HogWash! ..... thats straight out of the marketing/PR manual. They have let the genie out of the bottle, and it will be a long time before it gets put back in.



Translated means we got caught with our hands in the Till .... if they were so concerned they would have market tested for a response before going out with such a potentially devisive system. Any sane individual running a large Business would tread carefully in a similar scenario, the fact that they didnt speaks volumes for motivations.

The correct response should have been "We made an error, and our loyal fans let us know about that in no uncertain terms. Lesson learnt, we are going back to the drawing board on this one, and will let you know the outcome in a few days. Meanwhile, a big thank you to our customers for rattling our cage on this one, we do listen to you, and when we get it wrong, we'll say so, and put it right." Not the marketing hogwash he put out ....

If the 10 day activation was essential to the process why have they so quickly let it go? My guess is two unspoken reasons, first they still want the solid marketing database this will bring, second and equally likely - they are so divorced from the realities of their customers they really thought no one would mind .....

I want to deal with someone who I can at the very least half-trust, not someone who backs down immediately on what was previously stated as critical actions, then to see them glibly dump the "critical principles" on first sign of plummeting Sales.

I'm the first to agree that business is there to make a dollar, no problem with that - however you make the best dollars by looking after your customers, not by the saga that was just played out. Trust and Motivation are as big if not bigger part of any Sale, as is content and quality of the item or service. The latter may well be good, but the former is decidedly lacking in my view, so its still a no for me.

Regards
Zy

I'm wondering if BioWare didn't just do an end run around EA. Think about it: how many game companies that use DRM in their games come out before release and tell you exactly how it's going to work?

I think it's entirely possible that EA mandated that SecuROM was going to be in the game, BioWare got pissed about it because they didn't want to use this iteration of it, and they released the details knowing full well it was going to stir up a hornet's nest.

Of course they're only spewing out what's in the corporate manual though. They're owned by EA now, so they still have to toe the party line.

EA should rot in hell

Glad to see they have changed their decision.

What is happening is that finally gamers are taking the initiative and saying "No, I will NOT buy this product if it has THAT copy-protection".

I personally have not bought any game with Starforce on it for over 2 years now, even though I wanted the games that had it on (Freedom Force Vs. 3rd Reich, Silent Hunter 2).

This is the most powerful form of protest there is, and can change the policies of companies. After all, if you are not going to buy their product because it has X copy protection on it, there is little they can do except change it or lose sales.

The irony of this is that people who badly want the game and would have legally paid for it, but didn't want the copy-protection will probably get the pirate CP-free version.


In ending:


This is designed to reduce piracy. Insane and hilarious.
I've never heard a more deluded and ludicrous statement.

Such a bad system and policy would wave a FLAG in front of crackers to break this CP.

The most complex and invasive CP systems, along with strict and user-unfriendly company policy on CP is exactly what attracts the best crackers around to break the CP.

This system would be cracked within weeks or even days.



No, that award goes to Pace Interlock (read whole article):

http://www.prorec.com/Articles/tabid/109/EntryID/134/Default.aspx

Responsible copy protection is:

1. Unintrusive. Copy protection schemes that employ invasive procedures are irresponsible.

2. Interoperable. Copy protection schemes that are not compatible with standard operating systems or other common applications should be avoided.

3. Stable. Copy protection must not jeopardize the stability of the operating platform or application software.

4. Cost-effective. If a company spends all of its time supporting the copy protection, then it is quite conceivable that the cost to support the copy protection will quickly exceed the cost of piracy.

5. Available. Copy-protection that requires the user to have their software "turned on" by the vendor leaves them exposed to prolonged periods of downtime.

6. Effective! At the end of the day, if people are still stealing the software, then what was the point?


Pace Interlock fails miserably on all six counts.

7. Not existent. Because not a single CP has been able to fulfill requirement 6. Ever.

Well, the retail version of GC2 has no protection. But the updated version of GC2 (since 1.1) requires a one time activation per windows install.

Good thoughts, you may well be right.

Its just the sort of dirty politics that goes on in many Corporates, and why I will never work for one again. Some people dont mind that kind of Culture, for me its a big Turn Off.

Regards
Zy

I'm betting that it'll be cracked within 24 hours actually..... hmmm... wasn't Supreme Commander's SecuROM (before GPG/THQ removed it) cracked before they even released it?

Ok, I agree with you for the most part, but putting absurd copy protection allegations souly on American companies is inaccurate at best. Take Earth 2160 by the European company Reality Pump. Alot of people had issues activating their copy because they were forced to "phone in" with their serial code upon install and many times the activation system itself didnt work. It was an unnecessary system because the hackers cracked the game (it was a European port released several months before the American version came out so there were many versions to pirate) and the legitimate customers got the shaft. And this is one of several Euro produced games that have attrocious protections that really do nothing more then ruin the products for the legitimate customers.

But my point is simply that American companies arent the only ones with shady business practices. Just look at Nintendos history of business. Look at how Sony deals with their customers (SOE anyone?). Granted these companies have branches in the US, but they are both based in Japan. Any they all alienate (or alienated) their customers so that they can fulfill this misguided preconception that "its not that THEIR product is bad, its the pirates!" that are infringing on their profits.

Anyway, towards pirates. If you cant or wont purchase a product, then dont use it. Simple as that. Get these corporate monkeys off our backs. That will send a clearer message toward the heart of the big businesses that you inadvertently want to cripple. Then all they are doing is hurting themselves.

I should add that SecuROM IS in fact a Sony product. And Sony pushes their products aggressively upon many customers whether they know it or not.

Yes it's been posted here, and yes the 10-day phone home has also been removed from Spore.

-HM

Considering there's a thread that's 123 pages long, it's highly unlikely they're trying to quiet people.

-HM

Bioware is not owned by EA. They are just deveolping ME for them. BW has been working for alot of other Publishers in the past like Atari(NWN) and Lucas Arts(KOTOR).

Ouch, EA spreading like a plague.