EA copy protection taken to new heights

[MustISO]

Was securerom ever fixed or does it still have the security hole that was discovered a while back?

 

[mindcycle]

Apparently there's a working crack out now.. People have been hard at work trying to crack this game for some reason. Probably because it's a high profile game, but I also think there's a big push to break this ridiculous copy protection.

I bought the game, but I can understand why others don't want to purchase it because of the ridiculous DRM. Just makes you wonder how things would have gone if there was no DRM at all.. I personally know a few people who were more than ready to throw down cash to buy it but didn't because of the DRM. ..and there were loads of people on this forum alone who canceled their pre-orders as well. So ok.. maybe they got past the initial wave of pirating by including a DRM system that "worked". But if they hadn't used anything at all, would they have sold more copies? Makes you wonder.. After all, someone who is going to pirate the game isn't a potential customer anyway.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: s44

Originally posted by: ghost recon88

Originally posted by: Lithan
This is hilarious. It'll be cracked in a matter of hours after release.

What are you quoting this for? This assertion, taken as holy writ by many, was proved totally wrong. The pirates only came up with broken, unfinishable versions of a cracked game. Even if they succeed in a few weeks, it doesn't matter. It's the initial wave of sales that's important, and the DRM seems to have worked in this case.

Why are sales in the initial wave more important than sales later? The game will cost the same in two weeks, so any purchases made at that time will be just as valid as purchases made on day one. The publisher doesn't give a shit, they make the same amount of money either way.

The DRM kept me from purchasing the game at all. Not only did they spend a huge chunk of change on a shoddy DRM scheme, but they lost sales because of it . Yeah, the DRM did a great job :roll:

 

[CottonRabbit]

So, it took them a week to completely crack the game. I guess the draconian DRM did a pretty good job :disgust:, about on par with Bioshock. Staving off the pirates for a week is hardly worth the flak they took over the DRM. The game hasn't even released in Europe yet. They would make more sales had they adopted Stardock's model and allowed the pirates to have their fun a week early while the rest of us enjoyed a DRMless game. I'd imagine most players too anxious to wait an 1 extra week would have pre-ordered the game anyways.

 

[Bateluer]

I'd be curious to know who bought Mass Effect and who didn't because of the DRM. It seems like a lot of people here purchased the game and enjoyed it immensely, despite the DRM issues.

 

[mindcycle]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Why are sales in the initial wave more important than sales later? The game will cost the same in two weeks, so any purchases made at that time will be just as valid as purchases made on day one. The publisher doesn't give a shit, they make the same amount of money either way.

It's like a big budget movie title, where most of the profit is made off the debut weekend. Same thing with video games. A good chunk of the profit is made during the first few days or during the first week. So stopping the game from be pirated right away will "theoretically" lead to more sales during that time period. But.. if there wasn't DRM at all, how many people would have bought the game that refused to because of the DRM.. Makes you wonder.

I still don't understand why these big game companies don't adapt a different outlook. Why make it harder for your customer to use a product they paid for? The pirates have no intention of buying anything, so is a pirated copy really a lost sale?

 

[Red Storm]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
I'd be curious to know who bought Mass Effect and who didn't because of the DRM. It seems like a lot of people here purchased the game and enjoyed it immensely, despite the DRM issues.

I had issues with installing the game at first, but once I got past that it's been a smooth ride. The DRM has not in any way, shape, or form affected my enjoyment of the game.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: mindcycle

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Why are sales in the initial wave more important than sales later? The game will cost the same in two weeks, so any purchases made at that time will be just as valid as purchases made on day one. The publisher doesn't give a shit, they make the same amount of money either way.

It's like a big budget movie title, where most of the profit is made off the debut weekend. Same thing with video games. A good chunk of the profit is made during the first few days or during the first week. So stopping the game from be pirated right away will "theoretically" lead to more sales during that time period. But.. if there wasn't DRM at all, how many people would have bought the game that refused to because of the DRM.. Makes you wonder.

I still don't understand why these big game companies don't adapt a different outlook. Why make it harder for your customer to use a product they paid for? The pirates have no intention of buying anything, so is a pirated copy really a lost sale?

To piggy back on this, different genre's sell differently. FPSs tend to have high sales for the first few weeks, or sometimes months, then they drop off rather quickly and people forget them about them for the next big FPS on the horizon. Strategy and RPG genre's don't have as high initial sales, but their sales remain steady throughout most of the life of the title. It takes years for the sales of a good RTS or RPG to drop off entirely, where as even the biggest FPS is history after 6 months tops.

 

[wbynum]

Originally posted by: s44

Originally posted by: ghost recon88

Originally posted by: Lithan
This is hilarious. It'll be cracked in a matter of hours after release.

What are you quoting this for? This assertion, taken as holy writ by many, was proved totally wrong. The pirates only came up with broken, unfinishable versions of a cracked game. Even if they succeed in a few weeks, it doesn't matter. It's the initial wave of sales that's important, and the DRM seems to have worked in this case.

I totally disagree. The vast majority of pirates are just going to wait a week or two for a working copy of the game. The pirates are not the people that go out and buy the game when it is released.

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: s44

What are you quoting this for? This assertion, taken as holy writ by many, was proved totally wrong. The pirates only came up with broken, unfinishable versions of a cracked game. Even if they succeed in a few weeks, it doesn't matter. It's the initial wave of sales that's important, and the DRM seems to have worked in this case.

The first cracks came out within days, and in less than a week better complete cracks were available.

You way overestimate initial sales for PC games. Some console games may get half their sales in the first month, but PC gamers are on average older and more patient. Just look at UT3 and Crysis which sold poorly the first month but both went on to sell over a million copies.

DRM was once again a total failure It only annoyed people who bought the game, and even kept many people from buying it.

 

[Canai]

Originally posted by: wbynum

Originally posted by: s44

Originally posted by: ghost recon88

Originally posted by: Lithan
This is hilarious. It'll be cracked in a matter of hours after release.

What are you quoting this for? This assertion, taken as holy writ by many, was proved totally wrong. The pirates only came up with broken, unfinishable versions of a cracked game. Even if they succeed in a few weeks, it doesn't matter. It's the initial wave of sales that's important, and the DRM seems to have worked in this case.

I totally disagree. The vast majority of pirates are just going to wait a week or two for a working copy of the game. The pirates are not the people that go out and buy the game when it is released.

I disagree. I bought Mass Effect on launch day.

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: wanderer27
I'm in the same Boat:

Orange Box
Crysis
Bioshock
ME
Spore

Games I have/had some interest in until the DRM status came to light - I'm just not going to support DRM.

Orange Box doesn't really have crippling DRM. It does a 1-time validation through Steam, then you can run in offline mode after that if you want to. I guess it's a huge pain if you don't have a Steam account, but it's a pretty seemless install for those of us who do. Overall I like the Steam system, and my only real concern is what will happen when Valve goes out of business or is taken over by a shit company like EA or Ubisoft.


I can't say the DRM afffected my liking of Mass Effect, since I don't really care about this game anyway. What I can say is that DRM is the only reason I did not buy Assassin's Creed. I was right there, in Best Buy, with the game in my hands, and then I see that it won't work because I have Alcoho 52% installed. I was ready to buy it, and the DRM drove me away.

 

[hooflung]

I didn't buy it because of the DRM. Was ready to purchase it and then the DRM articles hit. Only know one person that has and she's in college and can't afford an Xbox 360 system and has a PC that came with a decent card from Best Buy to do her school work on.

 

[wanderer27]

Originally posted by: ShawnD1

Originally posted by: wanderer27
I'm in the same Boat:

Orange Box
Crysis
Bioshock
ME
Spore

Games I have/had some interest in until the DRM status came to light - I'm just not going to support DRM.

Orange Box doesn't really have crippling DRM. It does a 1-time validation through Steam, then you can run in offline mode after that if you want to. I guess it's a huge pain if you don't have a Steam account, but it's a pretty seemless install for those of us who do. Overall I like the Steam system, and my only real concern is what will happen when Valve goes out of business or is taken over by a shit company like EA or Ubisoft.


I can't say the DRM afffected my liking of Mass Effect, since I don't really care about this game anyway. What I can say is that DRM is the only reason I did not buy Assassin's Creed. I was right there, in Best Buy, with the game in my hands, and then I see that it won't work because I have Alcoho 52% installed. I was ready to buy it, and the DRM drove me away.

When you see crap like this:

http://consumerist.com/consume...rnationally-314690.php


Granted, these are International versions sold to U.S. customers . . . but so what?
What's it matter if I buy my game from on overseas distributor? They're still getting their money?

This is actually a great example of how abusive DRM is of consumers rights. They can basically shutdown whoever they want whenever they feel like it for any ole frivolous reason they care to dig up.
Let's not even go into invasion of privacy.

And this is from Valve, whom I have a lot more respect for than EA.

If DRM is the future of gaming, then my gaming days are pretty much done, at least for these new games.
I'll just keep playing my current titles, many of which I've been playing for years anyway.


Now here's an interesting scenario:

1. Hmm, I'm no longer buying state of the art games, so I don't need to upgrade my Computer as often - if at all.
This should make all the Hardware manufacturers happy.

2. Since I'm not getting these Windows based games I don't really have a reason to upgrade to Vista, or Windows 7 (next one coming), or the versions after that.
Wow, for that matter why do I even need/want Windows at all now, why not just go to *nix?
Now this just ought to thrill Microsoft to no end and do wonders for their bottom line.
Let's expand a little more on this one.
Microsoft has already stated that they want to move to a fee based (read licensing) OS - basically they want to get you into an OS that you have to continually pay for . . . indefinitely.

3. Big picture (Microsoft's view) - DRM is (slowly) going to get more insidious, and Joe Sixpack is basically going to put up with it to get his gaming fix. Oh, he'll bitch and moan about it, but we'll (M$) keep him locked into our platform. By supporting and promoting DRM we'll eventually move him to our fee based OS, where he'll pay us for the rest of his life to use our OS. Maybe we'll even throw some in more Spyware as an added bonus.


Far-fetched? Maybe not as much you think.


Maybe it's just time to unplug from the matrix

 

[mindcycle]

I keep bringing it up.. but what's hilariously about the whole DRM thing is all it does is frustrate paying customers. For some reason the industry wants to think DRM is protecting them from lost sales. ..but pirates aren't going to pay for the game anyway!

 

[wanderer27]

Originally posted by: mindcycle
I keep bringing it up.. but what's hilariously about the whole DRM thing is all it does is frustrate paying customers. For some reason the industry wants to think DRM is protecting them from lost sales. ..but pirates aren't going to pay for the game anyway!

Obviously, I agree with you. In my case it's a lost sale, in others it's a lost sale + Piracy.

I'm just not able to work the Logic out on this one. I think this sums it up best:


"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: wanderer27

3. Big picture (Microsoft's view) - DRM is (slowly) going to get more insidious, and Joe Sixpack is basically going to put up with it to get his gaming fix. Oh, he'll bitch and moan about it, but we'll (M$) keep him locked into our platform. By supporting and promoting DRM we'll eventually move him to our fee based OS, where he'll pay us for the rest of his life to use our OS. Maybe we'll even throw some in more Spyware as an added bonus.

If that happens, I will drop windows for Linux in a heart beat. These big players are going to cause the next electronic gaming crash . . . and naturally they will blame piracy for it. Meanwhile, companies like Stardock and their DRM free titles will enjoy solid sales.

 

[wanderer27]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: wanderer27

3. Big picture (Microsoft's view) - DRM is (slowly) going to get more insidious, and Joe Sixpack is basically going to put up with it to get his gaming fix. Oh, he'll bitch and moan about it, but we'll (M$) keep him locked into our platform. By supporting and promoting DRM we'll eventually move him to our fee based OS, where he'll pay us for the rest of his life to use our OS. Maybe we'll even throw some in more Spyware as an added bonus.

If that happens, I will drop windows for Linux in a heart beat. These big players are going to cause the next electronic gaming crash . . . and naturally they will blame piracy for it. Meanwhile, companies like Stardock and their DRM free titles will enjoy solid sales.

Yeah, I almost couldn't believe it when I read about it a couple of years ago.

Apparently they (M$) also want their Office Suite of products to be Web/DB based and Licensed along the same vein. If you think Microsoft is big now, imagine what kind of a Cash Cow they'd be under this type of arrangement - they're pretty much a Monopoly as it is.

Unfortunately, I could actually see Big Business going for something like this - they'd probably get massive discounts/support contracts.
Joe Sixpack is going to take it in the shorts though.

 

[LumbergTech]

i was excited about spore, now im not, byebye to it there will be alternatives

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
I'd be curious to know who bought Mass Effect and who didn't because of the DRM. It seems like a lot of people here purchased the game and enjoyed it immensely, despite the DRM issues.

I bought it because it has a 90%+ on Gamerankings, and I like the Sci-Fi RPG genre. Bioware rarely puts out a bad game too (we'll see how they do now that they have the EA clap).

Had this been a mediocre title, or really a good but not AAA polished title; I'd have passed it over and got my gaming fix elsewhere. I bought Mass Effect, in spite of the draconian DRM, because it is a AAA title. Same goes for Bioshock and the Orange Box for me. I don't like to support Securom or Steam, but I'm also a gamer with a Crossfired HD3870, 4GB RAM, Q6600 setup who doesn't own a PS3 or XBox 360 and who loves to play games. I don't welcome our new draconian digital overlords, but I submit to get my gaming fix none-the-less.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: Golgatha

Originally posted by: Bateluer
I'd be curious to know who bought Mass Effect and who didn't because of the DRM. It seems like a lot of people here purchased the game and enjoyed it immensely, despite the DRM issues.

I bought it because it has a 90%+ on Gamerankings, and I like the Sci-Fi RPG genre. Bioware rarely puts out a bad game too (we'll see how they do now that they have the EA clap).

Had this been a mediocre title, or really a good but not AAA polished title; I'd have passed it over and got my gaming fix elsewhere. I bought Mass Effect, in spite of the draconian DRM, because it is a AAA title. Same goes for Bioshock and the Orange Box for me. I don't like to support Securom or Steam, but I'm also a gamer with a Crossfired HD3870, 4GB RAM, Q6600 setup who doesn't own a PS3 or XBox 360 and who loves to play games. I don't welcome our new draconian digital overlords, but I submit to get my gaming fix none-the-less.

To be fair, Mass Effect was developed by Bioware when they were still independently owned. We shall see what happens with their next crop of titles, particularly Dragon Age. EA will be part of the development of any future titles.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
To be fair, Mass Effect was developed by Bioware when they were still independently owned.

Well, a private equity firm (Elevation Partners) did buy Bioware and merged them with pandemic after the release of Jade Empire. A few months later, they announced that they were working on an MMORPG, coincidence?

 

[Chosonman]

They might have backed down from the 10day validation, but they still limit the number of installs to 3 computers. I have more than 5 computers, 2 HTPC's, 1 server, 1 gaming machine, and 3 laptops. And I use all of them at some point. I'm really getting sick of DRM quite honestly, I don't play or download pirated games but if the pirated games strip all this DRM crap then this might be a more attractive option than dealing with all this DRM anti-privacy, anti-fair use nonsense.

 

[AMDZen]

Originally posted by: wanderer27
When you see crap like this:

http://consumerist.com/consume...rnationally-314690.php


Granted, these are International versions sold to U.S. customers . . . but so what?
What's it matter if I buy my game from on overseas distributor? They're still getting their money?

Everyone who bought those got their games re-activated, i know because I bought one of them

 

[wanderer27]

Originally posted by: AMDZen

Originally posted by: wanderer27
When you see crap like this:

http://consumerist.com/consume...rnationally-314690.php


Granted, these are International versions sold to U.S. customers . . . but so what?
What's it matter if I buy my game from on overseas distributor? They're still getting their money?

Everyone who bought those got their games re-activated, i know because I bought one of them

I don't doubt or contest that at all.

It shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Ever.

Period.