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How bad is the DRM in Bioshock (PC)?
Posts
Virtual Machine software just like I use to play the games I bought a dozen years ago? Commander Keen on disc.
All I'm saying is if I pay for a hard copy of this software not only should there be no limitation on how many uses or for how long I can use it, but there definitely should not be software in it that alters the way my computer or its software will function for me.
And as for your "being patched out" thing? Well I suppose I could go through the trouble of downloading all the patches and saving a hardcopy of them along with my game.
Finally, all this DRM, especially the intrusive stuff, is pointless. Anyone who was going to acquire the game illegally in the first place, probably can still do so on zero day with little trouble, SANS DRM, so all it's doing is inconveniencing the loyal paying customers. Pirates are not the cancer that's "killing" PC gaming. Integrated video chipsets are.
2K games have now removed the DRM from Bioshock.
Quick everyone! Now we can pirate it! [/sarcasm]
Quick everyone! Now our previously non-functional game, which was horribly crippled by those evil suits in a completely ineffectual bid to make some money off of their product, will finally install and run! It's about time! [/sarcasm]
Satan has been spotted ice skating to work.
EDIT:
It's not been removed, just the limited activations have.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Too bad the $15 sale from last week is long gone.
I KISS YOU!
No, they have a right to not buy the product.
Because thats going to be the first thing on their mind years from now.
This is also dependent on the idea that the information contained in the patch to remove the protection will always be available. As we know by looking at history things eventually get lost in time, like the origin of the Pyramids. The patch will eventually be misplaced and no one will be able to play the game again.
I KISS YOU!
If I can still patch the original retail version of SiN, I don't think we need to worry about the new patch going missing.
Or that.
But that assumes that the publisher gives an accurate description of the DRM on the box/on retailers listings for the game. Which they don't.
You'll run into trouble if you don't agree and then try and return it, though. Actually, now that I think about it, surely that's a reason for a class-action suit againt retailers like GAME, who refuse to take back PC games?
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
Err, why? Maybe the publishers if they don't have the full terms and conditions available but Game only have to provide statutory consumer rights. And unless the product is broken or defective then they don't have to take back the game.
edit: bah
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
http://kotaku.com/5018151/bioshock-pcs-drm-gone
Did you even read this page?
XBL
That and I hate internet activations, as if the activation server is up or not isn't something I can control, if I have a disc to insert or not is. I really don't see what people think is so horrible about inserting a disc, I do miss the times when some of the content could actually be kept and loaded from disc though.
Also, I like 2K's timing of removing the activation limit, good to see they're being reasonable, I just don't trust all companies to be once this kind of shitty DRM gets more common.
"Everyone who is capable of logical thought should be able to see why you shouldn't sell lifetime subscriptions to an MMO. Cell phone companies and drug dealers don't offer lifetime subscriptions either, guess why?" - Mugaaz
Should probably contact them, then.
"Everyone who is capable of logical thought should be able to see why you shouldn't sell lifetime subscriptions to an MMO. Cell phone companies and drug dealers don't offer lifetime subscriptions either, guess why?" - Mugaaz
"Everyone who is capable of logical thought should be able to see why you shouldn't sell lifetime subscriptions to an MMO. Cell phone companies and drug dealers don't offer lifetime subscriptions either, guess why?" - Mugaaz
I simply couldn't install the game because my DVD drive is also a burner and SecuROM apparently doesn't like that (confirmed it via the tech forums).
Yeah, fuck that noise.
I didn't have any problems. In fact, I got the game on day one and still haven't had any problems. You know why? I didn't reinstall the game 10 times. If I did.... Well... I just don't know what I would of done!
Actually, I do. I would of contacted them. I'm having a hard time imaging someone installing a 6GB game multiple times, but then be so apathetic to not go through a phone call that would take a fraction of the install time to go through.
"Everyone who is capable of logical thought should be able to see why you shouldn't sell lifetime subscriptions to an MMO. Cell phone companies and drug dealers don't offer lifetime subscriptions either, guess why?" - Mugaaz
Neva: oh great for you, you never had problems, tons of people, me included were perfectly fine with StarForce too.
And by the way, you guys all know there's a world you can go to, a world of game copying, that has cracks for disabling the DRM and CD checks, right? Because I definitely go there and get a crack every time, regardless of whether I have a legit copy of the game. Fuck having to put the CD in.
From the pirate's point of view DRM is a fucking joke, I've never met a game that can't somehow be played for free, so if you as a legitimate customer are finding that you have trouble with anti-piracy measures, I don't know what's stopping you from disabling those measures. Apart from some silly, paranoid notion that you might get "caught" doing it and be sued. Which won't ever happen.
Really though the best way around all of this is to buy the games off Steam. No CD checks, no DRM, just a painless online check whenever you run the game. Plus they're usually about 10 bucks cheaper.
Yeah I had this issue with Crysis. It would try and load the game, but click for about 30 minutes then finally load. Which was really annoying to me. Even did it when I turned on my PC and the computer tried to read it as a bootable DVD.
But that didn't stop me from playing through the game.
I didn't let it stop me either, but it was damn annoying and in my opinion, quite a step too far.
It's one thing to try to protect software, it's another thing to try to tell me what kind of hardware I can have in my rig.
Your problem was that you ran out of activations. StarForce's problem, among other things, was that it destroyed hardware. One of these could be fixed with a 5 minute phone call.
"Everyone who is capable of logical thought should be able to see why you shouldn't sell lifetime subscriptions to an MMO. Cell phone companies and drug dealers don't offer lifetime subscriptions either, guess why?" - Mugaaz
Ok, here's my issue. Starforce problems and your activation problems aren't nearly close to each other in scale. All you had to do was call, and it would of been fixed within minutes. Starforce fucked up hardware. If your problem was that Bioshock fried your DVD drive or something because of DRM, then I would be sympathetic to your plight.
"Everyone who is capable of logical thought should be able to see why you shouldn't sell lifetime subscriptions to an MMO. Cell phone companies and drug dealers don't offer lifetime subscriptions either, guess why?" - Mugaaz
No, it wasn't rare and wasn't as simple as changing a few Windows settings. In fact, Starforce offered a reward for anyone who could fly to their HQ and recreate the hardware killing problem on their PCs, or something of the likes. Don't remember what happened with that one.
Since you have every "right" to complain about such a non-issue, I have every right to belittle you. Seriously, look at the situation. You have to reinstall a 6GB game multiple times before your problem would come up. A single 6GB install takes awhile, and that's if you have the DVD. If you used Steam, then factor how long it would take you to re download that game every time you went to reinstall. So far, you'd have ended up spending an hour and a half up to 10+ hours {depending on if you download, download speed, and so on}. Is a 5 minutes phone call really a problem after that? Is it such a problem that you swear off all games using a similar system? If you say yes, I have every right to call you crazy.
"Everyone who is capable of logical thought should be able to see why you shouldn't sell lifetime subscriptions to an MMO. Cell phone companies and drug dealers don't offer lifetime subscriptions either, guess why?" - Mugaaz
Bioshock hasn't even been out for a year. You felt the need/had the need to install it more than... what was the limit... 5 installs?
Explain how that's 2K's issue. Or explain why you can't pick up the phone and call them.
And to everyone who feels empowered enough to say that any time a game hassles you that you have the right of a consumer to circumvent said hassles by (illegally) patching the game, you need to stop. The internet isn't Sherwood fucking Forest, software publishers are not the Sheriff of Nottingham, and you certainly are not Robin Hood.
I didn't say it was 2K's issue, but the topic is if BioShock's DRM is bad, and I'm saying I think it is. I'm hoping EA and 2K will lose customers over this so it will be their issue though, but I know that is way optimistic. At least I didn't do this.