The anti-DRM thread

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BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,672
2,817
126
Denuvo was just silently removed from Devil May Cry 5.

Also I just realized Call of Duty Blops 4 and Modern Warfare 2019 are Battlenet exclusives. What a load of camel dung.
 
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DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
21,582
10,785
136
Damn I may have to load up DMC5 again to see if it'll stop crashing. Thanks Capcom!

Battle.net kind of stinks. I don't like using it anymore. It made sense for WoW and . . . I guess Diablo 2 back in the day, but man it's easy to get your account hacked there. Or at least it was back when I still played WoW. Had to get one of those auth fobs just to prevent my account from getting pwned twice, and I still don't know how they manage to get it the first time.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,672
2,817
126
GOG now has a new 30 day refund policy. That's right, if you don't like a game you can request a refund, regardless of how long you played it: https://www.gog.com/news/gogs_updated_refund_policy_has_your_back_even_more

The fact that there's no way for them to actually revoke a DRM-free license makes this astonishingly good customer-centric behavior, once again proving GOG is the best digital storefront in existence.

And in other news, it looks like Serious Sam 3/Fusion 2017 has hidden cloud DRM. If you launch the game with Steam offline, your profile resets to defaults and the game "can't" see any of your saves or progress. This isn't a cloud save issue as I can see all the files stored locally. Croteam can go suck a lemon.
 
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Feb 4, 2009
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Hopefully this isn’t spoiled by a handful of bung holes buying, downloading the requesting refunds for hundreds of games.
 

DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
21,582
10,785
136
Yeah we'll see how long that lasts. GoG could get wrecked that way. Hopefully they have some kind of system in place to curtail abuse without making the offer useless.
 
Feb 4, 2009
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Yeah we'll see how long that lasts. GoG could get wrecked that way. Hopefully they have some kind of system in place to curtail abuse without making the offer useless.

People typically abuse systems as described by GOG. Im going to guess changes will be made.

edit:
GOG has this in their FAQs

  1. How often can I refund my games? Is there some sort of limit?
    We trust that you're making informed purchasing decisions and will use this updated voluntary Refund Policy only if something doesn't work as you expected.
    This is why there are no limits but instead, we reserve the right to refuse refunds in individual cases.
    Please respect all the time and hard work put into making the games you play and remember that refunds are not reviews. If you finished the game and didn't like it, please consider sharing your opinion instead. Also, please don't take advantage of our trust by asking for an unreasonable amount of games to be refunded. Don't be that person. No one likes that person.

Hopefully they use that term liberally, sucks when a handful of people ruin a good thing for hundreds of people.
 
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SMOGZINN

Lifer
Jun 17, 2005
14,202
4,401
136
People typically abuse systems as described by GOG. Im going to guess changes will be made.

edit:
GOG has this in their FAQs



Hopefully they use that term liberally, sucks when a handful of people ruin a good thing for hundreds of people.

Right, because I am willing to bet that there is already someone out there writing a script to buy, download, and then request a refund for every game on GOG.
I can tell you one thing, this policy, along with all the work they have put on their launcher, has convinced me that they are the better choice for any game that I can buy from their store front when just a year ago I was arguing that Steam was the better option.
 

DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
21,582
10,785
136
@SMOGZINN

Only issues I have wtih GoG are that publishers often optimize their patch schedule around Steam (meaning GoG often has late/buggy patch releases) and that content updates like mods are often unavailable on GoG (see games like Dead Cells). Neither are really GoG's fault, but it still applies.

That being said, I typically try to buy from GoG instead of Steam wherever possible.
 
Feb 4, 2009
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@SMOGZINN

Only issues I have wtih GoG are that publishers often optimize their patch schedule around Steam (meaning GoG often has late/buggy patch releases) and that content updates like mods are often unavailable on GoG (see games like Dead Cells). Neither are really GoG's fault, but it still applies.

That being said, I typically try to buy from GoG instead of Steam wherever possible.

Pretty much me, I like steam for the easy mods and I typically play multiplayer stuff now, steam is simply easier with that if we all have the steam version.
 

SMOGZINN

Lifer
Jun 17, 2005
14,202
4,401
136
Pretty much me, I like steam for the easy mods and I typically play multiplayer stuff now, steam is simply easier with that if we all have the steam version.

I agree, and that has been my exact argument. Steam just does it better. My games simply stay updated without me having to even think about it. The Steam Workshop is awesome. I can find all sorts of community created content for games, click a single button, and have it work nearly every time. Steam has been really good to me.

But, GOG is doing something right here. I think it is time I show them some financial appreciation for it. The new GOG launcher has made it easier for me to do that, so I'm going to give it a try, at least for games that won't need a lot of support.
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
348
126
People typically abuse systems as described by GOG. Im going to guess changes will be made.

Costco famously had a crazy good refund policy, that was horribly abused so they had to greatly reduce it. People buy a tv, watch it 5 years, then return it.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,672
2,817
126
I requested a refund for a game I purchased a few weeks ago that I hated. It was processed without issue. I agreed to wallet funds so GOG didn't have to pay potential credit card fees.

Hopefully this isn’t spoiled by a handful of bung holes buying, downloading the requesting refunds for hundreds of games.
GOG will never allow that. Even Steam doesn't allow such abuse.
 
Feb 4, 2009
34,506
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I requested a refund for a game I purchased a few weeks ago that I hated. It was processed without issue. I agreed to wallet funds so GOG didn't have to pay potential credit card fees.


GOG will never allow that. Even Steam doesn't allow such abuse.

People find ways to scam stuff. We always do.
Steam has the benefit of being able to remove the return from the library, GOG does not. How about this scenario, someone has multiple 3 game accounts we’re all 3 games were returned.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,672
2,817
126
Borderlands 2 now requires an online Shift account, even for offline single player: https://www.altchar.com/game-news/b...shift-login-even-in-singleplayer-ahMQJ5u9MGph

So Gearbox just silently added cloud DRM into an eight year old game. We can add Gearbox to the ever-growing list of publishers that force a vendor-locked "sign-in" for their games.

What's worse, the Steam store page has no mention of this cancerous malware.
 
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Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,522
751
126
Borderlands 2 now requires an online Shift account, even for offline single player: https://www.altchar.com/game-news/b...shift-login-even-in-singleplayer-ahMQJ5u9MGph

So Gearbox just silently added cloud DRM into an eight year old game. We can add Gearbox to the ever-growing list of publishers that force a vendor-locked "sign-in" for their games.

What's worse, the Steam store page has no mention of this cancerous malware.

I noticed this to, if i play it again ill crack it. This is like next level stupidity.
 

Ranulf

Platinum Member
Jul 18, 2001
2,331
1,139
136
Borderlands 2 now requires an online Shift account, even for offline single player: https://www.altchar.com/game-news/b...shift-login-even-in-singleplayer-ahMQJ5u9MGph

So Gearbox just silently added cloud DRM into an eight year old game. We can add Gearbox to the ever-growing list of publishers that force a vendor-locked "sign-in" for their games.

What's worse, the Steam store page has no mention of this cancerous malware.

And any desire to buy BL3 when it hits Steam has died. I have to get an gearbox "shift" account to play a game I've owned on Steam for 5+ years? Yeah, no.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,672
2,817
126
What's even stranger is that the Steam page has no mention of Denuvo. So it's either been removed or Bethesda's lying about it.
 
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mopardude87

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2018
3,348
1,575
96
Denuvo i hear is trash right? I can barely stand the battle.net app and Origin and yet another login service? I love my steam though, i think that's a universal thing. Can even login into offline mode with no net and play most games without a connection. Will be nice to have a ton of offline capable games if isps start crashing cause of the situation causing more people to stay home. I downloaded plenty of games strictly for offline mode or campaign JUST in case. :)
 

mopardude87

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2018
3,348
1,575
96
Denuvo is probably the worst DRM out there right now.

Should put that to a vote but yeah usually when i hear about Denuvo i am not hearing good things. I am so selective about my games that i guess well i won't prob ever use it. Lucky me?
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,672
2,817
126
Deus Ex Human Revolution and Mankind Divided released DRM-free on GOG, currently on sale: https://www.gog.com/promo/square_enix_sale

It's worth noting that Steam still appears to have Denuvo in Mankind Divided while it has obviously been removed in GOG's version.

If you value consumer rights then support GOG. More sales will convince more publishers to go DRM-free.
 
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DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
21,582
10,785
136
Wow those deals are great! Thanks for pointing out that sale @BFG10K !

You can get the old-school Deus Ex and Deus Ex 2 for $2.