DRM -- "I just don't like punishing people that buy our stuff."

[WhipperSnapper]

I just started listening to an interview with Stardock's CEO and it's very refreshing to hear some of what he has to say:

http://forums.elementalgame.com/386989

"The thing is I like making games for people who want to play the game. I mean, none of our customers are gonna go and say, 'Oh my God, there's no three minute cut scene that looks like something from a movie. I guess I'm not going to play it.' I mean, they don't care about that kind of thing."

"Yeah, we're not making games for teenagers. There isn't anything wrong with them. If you're listening and you're a teenager, please buy our game."

"My position on DRM isn't that I don't like DRM as a principle. I just don't like punishing people who buy my stuff. Right. People are giving our company their hard-earned dollars and they should not be treated like criminals. I mean why should they be harassed? They shouldn't be obviously. So with restrictive DRM, I don't want my customers to ever feel like they're a chump for playing by the rules while their friend who pirates it doesn't have to jump through those hoops."

Love it!

 

[lupi]

can you buy a stardock game and then resell it to someone else?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

can you buy a stardock game and then resell it to someone else?

I don't think so. I think you're buying a license for your own personal use. Whether or not you can give a buddy your CD-Key and Impulse account login info and then have him d/l the game, I don't know. I suppose that you could sell someone your game DVD and he could then install the game--as it was in its retail release. But without being able to log into Impulse and register it he wouldn't be able to patch it up or purchase the expansions.

I guess it's not so great if you want to become a used games dealer. On the other hand, if you're seriously interested in playing the game for your own enjoyment, then having to put up with less BS than what the other studios and publishers are foisting on people is a good thing.

 

[zerogear]

can you buy a stardock game and then resell it to someone else?

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/4...elling-To-Impulse-Digital-Distribution-System

No idea if its implemented though, I've never tried to resell any games, so it's a non issue for me.

 

[lupi]

I don't think so. I think you're buying a license for your own personal use. Whether or not you can give a buddy your CD-Key and Impulse account login info and then have him d/l the game, I don't know. I suppose that you could sell someone your game DVD and he could then install the game--as it was in its retail release. But without being able to log into Impulse and register it he wouldn't be able to patch it up or purchase the expansions.

I guess it's not so great if you want to become a used games dealer. On the other hand, if you're seriously interested in playing the game for your own enjoyment, then having to put up with less BS than what the other studios and publishers are foisting on people is a good thing.

so in other words, he's still talking shit while maintaining one of the most stringent DRM schemes out there.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

so in other words, he's still talking shit while maintaining one of the most stringent DRM schemes out there.

I don't think so. No having to put a disk in the drive. No having to be logged on to play. No install limits. No BS.

 

[Nintendesert]

Stardock is hardly the most stringent DRM schemes, if you think it is then you need to go look at what Ubi has been cooking up lately.

 

[pontifex]

unfortunately every time we hear someone against DRM it's from Stardock, whom haven't released any games I play or want to play.

 

[Bateluer]

unfortunately every time we hear someone against DRM it's from Stardock, whom haven't released any games I play or want to play.

Stardock's released several decent titles, Galactic Civilizations, Sins of a Solar Empire, etc. Worth buying.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Sins of a Solar Empire is a unique, overlooked, totally awesome RTS.

 

[pontifex]

Stardock's released several decent titles, Galactic Civilizations, Sins of a Solar Empire, etc. Worth buying.

I didn't say they weren't decent. I said they aren't games I want to play.

 

[zagood]

unfortunately every time we hear someone against DRM it's from Stardock, whom haven't released any games I play or want to play.

You may be thinking of Starforce. Big difference.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

No, he mean's Stardock. Their current business model is to make ultra-niche titles and badmouth DRM while doing it for the free PR.

 

[Elcs]

No, he mean's Stardock. Their current business model is to make ultra-niche titles and badmouth DRM while doing it for the free PR.

You can hardly call their games ultra-niche.

 

[ZzZGuy]

I still hate impulse.

Not all the game I bought via digital download do not appear on my account for re-download despite having played them before (then uninstalling them).

 

[lupi]

Just because you deem his DRM method as acceptable, doesn't purge the fact that it is in fact DRM and equivalent with the likes of Steam and other than providing an offline mode could be compared to the new Ubi version.

 

[Daverino]

No, he mean's Stardock. Their current business model is to make ultra-niche titles and badmouth DRM while doing it for the free PR.

Basically, yeah. Stardock is known more for its anti-DRM stance than the games they publish. And Impulse as a DDS is still light years behind Steam in terms of convenience, content and integration. I only bought one game through Impulse: Demigod. Now Demigod is a wonderfully awesome but stupidly flawed game. Gas Powered Games and Stardock released the game with netcode that just didn't work. GPG blamed Stardock and Stardock blamed GPG for the mess. Eventually, GPG just walked away from the game and Stardock had to sink their own money into fixing it. While I praise Stardock for sticking with the game (and will never buy another GPG title again), the whole thing was rank amateur.

On a side note, Demigod is much more stable and fun now. If you can pick it up for cheap, it's a unique online multiplayer experience in a really cool setting. The big problem is the community has gotten so small that there's little room for rookies. But if you do want to be stepped through, PM me. My Demigod player name is SaulTigh.

 

[pontifex]

You may be thinking of Starforce. Big difference.

no, stardock...starforce doesn't even make sense in that context.

 

[pontifex]

You can hardly call their games ultra-niche.

They only have like 3 games and all are strategy style games...i'd call that fairly niche.

 

[Martimus]

Just because you deem his DRM method as acceptable, doesn't purge the fact that it is in fact DRM and equivalent with the likes of Steam and other than providing an offline mode could be compared to the new Ubi version.

Really? Do you really believe that? It is only like Steam in that you can download the game on any computer you own, and it will automatically update games if you leave Impulse on.

Unlike Steam, you can run the games on all computers you own at the same time (even computers you don't own), you don't need to run Impulse in the background to play any game (I never have it running, except to update a game), and you can go back to old versions of the game if the new update changed something you don't like.

Compairing it to Ubisofts DRM is laughable, in that I cannot think of a single thing about the two services that are alike.

The Impulse way of DRM is just to tie your updates to your game liscense, so that if you want to update the game you need to use the liscense to do so. Then they continue to work on and support the game/software for years afterward so that this makes buying the game worth more than stealing it. (For example, I bought GC1 in maybe 2001; the last update I received for the game was in 2008 - 7 years later.) They budget more funds for support than they do for development of the software. While this is nothing new for applications, they brought that method over into the games they develop as well.

There are plenty of issues with Impulse, mostly the same issues we saw with Steam during its first few years, but to call it nearly as restrictive as either Steam or Ubi's DRM is taking it a little far.

EDIT: I realize that the way I wrote this was likely inflamatory. I honestly meant no offense, and did not mean to insult anyone. I just see big differences between the three forms of DRM; but for others they may not notice the difference if they don't mind running unnecessary processes in the background, or have a constant internet connection required while playing their games.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

No one wants to comment on the other quotes?

"The thing is I like making games for people who want to play the game. I mean, none of our customers are gonna go and say, 'Oh my God, there's no three minute cut scene that looks like something from a movie. I guess I'm not going to play it.' I mean, they don't care about that kind of thing."

"Yeah, we're not making games for teenagers. There isn't anything wrong with them. If you're listening and you're a teenager, please buy our game."

 

[mmntech]

Spore was a major milestone, since they angered so many casual gamers. EA along with most other companies have drastically cut down their DRM. Instead they've adopted online account methods like Steam and are offering exclusive DLC to buyers. I think we're starting to see a balance between gamers and IP owners' rights.

The only major publisher not doing this is Ubisoft. They're working backwards IMO.

I wouldn't call Steam restrictive.

 

[BladeVenom]

can you buy a stardock game and then resell it to someone else?

You can sell the game to someone else. You can't sell an account to someone else though. You don't have to activate their games, and don't need an internet connection to play. So if you buy a used game you can play, but you get no support.

It's not DRM. They only support the original owner. Which is no different than most hardware companies. Try getting free support for a used PC or other hardware.

There is no DRM, this isn't Steam.

 

[zagood]

lol...I misread. What I saw in my addled brain was "every time we hear something about DRM it's from Stardock" as opposed to "every time we hear someone against DRM it's from Stardock"

My apologies.

 

[lupi]

You can sell the game to someone else. You can't sell an account to someone else though. You don't have to activate their games, and don't need an internet connection to play. So if you buy a used game you can play, but you get no support.

It's not DRM. They only support the original owner. Which is no different than most hardware companies. Try getting free support for a used PC or other hardware.

There is no DRM, this isn't Steam.

try getting a patch from him if you aren't the original owner. now try getting the latest drivers for that video card you just bought off of someone, not that comparing hardware and software are even the same.