Stalker 2 has... Draconian DRM.

[No_Remainders]

Oh dear, yet another company tries to save their game from pirating. HOW DARE THEY WANT TO EARN MONEY?

Oh dear, yet another company that has decided that they are going to essentially stop me and others like me from playing their game. HOW DARE I WANT TO PLAY SINGLE PLAYER WITHOUT HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT MY SPOTTY INTERNET CONNECTION?

Don't buy it. Is that so hard?

Well, it's kind of a kick in the crotch to people who were waiting for it. After all, take your favourite game of all time, for example.

How pissed would you feel if you had a shitty internet connection and then you found that you HAD to have always online internet to play the game?

I'd be more than a little annoyed.

 

[Sjakie]

Starting to wonder if all that stupid DRM wont cost them just as much as with lost sales due to piracy. I know i wont buy games like that anymore. Plus, you cant stop piracy anyway.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

Dear stalker devs, I can understand your need to try and protect your game but the thing is I have always been a faithful supporter of you and a paying customer and this inconvenience just doesn't sit right with me so here's what i'm going to do. As a token of good faith I will still buy your game instead of resorting to [that thing that makes the escapist mods ban you for admitting to be involved with] because there are few enough games out there as it is that provide such a deep level of immersion and I would rather like you guys to keep making more but I will however resort to rip out your proven to fail DRM restrictions using the full might and force of the very same techniques used by the people that you were trying to keep from playing the game in the first place (oh the irony).

Normally when the illegal and easier to access version of a game is much more customer friendly than your expensive offer customers will make the understandable choice of JOINING the numbers of pirates that are hurting your game in the first place (see assassin's creed 2's drm that ended up getting cracked and played offline easily while the legal owners sat with a game they couldn't play because the servers had gone off at some point).

Now knowing the internet, I anticipate some criticism for my post to arrive at some point.

Then again, me admitting anticipation of anyone's criticism might serve as a way to ward off criticism, will be interesting to see.

 

[Steppin Razor]

It seems like something that could potentially cause trouble for players, but it doesn't sound as "draconian" as some of the DRM out there (at least you can sell the game). And unlike most of the DRM out there, it might actually do its job for a few weeks (unlike regular DRM which doesn't work at all). It's still abusive, mind you.

How is it less draconian than other forms of DRM? I mean, sure, other forms of it can be annoying as hell to deal with sometimes, but at least they don't require you to download vital game code as you go, just to play a single player game.

 

[CCountZero]

At least there trying to stop Piracy its better then them just laying down and having people steal the game.

While your point is fair, the outcome of this isn't gonna be them stopping piracy. Delaying it, sure, but nothing more.

All this means is that a bunch of people who weren't gonna pirate it to begin with, are either gonna do so out of spite, or not play the game at all.

Either way, there is no money to be gained in this.

 

[Ickorus]

This makes me really quite sad, S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 was high up on my list of most looked forward to games and now it's dropped off the bottom, I have never pirated a game and I think it's absolutely ridiculous that I should be punished for the actions of others, as such I don't buy games that use this sort of stupid DRM, sometimes it sucks to have backbone.

DRM in a nutshell:

(Replace ubisoft with DRM, of course)

-50 DKP GSC, I used to respect you.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Ya you know what really helps your sales when you got a small fanbase, fucking them over

 

[JeanLuc761]

At least there trying to stop Piracy its better then them just laying down and having people steal the game.

When the paying customer has to suffer more restrictions and frustration than the pirates themselves do, your DRM is wrong. Matter of fact, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it actually encouraged more piracy, even if it's just for a crack to remove the online mode.

DRM like this essentially assumes that all customers are guilty criminals until proven otherwise. Does nobody see the problem with this?

I am aware but steam also has a nice little lock out mode which means if the company goes bust (or changes something that makes me want to leave) you can't use that piece of plastic you bought.

Actually, I think Valve said a while back that, in the event Steam goes bust, they will remove their DRM so you can play the games you bought at any time.

 

[votemarvel]

Most of the people I know who pirate games do so for the consoles and hand-helds that are available.

Why do these developers/publishers not insist that people are always connected to Xbox Live or the PSN in order to play their games?

Why can someone pirate Assassins Creed Brotherhood for the 360 for example and enjoy the game without trouble but because I made the choice to buy for the PC I have to hope my internet connection does not drop out.

PC gamers seem to automatically be thought of as thieves, when from my personal experience the problem of piracy is far worse on the consoles.

 

[Ekonk]

What a shame.

Or, alternatively, I never asked for this.

Anyhow, I'll probably still be picking it up because I loved all previous STALKER games. Perhaps I'll just lend a crack from the piracy crowd if it's really that bad.

Such is life in de Zone, indeed.

 

[dryg]

http://torrentfreak.com/eureka-ditching-drm-decreases-piracy-111008/
I'll just leave this here.

 

[sapphireofthesea]

At least there trying to stop Piracy its better then them just laying down and having people steal the game.

When the paying customer has to suffer more restrictions and frustration than the pirates themselves do, your DRM is wrong. Matter of fact, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it actually encouraged more piracy, even if it's just for a crack to remove the online mode.

DRM like this essentially assumes that all customers are guilty criminals until proven otherwise. Does nobody see the problem with this?

I am aware but steam also has a nice little lock out mode which means if the company goes bust (or changes something that makes me want to leave) you can't use that piece of plastic you bought.

Actually, I think Valve said a while back that, in the event Steam goes bust, they will remove their DRM so you can play the games you bought at any time.

Still doesn't help the 'I don't like and update to End User Licence or some business practice that has come to light' wanting to leave thing. It is like having your games in a lovers house, fine when you are together, but should you break up on bad terms...

 

[Project_Xii]

Well I love the STALKER series so much, not even this will deter me. Of course, if the game itself is not good, THEN I'll be mad. But I'm not about to cry mayhem and chuck a hissy over it. After all, I'm online almost 100% of the time at home anyway, and for the rest I'm sure there'll be a way around it...

 

[Woodsey]

At least there trying to stop Piracy its better then them just laying down and having people steal the game.

Yeah, nevermind the quality of service the actual paying customers receive.

OT: Well, until this is (hopefully) repealed, they can suck my dick - and I won't be buying the other Stalker games as I've been meaning too.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

At least there trying to stop Piracy its better then them just laying down and having people steal the game.

The problem is that it's completely indiscriminate. It doesn't target pirates and it treats everyone like they are criminals and I don't enjoy that, especially since I just gave them money.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

So we just buy it and crack it then. Ok.