Will Alpha Protocol have DRM?

[Humodour]

If it has online authorisation like that SecuROM bull**** I'm not buying it unless it comes out on Steam (AND the Steam version removes the third-party DRM).

[Slowtrain]

As long as it doesn't make me register and create an account and give up personal info to the publisher just to play a game, I'm fine with whatever DRM is used.

[Morgoth]

It will use Steam, like any Sega game.

[Hurlshort]

I hope so. It would be a shame if anyone was able to pirate it.

[lord of flies]

I can guarantee you that within a week after PC release, this game will be cracked and on a torrent website, no matter what DRM they use. If anyone wants to take me up on this bet, I'll put twenty dollars down on it.

[Deraldin]

It will use Steam, like any Sega game.

Please don't go down that route.

[Zoraptor]

Steamworks = automatic no sale, and frankly it's about the only thing which would mean an automatic no sale short of some sort of Ubisoft merger in the next few weeks. Can't afford the several hundred dollars in bandwidth costs when it goes ballistic and decides the DVD isn't enough to install from, even if I didn't loathe Steamworks and its bastard stepchildren on principal.

 

Don't think it will have it though or it wouldn't be pre orderable from anywhere other than Steam.

 

SecuROM>>>Steamworks.

[Oner]

First off: Alpha Protocol is the DRM. With that in mind:

 

I can guarantee you that within a week after PC release, this game will be cracked and on a torrent website, no matter what DRM they use. If anyone wants to take me up on this bet, I'll put twenty dollars down on it.

You think some random pirate scum can just crack the security of the secretiest US agency like it was nothing? Hah!

 

Hmm...how about a mock DRM ad to promote the game, Obs?

Mina/Darcy Protocol.

Crack it, and we unleash Thorton on you.

[Purkake]

@Zoraptor: Them's fighting words.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Purkake

[Humodour]

I hope so. It would be a shame if anyone was able to pirate it.

 

*facepalm* Absolutely moronic.

 

Online activation doesn't alter illegal download rates at all compared to disc checks. It only prevents second-hand sales and gets in the face of people who DIDN'T get the game illegally (here's a hint: people who download the game illegally never have to deal with DRM).

 

Case in point: http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=7572

 

So why on earth would you advocate online activation over a disc check?

[mr insomniac]

>N

 

You stumble upon another DRM thread. It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

 

>What is a grue?

 

The grue is a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of the earth. Its favorite diet is adventurers, but its insatiable appetite is tempered by its fear of light. No grue has ever been seen by the light of day, and few have survived its fearsome jaws to tell the tale. Luckily, the grue is easily distracted by fresh equine corpses, which it likes to attack with heavy clubs.

 

From here you may: {ST}and in one place, or move {S}outh.

 

>Get EQUINE CORPSE

 

You do not see a EQUINE CORPSE.

 

>Get EQUINE CORPSE from PACK

 

Your PACK is empty. Did I mention it is pitch black and that you are likely to be eaten by a grue? Because you are.

 

>S

Edited March 7, 2010 by mr insomniac

[Shinaju]

I can guarantee you that within a week after PC release, this game will be cracked and on a torrent website, no matter what DRM they use. If anyone wants to take me up on this bet, I'll put twenty dollars down on it.

 

It might get cracked before the game is out. Honestly, I don't think there was any kind of DRM that is uncrackable. And there never was any kind of DRM that stop pirates or increase it own sales. Just make a good game and you get your money. DRM in fact have a negative impact on sales... But I guess people just want DRM on just to make themselves feel slightly more secure about their product.

Edited March 8, 2010 by Shinaju

[Tigranes]

It will use Steam, like any Sega game.

 

Oh god, I didn't think of that.

 

Steam takes five minutes to open in New Zealand. Even if you start it Set Offline. It takes 30 seconds for it to respond to anything. Either the gaming industry installs fibreoptic networks in the country or they can screw this idiocy.

 

I mean, does ETW have a legal way to not use Steam yet? Why would you *force* it?

[Humodour]

It will use Steam, like any Sega game.

 

Oh god, I didn't think of that.

 

Steam takes five minutes to open in New Zealand. Even if you start it Set Offline. It takes 30 seconds for it to respond to anything. Either the gaming industry installs fibreoptic networks in the country or they can screw this idiocy.

 

I mean, does ETW have a legal way to not use Steam yet? Why would you *force* it?

 

Huuuh? Why would a Sega game use Steamworks? Just because a game is on Steam doesn't mean it uses Steam in non-Steam copies...

 

Anyway, you're safe. In New Zealand you're allowed to circumvent DRM if the use is legitimate, AFAIK. Similar in Australia (with stricter requirements), but I believe Americans are up faecal highway without a method of propulsion.

[Tigranes]

Actually, yeah. Now that I've stopped panicking, since when do all Sega games use Steam? I just hope it's not like ETW, where boxed copies forced you into Steam as well.

 

Anyway, you're safe. In New Zealand you're allowed to circumvent DRM if the use is legitimate, AFAIK.

 

I've read this before, but I can't remember where.

[Killian Kalthorne]

I just want a game that works day one that I install it. If that is a DRM copy fine. If I have to pirate it to get it to work, I'll mail a check to Obsidian directly.

[Syraxis]

I just want a game that works day one that I install it. If that is a DRM copy fine. If I have to pirate it to get it to work, I'll mail a check to Obsidian directly.

 

+1

[Landiskan]

I pre-ordered Assassin's Creed II many many many long months ago. It finally arrived on saturday. Huh why can't I play it? The DRM requires constant internet connection. If my internet drops for a second, i get kicked out of the game, then i have to wait 5-20 minutes in order to load the game (accessing the ubisoft's servers, if i even can for a couple of hours / days.)

 

My internet connection is not that great due to living in the middle of nowhere. Anyway... my point for this other than being a rant (apologies all) this DRM is really quite bad. I have Alpha Protocol on pre-order and if i see any mention of anything like Ubisoft's DRM i am cancelling the pre-order.

 

Not that I think Obsidian or anyone else would be daft enough to copy Ubisoft. Yet.

[Zoraptor]

Actually, yeah. Now that I've stopped panicking, since when do all Sega games use Steam?

Pretty much all of the SegaUS releases since ETW have used Steamworks- NTW, AVP etc. They've obviously got some dealy going on as they've also released back catalogue games solely on Steam (eg AVP2000) as well. But since AP is available on other digital distributors- that won't sell Steamworked games- and it isn't MP so doesn't need any match making capacity etc it hopefully won't use it.

 

Anyway, you're safe. In New Zealand you're allowed to circumvent DRM if the use is legitimate, AFAIK.

 

I've read this before, but I can't remember where.

It's technically illegal though it's a copyright infringement matter rather than a criminal one (all IIRC, does not constitute a legal opinion etc.)

 

[edit] Had a quick look around and it seems they've also used uniloc (which I'd never even heard of prior) on FM2010 and GfWL on their Olympics game recently.

Edited March 8, 2010 by Zoraptor

[Beast]

What's a DRM?

[Humodour]

Anyway, you're safe. In New Zealand you're allowed to circumvent DRM if the use is legitimate, AFAIK.

 

I've read this before, but I can't remember where.

It's technically illegal though it's a copyright infringement matter rather than a criminal one (all IIRC, does not constitute a legal opinion etc.)

 

Look, I'm sorry but that's incorrect. First, as I clearly pointed out, DRM circumvention law is DIFFERENT in New Zealand (i.e. legal for legitimate purposes), and secondarily, even in American law, DRM circumvention has NOTHING to do with copyright law - it has its own section of the law, and DRM circumvention is DRM circumvention under the law (DMCA).

 

DRM circumvention is NOT copyright infringement in any jurisidictions that I know of.

 

And no, IANAL.

[kreese12]

What's a DRM?

 

Something that makes a game less enjoyable to play, yet, in the entire history of PC gaming since the 8086, has never once been effective at making a single-player game unplayable for pirates.

 

I'm not pro-pirate or anything. But it sucks when the pirates get better service, and a better product, then the people that actually pay for the game.

 

IMHO it is much better to fight pirates with carrots, because the sticks don't work (or cause a backlash). Do as Bioware does, give people 'free' DLC with coupons, or other bonuses, instead of utilizing bulky, annoying anti-piracy methods that simply do not deter pirates at all and just makes your product less than it should be. Or offer regular patches, with each one replacing the game launcher file, so that the crack doesn't work. Crackers generally can not be bothered to release updated cracks for games that have been out longer than a few weeks.

Edited March 9, 2010 by kreese12

[Zoraptor]

Anyway, you're safe. In New Zealand you're allowed to circumvent DRM if the use is legitimate, AFAIK.

 

I've read this before, but I can't remember where.

It's technically illegal though it's a copyright infringement matter rather than a criminal one (all IIRC, does not constitute a legal opinion etc.)

 

Look, I'm sorry but that's incorrect. First, as I clearly pointed out, DRM circumvention law is DIFFERENT in New Zealand (i.e. legal for legitimate purposes), and secondarily, even in American law, DRM circumvention has NOTHING to do with copyright law - it has its own section of the law, and DRM circumvention is DRM circumvention under the law (DMCA).

 

DRM circumvention is NOT copyright infringement in any jurisidictions that I know of.

 

And no, IANAL.

 

My dear fellow, I live in New Zealand.

 

Because you're downloading someone else's copyrighted work- ie the executable/ dlls- you are infringing their copyright even though the use of cracks/ circumventing DRM is not itself illegal. So while it isn't illegal in a criminal sense, at present at least, it is in a civil sense and yes, companies can take you to court for doing so. Though it really isn't worth their while since we have almost exclusively dynamic IPs here making it almost impossible to get the basic evidence necessary.

[Tigranes]

I should really know this stuff, actually. Well done media graduate.

 

[edit] Had a quick look around and it seems they've also used uniloc (which I'd never even heard of prior) on FM2010 and GfWL on their Olympics game recently.

 

I bought FM2010, and they had a steam version and a normal version - I got a physical copy from the UK and it had nothing to do with steam. It's a good thing, too, given the number of compatibility problems they had with 2009 & 2010 for Steam - nothing good comes of trying to make things more complicated than it needs to be.

 

Anyway, as a multiplatform release surely there's no good reason for it to be Steam only. Guess I have to wait for news on this before preordering.

 

But then, if I have to moderate this place and I don't have the game I'd probably kill myself.

[Purkake]

Aww, poor Tig, don't do that.