EA copy protection taken to new heights

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jdjbuffalo

Senior member
Oct 26, 2000
433
0
0
I was going to buy Mass Effect but after hearing about this crap there is no way.

Several months ago I wanted to buy Bioshock but was put off by this same crap. I recently had considered getting it on Steam but it still has the DRM on it so again, they aren't getting my money.

My gaming buddy that I play a ton of games with wanted to buy Bioshock. I talked him out of it because of this DRM crap. He was considering Mass Effect but I'm sure he won't get it now.

Do you hear this Bioware/EA? You're out $200+ just so you can TRY to prevent pirates from taking your games. Plus the millions of other dollars that my fellow gamers aren't willing to fork out because of your DRM crap.

I wish this thread got plastered up in their boardroom while their scratching their heads wondering why their sales are 25% less than they expected and people are canceling their pre-orders. People will always pirate your software, get over it. If you make a good game then people will pay you (see Sins of a Solar Empire).

I've got the money and a kick ass gaming system (but no consoles) and I want your product but not if it's crippled and not if I have to go out an get a crack just so I can use the damn thing!
 

mismajor99

Member
Apr 21, 2004
105
0
0
Online activation is pointless and will only be a hindrance to legit players, not the illegitimate azzholes freeloading.

There's too many idiots downloading PC Games and not paying for them, period. The attach rate on PC sux ballz and the money handlers at these big publishing companies have the final say. People can argue till they're blue in the face about piracy, but the people making decisions see the lousy sales numbers in 99% of games, and all the freeloading a-holes, and say "f" it. What are we to do? Argue on the internet forums? All we can do is support the developers, and make sure we tell other people to support the people making our games. With the sheer amount of PC Gamers that are able to play games, which is in the millions and millions (just look at Nvidia and ATI's numbers), there's no reason that each and every quality PC Game can't sell better than a console game.

Beyond WoW, there needs to be a better effort on our part as PC Gamers to prove we care about our platform. Example? Here's to hoping Stalker Clear Sky(The only AAA FPS coming to PC this year, no DRM at all) can pull the numbers it deserves, and prove that we don't need activation on our games, which does nothing buy hinder the legit buyer. Look down on the idiot freeloaders, and make sure to thank them for the BS the platform gets in return, which is headaches from people that would rather punish their customers than reward them.
 

EKKC

Diamond Member
May 31, 2005
5,895
0
0
and they blame piracy for the downfall or PC gaming... :|

lets face it, pirates will crack the game no matter how hard it looks or how good the protection is

the only thing this serves is confusing the hell out of the normal user who legally purchased the game and piss them off and force them to move to console gaming..
 

Chapbass

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
3,143
88
91
Originally posted by: m0mentary
Thats retarded, if they want to go that route they should just do cd-key checks for every patch release. Every 10 days??? thats nuts.

you know...thats actually a REALLY good idea. THEN THEY WOULD PATCH THEIR GAMES! zomg what a thought.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
Originally posted by: wanderer27
Yeah, we can trust EA . . . right?

http://arstechnica.com/journal...st-social-gamers-mourn

The above servers to be shut down in August, you know they'll do the same to these once the cash flow dwindles.


Ran across another article on this DRM/SecuROM issue we've been beating on today - this is reference to both Mass Effect and Spore:

http://arstechnica.com/journal...ecurom-good-for-gamers

Interesting, gamers 'donating' money to a developer for the game they are going to 'steal' because they don't want to deal with the copy protection. Enclose a letter information them of that effect.

Probably have the FBI show up and arrest you for piracy though.
 

ZzZGuy

Golden Member
Nov 15, 2006
1,855
0
0
I've come to the decision to not pirate either game out of spite (got ME for 360). Poor sale figures are one thing, rubbing their nose in their own p*** with low levels of pirating would make the lesson much more powerful as they have only themselves to blame.
 

pontifex

Lifer
Dec 5, 2000
43,806
46
91
Originally posted by: Xavier434
Originally posted by: pontifex
Originally posted by: mindcycle
Originally posted by: pontifex
you do know that if the check isn't done it doesn't mean that your disc explodes or becomes unusable, right? you just have to re-do the check.

It's still unnecessary and treats paying customers like criminals.

i'm not saying it's right, i'm justr saying some people are taking it way too far.

The check really isn't the big deal. The big deal is that I will not be permitted to play this game after my third computer upgrade. I upgrade a lot and I love being able to go back and play older games that I bought back in the day. This DRM will not let me do that even though I paid for it. I am not doing anything wrong by upgrading my computer yet EA is telling me that if I do that too much then I cannot play the game that I paid for despite being a 100% legit customer. Fuck that.

uh...don't you get that license or whatever they call it back when you uninstall? didn't we go through this with bioshock already?
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
Originally posted by: pontifex
Originally posted by: Xavier434
Originally posted by: pontifex
Originally posted by: mindcycle
Originally posted by: pontifex
you do know that if the check isn't done it doesn't mean that your disc explodes or becomes unusable, right? you just have to re-do the check.

It's still unnecessary and treats paying customers like criminals.

i'm not saying it's right, i'm justr saying some people are taking it way too far.

The check really isn't the big deal. The big deal is that I will not be permitted to play this game after my third computer upgrade. I upgrade a lot and I love being able to go back and play older games that I bought back in the day. This DRM will not let me do that even though I paid for it. I am not doing anything wrong by upgrading my computer yet EA is telling me that if I do that too much then I cannot play the game that I paid for despite being a 100% legit customer. Fuck that.

uh...don't you get that license or whatever they call it back when you uninstall? didn't we go through this with bioshock already?

That doesn't make it any less of a dry ass fvck.
 

Pia

Golden Member
Feb 28, 2008
1,563
0
0
I would have bought Mass Effect. Possibly would have bought Spore later, after reviews. 3 installs and phoning home? Riiiight. I've got Crysis incoming in a graphics card bundle... looks a lot like the first EA product I'll own will also be the last.

On general principle, I won't pay for anything I'd have to crack to get something that works. Doing so would send the message I'm cool with them sabotaging their own product. PC gaming won't go anywhere, and we don't need to pay ransom. Everyone else only needs to look at the companies that *are* successful on the PC, and they'll know there is a market there. Blizzard, for instance, doesn't only do WoW. Everything else they have made has also sold well. Even their old games like War3 are still selling.

mismajor99: Stalker-Clear Sky doesn't have any DRM? It was on my shopping list already, I'm so glad to hear this. I think I'll also be buying some title from Stardock because they are something of a no-DRM flagbearer these days.
 

wanderer27

Platinum Member
Aug 6, 2005
2,173
15
81
Originally posted by: Pia
I would have bought Mass Effect. Possibly would have bought Spore later, after reviews. 3 installs and phoning home? Riiiight. I've got Crysis incoming in a graphics card bundle... looks a lot like the first EA product I'll own will also be the last.

On general principle, I won't pay for anything I'd have to crack to get something that works. Doing so would send the message I'm cool with them sabotaging their own product. PC gaming won't go anywhere, and we don't need to pay ransom. Everyone else only needs to look at the companies that *are* successful on the PC, and they'll know there is a market there. Blizzard, for instance, doesn't only do WoW. Everything else they have made has also sold well. Even their old games like War3 are still selling.

mismajor99: Stalker-Clear Sky doesn't have any DRM? It was on my shopping list already, I'm so glad to hear this. I think I'll also be buying some title from Stardock because they are something of a no-DRM flagbearer these days.

I may be mistaken, but I believe Crysis has some kind of DRM (SecureROM ?) on it. At least that's why I haven't picked it up.

If I'm off on this (Crysis), I may have too look into getting it, but I thought I read on another thread here somewhere that there's some hosed up protection on it - not as bad as Bioshock or the two games discussed here though.

 

Pia

Golden Member
Feb 28, 2008
1,563
0
0
Originally posted by: wanderer27
I may be mistaken, but I believe Crysis has some kind of DRM (SecureROM ?) on it. At least that's why I haven't picked it up.

If I'm off on this (Crysis), I may have too look into getting it, but I thought I read on another thread here somewhere that there's some hosed up protection on it - not as bad as Bioshock or the two games discussed here though.
I thought it might.

... ZOMG I googled it and right off the bat found Anandtech threads that say Crysis is incompatible with SATA optical drives :Q

Are these companies trying to commit suicide with DRM or what? Had I bought an unbundled game, I'd be taking it back the instant the install fails, exchanging for another copy (with the assumption the disc is physically broken), then taking the second copy back and leaving with my money. That can't be good for the distributor in the long run.

Anyway, the threads say making an image on another computer and using Alcohol 52% to load the image will get over the DRM. Alternatively, acquiring a warez version and keeping the legit one in the box. I guess I'll be taking one of these options now. Wonders never cease... :roll:

My neighbor is a Bioware fan, putting in countless hours in BG and NWN. I'll be sure to tell him of MEPC's DRM too. Three sales down and counting, EA... <3
 

HannibalX

Diamond Member
May 12, 2000
9,361
2
0
I suppose I won't be buying this game then. I shouldn't have to prove I bought the game over and over and over (or at all after the initial installation IMO).
 

Continuity28

Golden Member
Jul 2, 2005
1,653
0
76
Originally posted by: CP5670
This doesn't really matter to me. Anything with Securom on my machines gets a crack installed first thing anyway.

I use no-dvd cracks in order to increase longevity of the discs and drive and speed up game loading, but cracking games doesn't actually remove the DRM from your system.

When you install modern games, DRM can be loaded in different ways, depending on the type. It could be a service, or rootkit latching onto existing services, and generally gets placed in the registry as well. Simply modifying the game executable will only bypass the execution of DRM for that game, but it doesn't actually get removed from your system. You could still have SecuROM or Starforce services always running in the background, causing who knows what kind of technical issues.

The only real way around it is not installing the game at all, or perhaps removing the DRM once the game is cracked through a third-party tool - which isn't always reliable.

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Probably have the FBI show up and arrest you for piracy though.

I doubt they would waste the money and manpower on that.
 

CP5670

Diamond Member
Jun 24, 2004
5,508
586
126
Originally posted by: Continuity28
Originally posted by: CP5670
This doesn't really matter to me. Anything with Securom on my machines gets a crack installed first thing anyway.

I use no-dvd cracks in order to increase longevity of the discs and drive and speed up game loading, but cracking games doesn't actually remove the DRM from your system.

When you install modern games, DRM can be loaded in different ways, depending on the type. It could be a service, or rootkit latching onto existing services, and generally gets placed in the registry as well. Simply modifying the game executable will only bypass the execution of DRM for that game, but it doesn't actually get removed from your system. You could still have SecuROM or Starforce services always running in the background, causing who knows what kind of technical issues.

The only real way around it is not installing the game at all, or perhaps removing the DRM once the game is cracked through a third-party tool - which isn't always reliable.

The whole idea is to put the crack on before you actually run the game for the first time. These DRM systems are contained in the game exe itself and only get loaded onto your computer when you actually open the exe, not when you install the game. Both Securom and Starforce work like this, so it's easy to prevent them from messing up your system as long as you do everything in the right order.
 

Sunner

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
11,641
0
76
SecuROM is the reason I haven't bought Bio Shock, even though it seems like a good game, and I would gladly shell out the money for it.

This thread was useful though, it made me look up Sins of a Solar Empire, and that seems like a good game too, so I guess my money will go towards that instead :)
 

Edge1

Senior member
Feb 17, 2007
439
0
0
Glad to hear that about Clear Sky. I bought Stalker, but its on the shelf til I finish Oblivion. I strongly suspect I'll buy Clear Sky. Frankly all I (we) can do is support the developers who don't do the restrictive DRM thing. That's my plan anyhow. Enough already.
 

MTDEW

Diamond Member
Oct 31, 1999
4,284
37
91
I always did and still do think that the answer to piracy is pricing.
If a game costs $30 or less , then it will make it a lot more convenient to just purchase the game then for pirates to fiddle with cracks , mounting images or whatever.

And i really dont get the pc is easier to pirate games on than the consoles, with the pc its a different crack method for each title, with a console, you mod the console ONCE and play all future games by simply burning a copy and inserting it into the console.

Anyway,
Lets look at movies for a sec, you can download a movie, and "shrink" it and remove all the extras to get it to fit on a regular cheap dvd, and if you want a NICE copy, you can even download and print the label right onto the dvd and make a dvd sleeve cover, then you have a copy that took a lot of work and time just to have a version that is "almost" as good as the copy you can buy at Walmart for $15 - $20.
And your "close to legit" copy cost you time , ink and a dvd case and cover anyway.

So even people who pirate movies, most likely still buy a real copy if they like the movie and intend to keep it in their collection because its so cheap to own the real thing.




 

BladeVenom

Lifer
Jun 2, 2005
13,540
16
0
Originally posted by: Sunner
SecuROM is the reason I haven't bought Bio Shock, even though it seems like a good game, and I would gladly shell out the money for it.

This thread was useful though, it made me look up Sins of a Solar Empire, and that seems like a good game too, so I guess my money will go towards that instead :)

That's good. SoaSE is a game definitely worth supporting. Hopefully as more developers start to release games through Stardock, some of the other publishers will be able to take a hint.

Another developer, Gas Powered Games, will be releasing Demigod through Stardock.
 

Calculator83

Banned
Nov 26, 2007
890
0
0
Originally posted by: ja1484
Originally posted by: Lithan
This is hilarious. It'll be cracked in a matter of hours after release.


I hope so, because I ain't buying Mass Effect until there's some way to disable this. Legal or not doesn't really matter to me. I'll buy a legit copy, always do, but I'm not going to be treated like a criminal for paying good money for a product.


And I'm with Quantum - this makes me want to pirate it just because.

Ur all liars,, "Wink" same here. yea I'll buy the real copy
 

EarthwormJim

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 2003
3,239
0
76
Originally posted by: MTDEW

Anyway,
Lets look at movies for a sec, you can download a movie, and "shrink" it and remove all the extras to get it to fit on a regular cheap dvd, and if you want a NICE copy, you can even download and print the label right onto the dvd and make a dvd sleeve cover, then you have a copy that took a lot of work and time just to have a version that is "almost" as good as the copy you can buy at Walmart for $15 - $20.
And your "close to legit" copy cost you time , ink and a dvd case and cover anyway.

So even people who pirate movies, most likely still buy a real copy if they like the movie and intend to keep it in their collection because its so cheap to own the real thing.

What if a person doesn't care about it appearing close to legit? What if all they want is the movie. $20 a movie adds up quickly, especially if you're in the 18-25 range, which I'm sure the majority of pirates are.

I really think the only way to combat piracy, is cheaper prices. It's already clear people don't care about picture quality and packaging. Maybe if movie companies came out with lower quality, but cheaper movie videos, piracy could go down.

 

Xavier434

Lifer
Oct 14, 2002
10,377
1
0
Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
Originally posted by: MTDEW

Anyway,
Lets look at movies for a sec, you can download a movie, and "shrink" it and remove all the extras to get it to fit on a regular cheap dvd, and if you want a NICE copy, you can even download and print the label right onto the dvd and make a dvd sleeve cover, then you have a copy that took a lot of work and time just to have a version that is "almost" as good as the copy you can buy at Walmart for $15 - $20.
And your "close to legit" copy cost you time , ink and a dvd case and cover anyway.

So even people who pirate movies, most likely still buy a real copy if they like the movie and intend to keep it in their collection because its so cheap to own the real thing.

What if a person doesn't care about it appearing close to legit? What if all they want is the movie. $20 a movie adds up quickly, especially if you're in the 18-25 range, which I'm sure the majority of pirates are.

I really think the only way to combat piracy, is cheaper prices. It's already clear people don't care about picture quality and packaging. Maybe if movie companies came out with lower quality, but cheaper movie videos, piracy could go down.


A lot of games (especially older games) are very cheap right now. Yet, people are still pirating them all of the time. Think Diablo or Sim City for instance.
 

RS8

Senior member
Oct 14, 2007
202
0
71
Lol I was gonna post something along those lines after a friend of mine who works at Bioware told me about the 10 day thing.
 

mindcycle

Golden Member
Jan 9, 2008
1,901
0
76
Originally posted by: s44
MASSIVE UPDATE

WOW.. Definitely a step in the right direction. They are listening to their customers, that is excellent. I'd still like to see this DRM crap go away completely. It's already been proven that it doesn't work. But.. this make me feel much better about pre-ordering the game.