Will they Go Over the Top With Antipiracy?

[Öjevind Lång]

I've started to worry about Firaxis becoming as rabidly resolved to forestall piracy of their games as some other outfits, so that they include security measures that prevent people from playing the game from perfectly legitimate discs. Does anyone know about this? And if the protection mechanism does decide that my (legitimate) game is actually a pirate copy, what can I do about it?

 

[anandus]

I've started to worry about Firaxis becoming as rabidly resolved to forestall piracy of their games as some other outfits, so that they include security measures that prevent people from playing the game from perfectly legitimate discs. Does anyone know about this? And if the protection mechanism does decide that my (legitimate) game is actually a pirate copy, what can I do about it?

As far as I know, Firaxis uses Safedisc

 

[Kissamies]

Heh, I was unable to play Civ IV I had bought in the store until I figured out that I had to update the firmware of my drive because of the copy protection. Ironically, I was perfectly able to play the pirated version in the meanwhile.

 

[Öjevind Lång]

As far as I know, Firaxis uses Safedisc

Since I had no problems playing vanilla Civ IV and Warlords, does that mean I'm probably in the clear with BtS too?

 

[DevilRat]

I'm already faced with something like this. Three out of five times when I try to run Armed Assault, the protection pops up and demands that I "insert an original copy of the disc", despite the fact that the disc in my drive IS an original retail copy. So I get this frustration, meanwhile little punk pirates are out there playing away hassle free (at least until FADE kicks in, muahahaha...)

I want to make my intention clear before I go any further into this rant: I am in absolutely no way, shape, or form advocating piracy. I'm merely vocalizing what rights I feel entitled too as a consumer.

That being said, anymore the only people the copy protection schemes punish is paying customers. There will always be some little punk out there with enough know-how, dedication, and complete lack of social life to figure out how to circumvent even the most advanced of protections. Despite this, companies feel that somehow if they just keep making their schemes more and more system intrusive, it will somehow build up this indestrucatble wall and nobody will ever be able to pirate media ever, ever again.

It doesn't work like that, and in fact, it drives away customers. There's been a number of games I wanted to buy, but once if found out they used some draconian form of copy protection, I decided to save my money. So either way you figure it, you're going to lose money. And my proof on this is GalCivII. No copy protection, and what happens? Best selling game in the month its released...and then also consider it did this as a relatively "indie" game. Sure, the game still got pirated, but it sold better than it probably would have if something like Starforce had been slapped into it.

And if I recall correctly, Neverwinter Nights (1) had protection so intrusive that it would frequently crash the game. When it did run on my system at the time, it ran extremely sluggishly.

But anyway, no matter how big and shiny of protection you try to make, it will eventually be bypassed, thus making it a waste of time and money for all involved. And quite frankly, I don't like having to deal with the hassle of these protections and being generally treated like a thief while the real thieves laugh at me.

Anyway, sorry for the rant.

 

[anandus]

I'm already faced with something like this. Three out of five times when I try to run Armed Assault, the protection pops up and demands that I "insert an original copy of the disc", despite the fact that the disc in my drive IS an original retail copy. So I get this frustration, meanwhile little punk pirates are out there playing away hassle free (at least until FADE kicks in, muahahaha...)

I want to make my intention clear before I go any further into this rant: I am in absolutely no way, shape, or form advocating piracy. I'm merely vocalizing what rights I feel entitled too as a consumer.

That being said, anymore the only people the copy protection schemes punish is paying customers. There will always be some little punk out there with enough know-how, dedication, and complete lack of social life to figure out how to circumvent even the most advanced of protections. Despite this, companies feel that somehow if they just keep making their schemes more and more system intrusive, it will somehow build up this indestrucatble wall and nobody will ever be able to pirate media ever, ever again.

It doesn't work like that, and in fact, it drives away customers. There's been a number of games I wanted to buy, but once if found out they used some draconian form of copy protection, I decided to save my money. So either way you figure it, you're going to lose money. And my proof on this is GalCivII. No copy protection, and what happens? Best selling game in the month its released...and then also consider it did this as a relatively "indie" game. Sure, the game still got pirated, but it sold better than it probably would have if something like Starforce had been slapped into it.

And if I recall correctly, Neverwinter Nights (1) had protection so intrusive that it would frequently crash the game. When it did run on my system at the time, it ran extremely sluggishly.

But anyway, no matter how big and shiny of protection you try to make, it will eventually be bypassed, thus making it a waste of time and money for all involved. And quite frankly, I don't like having to deal with the hassle of these protections and being generally treated like a thief while the real thieves laugh at me.

Anyway, sorry for the rant.

I fully agree with you, and the GalCiv2 example is a very good one as well.

I, myself, grow very tired with having to put in the cd if I want to play the game. So I keep images of the cd on my computer or in the worst case use no-cd patches (although I try to avoid them as much as possible).

The big question, though, is: Does copy protection prevent pirates to use them, and better yet, does copy protection improve game sales?
I'm afraid the answer to both questions is a definite 'no'.

What does improve game sales, though, is providing extra content to the game (see GalCiv2, Supreme Commander, etc.) or provide good online opportunities.

 

[Badesumofu]

it always struck me as ironic that most anti-piracy measues cause more headaches for legitimate purchasers than they do for pirates. Not only that, but we're the ones who have to pay for them. We're forced to pay for something that hinders our ability to use the software we've purchased, while pirates seem largely unphased.

Fortunately no-CD cracks are completely legal if you bought the game legally, and so they are easily available for download.

 

[armathas]

They have already gone over the top (not nesc. Firaxis).
Starforce.

 

[Merebimur]

Well sadly the BTS expansion is on torrent sites already .

 

[warpstorm]

Firaxis has never had any say on this issue. Before they were bought out their publisher made these type of decisions. (Now they are owned by their publisher).

 

[troyDoogle7]

yes but its not the real one......

Lots of jokers out there...

 

[anandus]

yes but its not the real one......

Lots of jokers out there...

Have you tried it out?
From what I heard it's pretty real...

 

[Defiant47]

I think Fireaxis is fine in this regard.

And I do agree and also that GalCiv2 is the perfect example. No matter what you do, there will be crackers out there that will crack the system, and distribute it everywhere. So stop trying and stop bugging your actual customer base. Those who will pay for it will pay for it, those who won't, won't. That's the way it is. Maybe a slight kind of protection is good to make sure that no noob can just hack the system, but any sort of super-advanced system is a waste of time IMHO.

 

[sneaky]

Have you tried it out?
From what I heard it's pretty real...

I haven't tried it, but there may very well be real copies to be found somewhere on the web.
Usually I wouldn't think twice and underline my opinion that the internet made games and music free.
But, in this case, I have already reserved my copy and don't have time to pay anyway, so I will have no problem to wait until friday. Civilization is one of the few games worth the money anyway and I have no problem spending it.

 

[Ammar]

Copy Protections are mostly useless, but sometimes there are some rather brilliant ones (mostly custom) that hold for about a month before being cracked. Gothic 2 being an example.

Personally, I think games should ship with a good Copy Protection and about a month or two after release an official patch should be distributed which removes it. That way if the Protection holds people who want the game badly enough will buy it, and in the long-term the honest purchaser won't have to suffer an disadvantage to pirate gamers.

 

[bonafide11]

I don't think the pirated copy on a couple torrent sites is a real one. I haven't downloaded it, but according to the comments on all the pages, nobody has gotten it to work yet. There isn't even a crack out for it yet. It's basically worthless...

 

[Methos]

It doesn't work like that, and in fact, it drives away customers. There's been a number of games I wanted to buy, but once if found out they used some draconian form of copy protection, I decided to save my money.

and better yet, does copy protection improve game sales?

Starforce.

There was a game out once (can't remember the name) that I seriously considered buying until I learned it used Starforce. I'd heard so many bad things about it and the problems it caused on computers, that I didn't buy the game. So yes, you are correct in saying that game sales are affected by the copy protection, at least in my experience.

 

[Strahlemann]

Copy Protections are mostly useless, but sometimes there are some rather brilliant ones (mostly custom) that hold for about a month before being cracked. Gothic 2 being an example.

And there are funny copy protections too. I remember that in a settlers game the goldsmith produced pigs instead of bars of gold when the game was an illegal copy. It was always funny (and at the same time annoying) when somebody compromised himself in the official forum and asked "WTH.. my goldsmith is producing pigs???".

Personally, I think games should ship with a good Copy Protection and about a month or two after release an official patch should be distributed which removes it.

Gas Powered Games did this with Supreme Commander. That was really cool. Unfortunately such behavior is very unusual.

 

[kazapp]

The real solution is already here:

Make on-line games.

You can copy say World of Warcraft all you want, but unless you pay up, you'll have to play on your own private server without any people and with outdated content.

Read that in Korea, sales went up 30% in a single quarter when games were made free: instead of asking for $50 up-front, or even $10 a month, you offer the game free.

Then each "kewl" power-up, sword or Big Freaking Gun costs you a few cents.

In the end, the developer earns more, not only because of reduced piracy, but because you don't force the kids to fork up everything at once.

Just imagine if Civ was free to "buy" and free to play, but unit promotions each cost one cent...

 

[Soneji]

It is annoying, however what can you do about it as the consumer?

Sod all. Bend over and grab hold of those ankles ladies and gentleman!