Topic: SecuROM

[nurizeko]

ETA - If the pirate community is unable to work around this particular problem..  well..  then I won't be buying or playing Spore..  that I have waited four ****ing years for.

Thats the thing though, they will, which basically makes every single copy of CP on a game/disk completely and utterly irrelevant.

All it takes is one guy to pirate the game, crack it, and then it spread, and no amount of severe dumb pointless copy protection will help.

Its like having a  cinema and selling tickets with magical chips that de-activate recording devices, but totally ignore the fire exit door being open with a lead to a screen somewhere else.


You know what I mean.

Its basically self destructive business practice that loses them customers and only helps to increase the profit damaging activity they want to stop.

[CosmicD]

It's a cat/mouse game between developers and pirates . and this way , the security systems will become more and more intrusive. So it's actually the pirates who make it all bad for the normal user, not the gaming companies.

[DarkDragon]

microsoft has this as well with thei WGA thing, should everyone stop using windows as well? If you pay and you're not online , you can call a 0800 number to acvtivate stuff,

guess what ?

if needed you can activate securom via a phone call too ^^

And in some countries, you pay a sh** load of money for those calls too.

[LE102071]

It's a cat/mouse game between developers and pirates . and this way , the security systems will become more and more intrusive. So it's actually the pirates who make it all bad for the normal user, not the gaming companies.

Not true.  EA/Maxis transformed THIS legitimate software user into a pirate.  I am now a pirate because their MALWARE version of SecuRom disabled hardware on my machine without me having any prior warning.

Several, and by that I mean double digit users from the Sims 2 boards went out and actually bought new ROM drives because they were unaware of how SecuRom would disable drives... and they believed they just had "hardware failures."  You can bet that those customers are now going the "pirate" route as well... and I know this because if was by users of that board that I found out how to bypass SecuRom with a No-CD hack.

I am all for a company protecting itself from the "dirty thieving pirates."  Really, I am...  but when the software that a company uses can legitimately be considered MALWARE because of how it affects a system OUTSIDE the game/program the software is supposed to protect...  well.. that's where I disagree...  enthusiastically.

All of you here that are saying..  "well, I have an always on internet connection so I am going to be fine...."  Read up on SecuRom.  Read up on some of the specific problems that SecuRom has been linked to.  Read about the hardware disables that it has done..  and you may want to rethink just how "safe" you think you might be.

I am not -- REPEAT -- NOT advocating downloading a pirated copy of Spore and playing it.  I am advocating that we, as legitimate customers of EA/Maxis, should have an alternative in regards to how a game has the right to take over our system. 

Peace

[rifteroftime]

Wouldn't EA save money by not putting anti-pirating software on their game? Pirates in general will never buy the game, even if it was uncrackable. I also assume SecuROM costs quite a bit to license. Really, it just seems to me like they toss money out the window to try to stop people (and failing miserably) from playing their game who would never buy it anyways. Doesn't make sense to me. I know I'll be getting a crack if SecuROM is used (which is still not official.)

[Werechicken]

Game politics has an article on this

If even half of that is true, then EA have just killed a big chunk of their sales.

I find it ironic that DRM encourages piracy because people don't want to install crap that messes with their computer and will only provide  a limited number of installations. I've re-installed some of my games at least 20-30 times so there is no way I'm going to buy a game which will only let me install a game 3 times.

If it comes down to it I'll just buy the game and then crack it, and just use my own content, because there is not a chance that I'm putting up with that atrocity.

I can guarantee that before spore is released in the US it will have already been cracked if EA goes through with this.

[The Time Traveller]

[0goober0]

well....if it is true i better go buy an eyepatch and one of those little extendable telescopes

[Gungnir]

Hmm, given that it has been shown that devs watch these boards, and others, and that this is a large outrage, if they were considering putting in securom, then maybe they'll bring that up at their next meeting with ea or whatever. IF they use it, it will not be to their advantage. It can be cracked/bypassed/whatever. Making it an inconvenience doesn't help anyone.

And this seems more like a general securom discussion than just regarding spore...

[skewedjester]

I've disagreed with the copy protection since the news first broke (signed the petition, even), but I haven't really thought to myself "Hmm, maybe I won't buy Spore after all" until now. I mean, come on, I've been waiting two years or so for this game, a game that I feel will be the only game I will ever need from now on. Could I really give up that kind of commitment?

I think the 10-day aspect is ridiculous, but not necessarily a deal-breaker. The three installs, though? That's pushing me that much closer to the "boycott" border. I had to uninstall and reinstall games all the time when I had a smaller hard drive. I'd have burned through three installs in less than a year. I'm sure there are people who must still follow the same pattern.

Anyway, I'm hoping EA will hurry up and release some official word already, so we can know the truth. And I'm hoping they make the right decision. I want this game. I don't want to abandon it.

[0goober0]

Anyway, I'm hoping EA will hurry up and release some official word already, so we can know the truth. And I'm hoping they make the right decision. I want this game. I don't want to abandon it.

you'd think they would have released something by now, they can't be blind can they? When i google 'Spore' and set it to the results from the last 24 hours all of them talk about this, and there's a lot of hits. Where they going to use securom and now they don't know because it's causing so much disruption? if so they should at least tell us they don't know yet.  If they were never planning on using it than you'd think they would have denied it by now....

edit: searching Spore on google and setting it to only the last 24 hours is actually pretty funny: almost every hit is "Spore and Mass Effect" or "Mass Effect and Spore" and they all have "validation" after that with words like "require", "forces" and "self-disable".

[nicholasneko]

treat others as you wish to be treated.

treat us like customers and we will buy your game, and be your customers.

treat your customers like pirates and we will just pirate your game so that we can enjoy it with out the annoyance of problems commonly caused by such practices.

choose wisely.

[Zoston]

It's a cat/mouse game between developers and pirates . and this way , the security systems will become more and more intrusive. So it's actually the pirates who make it all bad for the normal user, not the gaming companies.

This is exactly what's wrong. I've linked it before and I'll link it again http://forums.galciv2.com/303512. Brad Wardell makes the point the pirates are not your customers, stop harming loyal paying customers to hunt down a bunch of thieves who wouldn't pay for your game ever. This is not a cat and mouse game, this is a crazy guy in a suit smashing up his own house with a sledgehammer just to get rid of a single cockroach. Stardock has proven that you don't need copy protection or anything of the sort to top the salescharts, anyone saying that without copy protection games won't sell is just spewing a load of bull. Though I can completely understand the sentiment of business people wanting to make sure people pay for their products, they are losing themselves in an imaginary war where it's them versus the great evil pirates that want to destroy business, and are losing sight of the basics of business, making sure you treat your customers well and that they are satisfied with your products.

[Lippy]

I've re-installed some of my games at least 20-30 times so there is no way I'm going to buy a game which will only let me install a game 3 times.

You can install it 20-30 times on your computer.  That's not the problem.  The problem is worse than that.  The problem is that you can install it on three different computers.  How it recognizes each computer is unknown, but it will more than likely send your system specs and other information of your computer to be stored on the secuRom servers.   This information needs to be clearly marked somewhere on the packaging, or at the very least inside it.  The customer needs to know exactly how this system works beyond a simple sticker that says, "Internet required to play."  They need to be made aware of what they are buying.  If not, I believe EA could be opening themselves up to class action lawsuits if this is truly as invasive as it seems to be. 

I can guarantee that before spore is released in the US it will have already been cracked if EA goes through with this.

It might take longer than that to crack.  This isn't copy protection.  This is more like play protection.  It might give the hackers a bit more work to do.  I would say a month or more for the hackers to figure out how to circumvent it on Mass Effect without hindering the game.  And once they do, it might be easier to crack subsequent games that use this system.  At any rate, we'll see how it pans out way before Spore is out.

As for why EA hasn't come out and commented, it could be several reasons.  They might be looking into it, and carefully wording a response letter.  Or they might just not care because they have a contract to use SecuROM on so many games.  I'm leaning towards the latter. 

[Denris]

I have one vote and thats with my dollar so If this turns out to be true i simply will not buy the game. I'm fine with the steam way of CP but this goes to far. Ive been waiting for this game for years and have been coming to this site daily (even if I never post), and have been a hardcore PC gamer for years but this is the type of stuff that makes me want to just give up and stop upgrading my PC and just buy a PS3, or even, god forbid, become a pirate since they seem to want to treat me like one.