DRM and Bioware - some steps back
Vincenzo Beretta
Bioware decided to partially step back from their "smarter and cooler"
activation scheme: only one activation will be required (when you install
the game) followed by one online check everytime you download additional
content.
http://masseffect.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=629059&forum=125&sp=0#5774350
eddys...@hotmail.com
Oh, great, instead of the plague, we get cholera.
Greetz,
Eddy Sterckx
Giftzwerg
rec...@hotmail.com says...
Thank heavens! They're saving us from the terrible scourge of having
the CD in the drive!
--
Giftzwerg
***
"The basic rule of press coverage [of Iraq] is that if there's fighting,
we must be losing."
- Glenn Reynolds
von Schmidt
wrote:
> In article <sdaWj.41518$o06.25...@tornado.fastwebnet.it>,
> reck...@hotmail.com says...
>
> > With the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan still full of uncertainities,
> > Bioware decided to partially step back from their "smarter and cooler"
> > activation scheme: only one activation will be required (when you install
> > the game) followed by one online check everytime you download additional
> > content.
>
>
> Thank heavens! They're saving us from the terrible scourge of having
> the CD in the drive!
It gets better (because it always does): you get 3 installs of this
game on different hardware. And unlike Distant Guns, there is no
retrieval of your install.
Install and you've just lost 1/3 of your allocation.
Change your processor and reinstall: thats 2 down.
Of course, you can call a number once you run out of installs. And I'm
sure that will still be an option in 5 years time.
Regards,
-von Schmidt
eddys...@hotmail.com
Going by the forum lunk supplied by Mr. Beretta the peasant revolt
isn't over, even after this step.
Those damn' customers, thinking that because they paid $50 for a game,
they own it.
I'm a little disappointed really and would have liked for Bioware to
have continued with their original idea because once the game would
have been out the backlash would have been so big it would have buried
DRM like it did with StarForce.
Greetz,
Eddy Sterckx
Vincenzo Beretta
> the CD in the drive!
Yup. The first thing I thought of was: well, why don't let the costumer
*choose*? You have to put the DVD in the drive, but, lacking that, and
*only* lacking that (you forgot the DVD home, the cat ate it etc.), you have
the backup opportunity of an (unlimited) online check.
Some "solutions" only underline the problem, really. I wonder if the time
needed to see the crack online will be measured in hours or days: "smart"
schemes motivate pirates like nothing else.
wbur...@aol.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
At some point since as a consumer we're just"leasing" the software
then the manufacturer should at least be oblidged to return all that
cash you've paid for the "rental' if it doesn't work on your computer
regardless if you meet minumum specs or not. When I go to Joe's rental
and rent either a tractor or a lawn mower, if it doesn't work either
Joe gives me one that does work or if not available, refunds my
deposit. I don't see why this should change since we're basically
renting software with the new activation schemes that are being
forwarded to protect us from those awful pirates.
Wayne
Paulo Vicente
wrote:
I'm very disappointed with them too.
First, because they are trying to get us to buy into a scheme where
they can revoke our purchases at any time and still keep our money. If
this goes on, I suspect that we will soon start to see some statements
along the lines of "These activation servers cost money to run...".
Second, because they thought thought that people would buy into it
just because they raised the piracy scarecrow. Not only do they want
to be able to grab us by the balls and squeeze whenever they want,
they also want us to feel sorry for them when they do it!
Epi
6a7fab...@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>,
Paulo.Alexa...@gmail.com says...
It would seem to make sense, if this was helping with piracy, that they
could lower the prices. Are they doing that?
--
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----
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Epi
Vincenzo Beretta
> It would seem to make sense, if this was helping with piracy, that they
> could lower the prices. Are they doing that?
That and, as one colleague of mine put it, a Big SH representative shouldn't
come to a panel about piracy, bemoan from dawn 'tilt dusk about the damage
done by piracy, people losing their jobs, prices going up, at then leave -
ON HIS PERSONAL HELICOPTER.
eddys...@hotmail.com
>
> At some point since as a consumer we're just"leasing" the software
Well, I've got no problems with leasing software - at lease prices
that is, which are way below "buy" prices - $5 for every month I play
a game seems fair.
Greetz,
Eddy Sterckx
Big Salad
Interesting business model?
Price of the game is $5 for one month's activation. After your one
month is up, you need to go through the activation server again, much
like what Spore/Mass Effect proposes but with the addition that you have
to pay another $5 to extend another month.
Maybe $10 to buy DVD media, no charge for download. A $50 box in the
store gives you DVD, book, and 10 free reactivations.
I would much rather buy my own software than rent it, but would we be
willing to actually enter into a leasing agreement if that were clearly
on the table as such?
eddys...@hotmail.com
> I would much rather buy my own software than rent it, but would we be
> willing to actually enter into a leasing agreement if that were clearly
> on the table as such?
I would. If the lease price was right.
Here’s another couple of stupid ideas
- download game for free, but every time you start the game you pay a
dollar and your game is activated for 24 hours. I wouldn’t mind paying
more than the normal $50 for a game I played for more than 50 days. In
terms of value for money that’s peanuts – and it would give a
motivational boost to developers to continue to support and update
their game.
- library system : pay a yearly fee to the publisher, you can check-
out up to 3 games at the time, every check-out is $10
Basically what we have in place now is a system where a developer gets
$50 no matter how much joy I get out of a game. What I wouldn’t mind
is a system where a developer gets more, even a lot more money for
games I truly love, but less for a game which is quickly forgotten.
Greetz,
Eddy Sterckx