So I recently built a new system with an ATI 4850 and I'm looking for games to pickup. Hmm, let's see. Bioshock? *checks reviews* *see that everyone has a problem with the DRM. Crysis? *checks reviews* *everyone has a problem with DRM. Crysis Warhead? *checks reviews* *sees a MASSIVE list of complaints about the DRM. So, all these new games have intrusive DRM and so forth. Well, what other options are there? At work, we have a software license that costs several thousands of dollars. The backup/installation files are in a cabinet. How does the company prevent pirating and multi-system installs? They only provided one USB key with the license. The program will only work if the USB key is connected to the system. This isn't too hard to do; I remember having a HD encrypter that required firewire-style keys to be plugged in for decryption. Why can't game companies follow a similar approach? I'd MUCH rather be required to plug in a USB key than have nasty software secretly installed, or be restricted to three installs. I suppose that similar to how requiring game CD/DVDs in a drive was circumvented, so could this method be defeated? If it's good enough to protect $5-$10k software licenses, it'll likely be good enough for a $50 game.
Are you kidding? You know how many software companies have failed completely because of the use of dongles, right? It breaks so often it's not even funny. Many companies that use dongle-protected software end up switching to a different provider simply due to the failures related to that kind of thing. Granted it was a much bigger issue back when it was all parallel-port dongles, but it's still a terrible idea. And I used to sell software that sold for a minimum of $10k. It just had a serial key.
The other issue is that a USB key costs a lot more to make than a serial key and, on a PC game where a publisher assumes huge piracy anyway, all this would do is drive the price of the game through the roof.
use a console alot less hastle no matter what way you look at it wait and see the backlash i get from saying this
I don't want to go through a drawer full of USB keys every time I need to run a program. Also, it's easy enough to bypass the check and run software in pirate mode. All USB checks ever do is remind honest users that nobody trusts them.
The latest BioShock patch removes the DRM limits, so you don't need to worry about it. It still installs the software, it's just not active, so it depends whether your objections is to what the software does, it it's presense in the first place.
Still, something has to be done. Just googling "spore review" comes up with gripes and moans about the DRM. That's all I saw over the past week. DRM this, DRM that, securom this, EA activations that. I see what you mean about the dongle issue though. *sigh*
QFT. Stardock to things the right way. Steam is good, not quite as good as the way Stardock does it's DRM (more like almost complete lack of) but it's better than the other ways. Even though it's effectively a DRM program the Steam service is great. Unlike stuff like securerom, which is basically, buy this game, get intrusive software. With steam it's, buy this game, you have to use this software, but it comes with it's advantages. For the user, there is no advantage to stuff like secureROM and starforce. If companies want to stop customers kicking up a fuss about DRM, they should either: A) Remove it entirely B) Offer a DRM system that brings benefits to the people who pay for the game, not hassle
