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

[Chewster]

Stop making shitty games. Also, as people have said, stop making games that are five hours.

When I pirate or borrow stuff from people, I tend to do so when I have the feeling that it won't be that great. If it is, I'll buy it, legit like. That goes for all my media, generally.

 

[Metalix Knightmare]

Personally, I'm a fan of that DLC thing Bioware has been doing lately. Give people nice bonuses for legitimately buying your game new.

 

[hclarke15]

Put up copies of the games full of viruses that crash your computer and report the owner of the computer to the federal government

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I'm curious, would something like the Blizzard Authenticator key be a way to protect things?

I sense most people don't mind logging in at the start of a session so much, it's the rudeness of expecting to be able watch our every move while we play that irks people.

Personally however I think Steam has done the most to defeat piracy, and while it won't go away, all the time I can buy games simply, conveniently, and know they'll work, update and patch themselves and not cause me any hassle, I'll keep buying from Steam, especially when older games are so cheap it's hardly worth googling the game title with the word 'torrent'.

I also use GOG and D2drive, I just happen to prefer the steam setup.

Most people seem to be on the side of make the games attractive to genuine customers however, and DRM pushes against that, treating the customer like a criminal, and the criminal like a valued customer 'here's our game, with all the DRM stripped out, enjoy!'.

DLC, bonus content mailed out to genuine customers, anything like this can help.

 

[SilentVirus]

its impossible... because no matter what is done,hackers will find a way around it. There is no way to find out who unless they break privacy laws.

 

[Lockwolf]

There is no 100% way to beat piracy. Piracy is a fact of life. Though the steps taken to protect your software will affect how people play your games and who buys em.

Take for example Assassins Creed 2 for PC. Its probably one of the worst examples of DRM on the planet. Not only does it cut off a small but sizable chunk of the marker (people with no internet connection), it even puts the average user in a bind since now they have to make sure nothing happens while they're playing. AC2 proved that you can put too much DRM out to prevent the average user from playing

Yet, at the same time, too little protection can lead to massive piracy. I remember a few years back, I downloaded The Sims 2 and every expansion for it. On the install, it asked for a CD key and started installing right away. In the end, I just dropped a no-cd crack in and I just had $300 worth of sims games. Basically, it was as easy as stealing a candy bar from 7-11.

I think devs need to find that right balance. I feel with Steam, they've found a good balance. I'm not tied down by needing a 24/7 internet connection to play a single player game like Half Life 2 yet, though there are ways to pirate it, its not as simple as "Take me, I did nothing for DRM". Also, in the chance that "shit happens" to my PC, I don't have to worry about digging out hundreds of discs, entering serial keys, downloading patches from fileplanet at 15kbps and all the other hassles of the older games. Is Steam perfect? No. Is it a step in the right direction? For sure

 

[Grahwo]

Make better games that folks want to play.
MW2, MW, SCII, Total war series.. Halflife.. all that.. Does it not prove that good games sell?

But stuff as.. The darkest of days (or wahtever) that sucks balls does not sell at all?

Thats something they have to realice.. good games sell, bad games does not.

 

[captaincabbage]

Hell, that "you are a pirate" song playing constantly until you buy a proper copy of the game would be pretty fucking annoying XD

 

[ljd184]

a code that is different in every box which you have to enter to start the game

 

[happysock]

The whole thing that bioware is doing is good, offering an incentive to buy the game legit rather than preowned or pirated, either that or reduce the price of the game, I think piracy would be reduced a bit with a reduced price tag, after all at the end of the day pirates are after a free game the cheaper it is the more likely they are to buy it.

 

[happysock]

Hell, that "you are a pirate" song playing constantly until you buy a proper copy of the game would be pretty fucking annoying XD

Or the mute button or turning the speakers off would be just as effective

 

[captaincabbage]

Hell, that "you are a pirate" song playing constantly until you buy a proper copy of the game would be pretty fucking annoying XD

Or the mute button or turning the speakers off would be just as effective

no,no. "You are a pirate" song.
That isn't up for debate

 

[happysock]

a code that is different in every box which you have to enter to start the game

This also wouldn't work, at first it would but they would be cracked eventually, there are hundreds of PC games that use this and there are hundreds of keygens that pirates use in order to use the game anyway

 

[happysock]

Hell, that "you are a pirate" song playing constantly until you buy a proper copy of the game would be pretty fucking annoying XD

Or the mute button or turning the speakers off would be just as effective

no,no. "You are a pirate" song.
That isn't up for debate

I have no idea what your going on about, it wouldn't work though end of story.

 

[DaOysterboy]

Hell, that "you are a pirate" song playing constantly until you buy a proper copy of the game would be pretty fucking annoying XD

Or the mute button or turning the speakers off would be just as effective

no,no. "You are a pirate" song.
That isn't up for debate

You'd have to mute the rest of the game too though. That might just do it...

 

[captaincabbage]

Hell, that "you are a pirate" song playing constantly until you buy a proper copy of the game would be pretty fucking annoying XD

Or the mute button or turning the speakers off would be just as effective

no,no. "You are a pirate" song.
That isn't up for debate

I have no idea what your going on about, it wouldn't work though end of story.

Well I can't honestly say I've ever found any anti-piracy system that has stopped me or my friends. Honestly the biggest reason for me to not get pirated games is because I prefer to actually own a real copy of the game that I can hold in my hands.

 

[captaincabbage]

Hell, that "you are a pirate" song playing constantly until you buy a proper copy of the game would be pretty fucking annoying XD

Or the mute button or turning the speakers off would be just as effective

no,no. "You are a pirate" song.
That isn't up for debate

You'd have to mute the rest of the game too though. That might just do it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLsJyfN0ICU Here, watch this. you can't honestly say you wouldn't eventaully quit the game in irritation from this playing over and over again, endlessly.

 

[happysock]

I have no idea what your going on about, it wouldn't work though end of story.

Well I can't honestly say I've ever found any anti-piracy system that has stopped me or my friends. Honestly the biggest reason for me to not get pirated games is because I prefer to actually own a real copy of the game that I can hold in my hands.

I must say I agree with you there, nothing beats the satisfaction of owning a nice piece of gaming hardware. Especially a decent special edition one, if your into that thing, I'm quite tempted to shell out on one of the halo reach special editions.

 

[captaincabbage]

I have no idea what your going on about, it wouldn't work though end of story.

Well I can't honestly say I've ever found any anti-piracy system that has stopped me or my friends. Honestly the biggest reason for me to not get pirated games is because I prefer to actually own a real copy of the game that I can hold in my hands.

I must say I agree with you there, nothing beats the satisfaction of owning a nice piece of gaming hardware. Especially a decent special edition one, if your into that thing, I'm quite tempted to shell out on one of the halo reach special editions.

lol I can't say I've ever liked Halo, but I know where you're coming from and it's good to see another person who just dismisses my remarks and says "Durr hurr, but 'cha can gets it fer free, ur stoopid."

 

[Voodoomancer]

Well, DUH.

It's very simple.

Make games that people WANT to pay for.

Piracy: The natural selection of the gaming industry.