Draconian DRM and how it can kill sales

[AzrealMaximillion]

Now we've seen Blizzard lose the trust of a lot of people with Diablo 3's DRM hampering the single player gameplay significantly.

We've seen Ubisoft go from being the biggest advocate of strict DRM on PC releases to dropping the asinine model after seeing the DRM cause a 90% loss in PC sales.

Now we have an indie developer implementing the same type of invasive DRM into their game.

Miner Wars 2081.

The game itself looks to be actually pretty cool, but since it was Greenlit on Steam, the Steam users have been very vocally displeased with Keen Software House' implementation of the DRM.
The DRM is effectively the same as Diablo 3's. Required to register an account and log in to play, even in single player. Required to be online at all times.

This leads to people experiencing slowdown due to server lag when in single player and other annoyances caused by the DRM.

Now I know that developers will do DRM and I should expect that some games will have it, but I have 4 issues with how this is being handled from the consumer point of view.

1. Steam effectively is DRM enough for any game sold on it. Why the developer chose to add an extra think layer of it it beyond me.

2.This is a small time inde developer. Having witnessed Ubisoft's sales get vaporized when it started its DRM crusade should have been a sign to most developers.

3.Keen Software House is actively censoring anyone who talks negatively about the DRM on Miner Wars forums. This is kind of low. Also this:[link]http://steamcommunity.com/app/223430/discussions/[/link]
The developers themselves have responded to a thread on the Steam forums asking the OP to "give them a chance". This was after they censored them on the Miner Wars forums. The OP isn't the only one they've censored either.

4. They've done everything in their power to hide the fact that the DRM is there. Even lying about the DRM.

That's right the developers know enough that DRM pisses gamers of for the most part so they tried to deceive people about it. Another low move. (Read the Steam thread linked for more context).

Now, what do you people think about this? I know that the developer has a right to put DRM on their game, but the consumers have a right to be pissed about the way it is being handled.

Will this be the first and last time that a small indie developer tries this kind of DRM?

 

[Genocidicles]

I'm really hoping this game crashes and burns, maybe with a 90% piracy rate or something like that, just to prove to these cretins that DRM only encourages people to pirate.

 

[felbot]

dude, that's just evil man, this is the kinda stupid stuff id expect ubisoft to do not a indie developer.

 

[Danceofmasks]

We'll see.

Steam is DRM, sure .. but it's DRM with enough features to make it worthwhile.

Now while extremely unlikely to actually be any good, there's still a chance the DRM is worthwhile.
I mean, it can't be much worse than steamworks games that still require uPlay or Origin or GFWL, can it?

That said, this game would have to be capable of raising real life crabs from the dead in order for me to buy it.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

I mainly posted this to make sure people know about the DRM before purchasing the game. The tactics that the devs have used are disgraceful.

 

[zumbledum]

Now we've seen Blizzard lose the trust of a lot of people with Diablo 3's DRM hampering the single player gameplay significantly.

We've seen Ubisoft go from being the biggest advocate of strict DRM on PC releases to dropping the asinine model after seeing the DRM cause a 90% loss in PC sales.

Actually for me teh always on was a total non issue and it didnt bother me in the least infact i understood and would of done the same if i had chosen that model (which i wouldnt of but thats a different rant) and it had no impact ont he single player game for me.

The fact it was a bag of shit and a piss poor game is what hampered it for me.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Now we've seen Blizzard lose the trust of a lot of people with Diablo 3's DRM hampering the single player gameplay significantly.

We've seen Ubisoft go from being the biggest advocate of strict DRM on PC releases to dropping the asinine model after seeing the DRM cause a 90% loss in PC sales.

Actually for me teh always on was a total non issue and it didnt bother me in the least infact i understood and would of done the same if i had chosen that model (which i wouldnt of but thats a different rant) and it had no impact ont he single player game for me.

The fact it was a bag of shit and a piss poor game is what hampered it for me.

That's fair. At least Blizzard didn't censor people on their forums about the DLC though. This company has lost a lot of respect over this.

 

[Something Amyss]

1. Steam effectively is DRM enough for any game sold on it. Why the developer chose to add an extra think layer of it it beyond me.

People on here defend Steam by saying it's not really real DRM. How easily it can be used/abused in offline mode, etc. Perhaps companies feel the same way.

Does that justify "alway online" DRM? Hell no, but that's a pretty extreme version.

2.This is a small time inde developer. Having witnessed Ubisoft's sales get vaporized when it started its DRM crusade should have been a sign to most developers.

Correlation always proves causation.

3.Keen Software House is actively censoring anyone who talks negatively about the DRM on Miner Wars forums. This is kind of low. Also this:[link]http://steamcommunity.com/app/223430/discussions/[/link]
The developers themselves have responded to a thread on the Steam forums asking the OP to "give them a chance". This was after they censored them on the Miner Wars forums. The OP isn't the only one they've censored either.

Uber Entertainment all over again. That is kind of bothersome.

4. They've done everything in their power to hide the fact that the DRM is there. Even lying about the DRM.

This really is also troubling. And should be outright illegal.

That's right the developers know enough that DRM pisses gamers of for the most part so they tried to deceive people about it. Another low move. (Read the Steam thread linked for more context).

Assuming motives one cannot prove. That's dirty pool.

You have a right to not like DRM, but you're kind of going too far in the reasons that Blizzard and Ubisoft are getting poor responses.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

*Sits down and reads Escapist Forum*
*Notices people complain about being online when playing games*
*Realizes they are online complaining instead of playing*
*laughs*


For some reason, that is what happens everytime I read this.
You come onto the Escapist and complain about DRM, yet you are currently online and not playing the game. Chances are you are online a good 75% of the time, yet you still complain about it even when it shouldn't be an issue at this time. Then again, I was blessed to be born in the middle of bumfuck nowhere with great internet and the small times when I have no internet, I play something else... or read a book.

I'm more complaining about how this specific developer is handling their consumers at this point. Censoring the customer's opinions to hide the fact that you're implementing things they don't like is wrong. Not even Blizzard pulled that with D3. This is a small time developer too, it makes me sad to see that you'd rather just laugh at the situation than discuss it.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

That's right the developers know enough that DRM pisses gamers of for the most part so they tried to deceive people about it. Another low move. (Read the Steam thread linked for more context).

Assuming motives one cannot prove. That's dirty pool.

You have a right to not like DRM, but you're kind of going too far in the reasons that Blizzard and Ubisoft are getting poor responses.

Not really. Like I said, Ubisoft saw a 90% drop in their PC sales when they enacted their DRM policies.

Blizzard lost a lot of respect from their fans over Diablo 3's DRM.

Ubisoft was so effected by the hate for DRM, the removed it.

Miner Wars will have to do the same to see sales go up much further at this point. This is also considering that the developers are making Miner Wars Arena, an MMO version of the game. See the developers marketed Miner Wars 2081 as one game. Then they started making the MMO as a separate game, which piss people off because they had paid into the alpha for the original game and were told they'd have to pay again for the online portion of Miner Wars. After plenty of rage, the devs told those who pre-purchased Miner Wars that they would get the MMO for free when it is finished.

Now we have this DRM debacle. On their site, in the about section, they have statement saying that they would not be using DRM for the main game. Then they implemented it. Now their censoring their forums. Its real low what they are pulling.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Ah, sorry. I had assumed that this was just a generic, "Waaaah, DRM is bad!" thread. I just laugh at the fact that people complain, yet they are on the internet 90% of the time anyway. Unless there are parts of the world where most of the Escapist lives where they cut internet off at a set time, I don't see the reason for much of the issue.

Now, from what I have gathered, the company tried to hide the fact that it had DRM, from a sales standpoint this isn't a bad thing since DRM has such a bad name, it would put people off from buying it. However, they should have put it into the fine print so people won't get AS pissed off. Seems like a simple idea really.

Yeah, they have fine print on their website hidden in their about section. But its a contradicting statement. It says that there will be no DRM, then states that there will be...

The developers tried to deny any DRM when asked. Then they started censoring people on their forums. On their Steam store page you had to scroll to the very bottom of a long list of description to find that online was required to play. I'd be less angry had they been up front about it but they're active deception is what bothers me.

 

[Voodoomancer]

I would like to point out, as someone who has been half-watching this game for a while, that these are the people who thought it was a good idea to include a screamer in AN OFFICIAL GAME DEVELOPEMENT UPDATE VIDEO. Not even related to the game, just "we have been working on it and here is some test render footage and some concept art SUDDENLYLOUDSCREAMANDASCARYFACERAAAARRRRRGGHH!"

EDIT:
Here's the video. It's from the official Miner Wars youtube channel. Screamer at the one minute mark, volume warning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSB2rc_udGs
Really now?

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

It's ironic how DRM like this actually encourages piracy.

But it's not exactly Draconian, since you don't get your tongue cut out or anything for trying to pirate games.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

*Sits down and reads Escapist Forum*
*Notices people complain about being online when playing games*
*Realizes they are online complaining instead of playing*
*laughs*


For some reason, that is what happens everytime I read this.
You come onto the Escapist and complain about DRM, yet you are currently online and not playing the game. Chances are you are online a good 75% of the time, yet you still complain about it even when it shouldn't be an issue at this time. Then again, I was blessed to be born in the middle of bumfuck nowhere with great internet and the small times when I have no internet, I play something else... or read a book.

There are more issues with always-online beyond what happens the player's internet goes out (although don't get me wrong, this is an issue for more people than you may realize). If their servers go down for any reason, too bad, you can't play (this actually happened several times with Ubisoft when they had their draconian DRM). And if servers do go down sometime in the future, there's no guarantee that they will do something to allow you to keep playing (although this is an issue with stuff like steam as well). These are especially big issues in this case because this game isn't coming from some giant publisher, but a smaller indie developer that may not be able to afford all the server costs for a long period of time.

I'm not asking you to join me in an anti-DRM crusade, I'm just trying to say there are legitimate problems with it, and you shouldn't be so dismissive of them.

 

[Twilight_guy]

What do I think? I think they knew that people would probibly call them the devil either way. If they say they have DRM: "OMG, you're so evil DRM is the worse thing ever, worse then cancer, worse then killing babies, OMG, I'll never buy your game!" If they don't: "OMG, why did you try to deceive us, this is the worse thing ever, worse then cancer, worse then killing babies, OMG, I'll never buy your game!".

People go into blind rages over DRM, so they tried to hide it. So long as people froth at the mouth over DRM, and companies want there game to not be pirated there is going to be lots of attempts made to try and get people to not be so angry.

 

[sonofliber]

*Sits down and reads Escapist Forum*
*Notices people complain about being online when playing games*
*Realizes they are online complaining instead of playing*
*laughs*


For some reason, that is what happens everytime I read this.
You come onto the Escapist and complain about DRM, yet you are currently online and not playing the game. Chances are you are online a good 75% of the time, yet you still complain about it even when it shouldn't be an issue at this time. Then again, I was blessed to be born in the middle of bumfuck nowhere with great internet and the small times when I have no internet, I play something else... or read a book.

ok so according to you:
1) server downtimes dont exist
2) lag spikes dont exist
3) ping doesnt exist
4) everyone has an EXTREME and AWESOMERUUUUUU internet like you.

oh and read a book i see what you did there