RA3 (and more DRM bullshitery)

[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.

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]

Originally Posted by cfive

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.

Originally Posted by Iggy

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...103003599.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]