An idea to combat the piracy of PC games.

[Kair]

Companies that limit information for profit already do this, but in a far worse manner. They pay independent parties to flood the internet with fake copies containing not much more than viruses.

Despite this, you can not fight free information. It is one of the few cases where what is right has the upper hand.

 

[similar.squirrel]

Well, my idea has been thoroughly shot down by common sense. Thanks anyway; this question had been bugging me for quite some time.

Another idea, though.. How about publishers releasing a cracked version of their game that ceases to function about halfway through and has software embedded that prevents other pirated copies from functioning? Think of it as a faulty gene, or a prion.
I'm sure people wouldn't catch on for quite a while, and this 'prion' software could be distributed easily while people were unaware of it.
After it had reached a certain saturation point, you'd be statistically more likely to be seeded a data packet [that's what they seed, right?] with this sabotage code due to the number of people ignorant of its existence.
Or would that count as malware?
Also, excuse my ignorance of how computers and stuff work.

 

[ShakyFiend]

Is there a reason this doesn't happen, or does it happen and not work?

Kinda, cracking games is hard so it tends to be done by certain teams of people not just random dudes (RAZOR1911, Reloaded and Skidrow are some of the more famous ones). Pirates know which teams publish good versions so its quite easy to find a release thats almost guaranteed to work, these teams also have unique id's on piratebay etc. so it'd be very hard to fake a release from them.

Another idea, though.. How about publishers releasing a cracked version of their game that ceases to function about halfway through and has software embedded that prevents other pirated copies from functioning? Think of it as a faulty gene, or a prion.
I'm sure people wouldn't catch on for quite a while, and this sabotage software could be distributed easily while people were unaware of it.
Or would that count as malware?

The guys who released Arkham Asylum tried this (there was an incredibly annoying bug in the game if you tried to crack it), but less than a month later a fully working version had been uploaded. The people who do this are really good, and in the end there's only so much a dev team can do with limited time against many groups of experiences crackers working around the clock. For the same reason DRM, however OTT and stringent, just fails every time because eventually someone is going to work out how to break it.

 

[Fardon]

Well, my idea has been thoroughly shot down by common sense. Thanks anyway; this question had been bugging me for quite some time.

Another idea, though.. How about publishers releasing a cracked version of their game that ceases to function about halfway through and has software embedded that prevents other pirated copies from functioning? Think of it as a faulty gene, or a prion.
I'm sure people wouldn't catch on for quite a while, and this 'prion' software could be distributed easily while people were unaware of it.
After it had reached a certain saturation point, you'd be statistically more likely to be seeded a data packet [that's what they seed, right?] with this sabotage code due to the number of people ignorant of its existence.
Or would that count as malware?
Also, excuse my ignorance of how computers and stuff work.

Yes, it will count as a trojan and I highly doubt that it will do any good to the developers reputation. We had enough of that sort of thing with Star Force DRM which was basicaly a trojan on it's own and later people just used it for their not so good deeds.

 

[An Inferior]

The only real way to make a game "un-piratable" is to keep direct control the computer running the game. Basically, this means that instead of giving the data to the user to run the game, you put that data on your own server, and you let people pay to connect to the server and play the game.
(This is how MMOs operate, as well as many casual network games like Facebook stuff.)

This doesn't work in practice for most games, however, because it doesn't save the developing company (or publishing company, depending on how you want to look at the bigger picture) any money, unless they make game players pay a continuous fee. Hosting the server costs money to the company, and if they only make you pay one set price for the game, they have no way of keeping their funds coming in over time.

 

[Treblaine]

Except torrent sites have their own independent way of rating veracity of the product, the one "genuine copy" would float to the top.

The only things that will get through are those that seem like the real game but underneath is loaded with malicious code. Would that even be legal? I know plenty of pirate games come loaded with spyware but that is dodgy third party companies, separate from pirates and publishers.

 

[b3nn3tt]

I'm inclined to agree with this, but the problem is that very few companies do this. What tends to happen instead is that a 'special edition' is released, which costs about three times the price of just the game, and people are far less inclined to pay that money

But if something was thrown in without the price going up, I think that it would work as you said, and people would be more inclined to buy it

I sort of liked the map that came with Oblivion. I don't remember how much the whole thing cost, but I could still boast with it. Now, though, I know that games in retailers here tend to cost around ~70 euros, while on Steam they are 50. I'm buying all the games from Steam or online now becouse of that. Would be kind of unfair if someone would get a trinket as well while i only get the game.

In that scenario, maybe they could arrange to send the trinket to you in the mail or something. Although then they have to pay postage costs, so the free item would seem more expensive to them. Although the free thing would likely not be worth $20, so by downloading games from Steam you are still saving yourself a lot of money

I don't really know what he best course of action would be with regards to downloadable games actually. Maybe the free gift thing isn't the best way to go about things anyway. Let's face it, piracy won't be eradicated because people don't get a toy with their copy

 

[gl1koz3]

Can we drop the "oh neuh, piracee" BS, because only brain damage and a situation where you wouldn't buy it either way prevents you from understanding that you should support the products you like.

 

[Brandon237]

What your solution can do is cause a ton of chaos in pirate sites, especially if companies get large numbers of employees involved.

And this could be enough to send a relatively clear message.
Imagine if every subsection under EA did this as a reaction to what happened with Crysis 2, you could put whole sites out of business. With enough fake trash and time you could make a site fall onto its figurative knees begging for mercy.

And imagine if you got Activision and Ubisoft to do it too... And one has to admit that it would be AWESOME.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Well, for one, jacking the price up from $50 to $60 REALLY doesn't help stop piracy...

I've had this discussion many times before. One solution, stop PC gaming altogether. Epic Games refused to publish Gears of War because Cliffy B said the games would just be pirated.

You know he said that about Gears of War 2, then shortly after it was leaked and being pirated like crazy for 360 weeks, or even maybe a month, before it was released, right?

PC isn't the only thing that gets pirates, it is just easier. Plus half the console gamers out there probably don't even know you can download games like they do with music...

 

[huigho1215]

Why not just have a code in the back of the instruction booklet that comes with the game when you buy it that is required for you input into the game, the code would unlock the game and allow itself to be played? so that way if you don't have the code it doesn't unlock the game.

 

[DaJoW]

What you'd get is monumental costs for the publishers with mainly inexperienced pirates annoyed, who would then learn to only download from the big releasers/crackers etc. Seeing as big sites get thousands of uploads a day anyway flooding them wouldn't be easy either.

 

[The_ModeRazor]

Bah, what a pussy.
Wanna combat pirates?
Simple.
Hang them. Hang their kids. Hang their families. Hang them right over everyone's heads and let the crows peck out their eyes and innards.
Or nail them to a 10 foot tall cross and set the whole thing on fire.
That'll teach the little pricks.

/that was sarcasm

 

[Dana22]

First step would be getting rid of all the DRM.
Then stopping the DLC bullshit, especially day one DLC.
Then, creating a quality product that lasts for more then 3 hours (with some genre exceptions).
Then supporting that product with patches, updates and new free content.
Proving mod tools and map editors.

Predicted reduction of piracy, 20-40%.

 

[Kilo24]

Actually, it happened before.

The biggest problem is that if the downloaded copy doesn't work, then most pirates will just thumbs-down the invalid copy and go for one of the other ones. Arkham Asylum's approach turns it into a demo for pirates (which can backfire if it's not made clear that the inability of progress is due to copy protection.)

 

[imperialreign]

Basically, in the aftermath of a crack/leak, the publisher in question would flood every torrent site with fake copies of the game.
These could contain anything, junk code, the full game with a few crucial errors to stop people from using it, or even a demo to keep people a little satisfied.

I'm all for such an idea.

Another suggestion - instead of it being the game itself, the main menu could default to a true rick-roll and lockout the keyboard and mouse inputs so the user cannot alt+tab/CAD to the desktop.

 

[ZeroMachine]

I believe this has been tried before. I also believe it failed.

It's a decent idea, but as a former pirate myself, let me tell you this: fake downloads don't phase those that pirate games a lot. We simply delete it and find a legit copy. After a lengthy virus scan, of course.

 

[Jandau]

Thumbs up systems and comments would screw it over. Heck, just looking for the torrent with the most seeders would do the trick since people are unlikely to keep seeding junk.

Another suggestion - instead of it being the game itself, the main menu could default to a true rick-roll and lockout the keyboard and mouse inputs so the user cannot alt+tab/CAD to the desktop.

Then the developer could get punished for uploading malicious code.