So DRM doesn't stop piracy... what do you think developers should do instead?

[Mcface]

When all else fails, there is only one fail safe for any situation:

 

[JuryNelson]

Lower prices...

I mean... I don't pirate games, but I'm sure as hell not paying $60 dollars for it either... Maybe back in the good ol' days when games were longer, harder, and had more depth to them.

Yes there's always an exception to that though, so don't start lashing out at me for that.

LOOK I SAID SOMETHING INFLAMMATORY AND THEN ASKED TO BE LEFT ALONE.

What long, inexpensive, deep games are you referring to? when compared to the era of the longest, deepest games in history?

 

[JuryNelson]

Nothing, nobody can stop piracy it's like if you wanted to eliminate Lobby's that corrupt the Government systems around the world... it's just not very liable.

Thats not true if you remove copyprotection in all its forms you eliminate the need for groups. Half the scene would disappear.

Release groups would still be around but with no competition sharing would become friend to friend.

Similarly if you reduce the price of the title to such a low value that it took longer to d/l than to simply buy it piracy would be non-existant.

If a game cost say £5 a game whats the point in copying it ?

If you can only charge £5 a game, what's the point in making it?

 

[Krantos]

Look into Stardock.

All the games they make contain no DRM. Their ideology is that people who pirate are going to do so anyway, so why inconvenience the people who actually paid for the product.

When Stardock announced that Galactic Civilizations II would contain no DRM, a CEO at another company (forget which, and I can't find the article) said that he hoped bankruptcy treats Stardock well. However, once Gal Civ II had sold over a million copies CEO Brad Wardell said he felt justified in laughing.

Edit: unfortunately they are forced to deal with DRM through Impulse just because if they didn't companies wouldn't license the games to them.

 

[Audioave10]

A great game equals a great profit regardless of piracy. Look at Bethesda who release the SDK
so modders can do their magic. That equals even more sales. Oblivion & Fallout 3 proved that.

 

[Caliostro]

Yeah, good in theory, but in reality they would jack the price up for all that.

Not necessarily. They already have the OST (it's in the actual fucking game) so it would cost them nothing to include it in the game (and many do, like Dawn of War). The appealing boxart is just about having someone do it properly instead of getting one of the devs dick around with photoshop for 5 minutes. And EA is already doing "Project $10".

None of this is out of reach, just out of thought.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Yeah, good in theory, but in reality they would jack the price up for all that.

Not necessarily. They already have the OST (it's in the actual fucking game) so it would cost them nothing to include it in the game (and many do, like Dawn of War). The appealing boxart is just about having someone do it properly instead of getting one of the devs dick around with photoshop for 5 minutes. And EA is already doing "Project $10".

None of this is out of reach, just out of thought.

Oh yeah, that just reminded me... I remember with twisted metal, you could put the game disc in a CD player, and it had the sound track playing on there... that was pretty awesome...

 

[JaymesFogarty]

Longer and more reliable demos!

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I'd certainly buy more games if the developers offered to come around my place and gave me piggyback rides for buying the game.

 

[Peta Michalek]

Agreed. The majority of Blizzard games have tremendous quality in both single-player and multi-player. They take the time to ensure every one of their titles is thoroughly polished prior to release. Unfortunately, they are one of the few developers left who practice such dedication.

I'm sure many developers would practice such dedication, but not all developers have infinite budgets and are their own publishers.

 

[JuryNelson]

Nothing, nobody can stop piracy it's like if you wanted to eliminate Lobby's that corrupt the Government systems around the world... it's just not very liable.

Thats not true if you remove copyprotection in all its forms you eliminate the need for groups. Half the scene would disappear.

Release groups would still be around but with no competition sharing would become friend to friend.

Similarly if you reduce the price of the title to such a low value that it took longer to d/l than to simply buy it piracy would be non-existant.

If a game cost say £5 a game whats the point in copying it ?

If you can only charge £5 a game, what's the point in making it?

The £4.50 of profit. I used to be a very good salesman in another life time,(quite likely before you were born) and back in those days big boxed, manuals (150 pages deep) with maps and colour keycards came with a half dozen floppies (A more expensive medium than CD & DVD BTW) for £20. So kindly explain to me how exactly a quick burn DVD (I can do one in 5 minutes at home I can only imagine how fast an industrial burner operates) with a bog standard box and a 9 pages of A5 cut n paste EULA agreement & epilipsey warning costs £40?


Sell lots of items at a small profit. That way you sell alot.

Sell few items at a high cost and youll sell less items.

Basic Economics.

Except you're not selling a DVD with a box and manual. You're selling a video game.

The investment is WAAAAY deeper than the material components. You're selling what pirates are stealing.

 

[Petromir]

Just not bother with the DRM.

If it doesn't work, it should be discarded. With the money saved from not pirate-proofing, the publishers can give it to the devs to make the game better or longer.

Plus Joe Public won't have to put up with all this DRM gubbins which slows down their PCs.

They can't be seen to do nothing. Most DRM is a token effort to keep bakers happy. THey have to keep producing new systems (backer arent completely stupid) to show that they are continuing to fight back.

Say what? Are you saying that watching developers build a complicated DRM system which costs thousands to create and then seeing it fail when pirates crack it on day one of release, possibly even earlier, instills confidence in investors? No, that's still a horrible excuse for alienating the people who are legitimate customers.

If you cant persuade peopel to invest in you then you dont make it to market at all. Most big money investers probably arent gamers, and probably don't look into how effective these things really are.

 

[Caliostro]

I'm all for us developers boycotting the consumer for a while and simply not releasing anything for a year.

By all means. Not even 6 months into it you'd suddenly realize you need us a hell of a lot more than we need you.

Oh yeah, that just reminded me... I remember with twisted metal, you could put the game disc in a CD player, and it had the sound track playing on there... that was pretty awesome...

Indeed. Or games like FFX that brought an "extras" DVD.

 

[Treblaine]

What MIGHT help them is DROPPING the price tag and thereby increasing the number of sales.

unfortunately these publishers are publicly owned companies with traded stock and highly dependent on investment to bankroll developers before money from game sales comes in.

A move like that will spook the investors if for no other reason than they see it as a sign that the company is failing to compete and are resorting to desperate measures.

No, they only way they could possibly justify a lower retail price is if the same money comes in PER GAME. That could be achieved by reducing unit cost through digital distribution or streamlined retailing such as only sell the game via online stores like Amazon, or further subsidise the cost via advertising, promotion, premium DLC or somehow prove to the investors that this is a "budget title".

But no, even if it is true that net income will go up by dropping the price if they do that it is just too much of a liability.

Better option to guarantee volume of sales is to bundle games together like Valve did with Orange Box with each game having an individual cost far lower than normal but the package itself quite a high price.