How anti-piracy screws over people who buy PC Games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt4BpnfAN-o

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This video made me lol

Piracy is driving the PC gaming industry into the ground, the actual number of PC gamers has increased but the number of those who pay for the privilage has remained stagnent, it may have even fell, although the 'statistics' people keep coming up with are often questionable. Although I may not agree with the methods I do agree that piracy must stop.

Piracy is driving the PC gaming industry into the ground, the actual number of PC gamers has increased but the number of those who pay for the privilage has remained stagnent, it may have even fell, although the 'statistics' people keep coming up with are often questionable. Although I may not agree with the methods I do agree that piracy must stop.

Lundymaphone

There's some games that I did buy and had issues to make them play or had lags with them. I think some anti-piracy solution they put screw people on pc a lot's. Some games that are produced like starcraft 2 try to find other solution to stop that, but fail miserably too. I don't think everyone should have a connection to play a game with friend via lan.

Even if they put anti piracy system like this people still crack them and after this is just the people that buy and them that suffer the most. Those who did pay a bit more for having that thing inside the game and even sometime have issues because of it. Or the company itself that will loose some buyers because they did put an anti-piracy system and also the time and money they loose by programming it.

I do think also that piracy don't have only a bad side. Even Bill Gates did admit it. "Microsoft admits that piracy of its Windows operating system has helped give it huge market share in China that will boost its revenues when these users "go legit."" Bill Gates himself even said with China reference to those who pirates it : "As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade."

There's probably a way to find fix to a big problem like this other than making people fear to buy a product that will cost more in money and time. Hope they find it one day because I'm getting pissed off by those anti-piracy things.

Wow yeah i have seen this and i got to say i agree, anti piracy methods dont really do much and you might end up having an issue like that guy on the video, better without antipiracy if you ask me since the games that have those amazing antipiracy methods are still being heavilly pirated.

Antipiracy methods

-No profit to the developers

-Not stoping pirates

-Not helping game owners either.

Saw this video a while back, and I totally empathise with the guy. Had the same sorts of issues myself, and I just got sick of it all. So I've stopped buying PC games protected by SecuROM 7. Simple as that. If some of the games I'm tracking at the moment turn out to be decent, I'll be getting the console versions, because 9 times out of 10 the PC versions are now 'protected' with SecuROM. I don't really agree with cracks, so I won't use them.

I'm tired of being treated like a second-class customer as well, with online activations, limited installs, crap installed and hidden on my PC, being told by this malware that I can't have other software (Nero) or drives installed, and no chance of giving away or selling a game if I don't want it any more. By contrast if you buy the console version, you just put the damned disk in and play, and you can give it or sell it to whoever you please afterwards.

Soon, they'll force all PC games to be played through online servers (which is the next step on from the Steam service). I've been a PC gamer for 25 years, and it saddens me that it's come to this. Yeah, piracy is a problem, but so is taking away consumer rights. So screw 'em.

Problem is the price of games.

If games released at the same price as DVDs then I'd buy them like I do the Steam deals cause I can afford that. However I can't afford to spend £35 on every new release because I have pills to pay, food to buy, my social life and Petrol etc etc. I barely have any money left over each month for myself. All my friends are in the same boat and one of my friends just had a baby and is in so much debt so he put PC gaming on hold cause it's too expensive. They need to reduce game prices, not increase them like they're doing. Thats why so many people are downloading them for free because it's that or not ever playing them and the love for PC gaming is still there but just can't afford to buy every game out there. With COD MW2 coming out at such a high price and that being a sure hit it's like the only game I can afford this fall.

Resident Evil 5
Batman
Red Faction

etc etc.

All gonna lose out to COD MW2 cause I'm not putting all that money on a chance I might like them. If I was rich sure thing but I'm not.

Varny, I hear what you're saying, but lack of cash still isn't a good reason to pirate games, especially PC games which tend to be cheaper on release than the console versions. I'm strapped for cash as well (wife, two kids, all associated bills), so I just wait 6 months or a year for the price to fall on some games that I really want. Places like Play.com tend to sell games more cheaply anyway, and I've seen a few games priced at £17.99 just a few months after release. I've also managed to pick up some titles second hand at knock-down prices without issue (though I avoid second-hand multiplayer games that need a CD key, and any game that uses SecuROM).

As for the price of CoD:MW2 - Activision are having a laugh. I don't want that particular game, but if I did I wouldn't pay that price for it.

Problem is the price of games.

If games released at the same price as DVDs then I'd buy them like I do the Steam deals cause I can afford that. However I can't afford to spend £35 on every new release because I have pills to pay, food to buy, my social life and Petrol etc etc. I barely have any money left over each month for myself. All my friends are in the same boat and one of my friends just had a baby and is in so much debt so he put PC gaming on hold cause it's too expensive. They need to reduce game prices, not increase them like they're doing. Thats why so many people are downloading them for free because it's that or not ever playing them and the love for PC gaming is still there but just can't afford to buy every game out there. With COD MW2 coming out at such a high price and that being a sure hit it's like the only game I can afford this fall.

Resident Evil 5
Batman
Red Faction

etc etc.

All gonna lose out to COD MW2 cause I'm not putting all that money on a chance I might like them. If I was rich sure thing but I'm not.

Varny

Well I always buy the games I liked I just don't give money to the ones I thought were crap. I mean I've put all my eggs in one basket before with games and too often have I've been let down. Like 99% of games suck and theres only a handful out there that are worth paying for. I see it as trying a car before you buy and if you don't like it you've had your 15 min experience.

Well I always buy the games I liked I just don't give money to the ones I thought were crap. I mean I've put all my eggs in one basket before with games and too often have I've been let down. Like 99% of games suck and theres only a handful out there that are worth paying for. I see it as trying a car before you buy and if you don't like it you've had your 15 min experience.

Varny

Well, I don't have a problem with what you do. I look at it as a demo. You get to try a game before you buy it. If you like it, then great, you buy it. If you don't, then /uninstall. It's that simple. I hate getting burned by a crappy game, too.

Before there was DRM - there was piracy.

If it wasn't for these little jerks stealing games - none of us would have to deal with this.

Don't be mad at the companies - be mad at the little sissies who caused the problem in the first place.

2 things.

1.I dislike piracy

2.I like cookies

3.(My counting skills are impressive)I didn't even go to that link :P

Saw this video a while back, and I totally empathise with the guy. Had the same sorts of issues myself, and I just got sick of it all. So I've stopped buying PC games protected by SecuROM 7. Simple as that. If some of the games I'm tracking at the moment turn out to be decent, I'll be getting the console versions, because 9 times out of 10 the PC versions are now 'protected' with SecuROM. I don't really agree with cracks, so I won't use them.

I'm tired of being treated like a second-class customer as well, with online activations, limited installs, crap installed and hidden on my PC, being told by this malware that I can't have other software (Nero) or drives installed, and no chance of giving away or selling a game if I don't want it any more. By contrast if you buy the console version, you just put the damned disk in and play, and you can give it or sell it to whoever you please afterwards.

Soon, they'll force all PC games to be played through online servers (which is the next step on from the Steam service). I've been a PC gamer for 25 years, and it saddens me that it's come to this. Yeah, piracy is a problem, but so is taking away consumer rights. So screw 'em.

RobertBowen

Sounds like there's solutions out there but you just refuse to use them out of some false sense of consumer rights. I've never had any of these problems as described in your post.

[QUOTE="Varny"]

Well I always buy the games I liked I just don't give money to the ones I thought were crap. I mean I've put all my eggs in one basket before with games and too often have I've been let down. Like 99% of games suck and theres only a handful out there that are worth paying for. I see it as trying a car before you buy and if you don't like it you've had your 15 min experience.

dkrustyklown

Well, I don't have a problem with what you do. I look at it as a demo. You get to try a game before you buy it. If you like it, then great, you buy it. If you don't, then /uninstall. It's that simple. I hate getting burned by a crappy game, too.

So many people say this but never get around to actually buying the games.

Anti-Piracy methods has yet to negatively effect me over the years for playing my PC games, other then having to be more responsible with desktop usage. However, my personal barriers with PC games today are prices, poor ports and lack of interesting native games to the platform, personally.

If you build it they will come!

EIther way i think the PC obviously has more problems then the consoles, to my knowledge no one has been able to mod the PS3 yet? i could be wrong but i just purchased Championship Manager and it was a "pay what you want" some people im sure only paid 1cent and some people probably paid retail price but it gave the user the option, and it was a thank you to the fans from the developer.

I love PC gaming but it is going the way of the dodo, but there is an optimism, look at that onlive thing that is suppose to be coming out later this year. www.onlive.com

Or you go to the one time usage key like mmo's with a login account, you dont get people crying that they cant install it somewhere else and you have a login account and well if you forget that, thats your problem. That is the only real meathod that works, i know hack servers exist for WoW and such but you obviously dont get the true experiance. Plus the population wouldnt be the same im sure.

This piracy thing comes up all the time.

Before there was DRM - there was piracy.

If it wasn't for these little jerks stealing games - none of us would have to deal with this.

Don't be mad at the companies - be mad at the little sissies who caused the problem in the first place.

Born_Lucky

If you build it they will come!

EIther way i think the PC obviously has more problems then the consoles, to my knowledge no one has been able to mod the PS3 yet? i could be wrong but i just purchased Championship Manager and it was a "pay what you want" some people im sure only paid 1cent and some people probably paid retail price but it gave the user the option, and it was a thank you to the fans from the developer.

I love PC gaming but it is going the way of the dodo, but there is an optimism, look at that onlive thing that is suppose to be coming out later this year. www.onlive.com

Or you go to the one time usage key like mmo's with a login account, you dont get people crying that they cant install it somewhere else and you have a login account and well if you forget that, thats your problem. That is the only real meathod that works, i know hack servers exist for WoW and such but you obviously dont get the true experiance. Plus the population wouldnt be the same im sure.

This piracy thing comes up all the time.

flashback01231

Playstation 3 has been modified years ago very early on close to the release, with the only penalty being neglected from the PSN service. Playstation portable has also suffered as well, which is why you often seen Sony distribute new firmwares to combat against the mod community.

PC piracy is not as bad as I think the industry is portraying it to be, though there can certainly be improvements on the problem. Personally, I'm very eager to observe PC Piracy data in contrast to other platforms, in addition to total market comparisons if the research is out there, though any of us users have yet to see. From my perspective, I honestly believe PC piracy is being stress generally to whip gamers in to accepting a lot of this controlment on the platform, granted PCs is known for being a very open platform.

At the core of it, I will always be a PC Gamer, and it is indeed the better platform even with today's problems.

Sounds like there's solutions out there but you just refuse to use them out of some false sense of consumer rights.

KHAndAnime

It's partly a matter of principal, but also trying to keep within the bounds of legality. Methods used to circumvent DRM are now touted as 'illegal'. Besides, why should I have to go to some potentially illegal web-sites to download measures that circumvent the DRM to play certain games I paid for? They should work out of the box, if you meet or exceed the stated system requirements. If there are known issues with certain makes/models of DVD drive, or particular software already installed on your PC, these should be published on the game web-site so that consumers can make informed choices about the products they are buying.

And no...it's not a 'false sense' of consumer rights. According to statutory law (in the UK at least) any product you buy should work and be 'fit for purpose', you usually have the right to make a backup copy for music/software, and you have the right to sell it on after use. The point of sale is also considered the point of contract (especially by the retailers), but then the publishers slap the EULA on a game, which means you have to purchase before reading the terms of use. Most retailers won't give refunds for opened games (unless there is a physical fault with the disk), and the publishers don't care because they already have your money. The games industry has been eroding consumer rights for years, and if you can't see that, well, what more can I say?

I've never had any of these problems as described in your post.

KHAndAnime

Well, that's great for you, and probably 90 per cent of the gaming population as a whole. But I have encountered these issues, along with many other gamers, and "once bitten, twice shy". Some people encounter problems with TAGES, others with StarForce and some other copy protection software. My problem was with SecuROM, so I've made the decision to avoid it. Yes, it means I miss out on some PC exclusives. But that's the price I'm willing to pay to avoid potential issues in the future.

Before there was DRM - there was piracy.

Born_Lucky

And after there was DRM, there was piracy.

Nothing changed, except that now some legitimate customers experience problems with DRM, and have to resort to questionable measures to play the games they paid for. In the case of online activations tied to accounts, they also give up the right to sell on games they've purchased.

This guys a tool, come on, how many people dont know about cracks... He acts like this is new, **** like this has been happening for awhile now. I always crack my games, for convenience

I dont condone piracy but the idea that every pirated copy of a game translates to a lost sale is a misconception. A vast majority of people who pirate any given game had no intention of buying it in the first place. Had the pirated version not been available they simply wouldnt have played it.

I would be a good example. There are times when i cant afford a game at the moment or there is a game that i marginally want to play but not enough to spend money on. I wont be a sale for them either way whether i pirate it or not.

So the industry spits out these numbers about how badly its hurting the industry while in reality only a small fraction of those people would have paid in the first place.

So what you end up having is some form of DRM that makes legit owners jump through hoops while it does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to stop pirating. Show me one title that wasnt cracked within the same day or two of release regardless of what DRM it had. Thats right....you cant.

I just dont see what purpose it serves. It inconveniences more legit users than pirates. Seems counterproductive.

[QUOTE="Varny"]

Problem is the price of games.

If games released at the same price as DVDs then I'd buy them like I do the Steam deals cause I can afford that. However I can't afford to spend £35 on every new release because I have pills to pay, food to buy, my social life and Petrol etc etc. I barely have any money left over each month for myself. All my friends are in the same boat and one of my friends just had a baby and is in so much debt so he put PC gaming on hold cause it's too expensive. They need to reduce game prices, not increase them like they're doing. Thats why so many people are downloading them for free because it's that or not ever playing them and the love for PC gaming is still there but just can't afford to buy every game out there. With COD MW2 coming out at such a high price and that being a sure hit it's like the only game I can afford this fall.

Resident Evil 5
Batman
Red Faction

etc etc.

All gonna lose out to COD MW2 cause I'm not putting all that money on a chance I might like them. If I was rich sure thing but I'm not.

streloksbolt

lol its protecting the games that the Devs WORKED HARD ON! From freaking pirates that don't have a job.Hekynn

I would try to understand the PC developers way in which they put time and effort to anti-piracy in order to protect their work that they have developed for such a long time, its pretty dissapointing and frustrating for an employee or manager of a game to have people pirate your game so you don't make a profit over it, its more personal than it is profit wise, because I bet all of these developers are well aware that no anti-piracy exists they all get cracked.

When I mean theres no anti-piracy that exits I mean it games get released here in my country before the deadline of when they normally would come out and nearly every measure is taken so that you can play them, I stopped buying pirated games after GTA 4 never even bothered to make a good PC port or even come out with the PC version until a year, so despite its negative feedback I bit the bullet and bought the retail copy, which is worth it even though prices are off the roof in my country I can afford to consume them so I owe it to myself and these developers in gaming industries who earn so little for so much work they get to make the most revenue of a title, because really we can't forget the human element here.

Though I'd believe they should take off anti-piracy measures and leave it free to the user to decide whether to respect the company or go off and buy a original copy. I'll tell you one thing this was done by a company for a title and people here who normally always use pirated games actually went and paid the moeny for its retail edition because they respected the company. This goes for many titles that maybe realeased usually its the anti-piracy method that gives people the initiative to abuse it like prohibition during America, if your following me here.

Anyways just what I think these problems are chronological and even in countries like mine laws are being forced and executed to preven piracy for happening so all will be well sooner or later

I really do not see something like Steam a good solution. I got games that I did bought on there and somewhat don't like this at all. I have too launch Steam to play a game. So an internet connection is required. Not everyone can afford an internet connection

There's also that Steam is running when you play the game. That also slow down the computer with the use of the CPU. A lot's of stuffs I don't like about Steam. I only use it because I had great deals on games or else I won't buy there.

I also agree that the price of games are way too high. I don't approve pirating games for that matter. Steam made a test a while back with Left 4 Dead and did come to that conclusion also. They did cut the price for an amount of time and got way much more money this way. I think they should study the market again.

I really do not see something like Steam a good solution. I got games that I did bought on there and somewhat don't like this at all. I have too launch Steam to play a game. So an internet connection is required. Not everyone can afford an internet connection

There's also that Steam is running when you play the game. That also slow down the computer with the use of the CPU. A lot's of stuffs I don't like about Steam. I only use it because I had great deals on games or else I won't buy there.

I also agree that the price of games are way too high. I don't approve pirating games for that matter. Steam made a test a while back with Left 4 Dead and did come to that conclusion also. They did cut the price for an amount of time and got way much more money this way. I think they should study the market again.

hamelkarl

Even with games that use Steam are possible to pirate anyway. It is just a useless third party software in my eyes. I didn't say I couldn't afford an internet connection.

I just don't see why it should be used for every games that going to come out just for protection system. I do have a limit of Download and Upload. Every time I want to install something I will need to download it. Having to download every new games or just for the sake of reinstalling one I do already had paid would use my bandwith.

Sometimes it happens that my ISP change my IP. To do this they kick me out for a few seconds. So it will bother me for this also. Some people that use Wireless connection could also not like this system either since it is less stables.

I really wanted Riddick: Dark Athena, because I have Butcher Bay.

Unfortunately, the developers went with Atari for publishing, and Atari placed severe limitations on reinstalls as DRM.

So now I will never be able to play Dark Athena because of Atari.:x

Thanks Atari, you ruined it for people who buy every game they have.:(

Piracy is going to kill games like it killed the music industry!

Oh wait...

Perhaps this signals one of two things:

1) Games that are single player aren't worth $50 to most gamers because of the relatively small return value (and honestly, SP games these days usually can be beaten in a couple of hours).

2) MP games should be subscription based, for a reasonable amount. Industry makes more money, AND it prevents piracy a lot more effectively.

Oh and piracy (thievery) has existed since the concept of ownership. At any rate, I'm not going to believe that piracy is driving the game industry into the ground until I see some solid evidence.

-Betta

I really do not see something like Steam a good solution. I got games that I did bought on there and somewhat don't like this at all. I have too launch Steam to play a game. So an internet connection is required. Not everyone can afford an internet connection

There's also that Steam is running when you play the game. That also slow down the computer with the use of the CPU. A lot's of stuffs I don't like about Steam. I only use it because I had great deals on games or else I won't buy there.

I also agree that the price of games are way too high. I don't approve pirating games for that matter. Steam made a test a while back with Left 4 Dead and did come to that conclusion also. They did cut the price for an amount of time and got way much more money this way. I think they should study the market again.

hamelkarl

Even with games that use Steam are possible to pirate anyway. It is just a useless third party software in my eyes. I didn't say I couldn't afford an internet connection.

I just don't see why it should be used for every games that going to come out just for protection system. I do have a limit of Download and Upload. Every time I want to install something I will need to download it. Having to download every new games or just for the sake of reinstalling one I do already had paid would use my bandwith.

Sometimes it happens that my ISP change my IP. To do this they kick me out for a few seconds. So it will bother me for this also. Some people that use Wireless connection could also not like this system either since it is less stables.

hamelkarl

I think if they came out with demos of every PC game that was released, it would help a little bit. People don't want to go out and pay $50 or so for a brand new game they may not even like. Many game stores will not even buy used PC games anymore because the keys may not be useable for a new owner making the game worthless.

Console games you can at least rent and try out easily, and even resell if they no longer grab your attention. With PC games it is usually a complete risk of your $50.

Reviews are nice, but I have found myself they are not always correct. People don't want to run the riskof wasting their money, so this drives even more people to pirate games for free.

[QUOTE="KHAndAnime"]I've never had any of these problems as described in your post.RobertBowen