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How bad is the DRM in Bioshock (PC)?
Lord Jezo
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
It's on sale and I am thinking about picking it up but I have been reading some horror stories about it will alter Windows, put it's DRM on my PC forever (only way to remove it is a format) and other terrible things. I think it might even murder my mother if I go by some of the posts of people trying to install it more than a couple of times.
Should I waste my time on something like that or just wait to play it on the 360 or something in the future?
Should I waste my time on something like that or just wait to play it on the 360 or something in the future?
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Lord Jezo on
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Buy it, install it. Play it. Enjoy it.
Forget about the DRM. Great game.
If DRM like that in Bioshock ever prevents me from playing a game I have legally bought I will be downloading it with or without permission of the copyright holder.
If it's really an issue you could just buy it on steam.
You need the CD to play.
You need to connect to the internet to authenticate.
You install it, activate online, and you're done. It's totally painless. I never understood the panic, even before the deauthorization tool came out. I don't know sometimes why people get so worked up about these things.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
If you don't want to deal with the "issue" then install Steam. Buy it that way. I've never had an issue, ever.
edit: Can't speak to the five install issue, though I have been through at least 4 PC builds since I've started using Steam. Never seems to count them anywhere. Now, if you try to log into Steam simultaniously in two places... you got bigger problems than just not having Bioshock.
What the fuck, do you really need to have Bioshock installed on five different pc's?
Really?
That bad?
Really?
It was bad the first week of release. It's been fixed. I played it thoroughly and never had any problems. Stop worrying.
I'm not the one worrying; as I understand it, yes there were authentication issues, sure. That is a royal pain, to be sure. But "OH NOES THE DRM IS TEH NIGHTMARE I MUST PRIATES GAMES OLOL" is a little rough.
It costs money to make games. I like games. I want people to continue to make games. I will pay for them and "deal" with DRM.
I believe the issue lies more in the fact that if you forget to deauth, or can't for some reason, you could easily run out just from upgrades. And it cuts out the used market/giving them to friends almost completely for the same reasons.
When the game was first released, it wasn't an issue of having simultaneous installs. That was the total number of times your could install the game, period, even on the same computer. And the number was something like two or three. I remember that there was some hullaballoo over the fact that the Steam deauthorization, which was supposed to be automatic when you removed the game in the steam client, never actually worked at all. I hoped they've fixed it by now.
Also, just a note to the OP: Regardless of the version you choose to install (steam or physical media), Bioshock will install SecureROM silently on your computer. Personally I don't much mind SecureROM much anymore. Some folk hate it, though, for the fact that it blacklists programs and installs what some people consider to be a rootkit on your machine. Take it for what it's worth to you. Again, I've found it to be fairly transparent.
Also, I tried to get bioshock from steam and I couldn't find it, I hope they don't have some sort region lock because that would suck.
LoL: BunyipAristocrat
DRM should never do this. never.
in my mind it's the equivalent of installing malware on your PC. i understand the need to combat piracy, but doing it in a way that actively interferes with other legally made and purchased/acquired software is incredibly wrong. so are DRM schemes that fuck up your hardware (aka the Starforce debacle).
edit: guys, watch out what you post about piracy and such on these forums. talking about the general concept of piracy seems a ok, but talking about actually pirating a game is a huge no no. you might wanna PM a mod if you're not sure...
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
They've fixed it, that's why I couldn't grasp Lewiep's bitching.
And personally, I prefer a million times to have a game connect to the internet than telling me every freaking time I want to play it that I need to insert the game's disc.
I mean, really: the internets isn't going to run out of 1's and 0's. I could never fully understand why people freaked about that kind of stuff. I really, honestly, couldn't wrap my brain around it. I mean, doesn't Steam do this EVERY TIME, already?
I just think that if a game's DRM is ever an inconvenience to a legitimate consumer, they have a right (maybe even obligation) to circumvent that DRM.
This is not the same as condoning piracy and don't try to pretend it is.
Oh, fantastic. I didn't know if they had fixed it, and I'm glad to hear that they have. I finished the game and uninstalled it (Steam version) before they released the deauth program.
And I completely agree with you about online verification vs. disk requirements. I actually find myself repurchasing games on Steam these days just so I don't have to deal with that disk crap anymore.
The only thing about BioShock's DRM that pissed me off severely was the fact that SecuRom blacklisted Process Explorer. I use Process Explorer a lot, and considering that it's a program made by an associate of freaking Microsoft, that seemed pretty retarded. Luckily Process Explorer has since been updated, but the whole situation made my mind boggle at the time. It wasn't overly hard to fix (just a reboot, then don't run PE), but it was still perplexing and annoying.
At the end of the day this is only hurting the very casual gamers who have no clue about game cracks which there probably are some out there. (maybe, I guess my mum could be in this classification she's a damn Sims addict)
I don't know any pc gamer that hasn't used cracks on the games they've purchased, if anything i've seen legit game buyers actually using cracks more and more.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
the Steam version still installs SecuRom, which as other people already pointed out, disables Process Explorer and other perfectly legal and normal programs.
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
I am not buying Mass Effect for the same reason, would love to own it but I will never ever buy something with those kinds of DRM schemes knowingly.
Mass Effect has a one-time activation and never requires the disc to be in the drive. It's even more painless than Bioshock. Also if you already have Bioshock installed, you've already got Mass Effect's DRM installed. Mass Effect uses the same SecuROM process.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
Hold on, I have a one in two chance of Bioshock killing my pc?!
Yes, I went there about a RROD 360 joke.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
I know this, but Mass effect has a limit on activations aswell from what I have read, please correct me if I am wrong but I won't buy something with limits like that, atleast not knowingly.
EDIT: Also I am not going to buy a game with potentially harmful DRM that I won't support just because I was stupid and did so once already, the fact that the DRM is already on my machine dosn't make a difference.
No way of deauthorizing your PC though.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
Should I have too though, no I shouldn't, just like I shouldn't have to use a deauthorizing program on my machine before I throw it in the trash in case I like to play bioshock in the future. It is needless hassle and I have to protest it the only way I can, which is sadly by not aquiring these products, no matter how much I would love to own them (I wish I hadn't bought Bioshock either, it hasn't given me near enough entertainment to warrent this kind of hassle).
I frequently lend games to my friends for them to try out, and this authorization crap is basically telling me I can't do what I want with this product that I legally purchased. "Oh, you have more than 2 friends that want to try Mass Effect? TOO BAD!"
I guess this is part of the reason I mostly game on consoles...
Do... Re... Mi... So... Fa.... Do... Re.... Do...
Forget it...
Fair enough. I don't personally find calling somebody or running a tool a hassle, but to each his own.
EDIT: I also think there are better ways to go about DRM, such as how Stardock handles things with no DRM but only providing support, updates, and new content to registered users. I think that's pretty darn great.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
someone else posted in here that the Sysinternals dudes updated Process Explorer since then.
before the patch though, SecuRom disabled Process Explorer. the thread on this is here: http://forum.sysinternals.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11000
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
Thankfully, yeah, it has been fixed by now. Process Explorer and SecuROM play nice now.
And, just as a minor point of distinction, SecuROM doesn't disable Process Explorer. It's just that if you run Process Explorer, then SecuROM won't allow any game using the protection to launch. It'll also give you an uninformative 'security failure' error that makes the problem sound like something more serious than it is. Still, it is annoying.
Bioshock does all of this.
Clearly, some people don't feel betrayed by picking up the odd virus after having a bit of fun with an attractive, hot new piece of software. But I use my computer for a lot more than just games, and anything that hurts its performance hurts my productivity.
The Bioshock Demo came with SecuROM on it, which boggles the mind. It's like 2K Games is trying to be the typhoid Mary of DRM.
Why are you lending them games to begin with? There are plenty of demos out there, you just need to understand that for the developers those 2 friends of yours are two customers that probably won't buy the game as they were able to complete it with your copy
I really don't understand some of you lot, if you already can't lend games on Steam why should the situation with physical copies, i.e. retail games, be any different?