got hacked gets banned.

The people that need to download their activation could also potentially download the new items that way. Again, it's not perfect but the downloaded activation could also include a once-a-month system notice that there might be new items available for download(maybe include a key code to start the download?), with the last free item also disabling that message.

While the people that wouldn't pay for the game could still get the items and game, it's a relatively non-invasive and somewhat user friendly approach to DRM. A bit like steam, but that's a good thing when the bonus content is optional and updates aren't forced.(two things I hate about steam get fixed this way)

The problem here is that most online games are relatively pirate-proof already (certainly nowhere near 100%, but nothing is), so it's the single-player experience that needs to be protected. It's why they've got these online-activation and always-online DRM things. If you take your game online and connect to a server, it's relatively easy to check whether you're using a cracked game.

If you have a singleplayer game you have to force people to go online which is nonsense, but if you don't do that there's no way to tell if they're running a cracked game.

It's a lose-lose situation for the developers, and the only smart thing they can do is try not to rip off the paying customers too much in their attempts to stop the pirates. Which is, of course, why Ubisoft's DRM is almost universally hated. If you ask me then the best DRM is no DRM, not only because it makes things easier for both the customers and the developers (and the pirates, unfortunately) since it saves time and money not having to license and implement the DRM, but it has been proven in the past that even games without DRM can still do well financially. One of the best examples of that has been Galactic Civilizations 2. That game had no DRM and links to torrents of the game were publicly spread (by <url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starforce#Controversy>Starforce, no less), and it still did well enough to gather a huge community and spawn two major expansions.

I don't try to disagree with what DRM tries to do (stopping people from playing the game without paying for it), but pretty much all ways of doing it are bad news for both the consumer and the publisher, either directly or indirectly.

 

[Sebenko]

Sega, just because there is worse stuff out there doesn't make this DRM ok.

At least they're talking about it, though.

 

[Orezroivas]

Well according to the DRM FAQ you can always just deactivate older codes. It seems, according to the faq anyway, to be an easy and a simple process.
One way is just to uninstall the game on a computer you don't want it on and as long as it is connected to the internet the code will be deactivated automatically and ready for use.
Conversely you can go to their website type in you activation code and deactivate codes manually.

 

[sooperman]

I'm not a PC gamer so none of this matters to me, but I have two comments to make anyway.

For one, I'm glad we can all sort of agree on a system of DRM. Its about time that we started making progress. Maybe soon we'll actually come up with a solution?

For two, why do an Iraqi terrorist and a secret agent have the same rifle? And where did they get those, anyway? The XM8 isn't in service in any country and the project was canned in 2005. No one should have those rifles on the field.

Yes, this is a big deal, thank you for asking.

 

[Asehujiko]

Hooray for Sega not being an ass about DRM, but on the flipside a system like that will be incredibly easy to crack.

What isn't?
Ubishit's legal customer deterrent? Ass creed held up a month, settlers a week or two and splinter cell was cracked on release day.

 

[Ewyx]

so the evil ubisoft plan is finally coming to fruition! Make a DRM so bad, everything else will pale in comparison, and whenever the consumer gets screwed in the ass (no lube too!) he'll take it, and say thank you.

I'm laughing.

 

[Seldon2639]

And Sega will be screwed for making a DRM which can be more easily cracked.

They're going to try to do right by their consumer base, and in the process get violated in oh so many ways by greedy and selfish pirates.

It's a lose-lose situation for the developers, and the only smart thing they can do is try not to rip off the paying customers too much in their attempts to stop the pirates. Which is, of course, why Ubisoft's DRM is almost universally hated. If you ask me then the best DRM is no DRM, not only because it makes things easier for both the customers and the developers (and the pirates, unfortunately) since it saves time and money not having to license and implement the DRM, but it has been proven in the past that even games without DRM can still do well financially. One of the best examples of that has been Galactic Civilizations 2. That game had no DRM and links to torrents of the game were publicly spread (by <url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starforce#Controversy>Starforce, no less), and it still did well enough to gather a huge community and spawn two major expansions.

I don't try to disagree with what DRM tries to do (stopping people from playing the game without paying for it), but pretty much all ways of doing it are bad news for both the consumer and the publisher, either directly or indirectly.

And then you have the sky-high piracy rates of games like World of Goo and Ricochet Infinity (over 90% in both cases). Go figure.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Yay for Sega?

 

[JEBWrench]

It restricts the way I use something I have paid for. Granted, five activations are generally sufficient, but there is still a limit. It's by no means as bad as Ubi's crap, but it's not exactly perfect either.
Generally speaking, such a system only makes the illegal version more appealing to me, as it lacks all of these restrictions. Not that I would pirate this game, but it's still worth noting that I wouldn't have any problems if I did.

Technically, five activations are five times as many as most games legally let you have.

Why can't they go back to the old days where you got a key, you entered your key, and you played?

The irony of getting people without internet access to activate via a Web Based Activation system is almost too much for me.

It could be the old days where if you lost an arbitrary piece of paper you could never play the game again.

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

And then you have the sky-high piracy rates of games like World of Goo and Ricochet Infinity (over 90% in both cases). Go figure.

You did not read what I wrote at all, did you? Besides, do you honestly believe that the piracy rate for games with DRM is significantly lower? Remember that relatively few of the pirated copies are actually lost sales - better DRM does not mean more sales.

What isn't?
Ubishit's legal customer deterrent? Ass creed held up a month, settlers a week or two and splinter cell was cracked on release day.

True enough. That's part of the reason I'm anti-DRM. It's just a big waste of money.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love it if there was a DRM that worked well and didn't treat a customer like a criminal, but so far there has been no such thing.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

This is what I like to see; it's definitely a step in the right direction.

And on a similar note:
I'm leaking fluid in excitement for this game.

EWWWWW! I'm kinda excited, but I'm all "moral choiced out" after ME1, ME1, and DA:O.

 

[Ewyx]

They're going to try to do right by their consumer base, and in the process get violated in oh so many ways by greedy and selfish pirates.

kinda lol'd. Seriously? Violated... by pirates... because they're trying to do RIGHT to their consumer base by implementing DRM... Wait... DRM is meant to help the consumer? Last time I checked legit costumers were fucked over by DRM. So I fail to see how they're doing it right?

Oh I get it, because it's not SUPER invasive... Yeah.

Have you even read your statement before pressing post?

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

Ready everyone?
1, 2, 3- SEGA! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3mMY-_n3_E&feature=related]

This DRM plan seems reasonable.

 

[Worgen]

If Ubi hadn't invented a worse DRM and EA hadn't done a similar 5 activation limit before, most PC gamers would've been rightly pissed by this.

Looks like gamers are succumbing to DRM.

eas version tho was 5 install limit, they call it a 5 unique machine limit, which isnt as bad and since they promise to remove it at some point thats also a good step, I remember unreal 2004, when it first came out it had a disk check like any other cd game but after like a month they took it off so you could just play it whenever and not have to look for the disk.

its still drm but its less annoying then alot of it I suppose

 

[JuryNelson]

I don't see "proving you bought a game" as "fucking over the consumer." At the very least, Pirates won't feel as cool or heroic pirating this game with SEGA standing right there saying, "It's not that hard. Look, we unlocked it ourselves."

So yeah. Right on, SEGA for TALKING ABOUT THIS.

More companies need to at least enter the conversation, so we can see that for the most part, they don't even HAVE mustaches to twirl.

 

[CoverYourHead]

Gotta give it to Sega, they know how to make pretty good DRM apparently. This sounds like one of the best systems in circulation.

Of course, I still want my code keys taped on the back of CD-cases back.

 

[NickCaligo42]

EWWWWW! I'm kinda excited, but I'm all "moral choiced out" after ME1, ME1, and DA:O.

To be fair, Mass Effect isn't really about "moral" choices so much as it is about your attitude towards particular characters. It's less "am I being a good person" and more "how much do I feel like cooperating with these asshats?"

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

EWWWWW! I'm kinda excited, but I'm all "moral choiced out" after ME1, ME1, and DA:O.

To be fair, Mass Effect isn't really about "moral" choices so much as it is about your attitude towards particular characters. It's less "am I being a good person" and more "how much do I feel like cooperating with these asshats?"

You know what I mean...I'm sick of choices. Time for a nice, no dialogue options RPG.

 

[reg42]

This is what I like to see; it's definitely a step in the right direction.

And on a similar note:
I'm leaking fluid in excitement for this game.

EWWWWW! I'm kinda excited, but I'm all "moral choiced out" after ME1, ME1, and DA:O.

That's the thing, Alpha Protocol isn't really based around moral choice. It's more based around different ways to tackle an objective (suave, professional, or aggressive). The skill building also sounds really nice.

 

[Pendragon9]

Sega actually did something helpful? :O

Bravo to them. The DRM sounds like a great improvement.