TestECull said:
1: Steam is DRM. Go read up on Steamworks and then come back and tell me it isn't.
2: Just because I use Steam doesn't mean I can't criticize it. Don't be fucking stupid. Steam has flaws, chief among which is it doesn't let you sell the games you own. That needs to be resolved.
http://www.steamgames.com/steamworks/publishingservices.php tells me nothing more than what I said before. It's their distribution method. If you want to sell the game, buy a physical copy. Why is that difficult to understand?
Try to run a SecuROM 'protected' game while Daemon Tools is installed.
Go on. Grab a copy of GTA IV, install Daemon, and try it. I'm waiting. They're cheap, GTA IV is under 20 bucks and DT is free, wont' cost much.
That done?
Good. See that pretty little error message GTA IV just threw up because you had the audacity to run perfectly legal software some nameless, faceless investor in Take Two's corporate office doesn't like? That's Take Two trying to tell YOU what YOU can't run on YOUR computer. And that's bullshit. Daemon Tools is a perfectly legal program, there is no valid reason for any DRM to refuse access to a program because it's running. GTA IV will shut up if you merely close it, but there's games protected by stronger forms of SecuROM that refuse to launch if it's merely in the registry. Doesn't even have to be any files for it on your hard drive. I uhh...I obviously don't have those games, mainly because I have the balls to stand up for my rights to run whatever legal fucking software I damn well please.
So angry....all I asked was for an example. I pity you. As far as image mounting tools go, maybe it's good reasoning, maybe it's bad, but saying that DT is a purely legitimate tool is the same thing as saying Bittorrent is a purely legitimate transfer protocol. While yes, it's technically true, no one is really naive enough to think that their use is mainly or even somewhat only legitimate. Unless it's just you, in which case, please do keep "making backup copies of your games and movies for private use" and "downloading your linux ISOs".
There aren't. I've disabled them. The only things that phone home on my machine are things I want to phone home to do something, like Firefox or Steam, and the things required for those things to function.
I highly doubt you've prevented all the things you think are phoning home from doing so.
I'm not some naive noobie that installs Bonzai Buddy and wonders how the nigerians got their credit card info. I know what my machine's doing, and it's doing only what I allow it to do.
We Windows users actually don't know exactly what our machines are doing. Perhaps you have the illusion of thinking so based on what you see on screen or in the task manager process list, but we really don't. That's not to say I'm disregarding your policy on computer security, I'm just saying you can't actually be that sure.
Because everyone has perfectly flawless internet that never fucks up and an ISP that doesn't try to screw them over every second of every day. Right. You must live in a wonderful alternate dimension from the real world.
Truth be told, California is definately sometimes an alternate dimension, yes, but I'm not really buying the idea that your ISP is such a problem that such a DRM protection is problematic for you.
I'm not on a high horse. I'm standing up for my rights to do as I please with what I own. You wouldn't be sitting there telling me all is cool and to just go with it if Ford was locking overdrive and three cylinders out of my pickup truck because I didn't buy it brand new, or if I opted to haul a cargo Ford didn't approve of, or if I drove it down a road that isn't supported.
Yes, I would, because it was you that made the decision to purchase the Ford at all, regardless of whether or not it was used. Take responsibility for your purchases, stop blaming the seller after the fact.
You wouldn't be singing that song if my microwave only operated at 500w when I microwaved something from a brand it's manufacturer didn't approve of or if I didn't have it plugged in at the proper outlet. So why the hell should I just bend over and let Take Two tell me what software I can run on my machine when I run GTA IV?
Again, yes I would. The funny thing about the internet is that it tells you these things beforehand, so you know before buying. You almost sound like you're trying to explain to me why it'd be better to pirate it (although I realize you're not). The answer I have for you remains the same; it's you who wants to play GTAIV, so it's you that has to accept the terms that come with it. How much money you paid for it or what you think you are entitled to means nothing. You don't lease a car and then complain about the lease payments 6 months in, do you? It was you who chose to lease the car, if you were not happy with it you shouldn't have signed the contract.
It's no different than any of the other examples in that paragraph. Take Two got an agreed upon sum of money in exchange for my ownership of one copy, just as the used car dealer and Walmart did with my pickup and my microwave respectively. The company that made it, therefore, has no business telling me what I can and can't do with it.
And yet somehow, like most PC gamers, you somehow think that any sum of money entitles you to full ownership of whatever you're paying. Although that might seem logical, that's not the case, as much as you want it to be. As long as there is a EULA or a ToS attached to anything you purchase, it's not truly yours. Comparing it to other things that are closer to being truly yours is not valid, it's just mindless rage.
And don't give me any of that "license agreement" bullshit, I didn't pay sixty bucks for a fucking rental. I bought it, I own it, fuck the EULA, fuck the DRM, and fuck anyone who supports either.
And the seller's response would be "!@#$ you too" (bleeped so it's clear I'm not saying that directly to you). You bought it, you agreed to the EULA and DRM.
Deal.
With.
It.
And with this baseless accusation you've lost what last sliver of credibility you had. Tell me, which DRM company do you work for again? Maybe you're with the RIAA/MPAA? EA perhaps? Ubisoft? You seem to share the same views as those companies do, that is, PC gamers are all damned dirty pirates until they jump through 9001 hoops to prove otherwise every time they start the game, as if spending sixty bucks on it wasn't enough proof.
And with that, you've lost any credibility whatsoever. I made the very simple statement that your online activities are most likely not honest anyway. That doesn't mean I work for any company what so ever. Your reaction just means that I am either right, or you are unwilling to accept that some of your online habits are not entirely legal. It's not a personal attack.
And yet again, spending sixty bucks means jack-fucking-shit. You could have spent a million, but if you agreed to an EULA and/or ToS that involves DRM, it's your own goddamn fault. What you think the publishers are doing is completely irrelevant. I hope to god you never have to sign any sort of contract in the future because I now have no doubt that you'd not bother to read the fine print before deciding to do so.
No, it isn't. It's not naive at all. I know there's plenty of piracy, and I know what the proper solution is. Companies need to ignore it entirely.
Yes, let it run rampant. Let it be so that any person could say "Hmm, I could either pay for it, or I could just click a couple times and get the entire thing for free and never get caught whatsoever". You don't think that's naive?
I love how PC gamers fall back on "ignore pirates", knowing full well it will never happen thus never proving them wrong.
Yeah. I know. Shocking. But look at Valve. They make good games, they price them well, they use as unobtrusive a DRM as possible, and they make more money than God every month. They're also well loved by their customers, respected even, mainly because they don't fuck us over with obtrusive fucking DRM.
Yes, Valve. Take the HL1 or 2 engine. Give it new skins, give it a slight bit of a story, add witty dialogue, call it a new game, sell it for $15 so that no one notices. Repeat until people get bored. To make sure people don't realize what is happening, offer mod tools and free DLC every so often.
That's Valve for you.
So? Doesn't change the fact that I care more about my rights than I do some shitty war shooter with obtrusive DRM.
So here's a beautifully novel idea; don't buy said shitty war game, that way you don't have to complain about it. Shocking!
I know piracy won't go away, the people who attach DRM to games are the ones with their heads in the clouds. They think making their honest customers jump through hoops every time they start the game while the pirates they're trying to chase away are enjoying a hoop-free copy a week before release that's easier to install, easier to run, and was free.
And yet again, you keep bringing up this idea of punishing "honest customers" as though it holds any water. I have zero doubt in my mind that the number of honest customers that are running these games with DRM just fine outweigh the far more vocal minority of people who ***** about them to media outlets which do the only thing they know how to do: blow out of proportion for page views.
You honestly can't see the problem with that scenario? You're either naive as fuck or you work for a DRM company, only two options.
And you honestly don't understand what ad hominem is? Learn to debate, or honestly, let it go. I don't work for a DRM company, so you can seriously let go of that assumption. I udnerstand that you're feeling cornered and the only way you can protect yourself from anyone who rejects the idea that all DRM is bad is to assert that they must work for a DRM company.
Yes, I'm an atheist, but any time I debate with a Christian, I don't just jump up and go "YEAH WELL FUCK YOU, YOU JUST THINK THAT BECAUSE YOUR BIBLE TOLD YOU TO".
I don't blame DRM for disliking a game. Hell, I like Assassin's Creed, everything I've read and every Let's Play tells me I'd play the hell out of it and love every second.
Then get it, or don't. Sitting at the middle ground and throwing a temper tantrum about why you won't buy it is just ridiculous.
But I have the balls to stand up for my rights as a customer and not get fucked over by absurd DRM.
See, the thing that you call "your rights" is nothing more than a weak assumption that money = ownership. When you disregard an EULA and a ToS, you have no excuse.
I'm not going to feed Ubi any money, and if that means I don't get to play a good game or three then so be it. Their loss, not mine.
Then don't, they're doing just fine without you. Why? Because there's plenty of other people out there that play by the rules and don't run into issues.
Even though I have fuck all to prove to you, lemme list just a few.
You make the claim, yes, you do have "fuck all" to prove.
GFWL hides my Fallout 3 savegames and DLCs 15 protected folders deep within my windows directory.
Oh no, your save files and DLC are hidden. So? You know where they are, back them up.
GFWL kicks me out of Dead Rising 2: OTR multiplayer several times in a row because it can't maintain connection with the login server.
Legitimate concern.
GFWL sometimes refuses to sign in at all, rendering DR2: OTR unplayable for me as I bought it solely to co-op with someone else.
GFWL doesn't know why you bought the game, ergo this logic is not valid.
GFWL's interface is fucking awful. Just finding Fallout 3 DLC to buy is a problem in and of itself.
And this has what to do with anything?
GFWL causes issues with modding Fallout 3, as from my own first-hand experience any mods which reference DLC that GFWL has tucked away in the afore-mentioned folder-in-Bumfuck-Egypt crash the game. You have to track that DLC down and manually move it into the Fallout 3/Data folder, then check it in FOMM as you would any other mod, to resolve this. Not only this, but I've been known to tinker with the GECK myself, and the GECK can not modify assets that aren't in Fallout 3/Data, which includes the DLC.
A login system is having issues with a modified game? Say it isn't so!
GFWL causes similar issues with GTA IV as it does with both DR2: OTR and Fallout 3. It gets in the way of running scripts that let me use seatbelts and speedometers in single player, on top of that it likes to fail to find servers more often than it finds one.
Oh no, it's having issues letting you play a game with third-party modifications. How unusual.
GFWL is also a bit of a memory hog, using more ram than Steam while giving me absolutely bupkiss to show for it. Steam, at least, gives me an IM/VOIP service both in game and out, as well as an in-game web browser and an interface that's a dream to use.
And this has what, exactly, to do with DRM?
When it gives EA the power to screw me out of sixty fucking dollars because I post "lol" in a forum or get quoted by someone who swears in the same post, yes, it fucking well is.
You paid the $60, ergo, you screwed yourself. And yet again, like a media-sheep, you're allowing one media story to dictate what you think of an entire company's process of rules.
Right, because it's impossible that some of us aren't genuinely incensed because of first hand annoyances time and time again.
Oh no, I'm sure you're genuinely incensed. I just happen to think your "incense" is almost entirely unfounded.
Again, you must live in a wonderful dimension where DRM actually does what the publishers hope and isn't a pain in everyone's ass.
No, I live in a dimension where I happen to know for a fact that incidents where DRM does exactly what it's supposed to are never reported because no one wants to read them.
Yes, you are. Don't kid yourself. If you weren't defending DRM you wouldn't have quoted a single post I made.
For the sake of argument and there being an offense and defense, sure, I'm "defending" DRM. Not supporting it, not promoting it, not selling it. I'm simply taking apart all these completely trumped up and hilarious ideas that you seem to have about it.
That's your problem. You don't care if publishers fuck you over. You don't care if EA holds your rights to play what you BOUGHT. You don't care if your sixty dollars is wasted because someone hits the relay box down the street and knocks your internet out. You don't care if you're being bent over a table and fucked over for having the audacity, the nerve, to legally buy your games.
Wonderful, I'm sure that would have caused me to go breathless if that was a presidential speech. But do you know why I don't care about "rights"? Because I'm busy playing the game. Do you know why I'm not worried about losing my progress because someone hits the relay box down by my street? Because it doesn't happen that often.
And I, you.
Try it. Go install a PC game 'protected' by absurd DRM, then tell me how long it is before that DRM screws up and leaves you with six to ten gigabytes of bullshit data you can't do anything with cluttering your harddrive up, all because some nameless, faceless investors thousands of miles away assume that, despite you spending sixty dollars on the game, you're still a damned dirty pirate until you hand over your first born every game launch and do the rain dance when you save your game.
I actually *have* owned and played GTAIV a few times via Steam/GFWL. I had no issues. And yet still, I don't understand why you're so infernally convinced that you think purely giving someone money for something means it's 100% yours.
If I'm perfectly honest I'm somewhat jealous you don't have to put up with this shit. Be thankful you don't get treated with contempt by idiot publishers who will overlook console piracy while whinging until the world ends about PC piracy
Yes, because there are cold hard facts to back up the statement that console piracy is worse than PC piracy.
Often the console versions get leaked earlier, and console piracy is just as rampant if not moreso since circumventing it is easier. Cracking PC games is on a per-game basis, cracking console games is a one-off deal with the console itself, once chipped to play burnt games all you have to do is download, burn, play.
I don't doubt that it exists, I just simply don't believe it is worse on consoles. I hope you realize we console gamers do end up paying more per-game than you do, right?
Oh, and stop looking down on PC gamers that are voicing their annoyance at being treated like criminals because they had the audacity to do the right thing when acquiring their games. Pirates don't care about DRM because they don't have to deal with it.
No, that's not why I look down on PC gamers (although I'm pretty sure I said "it wasn't because of DRM, it was because I couldn't stand the inconsistency of PC gaming and PC gamers.") It seems that just as you love to use the phrase "treated like criminals" you're also so blinded by rage that you can't read what I write.
My irritation with PC gaming has absolutely zero to do with DRM or PC gamers' opinions on DRM.
This was interesting, but is frankly getting boring. Let me know if you want to stop, that's not what this thread was supposed to be about (although I certainly didn't help things)