Thoughts about copy protection and what should be done
We live in a time where the internet is very fast and downloading a pirated game takes very little time.. and people sure know how to take advantage of that.
So naturally, gaming companies must do what they can to protect themselves from theft.
This would not be so bad if there was a guarantee that when we bought a game, we would be able to play it for as long as we wanted to.. even after the company dies (and is no longer around to unlock your downloaded game) or after your CD/DVD (with copy protection which renders it impossible to make backups) wear out due to age (those things don't last forever).
Gaming companies are very keen to limit the consumers rights in the EULAs but they certainly don't like to give the consumers any rights or guarantees that demand some kind of effort on their part.
I think they should add a section giving the user a guarantee that if they've bought the game, they will be able to play it for as long as they want (even in 30 years from now) on the systems the games were developed for.
For example, Telltale could add this to their EULA -
"Telltale gives you (the user) the guarantee that should for any reason the authentication system seize to exist, Telltale will create a solution to remove the authentication requirement." (I'm not a good EULA writer but you get my point
).
The same thing could be done with CD/DVDs -
"[Insert company name here] gives you (the user) the guarantee that should your CD/DVD wear out due to old age, we (the company name) will provide you with a new CD/DVD.
Should (company name) ever go out of business and the IP ownership has not been bought up or anything like that, (company name) will release a patch that removes the copy protection from the CD/DVDs in order to allow you (the user) to make backups (for personal use only).
(Company name) also guarantees never to sell the IP to any company not giving the user the same guarantee".
Now if THAT was in the binding EULAs the games come with, then I would feel much safer buying games and old classics wouldn't disappear because the company went under or the storage media stopped working due to old age.
I know I'm a terrible EULA writer but you get my point so don't start talking my lacking EULA writing skills
So naturally, gaming companies must do what they can to protect themselves from theft.
This would not be so bad if there was a guarantee that when we bought a game, we would be able to play it for as long as we wanted to.. even after the company dies (and is no longer around to unlock your downloaded game) or after your CD/DVD (with copy protection which renders it impossible to make backups) wear out due to age (those things don't last forever).
Gaming companies are very keen to limit the consumers rights in the EULAs but they certainly don't like to give the consumers any rights or guarantees that demand some kind of effort on their part.
I think they should add a section giving the user a guarantee that if they've bought the game, they will be able to play it for as long as they want (even in 30 years from now) on the systems the games were developed for.
For example, Telltale could add this to their EULA -
"Telltale gives you (the user) the guarantee that should for any reason the authentication system seize to exist, Telltale will create a solution to remove the authentication requirement." (I'm not a good EULA writer but you get my point
).The same thing could be done with CD/DVDs -
"[Insert company name here] gives you (the user) the guarantee that should your CD/DVD wear out due to old age, we (the company name) will provide you with a new CD/DVD.
Should (company name) ever go out of business and the IP ownership has not been bought up or anything like that, (company name) will release a patch that removes the copy protection from the CD/DVDs in order to allow you (the user) to make backups (for personal use only).
(Company name) also guarantees never to sell the IP to any company not giving the user the same guarantee".
Now if THAT was in the binding EULAs the games come with, then I would feel much safer buying games and old classics wouldn't disappear because the company went under or the storage media stopped working due to old age.
I know I'm a terrible EULA writer but you get my point so don't start talking my lacking EULA writing skills
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However I'm heavily against restrictive copy protection that hinders my enjoyment of the game, or that restrcts use of it years from now.
The real problem is that people only think in the here and now, which is why things like Starforce exist in the first place. At least they are being attacked though, it shows there are at least a few people out there who think clearly.
Which would you prefer, free (online) activation whenever you want it, or a $10 fee for a replacement disk (even if the disk is faulty out of the box)? The Adventure Company charges a fee for replacement disks, and they're the biggest publisher of adventure games out there... should we all be following their model?
I understand the concern that ten, fifteen years down the line a company might not be supporting its products anymore (we've all had to deal with that with the Sierra and LucasArts games), but if a company goes out of business that's going to be a problem whether you're trying to activate your game or trying to get a replacement disk. There is no 100% guarantee that a company will still be around to support your game when you need it... look at Microids, that went out of business simultaneously with the release of Still Life. And frankly, I think it's counterproductive to worry about what could happen ten years from now with every purchase decision. If you're so worried that you won't be able to play the game in ten years that you don't play it today, how is that helping you at all?
Not being involved in every gaming company's day to day business decisions, I have to trust that they're using the method of copy protection that makes the most sense for their business, and then decide if it's worth it to me. I can say, though, that Telltale uses the copy protection they use because they truly think it's the best way to protect themselves from piracy, while being as flexible and open for the player as possible. I can't think of another company out there that provides this level of personal support if you have trouble getting your game running.
So I can still play Monkey Island 1&2 even if my CD (or floppies) are broke (which they fortunately are not, I have 67 adventure games in my collection and backups of most of them.. but all the originals still work fortunately).
So I prefer discs as I can make images of them (it may not be perfectly legal, but they're for personal use ONLY and it's just to not have to use my original CDs and thus keep them in mint condition).
When games started being released on CDs, developers often didn't include the same copy protection as their disk-based counterparts because back in the early 90s, no one could imagine a home user being able to make a pirated copy of that much content. That's why the old LucasArts games don't require authentication -- it's a result of the time in which they were created, not of a different attitude toward software protection and piracy.
If the authentication server goes down, that's not their fault
Also, it's fully possible to make images of many copy protected games too without using any kinds of cracks.
If you only use an image yourself and never let anyone else copy them, then that doesn't do any harm at all and helps preserve the games
Personaly I would have prefered if Telltale games used a standard "serial number" activation method
I bought both Bones games together, and even if the first one is ultra short, I enjoy them a lot. But if I had knew before hand about the hardware fingerprint copy protection method, then I most probably wouldn't have bought them
I understand that you need to protect your game against piracy (Even thought I am 99% sure that Bones best copy protection is it's "genre" rather than some activation method
But if you realy want to use such a method then you could do something like that :
When the game is first released, it use the fingerprinting method like it does today, but after 6 month or so (if you think 6 month is too short then you can say one year or more), you release a patch or a new version that change the fingerprinting protection to a more standard serial number based one.
After 6 month, the copy protection is no longer "protecting" anything, and after 6 months, peoples that were interested in the game either; bought it, downloaded a cracked version of it, or just forget about it.
But by doing that, it will allow peoples who, like me, want to buy the game but don't like hardware fingerprinting or similar method, to buy the game anyway without too much worries.
If I ask that that's because I am a big fan for old-school Sierra/Lucasarts Adventure Games, I enjoyed a lot playing the Bones games (Haven't finished the second one yet though), and I would be very sad not being able to support a company like Telltale just because of the copy protection.
Gersen
Except of course since LucasArts hasn't maintained any of their games in years (despite still being in business with paid employees and everything), you have to play the games with scummvm, a fan made tool (which incedentally bypasses all the codewheel and manual-based copy protection which used to be such a hassle with those games when they were new - you know, you had to go and photocopy them from your friend and stuff).
And you can hardly expect a company to keep updating their fifteen year old games to work on modern systems either.. and I'm sure there will always be fans creating ports like that.
On the subject of activation service not working in 10 years or so, why not just make the games abandonware by that time? If you're not going to support the game then you may as well let people play it anyway. Say goodbye to copy protection and let the game run free, hither and thither over the great rolling fields of 'the internet-web-computer-machine-thingy'. If you host them on your own site then it'll gather a lot more visitors as well so you can try to make them buy whatever you're trying to sell at that time.
There's a very interesting article in May's issue of PCFormat magazine about a developer (Stardock) who haven't used copy protection on their latest game (Galactic Civilizations II); "instead relying on a quality product that provides registered users with frequent updates and additional features". It seems to have been a success.
It's an interesting idea. Instead of punishing legitimate consumers with hard to operate copy-protection schemes, they've chosen to encourage users to be legitimate by offering them extras they can't get with unregistered copies.
Is it the issue that's selling right now? I know sometimes PC magazines are a few months ahead of the actual month.
I was going to offer to scan the article and post it up somewhere, but then it occured to me that doing so would be duplicating someone else's copyrighted work, which we're all agreed is morally and legally wrong. And I would hate my actions to force publishers to have to start putting copy protection on magazines.
They WOW - top buy;)
Online games more protected that usual;)
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6147655.html?q=ubisoft starforce
This hasn't been a rumor anymore since several weeks ago.
Online games are a different story all together, because going into them you know it will only last as long as the MMO service. However for single player games my motto is this:
I want the game's life to be in my personal hands, not the publisher/developer. If I wish to play the game years down the line, then I want to be able to do so even if it means dragging out an old PC or emulator.
I simply flat out refuse to buy any game that uses a protection method that requires some sort of activation upon every install. I bought HL2, and since then I'm no longer going to continue to do so. As a result I'm missing out on a few games, but thats just how its going to be unless they decide to switch protection methods to one that doesn't restrict me as a paying customer.
What exactly is going on with the copy protection? How's it work?
What a delicious little game, I can't wait for the next episode.
Don't worry, I'm not out to pirate anything, I'm just curious to know how this works.
There are some games today that don't have any protection but still sell well. It's like dvd's. People can easily download any dvd and even print their own cover and make it look almost exactly like a real one but many people still want the real one for their collection. Gifts are a big thing too if you buy gifts for people then you don't want to give them a copy of something because that would "cheapen" the whole thing.
My reason for buying games is a bit different. It is my industry and I'm not about to shoot myself in the foot by cheating companies I want a job from.
Maybe that could be done, I guess.
At only 8 dollars a game though, I can't see why anybody would be so cheap to steal it!
In some situations you need to enter an activation key, which is a little bit of a hassle but we try to make it as easy as possible, without compromising the security of the game.
You and me both.
To tell you the truth there is really nothing and absolutely nothing you can do against software piracy. Trust me, I know what I am talking about. I live in a city where until recently it was next to impossible to find and buy an original game even if you wanted. And right now you can find most games for the meager price of $150. So it is a heaven for piracy since I was a little kid.
And really. It doesn't work. Whatever copy protection issue software companies think about there is a always a piracy solution.
I am not defending piracy.. I am just saying that companies should do two things to lessen it.
1)Focus on digital distribution:
A lot of people buy/get pirated games simply because they don't have the option of getting it in its original form. Digital distribution eliminates this. It is a viable form of international distribution which defeats any problems about stocks, importing issues, customs taxes and all those other things.
2)Do not spend money on copy protection. Really. Instead spend that money on making the game better. The money spent on copy protection really does not return to you.
No one would buy a game because it has copy protection. They would just wait for that protection to be cracked. Simple as that. People who BUY games are the kind of people who would buy the game anyway. And people who DON'T buy games are the kind of guys who would not buy a game just because it is copy protected. They are the kind of guys who would wait for the game to be cracked.
Hey! Everyone should check out if their country has some sort of legislation protecting the customer! I don´t know about USA, but for an example in Finland that kind of shit (faulty disk out of the box) is not acceptable and it has to be replaced for free. So, you´d better check that shit out before paying anything.
Also, is the activation ticket based? Will it time out after a period of not having net access? I go out to sea and loose stable net access for long periods.
I'd have preferred the copy protection be spelled out clearly in black and white before purchasing. Though I am not entirely a close reader, I'd say that there wasn't anything to suggest that there was copy protection in place on this game.
Is your system closer to Steam? Steam is the only form of DRM/Copy protection I trust thus far. Starforce, and those like it, have forever put a bad taste in my mouth.
This isn't the most elegant solution, and we're looking into better things, including going with serial numbers or even a system more akin to Steam, but for right now we have what we have, and it's working for the large majority of our customers. Fortunately, as I've said elsewhere, Telltale is staffed entirely by human beings who do in fact care that our customers get a good experience out of our games (versus many companies whose customer support staffs seem to be employed solely by form letters), so if you do at any time find yourself in the small group who does run into problems with our activation system, you'll be assisted by a real person who has a strong interest in seeing you happily playing the game ASAP.
As for putting clarification about the game's copy protection on the checkout page, that's a good suggestion. I'll pass the idea around and see.
After poking around the forums for a bit, I've seen behavior from the Teltale staff that is extremely conducive to keeping customers.
I think you'd find if you explained your copy protection some what similarly to how you did to me, simple and sweet, that you may get a few more of those people that are sitting on the edge. I was a tad reluctant at first due to not entirely understanding how it all worked in the end. But then the kid in me could not resist Sam & Max. Glad I took the dive! (got all 6 chapters and anxiously anticipating each and every release).
Roft
A very happy customer!
Assuming Stardock sells 100,000 copies of this game, in 18-24 months, 75,000 will be floating out there on ebay or in bargain bins or at boot sales and 100 other types of places, and people that don;t know about the Stardock DRM method will load up the game, look for updates, find out they have to jump through a few hoops, download a couple of programs only to then find the site telling them 'that serial number exists....'. As it currently stands, if a gamer dies and his estate is put up for sale, everything potentially will be re-usable except for the Gal Civ II game! To me that means I never truly own the game, because I cannot give it away. That's exactly why people complained about Steam and HL2 and that's exactly what I call DRM.
But, the marketing is working. Because Starforce is so disliked (partly for being Russian and partly for stopping the pirates), Stardock is being pronounced as 'the saviour of gaming' with most gamers quite happy to say that because there is 'no DRM' he will buy the game!
How about going back to the days where games had real content and real manuals? Where the protection was made sensible, like codes to get into doors or weapon recognition from a long list of weapon graphics in the back of the manual?
Producing bland games with bland stories and bland pdf manuals is only making it easier for pirates, because we no longer have the love of the 'package' like we did with the Infocom games, or the Microprose games or Origin games with their 100 page plus fun, informative manuals, made out to be training manuals or top secret files or 1,000 year old magician books, including fold out maps, or cloth maps, or tech tree maps or keyboard overlays. Back then Pc gaming was a hobby. Now it's just throw away entertainment. this helps pirates and as I say will lead to 75,000 useless used copies of Galactic Civilizations II waiting for unsuspecting buyers..... Short term gain for Stardock, long term loss for gamers, especially mainstream gamers not clued in about Stardocks 'non DRM' that is DRM by any other name......
It's a damn shame that Sam & Max is DRM'd; I'm a huge fan of the comics and the original game, and was really itching for the new one to come out.
I appreciate that Telltale is an indie publisher with a human touch to their business. I think they've said they'd release the content in the event of a bankruptcy, but this is not very credible as in such a case the IP would probably be bought by some other publisher who has made no such guarantees. The rights might well be lost in limbo anyway, owned by some corporation which has no inclination of ever using them commercially! Alternatively, should Telltale prosper (and I hope it does!), chances are some bigger entity will sooner or later purchase the company anyway. Bigger company goes under. Sam & Max lost forever.
Would it be possible to make at least the CD-ROM release non-authentication? That way, you would still be able to milk the people who _really_ want the game ASAP while avoiding piracy issues during the episodic release period, and then just unlock the game for everyone once the CD release is out?
I suppose there's little chance of this happening... Oh well.
Good work, though, for picking up Sam & Max from Sierra -- those two cuddly beasts have deserved a sequel for far too long!
Unfortunately ScummVM doesn't affect the copy protection of Day Of The Tentacle, since it doesn't appear at the beginning of the game. Luckily many websites provide the copy protection solutions, if you don't mind plenty of alt-tabbing.
Seriously, I like the serial number system best, because it does not install anything new that might mess up your system. Either that, or the CP that renders a game unplayable, or with limited functionality, when cracked. That way, people playing a cracked game would be moreso playing a "limited demo" and would have to pony up to enjoy the full game. All of these methods are possible to circumvent, but I do believe some form of CP at least deters some individuals from stealing the game.