News BioShock activation will be removed in the future

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/08...l_be_removed/1

Ken Levine, BioShock's Lead Designer, has said that the game's online activation will be removed in the future.

[Ramble]

Meh, while it's a good thing I don't think they should be caving in as easily as this.
Think back to the release of HL2. That was plauged with bugs, I remember reports some like 10+ hours just to get the game authenticated by Steam. Every major release goes through this stuff.

[wafflesomd]

Well, it is crackable.

I had to crack it, since my key wouldn't work. Is it illegal to crack the game, even though you bought it?

Not advocating it of course, just something I had to do in order to play the game.

[Tulatin]

Oh waffles, and how did you crack it? There are NO activation cracks available which are functional.

The problem is - YES theh copy protection works, so painfully well. Perhaps too well. It's actually enroaching on the customer. and while Bioshock is STILL waiting for a comprehensive crack, this brings my mind back to DarkStar One - the generic space game from Ascarton who's protection got so bad, that designers eventually just told people to download a crack!

[Solidus]

I know the cracking groups are having a tough time with this game. The image for it is up on the net but the guys are struggling to scratch it. Apparently the whole "pirate community" is watching out on this game being released cracked as there seems to be quite difficulty in cracking it.

Iv heard Razor 1911 have cracked it but are testing it further but who knows if thats true, lets just see what happens.

Id like to test it before i buy, i dont want find it doesnt work right because then i cant return the goddam game. With pcs you can get almost any stupid error stopping you from playing a game, its not like a console.

[cyrilthefish]

Originally Posted by wafflesomd

Is it illegal to crack the game, even though you bought it?

Probably, but i do it anyway for all games i own. It's a damn nusance having to search for CDs everytime you want to play a game, so i just NO-CD crack everything*

*exceptions being steam games and WoW, because you don't need to.

[wafflesomd]

Originally Posted by Tulatin

Oh waffles, and how did you crack it? There are NO activation cracks available which are functional.

The problem is - YES theh copy protection works, so painfully well. Perhaps too well. It's actually enroaching on the customer. and while Bioshock is STILL waiting for a comprehensive crack, this brings my mind back to DarkStar One - the generic space game from Ascarton who's protection got so bad, that designers eventually just told people to download a crack!

Activating the game wasn't the problem. When the game checks for the disc upon the update and downloads the patch, that's the problem. The key's are weird as well. Me and my friend have been up all night trying to get my copy to work. The serial key's seem to be specific to the Bioshock.exe file for your game, so even if you get a keygen, it won't work for you.

Mind you, I have no intentions of distributing a crack and I am not at liberty to discuss in detail how I was able to get the game to work.

I did purchase my own copy of the game, it's just that Securom and 2k could not help me.

[steveo_mcg]

Originally Posted by cyrilthefish

Probably, but i do it anyway for all games i own. It's a damn nusance having to search for CDs everytime you want to play a game, so i just NO-CD crack everything*

*exceptions being steam games and WoW, because you don't need to.

I'm not sure how/if cracks fall under uk laws fair use etc, but its deffo illegal in the states under the DMCA. But then what isn't illegal under the DMCA.

At least i will get to play it, when ever the official patch comes out to disable the online activation.

[chrisb2e9]

this is why I dont bother buying games when they first come out. I always wait for the first patch to fix the issues that other people have. not to mention if you wait to buy it the price will go down too.

[iwog]

Question, how do you remove the copy protection/online activation from the vanilla game without reprinting the discs with different code? Am i the only one that see that unless they reprint recoded bioshock you game still wont activate 10 years down the line when the securom server is disabled?

[cyrilthefish]

Originally Posted by iwog

Question, how do you remove the copy protection/online activation from the vanilla game without reprinting the discs with different code? Am i the only one that see that unless they reprint recoded bioshock you game still wont activate 10 years down the line when the securom server is disabled?

Well i'm guessing they'll just give you a new installer program to download, it's the only way i can think of without reprinting disks

[iwog]

Originally Posted by cyrilthefish

Well i'm guessing they'll just give you a new installer program to download, it's the only way i can think of without reprinting disks

But that would require either:

• you keeping the installer somewhere on your PC
• Keeping on a dvd with the game (most sensible)
• the site being up until the end of time/end of the internet, which ever comes first but my money is on time

And if there was an installer you downloaded then why not just go for a purely digital delivery as i'm guessing the only physical thing you'd need from you original purchase is the manual with the key, which could be sent electronically.

BUT, if all the installer did was remove the online check and required the original DVD then how long until someone finds out where this programme hooks in and emulates it themselves.

[Jodiuh]

No CD cracks are blessings. I don't have a console and switching discs every time to play another game... !!

[aggies11]

Re: Iwoq

I'm guessing it'll be released as a patch. Obviously, just like current old games, you are still required to somehow (through the wonders of the internet) find the patch if you want to play the old game.

I'd imagine a patch that also doubles as an installer. You use it to install the game off the dvd, and then when that's done, it patches the game to remove the copy protection.

Aggies

[ironjohn]

I was a dumb "full price" paying PC gamer for many years, but the anti-piracy that has made so many legitimate games unplayable now has me now downloading "playable" pirated games online.

I really think someone is trying to kill PC gaming with this over-the-top anti-piracy that makes paying customers turn to pirated games even though they would be willing to pay full price for a playable product.

ironjohn

[Hamish]

Originally Posted by iwog

Question, how do you remove the copy protection/online activation from the vanilla game without reprinting the discs with different code? Am i the only one that see that unless they reprint recoded bioshock you game still wont activate 10 years down the line when the securom server is disabled?

theres no protection in the installer
you dont even give it your cdkey

you install, you click the bioshock icon it starts up the activation system that asks for your cdkey
so in the future you would install, patch, start bioshock and give it your cdkey

[iwog]

Originally Posted by Hamish

theres no protection in the installer
you dont even give it your cdkey

you install, you click the bioshock icon it starts up the activation system that asks for your cdkey
so in the future you would install, patch, start bioshock and give it your cdkey

Ok, i can see that working, and thats about my only problem with the patch gone. Seeing as you can find even really old patches for ancient games on dedicated patch sites.

[Havok154]

Unfortunately for them, I know a lot of people that heard of all the DRM and crap they stuffed in the game and decided it wasn't worth it. Those are all lost sales they won't get back because by the time they feel it's ok to remove the Securom, all of those people will have picked up the next big game that came out and forgotten about Bioshock.

[Phil Rhodes]

> “This activation is for the early period of the game when it’s really hot and there are people really trying to find ways to play the game without buying it.”

To be completely fair, that is a pretty reasonable point of view to take. Of course, they do actually have to make good on that statement - but if that's what they're seriously talking about doing, that's not particularly out of order.

Phil

[wafflesomd]

Activation shouldn't turn you away from the game.

It sounds to me like everyone just wants something to complain about. Just post some PS3 bashing articles, that will solve the problem.