BioWare's technical producer Derek French has announced a surprising new copy protection scheme that requires the user to be online at regular intervals while playing both Mass Effect and Spore on the PC. If you are not online to validate your copy of either game every ten days, your product will stop working. Wait ... what?
After the first activation, SecuROM requires that [Mass Effect PC] re-check with the server within ten days (in case the CD Key has become public/warez'd and gets banned)
... After 10 days a re-check is required before the game can run.
I'm not really a PC gamer, but my gut instinct on this is that it's a stupid idea and I can see something going wrong. People are already reacting pretty badly to the news online, and I can see the backlash escalating, along with any number of problems that can arise from expecting paying customers to continually prove that they're not pirates.
This just doesn't sound like a great idea to me.
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Contest:
8:24 PM on 05.06.2008
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SO FUCK YOU SecuRom!
Quite frankly, I've had it just out of principle. I'm not buying either of these, even though I can afford them. Bethesda and Stardock got it right by adding value to entice purchases without copy protection. Hell, I'll even give Microsoft some kudos in that they only require one authentication of "Flight Simulator X" and it's done.
I am sick and tired of these gaming companies treating me like a potential PIRATE instead of a potential CUSTOMER.
Stop it with the false information. BioWare stated IN THEIR OWN FORUMS this this is NOT a "twice-and-done" activation. This game requires activation once every 10 days for as long as you want to play the game.
In particular, Chris Priestly of Bioware stated this in his one thread.
Q: Why does MEPC need to reactivate every 10 days?
A: MEPC needs to authenticate every 10 days to ensure that the CD key used for the game is valid. This is designed to reduce piracy and protect valid CD keys.
My bad, I read the original article someone linked to in the clogs and it made the CD key check sound like what I described. I've changed my mind, that really sucks.
No problem. They should have clarified that themselves in the article. It was only by going to their forums (which was linked from their site) and searching around that I saw the "official" post that stated that this is a mandatory, repeating issue.
Hopefully, enough of a firestorm can be brewed by this (it hit Digg as well) that BioWare will realize what a bunch of dicks they're being about this.
And how the hell is trying to stop piracy killing pc gaming, surely it's piracy that's killing pc gaming. I remember when half life 2 came out everyone bitched that you had to validate your copy through steam but did it really affect the sales? I don't think it did.
YOUR ROOM IS JUST LIKE IT WAS, WE HAVEN'T CHANGED IT!
*SMOOOOOOOOCH*
PC GAMING IS NOT DYING, BTW
The Crysis developers are pissed and said they will never make a PC exclusive. COD4 developers also showed dissatisfaction with the number of pirated copies of their game.
Piracy is making developers make drastic measures.
I do hope they find a better way than this though.
Anyone remember when some guy tried to leak HalfLife2 code?
Im gonna be burning my Bioware pc games in a ritualistic matter.
DRM seems to do a better job at pissing off those of us that don't pirate games than it does at preserving a companies profit margins.
Coming from he who intentionally just did a thread-crap just to take a childish pot-shot at one of Dtoid's writers? Exactly who's the one with the ego, again?
mikescool, yes you can. audiosurf is getting pirated a lot and it's on steam.
Wow, thanks for that RIAA/MPAA spokesperson. Just ignore the fact that piracy creates more future consumers than any free sample that any company gives out. Ignore the free brand awareness and future sale. Ignore that teens and students who pirate it for a lack of money can turn into big spending consumers when they get a job.
Also just ignore that games can make a profit easily without any protection and that the movies can get huge awareness through piracy.
I love comments like these. It shows me how ignorant a poster is, and as such, whether or not I need to take their opinions into consideration in the future.
Thanks EA, you made Spore a definite "buy" into a definite "pirate" for me.
HEAR THAT EA???
I see what you are saying but most people who pirated aren't going to buy a copy afterwards. They will probably buy a top-end rig when they get a job, but there aren't any proof that they buy the software for their PCs.
As I mentioned, this isn't a good solution to their problems. I'm probably going to pass on both games unless they change this policy.
BTW! This isn't a free pass to Pirate the games! WTF is wrong with some of you people!
STARCRAFT 2!
Suck eggs!
Seriously, fuck Mass Effect, fuck Spore, and most of all fuck you EA.
I somehow doubt that this'll prevent piracy anyway, even in the long run. It's just going to fuel the fire. Limited installs, online validations, and oddball methods of copy protection in which the consumer is given no sense of tengibility are what drove me away from PC gaming. If the same happens to consoles I'll be done with gaming in general.
Sad but true.
Oh, don't any of you find it a bit shitty that the people that make these boneheaded decisions make $100,000-$200,000 per year? At least!
I can see it being a hassle if you have internet connection issues and are subsequently jonesing for some Mass Effect.
But otherwise, alot of PC users have some means of connecting to the internet, and moreso those that game, I think.
Its a new way of trying to do something, but I can definitely see this being something that, in even less than optimal implementation, won't have a negative effect on the end consumer.
Unless its a hack piece-of-shit software like StarForce was. In which case, screw this. Only reason I didn't play City Life.
However, its a cd key checking system. There is no way in hell that someone wont find a way through this. It may take them a little longer (ala Bioshock) but they'll get it done.
Wait, no I don't.