The anti-DRM thread

[Fanatical Meat]

It's true, Steam is just as bad as the rest of them. But unfortunately it's a necessary evil as even with GOG's recent AAA uptick, you still lose access to a vast number of games. It's simply not feasible to abandon Steam with today's reality. OTOH I've banned all other store fronts, except GOG of course.


"Trivial", until your data gets leaked, your account gets disabled, or the multi-DRM fails in some way (e.g. server outage).

It's utter lunacy to even try to compare it to GOG's standalone offline installer option, which is the true gold standard of ownership.

yeah this is an Interesting thought.
I was all set to pick up Star Wars Squadrons from humble, then I noticed it is an epic version. I have no hate vs epic but it wasn’t worth the discount to have it on epic and hope cross platform play remains.

 

[BFG10K]

Denuvo has been removed from Resident Evil 3.

 

[CP5670]

One bad trend I've noticed lately is old games that have been removed from GOG and/or Steam. They still work on those platforms if you already bought them, but you can no longer buy them now. Some examples are Cryostasis (fight with publisher), the first GRID (expired licenses with the car makers) and the original Planescape Torment (replaced by a remake version that costs more for no new features and is incompatible with existing mods).

Does anyone know of cases where a de-listed game (apart from live service/MMO) can no longer be played at all? I could see that happening maybe not with GOG but for Steam/Origin/etc.

 

[BFG10K]

Another excellent video from the DRM guys:

They make a couple of interesting points:

1. The anti-tamper in single player games serves to protect microtransaction revenue. After all, people using trainers, helpers and mods in single player games are just "dirty cheaters", right?
2. Why is there a "buy" button on all of these platforms when said platforms repeatedly tell us you don't own anything? It should say "license this software until we decide otherwise", or similar.

Also interesting to see the exorbitant fees Denuvo charged Crytek: https://www.techpowerup.com/275158/...is-remastered-leaked-over-usd-100k-for-a-year

Perhaps if Crytek didn't bleed so much cash to Denuvo, they might've released a remaster that didn't suck donkey balls.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Perhaps if Crytek didn't bleed so much cash to Denuvo, they might've released a remaster that didn't suck donkey balls.

It's their choice to pay for Denuvo. They could release their game DRM-free and wing it. They chose not to.

 

[BFG10K]

Wolfenstein 2 is now available DRM-free on GOG.

 

[BFG10K]

Looks like the Tencent CCP conglomerate that is Epic games is at it again, this time spiking CPU cores and temperatures.

The malware cancer also sends 14x as much telemetry as Steam/GFE.

Epic Games Launcher For Windows Caught Spiking Ryzen CPU Temps, Phoning Home Even When Idle

What is happening with Epic Games Launcher that idle temps are spiking and CPU usage is unnecessarily engaged?

hothardware.com

 

[pmv]

Epic Games keeps giving me games for free - that's the only reason I have their thing installed! But I don't have enough disk space left to install all the freebies they've given me. I also have games with both Ubisoft and, er, another distribution platform that isn't Steam (but I can't remember what it is). Both of which came free with some hardware purchase or other and which I've never got round to installing, yet alone playing. I already have a vast Steam backlog. I still haven't played Alien isolation I bought on Steam in a past sale and Epic just gave me it again as a freebie, dammit!

I now have more games not only than I can play, but that I can install on my available hard drive space, and I now have literally more digital distribution platforms/DRM installed than I can keep track of (what _is_ that other one? Was it Battlefield something or other? Origin? Is that the one?)

 

[DrMrLordX]

@pmv

uPlay or Origin, most likely.

 

[BFG10K]

Denuvo Joins Exclusive PlayStation 5 Tools and Middleware Program to Offer Anti-Cheat Technology to Game Developers

As security and innovation collide, Denuvo by Irdeto today announces it has joined the exclusive PlayStation 5 Tools and Middleware program. Denuvo, the leader in video games protection, offers its Anti-Cheat solution through this program to publishers and developers whose games are available on...

www.techpowerup.com

Just in case PS5 users felt left out, Denuvo is now on that platform. "Anti-cheat" is just a cute euphemism for "protecting single player microtranctions". After all, nobody likes "dirty cheaters" who use mods/trainers for single player. You're not a dirty cheater, are you?

Cricut Decides To Charge Rent For People To Fully Use The Cutting Machines They Already Own

UPDATE: Hackaday was contacted by a PR company claiming to represent Cricut. They clarified that machines are not deactivated upon resale, but the new owner will need to set up their own online acc…

hackaday.com

A cutting machine requires owners to have an online subscription if they exceed their design limit. Clearly DRM has entered the lunatic fringe and isn't just confined to software anymore.

 

[KMFJD]

Facebook stops Occulus sales in Germany due to possible violations of their privacy laws: https://www.techpowerup.com/271764/facebook-technologies-stops-sales-of-oculus-vr-headset-in-germany

That's right, a device supposed to display images is potentially violating user privacy laws through its DRM.

Whats next?

Facebook to begin testing ads inside Oculus virtual reality headsets

Facebook on Wednesday announced that it will begin testing advertisements that will appear within the company's Oculus virtual reality headsets.

www.cnbc.com

ads, it's always going to be about the ads

 

[BFG10K]

The next installment of "Denuvo is septic excrement(tm)":

 

[BFG10K]

• Nier Automata has had Denuvo removed: https://www.thegamer.com/nier-automata-denuvo-removed-pc/
  Four years after release.

• Ubisoft shuts down Might & Magic X server, leaving players locked out of paid single-player content: https://metro.co.uk/2021/06/21/ubis...-unplayable-still-selling-it-anyway-14804520/
  Yet another example of the stupidity of SP games requiring an online connection. "Oh, it just takes 5 minutes to setup a free throwaway account". Sure, sure, until the server goes down.

• Cloud connected HDDs are having their data remotely wiped, WD recommends disconnection from the internet: https://www.cnet.com/news/malware-blamed-for-remotely-wiping-wd-my-book-live-users-disks/
  This is the lunacy of IOT and the march to push everything to cloud.

 

[BFG10K]

Cracked Resident Evil 8 fixes combat stutter and runs better than official version:

Once again pirates who stole the product get a better experience than legitimate paying customers.

 

[Racan]

Cracked Resident Evil 8 fixes combat stutter and runs better than official version:

Once again pirates who stole the product get a better experience than legitimate paying customers.

So this game is infested with three forms of DRM: Steam, Denuvo and Capcom's crap, no wonder it runs like garbage.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Steam DRM has never really hurt performance.

 

[JujuFish]

So this game is infested with three forms of DRM: Steam, Denuvo and Capcom's crap, no wonder it runs like garbage.

Being on Steam is not inherently Steam DRM. (I don't know if this title actually has Steam DRM or not, just pointing it out for people who don't know)

 

[DrMrLordX]

Being on Steam is not inherently Steam DRM. (I don't know if this title actually has Steam DRM or not, just pointing it out for people who don't know)

They do. It's called Steam Guard.

 

[BFG10K]

Being on Steam is not inherently Steam DRM.

While that's technically true, 99.99% of Steam games have Steam DRM. If the game needs Steam running in order to launch, that's DRM.

As for performance hit, it often impacts game launch times, especially if Steam isn't already running.

 

[JujuFish]

While that's technically true, 99.99% of Steam games have Steam DRM. If the game needs Steam running in order to launch, that's DRM.

As for performance hit, it often impacts game launch times, especially if Steam isn't already running.

The big list of DRM-free games on Steam - PCGamingWiki PCGW - bugs, fixes, crashes, mods, guides and improvements for every PC game

www.pcgamingwiki.com

List of DRM-free games

This is a list of games and software available on Steam that do not require the use of the Steam client itself (after the game or software is downloaded using the client), do not contain any third-party DRM (Digital rights management, e.g. Games for Windows - LIVE, Uplay, Denuvo Anti-Tamper...

steam.fandom.com

It's not 99.99%

 

[BFG10K]

It's not 99.99%

LOL, WUT?

All games on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/search/?category1=998

54,346 total. So even if we're extremely generous and say your list has 1000 games, that's only 1.8% percent, leaving 98.2% with Steam DRM. Wow, you sure showed me!

Of course your list doesn't have anywhere close to 1000 games, and some of it doesn't count anyway. Like Doom 3 where it says to replace Steam's executable with another, or Witcher where it says to redeem the CD key on GOG. That's not "doesn't come with Steam DRM", bro.

 

[JujuFish]

Wow, you sure showed me!

Grow up, child. My point wasn't to "show you". My point was to clarify the situation with that little thing known as facts.

 

[BFG10K]

Grow up, child.

Reported.

My point wasn't to "show you".

That statement is false. You directly quoted my percentage and said I was wrong.

My point was to clarify the situation with that little thing known as facts.

What did you clarify exactly? That my original percentage was 1.77% out, and only if we're extremely generous with your flawed list?

 

[SMOGZINN]

What did you clarify exactly? That my original percentage was 1.77% out, and only if we're extremely generous with your flawed list?

I think his point was that Valve does not require games to use Steam Guard to be sold on the Steam shop. Steam Guard is just one more service they provide and the publishers chose to use it.

 

[BFG10K]

I think his point was that Valve does not require games to use Steam Guard to be sold on the Steam shop. Steam Guard is just one more service they provide and the publishers chose to use it.

And my point was that 99.9% 98.2% of Steam games use it, so his statement is academic at best.