29 replies to this topic

[DarkShadow]

PC GAMERS WHO have had their fill of online activation headaches with Windows will be pretty miffed to hear the latest anti-piracy scheme being dreamed up by top games publishers.

In a post on Bioware's forums, producer Derek French has confirmed that two of the biggest PC titles of the year - Will Wright's Spore and the Xbox 360 conversion of Mass Effect - will require ongoing, rolling 10-day activation over the internet.

"Mass Effect uses SecuROM and requires an online activation for the first time that you play it," French says. "After the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check with the server within ten days (in case the CD Key has become public/warez'd and gets banned). Just so that the 10 day thing doesn't become abrupt, SecuROM tries its first re-check with 5 days remaining in the 10 day window. If it can't contact the server before the 10 days are up, nothing bad happens and the game still runs. After 10 days a re-check is required before the game can run."

Just to re-iterate that point, you will need to re-activate your copy with the publisher every 10 days. Forever.

So a few pertinent points. If you don't have the internet, you can't play these games - probably not so much of a big deal in these days of ubiquitous broadband, but a bugbear for a few, nonetheless. Many will say that this is a pretty outrageous invasion of privacy that significantly worsens the PC gaming experience - for example, installing the games on a laptop and then heading off on holiday could result in a complete lack of gaming action.

The DRM will let you install the game on three different machines before having a paddy. Bioshock, last year's standout PC title, allowed up to five activations and only one online check at installation. And, of course, as with that title last year, if the activation servers go down you can kiss goodbye to playing your nice new game on launch day.

And if it so happens that the DRM's makers go out of business in a couple of years, you can forget about ever playing your game again in the future, as there will no servers to activate with.

It's also significantly more onerous than the DRM even on Windows installations - which, given that the OS costs around five times the cost of a PC game, seems strange. It's another reason to simply find a version of the game that is hacked to bypass activation - common sense dictates that using legit software shouldn't be more hassle than pirated software.

Gamers who are miffed at the latest move in anti-piracy measures can express their displeasure here. Or they could just not buy the game.

Sauce: INQ.

and I thought Bioshock was bad, damn I guess EA / Bioware just can't make a game like they used to, and they wonder why PC game sales have plummeted.

[MainEvent]

f*ck that.

[Bloodyhamburger]

Pure bullsh*t.... That's the most retarded idea I've heard of in a long time.

[DarkShadow]

it also fucks people who don't have internet, which is the dumbest move I've ever seen a game developer do... -_-

[MainEvent]

I was thinking about this part:

Just to re-iterate that point, you will need to re-activate your copy with the publisher every 10 days. Forever.

[DarkShadow]

Yeah I don't know exactly what the fuck they were thinking, I mean for christ sake its a singleplayer game... who gives a fuck -_*

[Novahawk]

I know, this is some serious bullsh*t... I've been following it since it got announced.

I'm not going to cancel my preorder, but as soon as a crack comes out (like 5 hours after the game is release rofl), I'm downloading that....

Edit: Oh, but they said that if the Securom servers ever go down, they will release a patch for the game that removes the protection, but they also said that its not likely that its going to go down since EA will use the same one for all of their games from now on... Not buying anymore EA games from now on; Mass Effect is an exception because i have been waiting for it for like 5 months...

Edited by Novahawk, 07 May 2008 - 11:22 AM.

[Frag0holic]

Consumer got fucked in the ass once again. Like Shadow said, no wonder no one is buying PC games anymore.

[�HADOW109]

No point of releasing the game on PC then.

[XxInColdBloodxX]

Does anyone listen to the fucking gamers?

[MainEvent]

Yes, Bethesda.

[Novahawk]

The Mass Effect Forums are getting flooded with people showing their dissatisfaction with the DRM idea... Maybe it'll make EA realize that the system will cost them lots of sales and actually increase piracy rather than decrease it, and maybe they'll take it off.... But most likely not

[matthew0155]

i cant wait till they give up trying to make improvements and just accept defeat, once they do that they save hackers some time, and let gamers just have fun without the bull. by now they should know that once a hacker gets going eventually all there "security" goes out the window. come on.

[EVIL Shenanigans]

In all honesty, I've always bought a game (even if its single player) as apposed to 'acquiring' it, but this is seriously ridiculous. If anything, I'm gonna get wise due to all this...

What i find to be the most ridiculous part:

But it doesn't really [hurt the honest buyer]. It can hurt a player who does not have internet connection as they cannot play MEPC (but having internet connection is a game requirements, so it isn't that much worse than needing X grafics card or Y much free space, etc).

The requirement for a single player game is to have an internet connection? Where the hell is the logic in that. I purchase a lot of games that dont require internet connections so im guaranteed to have entertainment available when i dont have access to my isp. And comparing it to computer hardware is LUDICROUS! The internet depends on so much; whether or not you purchase it monthly, the speed in which you purchase the access to the internet, the availability of it through your isp, the availability of it through your hardware components being maintained (modem, ethernet cord, network card, etc.), the ability to even access the SecuROM servers, (along with probably other reasons that i cant think of off the top of my head) - Where-as a graphics card, you simply buy, install, and if you dont overclock it (or even if you do, well) and have everything hooked up fine, it works great for a really long time. Kinda like the game itself; for most all games, you buy it and thats your 'payment'...your free to enjoy it forever. With this, you HAVE to pay for internet if you want to pay the game...almost like a monthly fee/requirement. ARG...really frustrated atm...sorry for the long post.

Novahawk3 --> I'm assuming thats you, nova...and you probably want chris preistly to go die in a fire for removing your 'illegal post'...funny.

Edited by EVIL Shenanigans, 08 May 2008 - 02:48 AM.

[Novahawk]

Hah, i wonder which one that is, i didn't even notice.. wonder if its my Westwood post, or the one where i say that i'm getting a crack incase something goes wrong.. off to check

[MainEvent]

I was recently thinking of Steam, and how I never had any complaints over them... Then I realized, haven't Steam cracked the code to stopping piracy without disrupting the customer's enjoyment? Why don't EA, or other big name companies for that matter start up a online community (much like Steam has) which makes you start up the game through this community program (once again, like Steam). So, if you do get a pirated version of Mass Effect, it wouldn't let you start unless you are connected to this Steam-like community, and then, somehow the program will scan your game, and realize it's pirated. Wouldn't this make more sense?

If I am totally wrong, and there are thousands of pirated CS:S' then... sh*t.

Edited by MainEvent, 09 May 2008 - 11:16 AM.

[Frag0holic]

I was recently thinking of Steam, and how I never had any complaints over them... Then I realized, haven't Steam cracked the code to stopping piracy without disrupting the customer's enjoyment? Why don't EA, or other big name companies for that matter start up a online community (much like Steam has) which makes you start up the game through this community program (once again, like Steam). So, if you do get a pirated version of Mass Effect, it wouldn't let you start unless you are connected to this Steam-like community, and then, somehow the program will scan your game, and realize it's pirated. Wouldn't this make more sense?

If I am totally wrong, and there are thousands of pirated CS:S' then... sh*t.

Let's just say that STEAM doesn't exclude you from playing pirated games, even when you launch them through the STEAM portal. But, in the case of CS:S, such multiplayer games are harder to pirate. It used to be easy back before STEAM was released, when it only checked your HL cd key on WON so that it wasn't already being used -at that moment-. So I guess in a way STEAM has struck a blow against multiplayer piracy, but not necessarily against singleplayer which was the idea with this securom thing.

[poocrayon]

In a post on Bioware's forums, producer Derek French

figures his last name is French.

[Novahawk]

Well the latest news is that they removed the every 10 call home thing... now you just need to activate when you install the game and thats it, still sucks that its still limited to 3 activations, but they said EA will work with people on a case by case basis and hand out new authorizations if you're legit and all. Better than nothing, and i was very surprised that EA would go and do that, i guess the 100+ page complaint thread had something to do with it

[MainEvent]

Let's just say that STEAM doesn't exclude you from playing pirated games, even when you launch them through the STEAM portal. But, in the case of CS:S, such multiplayer games are harder to pirate. It used to be easy back before STEAM was released, when it only checked your HL cd key on WON so that it wasn't already being used -at that moment-. So I guess in a way STEAM has struck a blow against multiplayer piracy, but not necessarily against singleplayer which was the idea with this securom thing.

Oh, so you can get pirated Steam single-player games and still launch them through the Steam portal?

Well the latest news is that they removed the every 10 call home thing... now you just need to activate when you install the game and thats it, still sucks that its still limited to 3 activations, but they said EA will work with people on a case by case basis and hand out new authorizations if you're legit and all. Better than nothing, and i was very surprised that EA would go and do that, i guess the 100+ page complaint thread had something to do with it

That's what I did for AOE1 waaaay back.