DRM Thread

[Mamoulian War]

  Morgoth said:

Wow. Tomb Raider Underworld sells 1,5 million units, and Eidos plays the sad Panda. PoP sells 2,2 million units, and Ubisoft plays the sad Panda. In other news, Drakensang sells a bit over 100k units, and publisher dtp announced this as "major" success. Addon and Sequel are being developed.

 

 

It's called greed... Drakensang guys are still not infected...

[Morgoth]

  alanschu said:

What is Drakensang?

The Dark Eye: Drakensang

[Hassat Hunter]

I just read Eidos plays the Sad Panda because the previous Tomb Raider (Legend) sold 3 million, so 1.7 is a severe drop from that.

 

But what do you expect milking a franchise???

[Morgoth]

  Mamoulian War said:

  Morgoth said:

Wow. Tomb Raider Underworld sells 1,5 million units, and Eidos plays the sad Panda. PoP sells 2,2 million units, and Ubisoft plays the sad Panda. In other news, Drakensang sells a bit over 100k units, and publisher dtp announced this as "major" success. Addon and Sequel are being developed.

 

 

It's called greed... Drakensang guys are still not infected...

 

Seriosuly though, I'm glad there're still publishers like dtp or Deep Silver around that publish games like Drakensang, Divinity 2 and Risen. It shows that you don't need to throw sacks of money at teams to make enjoyable games.

[Morgoth]

  Hassat Hunter said:

I just read Eidos plays the Sad Panda because the previous Tomb Raider (Legend) sold 3 million, so 1.7 is a severe drop from that.

 

But what do you expect milking a franchise???

That's why it sucks working on publsiher-owned franchises. You're sooner or later bound to get laid off, no matter how well it sells.

[Hurlshort]

It probably helps that Drakenseng doesn't seem to be advertised at all. That's a pretty big money spender.

[Morgoth]

  Hurlshot said:

It probably helps that Drakenseng doesn't seem to be advertised at all. That's a pretty big money spender.

Well it actually got a lot attention, in Germany at least. Not so sure if this will be the case for the rest of the world too, however.

[Hurlshort]

  Morgoth said:

  Hurlshot said:

It probably helps that Drakenseng doesn't seem to be advertised at all. That's a pretty big money spender.

Well it actually got a lot attention, in Germany at least. Not so sure if this will be the case for the rest of the world too, however.

 

It seems like it is picking up steam in the US, but it's mostly word of mouth press, which is free. I just meant the other companies blow a huge amount on commercials and banners.

[neckthrough]

  Slashdot said:

Last month, we discussed news that the FTC would be examining DRM to see if it needs regulation. They set up a town hall meeting for late March, and part of that effort involved requesting comments from potential panelists and the general public. Ars Technica reports that responses to the request have been overwhelmingly against DRM, and primarily from gamers. The Electronic Frontier Foundation also took the opportunity to speak out strongly against DRM, saying flat out that "DRM does not prevent piracy," and suggesting that its intended purpose is "giving some industry leaders unprecedented power to influence the pace and nature of innovation and upsetting the traditional balance between the interests of copyright owners and the interests of the public." Their full public comments (PDF) describe several past legal situations supporting that point, such as Sony's fight against mod chips, Blizzard's DMCA lawsuit against an alternative to battle.net, and Sony's XCP rootkit.

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/15/145252

[alanschu]

People tried to set up an alternative to battle.net?

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Gabe Newell says DRM increases piracy.

 

The Highlights via kotaku.

[alanschu]

  Gabe said:

DRM decreases service value for customers. It also makes pirated copies of games look more appealing. Anecdotal evidence appears to suggest that DRM is increasing and not decreasing piracy.

 

 

I find it ironic, given Steam is essentially a form of DRM.

 

 

Gabe Newell also supports automated information retrieval from people's computers!!!!!11

 

 

For the record, I think the article is good and agree with most of what is said.

Edited February 19, 2009 by alanschu

[neckthrough]

Steam's hardware survey is not an invisible nefarious data retrieval system. You are explicitly asked if you want to carry out the survey and send the results.

[alanschu]

  neckthrough said:

Steam's hardware survey is not an invisible nefarious data retrieval system. You are explicitly asked if you want to carry out the survey and send the results.

 

 

Thanks I know I was being facetious.

[neckthrough]

  alanschu said:

  neckthrough said:

Steam's hardware survey is not an invisible nefarious data retrieval system. You are explicitly asked if you want to carry out the survey and send the results.

 

 

Thanks I know I was being facetious.

My bad, I missed the 1's after the !'s

[alanschu]

Ok good that's usually a good sign (the 1s) haha

[Magister Lajciak]

  alanschu said:

  Gabe said:

DRM decreases service value for customers. It also makes pirated copies of games look more appealing. Anecdotal evidence appears to suggest that DRM is increasing and not decreasing piracy.

 

 

I find it ironic, given Steam is essentially a form of DRM.

 

Yep. In fact, I far prefer SecuROM, when it does not have online activation and limited installs (when it does not have these two 'features' I don't actually mind SecuROM at all), to Steam, which always has online activation.

[Maria Caliban]

Edited March 26, 2009 by Gorth
Circumventing language filter

[alanschu]

Haha

[Moatilliatta]

  Magister Lajciak said:

  alanschu said:

  Gabe said:

DRM decreases service value for customers. It also makes pirated copies of games look more appealing. Anecdotal evidence appears to suggest that DRM is increasing and not decreasing piracy.

 

 

I find it ironic, given Steam is essentially a form of DRM.

 

Yep. In fact, I far prefer SecuROM, when it does not have online activation and limited installs (when it does not have these two 'features' I don't actually mind SecuROM at all), to Steam, which always has online activation.

I find it funny since you guys are missing the point.

 

Steam is technically a DRM, but more importantly it is a service that allows users to get their crack in an easier fashion than the regular method of retail stores do.

 

Also, while I love Valve's gloating, I highly doubt that the steam method is going to save PC gaming.

[alanschu]

The thing I found interesting is that they felt that dropping the price by 75% garnered more money. So why doesn't Valve do that then?

[Mamoulian War]

  alanschu said:

The thing I found interesting is that they felt that dropping the price by 75% garnered more money. So why doesn't Valve do that then?

 

because selling for 100% price to 250000 people and then selling for 50% to 1million people is at the end more money... there will always be people willing to pay anything to get the game on day 1... it's just business as usual...

[alanschu]

  Mamoulian War said:

  alanschu said:

The thing I found interesting is that they felt that dropping the price by 75% garnered more money. So why doesn't Valve do that then?

 

because selling for 100% price to 250000 people and then selling for 50% to 1million people is at the end more money... there will always be people willing to pay anything to get the game on day 1... it's just business as usual...

 

 

Just using their own quote.

 

 

Obviously there is Day One sales, but Valve games don't exactly depreciate in price all that quickly (not that I care). Just commenting.

[Mamoulian War]

And another proof that DRM fails

 

 

http://www.dailytech.com/Obamas+Gift+to+Br...rticle14660.htm

[Hurlshort]

Heh, I always thought zone restrictions were silly. Although doesn't MI5 have the technology to mod his DVD player?

 

I'm not really sure if zone restrictions have anything to do with fighting piracy though.