Cracked and leaked four days prior to release So, for those counting how much money the expensive SecuROM package has brought to EA: It has prevented 0 copies from being pirated, and has lost at least 1 sale. Totally worth the money and the hit to the franchise's reputation that is sure to come once normal people start getting fucked out of the game they paid for.
lulz.
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Leak at the factory no doubt. The more hype a game has, the more it's gonna be bought/pirated (With the caveat that it must be good).
CoD4 has sold a good number of games but it was pirated to high heaven. I'm with Stardock in that I don't see those people as potential paying customers so stop treating the people who do buy your games as cheats.
It will stop the casual cd copier. But is that who this DRM is targetted at? I dont know, but everyone knows that DRM isn't going to do much when it comes to release groups and grabbing a game of Usenet or Torrent sites.
It's an absolute...your DRM will be cracked and hacked before or within weeks of your game being released.
It will stop the casual cd copier. But is that who this DRM is targetted at? I dont know, but everyone knows that DRM isn't going to do much when it comes to release groups and grabbing a game of Usenet or Torrent sites.
It's an absolute...your DRM will be cracked and hacked before or within weeks of your game being released.
Much less obtrusive means have been used to prevent CD copying. If you can go out and find a crack for that stuff (DRM that I never had a problem with), then you can go out and find a cracked version of Spore, likely on the same site. SecuROM is designed to stop hardcore piraters, and as a consequence, also has negative effects on regular users. It has failed completely with every release on performing it's task, and has caused more than a little uproar over the bullshit that it brings with it.
__________________ City of Heroes: Virtue
WoW: Cenarion Circle
Gamertag: Heretic Machine
Currently Playing: Castle Crashers, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Beyond Good & Evil
Also Crowe, for what little it's worth, I find it hard to imagine that disc-copying is much of a problem compared to web-piracy, particularly in gaming.
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The best "DRM" Spore has is it's online features so unless EA really screwed the pooch none of that stuff will be accessible to anyone with a cracked copy. I believe that because of this the people who are actually looking forward to the game will still end up grabbing a copy even if they have download it. Hell, this may be one of those rare instances where the stolen version actually generates a few extra sales.
Also Crowe, for what little it's worth, I find it hard to imagine that disc-copying is much of a problem compared to web-piracy, particularly in gaming.
I agree.
I just can't believe they would go to so much trouble when they should know that it's not going to prevent piracy, it's only going to give a headache to people who buy the game and have shit go haywire on them. Complaining about it is like banging your head against a brick though, the people running these companies either have no understanding, or there is a conspiracy of some sort...Which i have no idea what it could even be lol.
The best "DRM" Spore has is it's online features so unless EA really screwed the pooch none of that stuff will be accessible to anyone with a cracked copy. I believe that because of this the people who are actually looking forward to the game will still end up grabbing a copy even if they have download it. Hell, this may be one of those rare instances where the stolen version actually generates a few extra sales.
Not really, you can just download those little PNG images and put those into your game. Having Spore connected to the internet would probably be slightly more convenient, but it's not a big deal either way.
__________________ City of Heroes: Virtue
WoW: Cenarion Circle
Gamertag: Heretic Machine
Currently Playing: Castle Crashers, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Beyond Good & Evil
Not really, you can just download those little PNG images and put those into your game. Having Spore connected to the internet would probably be slightly more convenient, but it's not a big deal either way.
I thought it implemented other user generated content into your game in real time based on how your world is formed and then those creatures may or may not evolve differently than they would have on their creators system? I haven't been following Spore as much I should have (obviously ) but I was hoping it was going to be a persistent universe with private worlds with data constantly streaming in and out affecting everything but if it the online feature is just a glorified creature down loader then yeah I guess there is no significant reason for the pirates to buy legit copy.
Also Crowe, for what little it's worth, I find it hard to imagine that disc-copying is much of a problem compared to web-piracy, particularly in gaming.
And that's largely because it's hindered by schemes such as these.
Remember that the stats on torrents cover everyone in the world.
In the big scheme of screwing over developers/publishers, casual disc copying lies IMO worse than used sales, but better than rentals or outright downloading.
What is it...
Torrents/DLs for use>Rentals>Casual copying (Including in-home use)>Used Sales>shrink wrapped purchase.
A torrent can go around the world on 1...or 0 sales.
A rental, say a week rental time, probably would be rented 8-12 times during its lifetime (if not more)
Casual copying...maybe it might go to 4-5 people?
A used sale, 1 maybe 2 extra people get to experience the content without the developers/publishers being paid for it.
A shrinkwrapped sale, is 1 to 1.
At least that's how my logic works.
Edit:On the other hand, a used sale generally speaking is taking the place of someone who would be more than willing to pay that amount of money to purchase the product. If they were forced to wait until the price came down, then the publisher would be able to claim that profit instead of the reseller.
So that has to be taken into account.
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I also think that pirating this game is kinda...well...
You know? I do think the pirated version is the perfect demo; it is the game, but with so much of the features missing due to the neccessary internet connection with the Maxis/EA server that, yeah, people who like the torrent will buy the game.
BTW: what happened to that EA boycot? You know who you are...
The "casual CD copier" argument will eventually become obsolete. I mean, how many people don't know how to use Google to find what they want? Those who want the game for free will get it for free, no matter what DRM scheme it uses.
Voting with my money and avoiding DRM makes being a PC gamer awfully difficult. If they didn't automatically assume I was a criminal, they might have seen a couple hundred from me, between buying it for myself, my sister, a few friends wanted it for Christmas...
That SecuROM "protection" and similar things are like a challenge to "crackers" and groups the more complicated and "difficult" are the more challenging is for them.
There's always some people that will not buy a game even if the game gets a 10 in score.
The true is that illegal downloads have been available since a long time, this not something new.
Take a look at Blizzard games (before WoW was available/announce or released) ALL their games have always been pirated and they don't complain, or use any special SecuROM or the like protection and they still sell like crazy.
I think that developers that complain and blame pirates are using this as a excuse. If you don't make a good game don't expect to sell millions, but then again like I said before there's always a group of people that will not buy a game even if get a perfect score and is praise by everyone.
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The PS3 is like the "Titanic", thought to never be sunked. XBOX360 is the many passengers on the "Titanic" that believe in the same concepts(graphical visuals). Then along came an iceberg(Wii).
I'm with Stardock in that I don't see those people as potential paying customers so stop treating the people who do buy your games as cheats.
I think many of them ARE potential paying customers who chose not to buy it BECAUSE of the DRM. There are definitely games I've purchased and then downloaded to avoid the DRM and needing to have the disc in. I think a good many more just skip that first step.
I think many of them ARE potential paying customers who chose not to buy it BECAUSE of the DRM. There are definitely games I've purchased and then downloaded to avoid the DRM and needing to have the disc in. I think a good many more just skip that first step.
I think this is just a cop-out that many pirates use to sound justified. Hal Halpin of the ECA said it best in my PAX interview with him... "GenerationX doesn't like to pay for things, and GenerationY absolutely hates it."
I imagine far more people justify their actions by the "I'm fighting DRM" statement, but very few would actually follow through if it was removed. Pirating software is not the way to get DRM out of the industry; it just compounds the problem.
I think this is just a cop-out that many pirates use to sound justified. Hal Halpin of the ECA said it best in my PAX interview with him... "GenerationX doesn't like to pay for things, and GenerationY absolutely hates it."
NO generation likes paying for content. It's why every town has a library and there's a rental shop on every corner.
Edit:I should clarify that more. In my experience, in the early Napster days, it was actually older folks in my experience who had the list of the songs that they wanted for free. Younger folks tended to go out and buy the CDs...albeit used, but they WOULD buy them.
I used to haunt a used media store back in 97 when Napster hit it big. As the school year went on and more kids discovered Napster the store's sales went through the roof.
__________________
But there's no sense crying over every mistake
You keep on trying until you run out of cake!
I think this is just a cop-out that many pirates use to sound justified. Hal Halpin of the ECA said it best in my PAX interview with him... "GenerationX doesn't like to pay for things, and GenerationY absolutely hates it."
I imagine far more people justify their actions by the "I'm fighting DRM" statement, but very few would actually follow through if it was removed. Pirating software is not the way to get DRM out of the industry; it just compounds the problem.
Bullshit. Want to see how much paying for games bothers me? Check out my gamertag. But when I pay for something, I expect to get a quality product; and regardless of how good of a game they might have made, only being able to install it three times is BULLSHIT. I was hyped for this game for years, and they lost a customer because of their ridiculous anti-piracy scheme (which was cracked almost a week before the official US release).
__________________ City of Heroes: Virtue
WoW: Cenarion Circle
Gamertag: Heretic Machine
Currently Playing: Castle Crashers, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Beyond Good & Evil
Bullshit. Want to see how much paying for games bothers me? Check out my gamertag. But when I pay for something, I expect to get a quality product; and regardless of how good of a game they might have made, only being able to install it three times is BULLSHIT. I was hyped for this game for years, and they lost a customer because of their ridiculous anti-piracy scheme (which was cracked almost a week before the official US release).
I understand that you might abstain from a purchase because of DRM, but as a whole, I think you are a rarity. However, most triple-A titles will do well regardless of DRM/piracy. The answer is not to try to boycott the sale or resort to piracy; they won't notice and thus won't care. They just make too much money.
Despite how much companies whine about piracy, when dealing with an industry that makes more money than any other single entertainment industry, a handful of people that don't purchase a product doesn't make a difference.
So, for those counting how much money the expensive SecuROM package has brought to EA: It has prevented 0 copies from being pirated, and has lost at least 1 sale. Totally worth the money and the hit to the franchise's reputation that is sure to come once normal people start getting fucked out of the game they paid for.
) but I was hoping it was going to be a persistent universe with private worlds with data constantly streaming in and out affecting everything but if it the online feature is just a glorified creature down loader then yeah I guess there is no significant reason for the pirates to buy legit copy.
