Febuary Question

[KillerByte]

What are your thoughts on DRM and pirating?

[IcePick88]

It sucks.

[RuadRauFlessa]

It sucks.

+1

Seing as my internet connection at home has not been installed yet, I had to dl a crack for Red Alert 3 in order to play my legal copy I baut this weekend.

[IcePick88]

I think what they miss is that some people don't have internet at home. Like me. So I have to download something to make my LEGAL copy of a game work. I cannot cart my pc to my friends house every time the game requires a internet check.

I think games will be cracked more regulary if they keep implimenting these strict anti-piracy measures.

[Jonboy]

I believe that DRM is redundant considering that the majority of games get cracked by pirates regardless of the anti-piracy and DRM measures. DRM targets the pirates who would more than likely not buy the game anyway and hence do not contribute to the games market share, but rather pushes customers who would normally pay for the game to rather purchase a pirated form as many may not have internet access etc etc.

I find it a disgrace to the game developers who may work hard at creating a game which is coveted by all just for the distributors to slap some clunky DRM on top of the game which makes it a mission to install, to re-register etc.

I can understand the notion of reducing day zero piracy but I fell that the target market ends up paying the price while the less than scrupulous individuals that pirate the game play the game with no hassles anyway.

[Firestrm_ZA]

DRM, I believe will promote more game piracy as not all gamers have active internet connections to "update" their games licence.

[UrBaN]

The recent article illustrating EA's drop in sales - time conicident with their mass DRM implementation - just goes to show that DRM has done nothing other than to worsen the gaming situation.

You cannot deny your customers access to paid-for content and services, and expect to keep them.

The DRM strategy needs to be drastically modified in order to SERVE, not HINDER, legal game owners.

[po10cy]

DRM just makes playing games so must more frustrating for gamers, because pirates WILL bypass those security measures and they have proven they can so whats the point? DRM actually makes ppl think twice before buying games, like when i went to buy far cry 2, i just reinstalled windows and my 3g modem is a schlep to install on vista..so i had to wait about 6 hours before i could play far cry 2 because i had to battle with my modem which i wasnt going to install. my mate bought sacred 2, and he had to go online, do this whole activation key thing from work because he had no net connection, then go home and re-enter the code they gave him.. i mean what is the point of having a cd key on the box when you must go online and get another key.

seriously it promotes pirating because so many people cant go online or have issues going online that they rather crack the game. i have cracked a few of my games 2 because its easier to get a crack from work than battle with my net connection for a few hours, and i cant afford a dsl connection and i dont want one and the debt right now, than to go online and activate and then only have a limited amount of activations left.

you would think the developers would learn that the harder it is to activate and actually play games, the more promising pirating games looks to many gamers out there. what happened to the days of installing a game and just playing straight away, those were the days i bought more games.

[hamin_aus]

What are your thoughts on DRM and pirating?

[TheModDoctor]

Personally, I don't care for DRM. I'm fortunate enough to have internet access, and therefor activation is no problem. I don't really know about all the games, but NFS Undercover for example has absolutely no hassle! But I am against the activation limits - if you bought the game, you should be allowed to activate it as many times as you want.
But for those without an internet connection, a crack will be the only solution. And if you have to crack all your bought games, why not get pirated ones for free instead?

I think that any measure of anti-piracy is wasted energy. There will always be someone smart enough to crack it.

[VinceThePrince]

IMHO, DRM is on one hand one of the single-most deviant invasions of privacy since the birth of the PC, and on the other hand one of the most hated security measures ever released. Hated because it causes the exclusion of almost 80% of the developing world (3rd world countries... like SA) as only 20% (if that high) of people with PC's in the 3rd world countries have an internet connection...

[americantsm1]

DRM --> Dumbarse rights ... I mean Digital Rights Management

ya sorry wtH are you people thinking?

The Free Software Foundation, maintain that the use of the word "rights" is misleading and suggest that people instead use the term Digital Restrictions Management ... in practice, all widely-used DRM systems have been defeated or circumvented when deployed to enough customers. Restricting the copying of audio and visual material is especially difficult due to the existence of the analog hole, and there are even suggestions that effective DRM is logically impossible for this reason

add that to the fact that, as it has been said, it is just irritating as heck ... and there you go!

@ninja lol u BOUGHT games? lies

[justinufo]

Whether you have internet or not i wanna take the game i bought with my money,install it and play.As simple as that.My DVD drive battles to read these games.Have to open it like ten times before it reads.Its not a prob with the drive itself cause other games read perfectly.Like my friend to battled with this cause vista was giving him crap with his internet.I had to DL a crack for him just to play his own darn game.Thats a whole lotta effort.As for pirates.Its just plain stealing.Pirates of somalia.lol.j/k

[Siemens]

If a publisher expects you to pay twice for one product it just translates into greed and selfishness. The only thing that DRM is actually good for(in the developers case) is destroying the second hand gaming market.
Who will buy a second hand game knowing about DRM ?