Bioshock (install twice?)

Is it true you can only install Bioshock twice, after that the disk is useless?

I buy a lot of pre-owned games, so i imagine it would be too risky to get Bioshock this way if it's true?

When i buy a game I like to feel like I ownit, if the above is true then i disagree with it on so many levels and willnever play the game...

It's somewhat true. There's a limit on the installations right now, but it's being increased to 5. Ken Levine confirmed too that when the games sales have dropped over time, they'll disable the system entierly so that there wont be any limit and you'll be able to play it without worry.

Blame piracy for forcing 2k to take such extreme measures to protect their game. Annoying? Yes. Necessary? Also yes, sadly.

Originally they limited the game to 2 computers, 3 reinistalls each. Now they changed it to 5 computers and 5 installs. After that you will need to get "support?"

http://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture/pc_faq.html

You need to go online to register it for each fresh install.

This kind of anti-piracy system is uncessary I believet, here are numerous games without any anti-piracy systems that sell well.

The activation system was cracked last night anyway. If you have problems just head on over to your favourite naughty download site and grab it.

But why should the people who pay for legitimate copies of the game suffer in this way? Its an insult to be honest....

When obviously the pirates will find a way round it very quickly, It would be easier for me to just get a pirated version (hypothetically speaking of course)..

Why should genuine buyers have to suffer in this way?

I was concerned because I run a RAID 0 so I'm twice as likely to suffer hard drive meltdown as the next guy. I bought it anyway in the knowledge that if their system screws up for legit users I'll be able to fall back on the crack to still play (there's nothing illegal about cracking legit games!).

The news that they'll be turning off the system is good news, however I'm sceptic how they'll do it. It'll obviously be them putting the authorization servers into 'auto yes' mode or downloading a custom installer - both of which might be hard to find/not work if you pick the game up to play again in 5 years.

But why should the people who pay for legitimate copies of the game suffer in this way? Its an insult to be honest....

When obviously the pirates will find a way round it very quickly, It would be easier for me to just get a pirated version (hypothetically speaking of course)..

Why should genuine buyers have to suffer in this way?

sydstoner

Can you blame them for trying to protect the game they spent years developing? I can't! Just because they will eventually hack the game doesn't mean 2k wants to make it easy for them, plus early sales are essential for a blockbuster like this, so they've got to get as many people to buy the game as possible within the first weeks.

It's annoying, to be sure, but again, can you blame them for protecting their own game? That's like being angry at a bank for keeping money in a vault. "Arg, it takes so long for you to get the money, why can't you leave the money on the front counters? I promise not to steal it, really..."

ADDED - and to the poster above me, it'd be disabled in a patch. Maintaing a server is too costly when you can just distribute a patch that disables the system entierly for various other sites like Fileplanet or Gamespot to host.

[QUOTE="sydstoner"]

But why should the people who pay for legitimate copies of the game suffer in this way? Its an insult to be honest....

When obviously the pirates will find a way round it very quickly, It would be easier for me to just get a pirated version (hypothetically speaking of course)..

Why should genuine buyers have to suffer in this way?

the_mad_madman

Can you blame them for trying to protect the game they spent years developing? I can't! Just because they will eventually hack the game doesn't mean 2k wants to make it easy for them, plus early sales are essential for a blockbuster like this, so they've got to get as many people to buy the game as possible within the first weeks.

It's annoying, to be sure, but again, can you blame them for protecting their own game? That's like being angry at a bank for keeping money in a vault. "Arg, it takes so long for you to get the money, why can't you leave the money on the front counters? I promise not to steal it, really..."

ADDED - and to the poster above me, it'd be disabled in a patch. Maintaing a server is too costly when you can just distribute a patch that disables the system entierly for various other sites like Fileplanet or Gamespot to host.

I cant blame them for protecting something they have worked hard on for a long time, but at the end of the day its the type of challenge hackers thrive on and will easily get around.

So in the end its the legit genuine buyers who have to suffer.

Its certainly put me off buying a copy and i imagine a few others too...

As i was reading this post my avg just showed up and told me i have a virus and it pointed towards bioshock :lol:

i know its not really a virus and its that secure thing but still for people who no nothing about it, they would get pretty scared.

[QUOTE="the_mad_madman"][QUOTE="sydstoner"]

But why should the people who pay for legitimate copies of the game suffer in this way? Its an insult to be honest....

When obviously the pirates will find a way round it very quickly, It would be easier for me to just get a pirated version (hypothetically speaking of course)..

Why should genuine buyers have to suffer in this way?

sydstoner

Can you blame them for trying to protect the game they spent years developing? I can't! Just because they will eventually hack the game doesn't mean 2k wants to make it easy for them, plus early sales are essential for a blockbuster like this, so they've got to get as many people to buy the game as possible within the first weeks.

It's annoying, to be sure, but again, can you blame them for protecting their own game? That's like being angry at a bank for keeping money in a vault. "Arg, it takes so long for you to get the money, why can't you leave the money on the front counters? I promise not to steal it, really..."

ADDED - and to the poster above me, it'd be disabled in a patch. Maintaing a server is too costly when you can just distribute a patch that disables the system entierly for various other sites like Fileplanet or Gamespot to host.

I cant blame them for protecting something they have worked hard on for a long time, but at the end of the day its the type of challenge hackers thrive on and will easily get around.

So in the end its the legit genuine buyers who have to suffer.

Its certainly put me off buying a copy and i imagine a few others too...

a 20 second download is hardly suffering, and if you need the game installed on more than 2 (now 5)pcs at once, you're probably up to no good anyway (i am aware of the whole pc gamer thing, it does not apply to the typical gamer)

i think the systemis fine, and if it helped the game get early sales - which was clearly the point (how many people could wait over a week without buying it?), as it would clearly be hacked eventually... i hadn't had it confirmed before reading this thread, but it was obvious to me it would eventually be disabled and patched out, this was just a move to secure a lot of early sales, because that is when piracy hits hardest and can be most significantly averted, which it very possibly was

again, a 20 second download was hardly suffering, and if it keeps companies as awesome as irrational in the green, i say it's worth it - well worth it...

Can you blame them for trying to protect the game they spent years developing?

the_mad_madman

I can. As soon as someone shells out $50 its no longer the developers game and if the customer can't play that game they legitly purchased than it is a SCAM. They shouldn't be able to punish the customer this way and it probably caused more people to pirate it.

[QUOTE="sydstoner"][QUOTE="the_mad_madman"][QUOTE="sydstoner"]

But why should the people who pay for legitimate copies of the game suffer in this way? Its an insult to be honest....

When obviously the pirates will find a way round it very quickly, It would be easier for me to just get a pirated version (hypothetically speaking of course)..

Why should genuine buyers have to suffer in this way?

mfsa

Can you blame them for trying to protect the game they spent years developing? I can't! Just because they will eventually hack the game doesn't mean 2k wants to make it easy for them, plus early sales are essential for a blockbuster like this, so they've got to get as many people to buy the game as possible within the first weeks.

It's annoying, to be sure, but again, can you blame them for protecting their own game? That's like being angry at a bank for keeping money in a vault. "Arg, it takes so long for you to get the money, why can't you leave the money on the front counters? I promise not to steal it, really..."

ADDED - and to the poster above me, it'd be disabled in a patch. Maintaing a server is too costly when you can just distribute a patch that disables the system entierly for various other sites like Fileplanet or Gamespot to host.

I cant blame them for protecting something they have worked hard on for a long time, but at the end of the day its the type of challenge hackers thrive on and will easily get around.

So in the end its the legit genuine buyers who have to suffer.

Its certainly put me off buying a copy and i imagine a few others too...

a 20 second download is hardly suffering, and if you need the game installed on more than 2 (now 5)pcs at once, you're probably up to no good anyway (i am aware of the whole pc gamer thing, it does not apply to the typical gamer)

i think the systemis fine, and if it helped the game get early sales - which was clearly the point (how many people could wait over a week without buying it?), as it would clearly be hacked eventually... i hadn't had it confirmed before reading this thread, but it was obvious to me it would eventually be disabled and patched out, this was just a move to secure a lot of early sales, because that is when piracy hits hardest and can be most significantly averted, which it very possibly was

again, a 20 second download was hardly suffering, and if it keeps companies as awesome as irrational in the green, i say it's worth it - well worth it...

Why are youdefending these people?Its an absolute insult to people who genuinly buy the game legitimately..

We are made to suffer because of pirates who hack the game regardless?

Is it true you can only install Bioshock twice, after that the disk is useless?

I buy a lot of pre-owned games, so i imagine it would be too risky to get Bioshock this way if it's true?

When i buy a game I like to feel like I ownit, if the above is true then i disagree with it on so many levels and willnever play the game...

sydstoner

I didnt even know that, this upsets me a lot actually. I bought the limited edition so lets just say, for the sake of argument, I have reformat my PC 6 times, and I install it each time after I reformat it, then what?

[QUOTE="the_mad_madman"]

Can you blame them for trying to protect the game they spent years developing?

Swiftstrike5

I can. As soon as someone shells out $50 its no longer the developers game and if the customer can't play that game they legitly purchased than it is a SCAM. They shouldn't be able to punish the customer this way and it probably caused more people to pirate it.

You are absolutely right. I've already installed the game on my laptop and my desktop, so what happens if I want to install it on my other laptop and reformat my desktop and want to reinstall it again. I paid $60 for the game, doesnt that give me the right to install and uninstall the game as many as times as I wish on my computer?

a 20 second download is hardly suffering, and if you need the game installed on more than 2 (now 5)pcs at once, you're probably up to no good anyway (i am aware of the whole pc gamer thing, it does not apply to the typical gamer)

i think the systemis fine, and if it helped the game get early sales - which was clearly the point (how many people could wait over a week without buying it?), as it would clearly be hacked eventually... i hadn't had it confirmed before reading this thread, but it was obvious to me it would eventually be disabled and patched out, this was just a move to secure a lot of early sales, because that is when piracy hits hardest and can be most significantly averted, which it very possibly was

again, a 20 second download was hardly suffering, and if it keeps companies as awesome as irrational in the green, i say it's worth it - well worth it...

msfa

Why are youdefending these people?Its an absolute insult to people who genuinly buy the game legitimately..

We are made to suffer because of pirates who hack the game regardless?sydstoner

how are we suffering?

i bought the game, i installed it, i downloaded the activation patch (which was automatic and took about 20 seconds), i played the game to completion

where's the suffering?

is it just the principle of it? because the mad_madman pretty much countered that - companies need to protect their interests, for a pretty damn legitimate reason - so they can continue to develop games, would you prefer companies not protect their intests, by afflicted with horrible piracy, and so have fewer resources to work with in creating their next game

now, if i had to go to a hospital and needed an anal probing for a skin sample to prove i'd bought the game, then had to send urine and blood samples to 2K, along with my finger prints and national insurance number, then i'd agree with you, but what is the problem with having to download a file, and with only being able to install it on more than 5 pcs at once? exactly how are the innocent suffering?

Simple, if i buy a game, i like to think i own the game.....

Not being restricted and feeling like a thief......

Simple, if i buy a game, i like to think i own the game.....

Not being restricted and feeling like a thief......

sydstoner

Good point. And what if I bought the game used and it had already exceeded the maximum installation limit. I would have to contact customer support just to play it, how is that fair? This is something I would have expected from EA, not 2K.

[quote="msfa"]a 20 second download is hardly suffering, and if you need the game installed on more than 2 (now 5)pcs at once, you're probably up to no good anyway (i am aware of the whole pc gamer thing, it does not apply to the typical gamer)

i think the systemis fine, and if it helped the game get early sales - which was clearly the point (how many people could wait over a week without buying it?), as it would clearly be hacked eventually... i hadn't had it confirmed before reading this thread, but it was obvious to me it would eventually be disabled and patched out, this was just a move to secure a lot of early sales, because that is when piracy hits hardest and can be most significantly averted, which it very possibly was

again, a 20 second download was hardly suffering, and if it keeps companies as awesome as irrational in the green, i say it's worth it - well worth it...

mfsa

Why are youdefending these people?Its an absolute insult to people who genuinly buy the game legitimately..

We are made to suffer because of pirates who hack the game regardless?sydstoner

how are we suffering?

i bought the game, i installed it, i downloaded the activation patch (which was automatic and took about 20 seconds), i played the game to completion

where's the suffering?

is it just the principle of it? because the mad_madman pretty much countered that - companies need to protect their interests, for a pretty damn legitimate reason - so they can continue to develop games, would you prefer companies not protect their intests, by afflicted with horrible piracy, and so have fewer resources to work with in creating their next game

now, if i had to go to a hospital and needed an anal probing for a skin sample to prove i'd bought the game, then had to send urine and blood samples to 2K, along with my finger prints and national insurance number, then i'd agree with you, but what is the problem with having to download a file, and with only being able to install it on more than 5 pcs at once? exactly how are the innocent suffering?

Car thieves steal cars, correct? So, does that mean every-time I buy a new car, I can drive it 10 times, after the tenth time the car locks on me (for security reasons of course) because I exceeded the maximum limit to how many times I can turn the car on and off and I have to contact customer service to drive the car again. Come one now, this is really wrong.

Simple, if i buy a game, i like to think i own the game.....

Not being restricted and feeling like a thief......

sydstoner

that strikes me as being very irrational when it literally would not affect you, it's like saying, i'm going to die anyway so i may as well kill myself now - so what if i miss out on 70 years of life? i feel like i'm being treated like a dead person, so why bother with living?

you do own it after buying it, that you're being limited - sure, it's unfortunate - but you know those install credits are redeemed when you uninstall, it's not like you're permanently limited to 5 installs

but okay, what anti piracy steps do you propose? or would you prefer games to not carry anti piracy measures? hell, it's not like these companies need money to make games or anything!

Car thieves steal cars, correct? So, does that mean every-time I buy a new car, I can drive it 10 times, after the tenth time the car locks on me (for security reasons of course) because I exceeded the maximum limit to how many times I can turn the car on and off and I have to contact customer service to drive the car again. Come one now, this is really wrong.

Sephiroth__666

except that that would be directly affecting the owner of the car in a negative way, bioshock does not do this- a more accurate analogy would be to say the car would require a fingerprint scanner installed, and every tenth drive you need to re-scan your fingerprint... intrusive, sure, but hardly an inconvenience for the driver

the bioshock activation system does not affect the gamer in any way - install credits are redeemed every time you uninstall the game, effectively giving you unlimited installs -unless they happen to have five hard disk explosions, but that strikes me as about as unlikely as having your car explode five times... and in the long term it's hardly a factor to consider, as it's been announced that it will eventually be patched out

now, don't get me wrong, i don't like this system very much - but it does not affect the typical gamer at all... i mean, if i hadn't read about the limited installs, i wouldn't have even noticed, i'd still have my full five installs long after it was removed... i can't say i utterly support it or anything, but it strikes me as silly to boycott a game over something that you could literally not even know about, something that would not impair or otherwise affect your enjoyment or experience with the game, unless you happen to meet with a bizzare string of accidents...

[QUOTE="sydstoner"]

Simple, if i buy a game, i like to think i own the game.....

Not being restricted and feeling like a thief......

mfsa

that strikes me as being very irrational when it literally would not affect you, it's like saying, i'm going to die anyway so i may as well kill myself now - so what if i miss out on 70 years of life? i feel like i'm being treated like a dead person, so why bother with living?

you do own it after buying it, that you're being limited - sure, it's unfortunate - but you know those install credits are redeemed when you uninstall, it's not like you're permanently limited to 5 installs

but okay, what anti piracy steps do you propose? or would you prefer games to not carry anti piracy measures? hell, it's not like these companies need money to make games or anything!

Its not irrational at all.

I still got my copy of Baldur's gate which i have installed on god knows how many pcs ive gone through. its still my game that i paid for all them years ago......

Why should I be restricted in what i can do with a game that i legitmately paid for?

I agree with both sides of this... Its the lame ass pirates that make them put this elaborate system in place... but at the same time its not going to stop them... they will always pirate the games.. Also this is one of the reasons I didn't buy the PC version of the game... The rate I upgrade my PC and format my HDD I would not want to call customer support every 6-10 mounts to let me install the game... its annoying and uncalled for... So if we are to blame anyone it's not 2k it's the pirates that have made it harder for the reset of us...

If this is how the future of pc gaming goes then ill glady be a 100% pirate. Not gonna support something if there is no benefits over buying it. Why buy something when you can get it for free and without any hazzels?

This is why i havent bought bioshock. Im not gonna pirate it, but ill just pass on this game because of that, not gonna support that.

2k could learn from id. Even the second patch to doom3 and quake 4 had a no cd thing, now thats quality. Ill buy their games always.

This system that 2k has put in is also just more likely to be hacked. Something like this is what drivers hackers, a challenge.

If this is how the future of pc gaming goes then ill glady be a 100% pirate. Not gonna support something if there is no benefits over buying it. Why buy something when you can get it for free and without any hazzels?

This is why i havent bought bioshock. Im not gonna pirate it, but ill just pass on this game because of that, not gonna support that.

2k could learn from id. Even the second patch to doom3 and quake 4 had a no cd thing, now thats quality. Ill buy their games always.

This system that 2k has put in is also just more likely to be hacked. Something like this is what drivers hackers, a challenge.

mimic-Denmark

Man, I couldnt agree with you more. Putting restrictions on games that you went out and purchased is absolutely crazy. Its like you're being penalized for doing the right thing, so why not do the wrong thing instead? All I know is that 2K just lost me as a customer for good. I think this is taking a big step backwards in PC gaming.

Is it true you can only install Bioshock twice, after that the disk is useless?

I buy a lot of pre-owned games, so i imagine it would be too risky to get Bioshock this way if it's true?

When i buy a game I like to feel like I ownit, if the above is true then i disagree with it on so many levels and willnever play the game...

sydstoner

The sticky at the top of this forum covered this very question :)