Poll: What sort of piracy protection would you choose?

[firedfns13]

None. Oh crap, see what I did there?

 

[Pendragon9]

CD Key.

Seriously, do developers hate us so much that they don't use it? Screw them, the overpaid douchebags.

 

[Acidwell]

I'd like a return to the old microsoft one of writing "please do not make illegal copies of this disk" on every copy of the game.

 

[BlackStar42]

You're gunna have a hard time surpressing those pirates...

Afterall, they do do pretty much [a href="http://cristgaming.com/pirate.swf"]what they want[/a].

That is awesome. You sir, have won +5 internets.

 

[Daverson]

Better legislation. Groups who actively prosecute everyone involved in software piracy.

The real reason DRM is needed is because states are either unwilling to prosecute individuals performing, or, as is the case in some countries that shall remain unnamed (except China. China gets to be named), involved in piracy.

The main reason people pirate software, music and whatnot is because they can get away with it. Simple as that. They're doing it because they see other people doing it, and getting away with it, and reason, if other people can steal shit and get away with, why can't they? If people saw people pirating software, then getting punished because of it, they might think twice before breaking the law.

Publishers using DRM is like a shopkeeper keeping a 12 gauge under the counter. It's only necessary because the people who should be preventing the problem, aren't.

 

[Mercurio128]

The Batman Arkham asylum method, i.e. leak a version early with a serious flaw, then mock anyone who complains about said flaw.

http://gamerlimit.com/2009/09/eidos-puts-pirates-in-the-asylum/

 

[dryg]

Why wasn't none included? As said before nothing stop pirates and it only hurts the customers.
As of now AC2 is fully cracked and working offline but those who pay must have internet.
From my view of piracy it increases sales since most of the people who pirate games didn't have any intention of buying it. And then there is atleast me who buys the good ones. I pirated the first STALKER and didn't know anything about it and then bought every game in the series. So because of piracy they got 3 sales and thats just one of many I have done the same with.

 

[Veret]

People seem to like quoting my post from the first page, I see. It's nice that so many of you agree with my angry-internet-man stylings, but there's another post that deserves to get a lot more attention.

The following contains great wisdom and thoughtfulness. Read it.

What most people don't understand about piracy is that it's not a simple issue with simple parameters and a simple solution. If it were, it would be solved by now. There are many aspects to it and I'd like to point out a few:

1. Once it's cracked... - ...it's cracked, no matter what type of DRM was used. No matter how convoluted or simple it is, once it's gone, everyone with an internet connection and a tiny bit of know-how (ability to use Google and/or Torrents) can pirate the game. And make no mistake, it WILL be cracked.

2. Casual Piracy - Bob and Bill live next door from each other, both have DVD burners and both play games. Bob wants to make a copy of his game for Bill. The publisher doesn't want that. Assuming Bob and Bill don't have the knowledge mentioned in the previous paragraph, even the most basic copy protection (disc check) will stop them.

3. Day 1 Piracy - If a game is pirated on release (or earlier), it will have the maximum effect on the sales. If the game hasn't been cracked for a week or two, a lot of would-be pirates will buy it legally, and those who don't likely won't anyway. A publisher wants to protect his game for at least a few weeks. Beyond that, further protection won't have much of an impact since most of the people who had any intention of purchasing the game have already done so. This favours draconic DRM such as the one used by Ubisoft.

4. Screwing over the customer - So, any DRM will stop casual piracy, and only convoluted draconic DRM will slow down pirates. But what about the legit customer? By making actual legitimate users jump through pointless hoops just to play your game, you are alienating your user base. Worried about lost sales due to piracy? Why aren't you worried about future lost sales due to demolished reputation? This is what likely awaits Ubisoft.

Conclusion - The Publisher has a thankless task. He needs to prevent Day 1 Piracy, while at the same time doing the least possible inconvenience to the legit customers. Ubisoft's method will fail. Not only will it be cracked every time, it will drive away regular customers.

There has to be a golden middle where the optimal ratio between combating piracy and making customers happy is achieved. There ARE methods of doing this, but unfortunately they involve actually rewarding your customers and making good games. The first "loses" you money, and the second implies you actually do what you're paid for. Both of these don't sit well with major publishers...

 

[Skinny Razor]

What most people don't understand about piracy is that it's not a simple issue with simple parameters and a simple solution. If it were, it would be solved by now. There are many aspects to it and I'd like to point out a few:

1. Once it's cracked... - ...it's cracked, no matter what type of DRM was used. No matter how convoluted or simple it is, once it's gone, everyone with an internet connection and a tiny bit of know-how (ability to use Google and/or Torrents) can pirate the game. And make no mistake, it WILL be cracked.

2. Casual Piracy - Bob and Bill live next door from each other, both have DVD burners and both play games. Bob wants to make a copy of his game for Bill. The publisher doesn't want that. Assuming Bob and Bill don't have the knowledge mentioned in the previous paragraph, even the most basic copy protection (disc check) will stop them.

3. Day 1 Piracy - If a game is pirated on release (or earlier), it will have the maximum effect on the sales. If the game hasn't been cracked for a week or two, a lot of would-be pirates will buy it legally, and those who don't likely won't anyway. A publisher wants to protect his game for at least a few weeks. Beyond that, further protection won't have much of an impact since most of the people who had any intention of purchasing the game have already done so. This favours draconic DRM such as the one used by Ubisoft.

4. Screwing over the customer - So, any DRM will stop casual piracy, and only convoluted draconic DRM will slow down pirates. But what about the legit customer? By making actual legitimate users jump through pointless hoops just to play your game, you are alienating your user base. Worried about lost sales due to piracy? Why aren't you worried about future lost sales due to demolished reputation? This is what likely awaits Ubisoft.

Conclusion - The Publisher has a thankless task. He needs to prevent Day 1 Piracy, while at the same time doing the least possible inconvenience to the legit customers. Ubisoft's method will fail. Not only will it be cracked every time, it will drive away regular customers.

There has to be a golden middle where the optimal ratio between combating piracy and making customers happy is achieved. There ARE methods of doing this, but unfortunately they involve actually rewarding your customers and making good games. The first "loses" you money, and the second implies you actually do what you're paid for. Both of these don't sit well with major publishers...

A response that's worthy of appearing before the Supreme Court.
I disagree, however, about a golden mean between security and convenience. There's often such a huge investment to recoup that combating the Day 1 pirates is more important than making it easier for actual buyers to use their games, and "lost" sales are hard to track. Even if a game completely tanks, they'll probably just repackage and relaunch.
The development teams and the accounting departments are often sworn enemies, and that's why we get DRMs.

 

[Cabisco]

If your going to call yourself a pirate, i'm going to make you walk the plank...

Where I come from, pirates are hanged, drawn and quartered.

Good sir, will you then join me in creating a cyber fleet to stop these pirates, or at the least stop them calling themselves pirates and have a more accurate term? Like say, torrent troll.

 

[joschen]

You're gunna have a hard time surpressing those pirates...

Afterall, they do do pretty much [a href="http://cristgaming.com/pirate.swf"]what they want[/a].

That is awesome. You sir, have won +5 internets.

YHEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zZv7xPa6z7s/Rbl8tU0fC_I/AAAAAAAAAIE/Um6MwYdsTc4/s400/HoratioCaine+05.jpg

 

[yoyo13rom]

I'd choose not sailing near Somalia.

Dude, that's just racist.

What? How? The Somalian coast is notorious for its pirates.

More notorious than east Europe?!
*turns round to teenage comrades:* Argh! Back to work mates, you're loosing popularity!

 

[Spitfire175]

If your going to call yourself a pirate, i'm going to make you walk the plank...

Where I come from, pirates are hanged, drawn and quartered.

What about keelhauling or dropping from the yardarm?

Well, acceptable, provided their damned dead corpses shall be left to hang as a warning to others.

If your going to call yourself a pirate, i'm going to make you walk the plank...

Where I come from, pirates are hanged, drawn and quartered.

Good sir, will you then join me in creating a cyber fleet to stop these pirates, or at the least stop them calling themselves pirates and have a more accurate term? Like say, torrent troll.

If we call them trolls, some knights in shining armour are sure to ride forth and slay them.

 

[Cabisco]

If your going to call yourself a pirate, i'm going to make you walk the plank...

Where I come from, pirates are hanged, drawn and quartered.

What about keelhauling or dropping from the yardarm?

Well, acceptable, provided their damned dead corpses shall be left to hang as a warning to others.

If your going to call yourself a pirate, i'm going to make you walk the plank...

Where I come from, pirates are hanged, drawn and quartered.

Good sir, will you then join me in creating a cyber fleet to stop these pirates, or at the least stop them calling themselves pirates and have a more accurate term? Like say, torrent troll.

If we call them trolls, some knights in shining armour are sure to ride forth and slay them.

From this moment on, for the British empire I shall call them trolls, and correct those who call these vile merin pirates.