Securom what?! :(
OK, I've done the forum searches. I've tried the processexplorer fixes and whatnot, and that doesn't help. Why Telltale, why?
I bought Sam n Max season 1. I bought Sam n Max season 2. I thought I'd try out this Strongbad game for funsies, and if it was good (almost assuredly so), I'd buy that too.
Downloaded the Strongbad demo, installed, ran it... bam, securom check. WHY are you doing this now!? What a terrible idea, in the day an age when the public are raging about DRM on mp3's, and intelligent companies all over the world are ditching it - you go and slap securom on your new stuff?
I've already jumped through a number of hoops trying to get this demo working - not gonna happen it seems. If you ask me to change registry entries, uninstall stuff, update some weird Microsoft apps I didn't even know existed, and force me to waste my time for who knows how long, then damn... sorry guys, it's been a fun ride, but I don't think our relationship is going to work out. Such a dealbreaker... I hate to use use an old cliche, but: "It's not you, it's m-" wait, no, it is you.
No doubt you're going to securom-up any new Sam n Max stuff too, if it comes? Och laddy, what a shame. Guess this is the end, then. It was good while it lasted - you seemed so nice - I'm honestly surprised things got this draconian.
Farewellllllllll.... I hope securom's poetic, empty promises and steely frowning gaze fills the void you're feeling.
xoxo
I bought Sam n Max season 1. I bought Sam n Max season 2. I thought I'd try out this Strongbad game for funsies, and if it was good (almost assuredly so), I'd buy that too.
Downloaded the Strongbad demo, installed, ran it... bam, securom check. WHY are you doing this now!? What a terrible idea, in the day an age when the public are raging about DRM on mp3's, and intelligent companies all over the world are ditching it - you go and slap securom on your new stuff?
I've already jumped through a number of hoops trying to get this demo working - not gonna happen it seems. If you ask me to change registry entries, uninstall stuff, update some weird Microsoft apps I didn't even know existed, and force me to waste my time for who knows how long, then damn... sorry guys, it's been a fun ride, but I don't think our relationship is going to work out. Such a dealbreaker... I hate to use use an old cliche, but: "It's not you, it's m-" wait, no, it is you.
No doubt you're going to securom-up any new Sam n Max stuff too, if it comes? Och laddy, what a shame. Guess this is the end, then. It was good while it lasted - you seemed so nice - I'm honestly surprised things got this draconian.
Farewellllllllll.... I hope securom's poetic, empty promises and steely frowning gaze fills the void you're feeling.
xoxo
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Then they must've gone for the heavier "iron fist" version of securom with Strongbad.
This is the first time I've tried running a demo of a telltale game... maybe that's it - I bought Sam n Max 1+2 on sight. Perhaps this hardship is punishment for not being blindly devout, and testing the water with a franchise I know nothing about.
Either way, it's mean. Be nicer, Telltale. Throw away the iron curtains and let sunshine in.
and do you think it really helps against copying the games? I'm genuinely curious here, 'cause I really can't imagine which customer segment it can hold back
or does it live its usefulness only in the short time window between the release of the game and the availability of the first working crack?
PS: I'm asking because I do hate SecuROM and its brethren.
SBCG4AP100 SBCG4AP101
A required security module cannot be activated.
This program cannot be executed (7000).
Please have a look at http://www.securom.com/message.asp?m=module&c=7000 for further, more detailed information.
Sam n Max runs just fine, seasons 1 and 2. As does absolutely everything else!
DRM is an evil, smelly, horrible beast - Securom is no different. I've happily paid for games in the past, and as strange as it may seem, I don't actually pirate games. Even my dear old Sierra adventures... I'm waiting eagerly for that Good Old Games site (http://www.gog.com/en/intro) to start up - where they repackage games to work on modern systems. Look at their point 3! They know where it's at. Many a dollar will be spent on that site.
Normally, I would go to great lengths to make this software work, but if the requirements are that I need to lubricate up and then bend over for the easy insertion of DRM, then ugh. Every other game I own runs fine - I'm not about to start hacking up my registry and disabling drives with securom-packages.
So thanks, Telltale - 'twas good while it lasted. Thanks for all the fish, etc. I shall dream in vain for the day when an email arrives: "Subject: Telltale is now 99.8% less evil! No more DRM!"
Until then, all the best.
SecuROM?
Whoa, hold it there. What? You what? Really?
Geez. Thanks for the kick in the balls, guys.
Have a bit more faith in your userbase. If I wanna run Process Explorer, it doesn't mean I'm a cracker. Besides the fact that SecuROM does not actually work. By "work" I mean "prevent the game from being pirated". Bioshock has a particularly draconian version of SecuROM that requires server authentication on install (and possibly an hourly sacrifice of human flesh, I'm not sure), yet there are cracked versions easily available for download.
So, really guys, I expected better from you.
http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6031&highlight=securom
Like everyone else on earth, I have at least mixed feelings about copy protection. That said, it's a priority for the company that we protect our games, and it is likely to remain that way. We've gone out of our way to make the protection we use as easy and out of the way as possible. To unlock your game, you can just log in with your Telltale username and password, or enter a serial number if you really want. Activation is a one-time event and then you're done. Also, at the end of the season, we release the games on a disc which uses no online activation, if you prefer the more classic "put the disc in and play" style. We support many unlocks, and we have a great support team.
I'm disappointed that some companies really screwed up their SecuROM implementation, creating some of the most anti-user software registration systems ever in the process. That said, not all SecuROM implementations are created equal. Sorry you don't like ours, but I think that, possibly issues with older versions of Process Explorer aside, it is pretty transparent to the huge majority of our users. Would I prefer something even more transparent? Probably. But, honestly, I'm pretty happy with where we're at right now.
Sorry that it rubs you the wrong way! If you have any constructive feedback besides "remove all copy protection," (which, despite being idealistically awesome, is a very tough sell in the piracy-ridden world of PC gaming) I'd love to hear them.
Thanks for actually taking the time to reply.
In all honesty, my issue isn't with your particular implementation of SecuROM, it is with SecuROM itself, in general. That's an ideological thing; I hate their apparent "f the customer" attitude towards games.
Yes, the latest ProcExp does play relatively nice with SecuROM in that the older versions used to leave residue after closing the program, and SecuROM would still pick up this residue and block access. Now ProcExp cleans up after itself, so closing the program makes SecuROM happy. It still has a tantrum if ProcExp is running while you try to run whatever is SecuROM'd (which is how I know SBCG4AP is thus protected; I like having ProcExp running in the background).
My objection is on the basis that I don't like the idea of one program dictating what other programs can be running at the same time, particularly when those programs are development or diagnostic tools, rather than other certain tools that generally wind up being used to play copied games (I'm being intentionally vague because I don't know your policy on identifying this sort of stuff by name or keyword). The blocking of diag tools bothers me especially because it seems the only reason for doing so is to prevent a game from being cracked in the first place - rather than to prevent a cracked or copied game from running! - yet games protected by SecuROM are routinely cracked, the protection removed, and the game uploaded for general download.
So yes, it would be a nice ideal if games didn't feature copy protection. I would argue that it would also be a nice ideal if copy protection actually prevented piracy! I do not have statistics, though I would guess that people trying to obtain a pirated version of a game would simply download a version that already has copy protection removed, via filesharing, rather than download an intact version from the legitimate vendor and then attempt to crack it themselves. And once the game's cracked once, it's cracked for good. Even "authenticate every time they want to play the game" fails if the authentication is totally removed, which is exactly what happens.
I haven't really got any answers. I applaud the fact that you guys have gone for "authenticate once on install" rather than "**** the customer through their pants and sacrifice their firstborn to Marduk". My dislike of SecuROM is absolutely nothing personal towards Telltale, it's towards SecuROM.
Summary: password protected install? No problem. I can't run certain stuff cause I might be a spy? Incredibly irritating.
Not to mention, online activation is just like any other protection, it can be bypassed just as easy as disc based protections.
Thats why I don't buy any Telltalle game, I'd really like to, but I just can't.
At least I have the hope that if DRM-free online stores like Blizzard Store or Good Old Games (GOG) have success, more publishers will do the same.
Now, I don't visit pirate sites, so I have absolutely no idea if Sam and Max has ever been cracked, but it seems to me that if it *has*, then your argument about protecting your games is somewhat hollow. If they are available illegally, then putting DRM on your product has only succeeded in slowing your sales and annoying your customers.
If, on the other hand, your products have not been cracked, then I congratulate you on implementing the only effective DRM system that the world has ever known.
It's obviously impossible to prevent piracy forever, and that's not our goal. I don't think we've ever made that argument, in fact.
BTW, I do hope I'm not coming off as just a harsh, cynical critic. I've been a fan of interactive fiction of all forms since the days of Infocom and I've been following Telltale's progress since the very first press release announcing the founding of the company. I genuinely *want* to see Telltale succeed in keeping commercial adventure gaming alive and I love the idea of the episodic model.
That's why I'm so concerned about the whole DRM issue. If even minimal, relatively unobtrusive DRM could keep someone like me, a die hard adventure gamer and rabid Sam & Max fan from buying any of your products for over a year (or was it over two years, since S&M came out?), I hate to think how many other, less enthusiatic people who might have fallen in love with the product could have been been soured on the idea.