First post, by Zup
- Rank
- Oldbie
Lately, I've been buying, installing, and patching some games, and I want to know what do you think about protections and the game bussiness.
As a player, the best protection for me is no protection, and the best pricing is free. Obviously, if the game is free, there will be no losses due to piracy 😀 and still the game maker can get some revenue. Think about those on-line games that requires you to pay if you want some exclusive objects, or new game contents. Also, you may get revenue including some advertising in your game (in a Blade Runner RPG, there are adverts everywhere).
Lately, Sony wanted to put some advertising in some games, but IMHO I don't want adverts in a game I payed for.
Also, there are some games that are sold without any means of protection: Strike Fighters Project had no CD protection nor CD Key or serial required to play. Still, it sold well.
The next step would be some slightly intrusive protections: early versions of securom or safedisc did need a CD Key and they prevented unauthorised copy of CDs, but they did no annoy much the user (you need the CD in the drive, though).
Later, Starforce gave us all some nightmares. It was not that we couldn't make a backup of the game contents, it was that (at least me) we were barely able to toast any CD / DVD. My 4x DVD recorder was converted to a 0.2-0.5x DVD writer. Though Starforce presented newer versions that did not have that effect, I'm still avoiding buying games that have Starforce included.
About those protection schemes, there are some companies that are releasing patches to avoid having the CD in the drive while playing. Blizzard released patches for Diablo II and Starcraft, and Egosoft released a patch to get X2 rid of Starforce (rendering X2 unprotected).
But there are still some protection schemes that don't rely in avoiding backups of the media content. There are games that need CD Keys everywhere, and lately the activation method is rising.
Let's think about Steam: Steam allows you to make backups of your game contents, and the activation method via your account still protect their games from piracy. I'm not so comfortable with the idea that what would it happen if Valve goes out of bussiness, and because I use a 56k modem, having a internet connection to play seems strange to me.
Lately, some companies are going back with their copy protection schemes (Ubi quitting Starforce, Blizzard with their No CD patches and Sony removing activation limits), but it seems that copy protection will be with us for some time.
About distribution: Yesterday, I bought Puzzle Quest on Steam. I like to have a game case with handbook and game disk, but it seems that no one would publish that game in Spain. Also, I tried to bought it on internet, but the distributor does not send the game to Europe (it seems that it could be a distribution rights matter).
What do you think about that? What are your "preferred" copy protection methods? Would you support free games with advertisement? Would you pay for a game with adverts? How do you feel abot Steam and activation methods? What do you think about having the world divided in zones of distribution?
P.D.: For the older men... Do you remember Lenslock (Elite) or code sheets (TMNT)?
I have traveled across the universe and through the years to find Her.
Sometimes going all the way is just a start...
