DRM and You! Thread

G

Grimhound

Still Mildly Glowing
So, Bioshock 2...

Steam DRM + SecuROM install limits + Games for Windows LIVE.

You are required to pass both Steam and SecuROM checks, and you need to log in to GFWL to be able to even save your game. Also, if you fail any of the checks, Ben Feder and Strauss Zelnick come to your house and shoot your dog.
 
The more I read about ridiculous DRM schemes like those, the less I am able to fathom how corporations that push them can be so persistently and terminally stupid. Take Games for Windows LIVE, for example - if someone at Microsoft played a GfWL game even for five minutes, they must have realized what an unmitigated disaster GfWL was, right down to the very concept. Nowadays I'm inclined to believe that DRM and "services" like GfWL are obtrusive and shitty by design, as part of an elaborate conspiracy by Microsoft and game publishers to destroy PC gaming.
 
Ratty said:
The more I read about ridiculous DRM schemes like those, the less I am able to fathom how corporations that push them can be so persistently and terminally stupid. Take Games for Windows LIVE, for example - if someone at Microsoft played a GfWL game even for five minutes, they must have realized what an unmitigated disaster GfWL was, right down to the very concept. Nowadays I'm inclined to believe that DRM and "services" like GfWL are obtrusive and shitty by design, as part of an elaborate conspiracy by Microsoft and game publishers to destroy PC gaming.
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Microsoft sez: "Tired of GfWL's bullshit? Buy an Ecksbawks, enjoy a 1 in 3 hardware failure rate and a pay-to-play online networking service!"

Someone should really do something about this trend towards absurd DRM. Dunno who, or what they would do, but someone should do something. Like maybe prove to them that DRM is more harmful to them than piracy ever was. Yeah.
 
Wow didnt see that one coming, but after many DRM fiasco's you'd think they would come up a better way to deal with their customers. Not that it matters I think, it will be cracked most likely in matter of time. Users who get the DRM version on the other hand will, get yet another painful experience. Having been on the receiving end of DRM, i have to say best way to go about it is to buy the original, then get free DRM version and play that . And then let the DRM version collect dust on shelf.
 
Well although I do not agree with such silly DRM methods, I can understand that companies may simply want to protect their income. Nowadays gamind industry is a huge bussines and it's pretty easy to get stomped by someone if you're not good enough (sell enough copies).

Also, I doubt that the amount of people swayed away from buying a game only because of DRM is even close to how many people pirate their copies, so it's not that big of a loss.
 
Ravager69 said:
Well although I do not agree with such silly DRM methods, I can understand that companies may simply want to protect their income. Nowadays gamind industry is a huge bussines and it's pretty easy to get stomped by someone if you're not good enough (sell enough copies).

Also, I doubt that the amount of people swayed away from buying a game only because of DRM is even close to how many people pirate their copies, so it's not that big of a loss.
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The number of people who don't know what DRM even IS, much less CARE about it, is still fairly large. The lay "gamer" doesn't give two shits, he just wants to play something. When it becomes a hassle to play something, he'll bitch and moan and then go ahead and buy ANOTHER DRM "protected" game, usually totally unwittingly. The industry juggernauts that employ DRM are IMO the least likely to suffer anything even approaching "crippling losses to piracy", and they thrive off the layman's apathy, ignorance and complacency.
 
I couldn't even install BioShock 1 and I bought the game two times. (Normal version and Collectors Edition) So I've spend 100 euro on it. :P

Will not touche Bioshock 2 in any kind of way. It's a big no-no for me.
 
Re: Bioshock 2's DRM Onion

GreyViper said:
Having been on the receiving end of DRM, i have to say best way to go about it is to buy the original, then get free DRM version and play that .
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This is a gaming server. Please do not promote cracking software (and I agree with you in principle, ownership is ownership). I feel this thread'll veer of this way too much anyway, so I'm only warning once, piracy/cracking promotion will get this locked.

Lexx said:
I couldn't even install BioShock 1 and I bought the game two times. (Normal version and Collectors Edition) So I've spend 100 euro on it. :P
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Sucks.

You know I've never had a single issue with a game caused by DRM. But boy the internet is full of horror stories.

Grimhound said:
Steam DRM + SecuROM install limits + Games for Windows LIVE.
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The live service probably annoys me more than anything. I remember buying GTA IV and having to run Steam, Rockstar LIVE, and Windows LIVE to play it.

Also, let's not pretend DRMs are "fiascos". The games industry is fairly incompetent but not that incompetent. They're learning to veer away from certain methods but mostly they're just polishing up the way they present stuff. Steam DRM does not get any backlash despite still being DRM. DRMs aren't perfect, I think most industrialites would agree, but the delay on piracy of even a few days makes a huge sales difference.

Ratty said:
Nowadays I'm inclined to believe that DRM and "services" like GfWL are obtrusive and shitty by design, as part of an elaborate conspiracy by Microsoft and game publishers to destroy PC gaming.
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Close but not really. GfWL is an extension of the same reasoning that makes consoles so popular: fees to the provider means games need to sell a lot to be profitable, but without those fees you lack piracy protection and thus your sales numbers plumit.
The incompetent execution is just a consequence of the fact that neither Microsoft nor a lot of major publishers really honestly care about PC as a platform.
 
From what I've read, you don't need steam unless that's where you're buying it.
Boxed copies do not have steam as a required installation or anything.
 
Re: Bioshock 2's DRM Onion

Brother None said:
Sucks.

You know I've never had a single issue with a game caused by DRM. But boy the internet is full of horror stories.
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My problem was very simple. I even asked in several forums about it, but nobody could really help me.

Installing was no problem and fine. Then I activated the game and it says everything is ok. But if I now try to start the game, I get the message again, that I have to activate Bioshock first. So... then I have done it again... and again... and again... until the amount of maximal installation was reached. After this I could use the rewoke tool to clean it up. Now I can try to activate it again... and again... and again... etc.

That's how it runs for me and yes, it is a true story.
 
Re: Bioshock 2's DRM Onion

Lexx said:
Brother None said:
Sucks.

You know I've never had a single issue with a game caused by DRM. But boy the internet is full of horror stories.
Click to expand...

My problem was very simple. I even asked in several forums about it, but nobody could really help me.

Installing was no problem and fine. Then I activated the game and it says everything is ok. But if I now try to start the game, I get the message again, that I have to activate Bioshock first. So... then I have done it again... and again... and again... until the amount of maximal installation was reached. After this I could use the rewoke tool to clean it up. Now I can try to activate it again... and again... and again... etc.

That's how it runs for me and yes, it is a true story.
Click to expand...

If I remember right they suspended the limit in place on the first one at the coaxing of Ken Levine sometime after the game's release. Not sure if they went back on that.
 
Dunno if this is today still like back then. Didn't installed the game since a long time. After I managed to get it to work with... different technics, I didn't deinstalled it for a long time.

Maybe I will try it again... some day. But most probably not in the near future.
 
I'm curious if making GFWL mandatory classifies as aiding Microsoft in anti-competitive practices by furthering the lock of games to the Windows operating system and if 2k/Take Two Interactive could be held as an accessory in the court of law.
 
I can't understand why companies include other DRM in Steam releases. Seriously, Steam is currently the best and least intrusive method - why the hell do you put in your crippled, limping crap too?
 
OakTable said:
Hahahaha, console version wins again! Looks like I'll be enjoying my copy of BioShock 2.
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No, console version still loses. First-person games on consoles don't work as well as their PC versions.

Also, am I one of the few people on the internet who can't get riled up over DRM?
 
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