RA3 (and more DRM bullshitery)

[Mooga]

So I was a DIE HARD RA2 player back in the day. It was the first video game to really suck me in. As much as I want to buy RA3, I really don't want to deal with their 5-limit, no refund DRM. I've reinstalled RA2 many times. I don't want to get screwed over a few years from now because of this DRM bullshit.

What do others plan on doing?
Will DRM ever stop?

[Demasu]

Companies will still try and get to a 'perfect' DRM as long as human greed exists. They don't want to lose money, so they try and make it so they can't lose money over it. I think the trick is to get a reasonable DRM that keeps you from just grabbing it and going(something like a serial key seems good enough for this), and not going to the extent of limiting installs or anything like that. Now something higher up(I'm thinking high level government apps, something secret perhaps), would probably be better off with a dongle. But no, DRM won't stop. Sadly.

[Credge]

Already pre-ordered and can't be pantsed to care about DRM in RA3. Much like SPORE, the DRM issue will be changed. RA has a huge fan base and that fan base is going to be very vocal about this.

If it's done like Ubisoft is doing Farcry 2, it won't be an issue. At all.

[[AE] 5316 *TKZ*]

I can't wait for RA3... Ill prolly end up making an AE Clan division in that game. Hells yes.

[Innoc]

So I was a DIE HARD RA2 player back in the day. It was the first video game to really suck me in. As much as I want to buy RA3, I really don't want to deal with their 5-limit, no refund DRM. I've reinstalled RA2 many times. I don't want to get screwed over a few years from now because of this DRM bullshit.

What do others plan on doing?
Will DRM ever stop?
I won't buy it or play it. I, like you, have reinstalled RA2 MANY times. I believe I have the right to reinstall it on the new system I buy as I retire the old one. That's too bad. I was looking forward to RA3.

[FrenchToast]

Double you tee eff is RA3?

[Innoc]

Double you tee eff is RA3?
Red Alert 3. It's the next installment in the Command and Conquer: Red Alert series.

[Lost]

Its not like there won't be ways around any DRM they make.

[YomMamasHouse]

It will be as depressing to play as the newest tiberian series game was I imagine. At least in the old ones the acting was a funny kind of shitty, not the shitty kind of shitty. And the gameplay didn't involve as much hardcore tank spam as the new one did.

It's make sad to watch EA murder good games and rape the corpses.

[FrenchToast]

It's make sad to watch EA murder good games and rape the corpses.

Get used to it. They're like Wal-Mart.

[Demasu]

It's make sad to watch EA murder good games and rape the corpses.
What?

[Innoc]

What?
I take it you don't agree? Personally I LOVED what Westwood Studios created. I miss them very much.

[Credge]

The reason C&C3 was terrible is because they took everything that made C&C good and removed it. You'll notice that everything that has made RA good is still intact:

1. Over the top stuff.

2. Unique units with unique abilities.

3. Easily visible units and terrain (oh god was this terrible in C&C3).

4. Easy to play, hard to master.

C&C3 was just bad. There was nothing of interest there. There was no flavor. It was just a really, really poor game. It had no 'love' put into it. I'm seeing tons of love being put in to RA3, hence why I can tolerate the DRM.

If this game appeared like C&C3 did at release then I wouldn't be buying it.

[v3rtigo]

While I somewhat enjoyed C&C3, I agree that there was no 'feeling'. Not like I had with starcraft, for instance.

[Credge]

Also, I'll just add this in there...

2 class action law suits have been filed against EA this year, all involving DRM (specifically SecuROM). I would suspect that EA will not include SecuROM in RA3. As for the install limit, I think the literal shit ton of people posting on the EA forums about it will change a few EA heads minds. Maybe. If it doesn't, then RA3 is doomed.

[YomMamasHouse]

Wow that was a nice trap I laid.

It's make sad to watch EA murder good games and rape the corpses.

Here is how someone who thinks and types at the same time might say it:

It makes me sad to watch to watch EA murder good dames and rape the corpses.

And yes, feeling was the key. I think without Frank Klepacki's music they are screwed. And another thing, if I wanted to watch Grace park (which I do :D) and the other characters for BSG I would go watch it on TV or buy the seasons, if they put as much effort and thought process into making a compelling storyline and awesome gameplay as they did in making hollywood sci-fi style cutscenes they might actually have retained some of CNC's past glory.

[Demasu]

I take it you don't agree? Personally I LOVED what Westwood Studios created. I miss them very much.
I just couldn't make heads or tails of that sentence. I've thought it should be one way, which it was this time, and have had people pull weird shit on me with their sentences, so I don't guess anymore.

[Credge]

Before I left today, I decided to return my preorder for C&C3. I've decided to go full frontal against DRM, mainly due to a lack of consistency in DRM.

SPORE: 3 installs. That's it.

Far Cry 2: 5 installs across 3 PC's. Uninstalling while connected to the net removes an install counter.

RA3: Unlimited installs. 5 activations. The exact nature of this is still mysterious. No way to get back activations on release.

No thanks. Not at all.

[fireb0rn]

I hate the current gaming companies that we have. The quality of games has gone down, I think, and then there's stupid shit like this. That's why I hardly ever buy games now. I still love gaming, but I can't support the greed.

[Owoc]

SPORE: 3 installs. That's it.

Didn't they change it to 10? In any case, a finite number is still bs.

[Iggy]

Ok... what is DRM?

I like the C&C series.... I bought the "first decade" collection, because I wanted to be able to play the older games(C&C/C&C:TS, mostly) on newer hardware with newer OS's..... found out the hard way that it won't work with Vista, even with using compatibility mode. :confused:

I'm not OVERLY pissed about it..... because I still have a functional XP machine, which WILL play the games.

However, I STILL need an older machine to play Warcraft II(Battlenet Edition) on...... since XP won't backward work it.

Fucking winblows!

[cfive]

Thank goodness for Valve, the saviour of those who hate DRM.

[Circuitous]

Thank goodness for Valve, the saviour of those who hate DRM.

Steam is DRM. It just doesn't do its work behind your back without your knowledge.

[Credge]

Just FYI, games bought on steam can still contain things like Securom.

Ok... what is DRM?

DRM is digital rights management. Archaic forms of it include things like CD-Keys and CD checks. New versions include programs malicious programs like Securom, TAGES, or Starforce, all of which do various different things, all of which can cause serious harm to the hardware on your PC. This is slightly illegal in the United States, hence the lawsuits against EA for games like Spore, Mass Effect, and soon to be RA3.

What this generation of DRM does varies, but general trends are:

Install limits
Activation limits
Constant CD checks
Online varification

The problem with all of this is that it's different from game to game, product to product, and company to company. Spore had 3 total installations. Red Alert 3 has 5 activations and unlimited installs per computer. Far Cry 2 has 5 PC activations and 5 installs per PC. This wouldn't be so bad if every measure of DRM was, at least, similar. They're all so vastly different that it's a pain to remember how many of what you have left, if you can get installs or activations back from removals, etc.

Malicious things can include:

HDD failure
CD/DVD drive failure (from constant CD checks)
Severe CD/DVD malfunction (from constant CD checks)
Game Crashes
BSOD's
Freezing
Sound issues
Game slowdowns (from CD checks)
Refusal to run if any emulation software is found on your PC*
Black listed CD and DVD drives

*I have emulation software running on my PC currently and Securom fails to detect it, I imagine this is because this doesn't actually work worth a damn.

To make this situation even worse, Securom, TAGES, or Starforce (all 3 will now be called Securom) does not work. If you pirate the game, you do not get Securom. You do not have to worry about online varification. You do not have to worry about any of the negatives when you pirate.

Consumers that buy the game do.

Google things like "The Sims Securom Stories" or "Mass Effect DRM Trouble". Things like this just make people want to pirate more. It's not pretty.

The entire situation is poor. The gaming industry needs to take note of how DRM did not work with the music industry and dump it. It doesn't work, it doesn't prevent pirates from using their products, and all it does is lose them money from things like:

Securom Fees for having the program used on your product
Lost sales from people who are tired of these draconian measures
Lawsuits

It drives consumers away from their products and loses the industry money. EA, the one who has used Securom the most, has been hit the hardest as was shown over the last two quarters.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103003599.html

And just to clarify, it's a false assumption that every pirated game is a lost sale. Just because somebody pirates a copy of a game does not mean they would ever have bought the game.

[Ihmhi]

Addendum to yours, Credge: DRM says I shouldn't have stuff like Virtual Clone Drive (an .iso reader) on my computer.

I mean, why the Hell would I want to play my ripped images of computer games when I can just let the discs get scratched to shit from constant swapping?

[פֿяαιп βαмαgεפ]

http://www.vincentchow.net/images/piracyglobalwarming.jpg

:rolleyes: