Starforce is probably the worst thing invented since democracy...

umm...wow. somebody a little partial to their constitutional monarchy?

Yes Comrade:salute:

I agree, but the thing is: DRM isn't going anywhere. All we can do is whine to keep it reasonable. ;)

True that. Which is exactly what I dont understand, why they keep putting DRM's to the games when they know that they dont work? Do they really think that it would lessen piracy because not everyone would have the know-how to bypass the DRMs and so there'd be only the big scene groups releasing cracked versions? I do hope they are wiser than that or in the future we will have someone standing next to us, watching and making sure we use a legit copy.

If someone comes up with a no CD "patch" (rofl), I don't care about Starforce. I bought SH3 at its release. As it wouldn't run without a crack, I had no moral qualms whatsoever to circumvent the copy protection. If that's the only way I can play my legitimately owned and dearly paid for copy, so be it.
And welcome aboard :DL

A thing to note is that Copy Protection evolved into Digital Rights Management: At first CP was only to prevent illegal copies from being made. Nowadays DRM also is still intended to prevent day 1 illegal copies, but it seems to be more targeted at preventing 2nd-hand sales; think of Steam, where this is completely impossible since the game is tied to your account, and the limited number of installs/activations with many systems that tie a game to your hardware config.

Also, piracy is a hassle, since it requires more effort to get a game working and you're always lagging behind on updates, waiting for an updated crack to be released. I think they're simply trying to maintain that situation to persuade at least some people to avoid the hassle by obtaining a legal copy.

Some interesting reading: http://www.simhq.com/_commentary/all_091a.html
Other side of the story. Though I can't say I really agree with it, it's reasonable enough: http://www.simhq.com/_commentary/all_091a.html

Steam has been cracked ages ago. :yep:

As for the updates, you're right there. Only popular games get the attention in piraqcy when it comes to updates.

Didnt read your linked thingies yet, abit tipsy so I dont have the attention span for it right now. :doh:

I won't force you, I think you have a reasonable stance on this anyway; Most people don't bother asking for an explanation but just bash it.

Thing about Steam is you can't sell a game if you get tired of it, something you can do with a boxed game (as long as the DRM isn't overly restrictive). Apart from hindering piracy, that's what DRM is all about.

True true. :yep:

I think there should be a working Enigma machine on every sub and we have to operate it each day we use the sim or it will crashdive our sub to crush depth :)

So far the only game I haven't seen cracked is Rise Of Flight. Because it requires an online account. But really now, the best copy protection is made up of the following:
- nice looking box
- HUGE printed manuals (recognition manuals, tactics, whatever)
- some gimmick, like a medal or clasp (or an attack disk :o)
- and NO software copy protection, not even a simple cd-check
My favourite boxes of all times are my Flight Unlimited and Falcon 4 boxes. F22 air dominance fighter had a superb 194 color pages airplane encyclopedia. Oblivion had that simple metal coin. The list goes on.
I'm waiting for Fallout 3 Survival Edition comming later this year to get my second Bobblehead and metal box. That's how simple it is. The ammount of "pirates" that will like the game and feel BAD about not buying such a "fragile" software which was based on trust and hard goodies will be greater that what copy-protection can convince :yeah:.

That's exactly what I read in an article a while back. Nintendo put some extra's in the box with their DS games, something like a figurine. Had a profound effect on piracy. :yep:

Throwing in some unique content is the best way to counter piracy. I mean, look at Modern Warfare 2 and OFP: Dragon Rising: Nightvision goggles? A helmet? Pretty sure those guys have the same idea. :)

The one thing that bothered me about RoF was having to be online to connect even for single player. Well the group I fly with, 312 members in 4 states, must have felt the same way. We took a vote, and they decided not to purchase RoF, to wait for SoW to come out instead.

I got my copy as a gift, so out of 312 members, 311 sales were lost because of RoF`s DRM. I have since put my copy on the shelf, as thunderstorms here have messed with my internet connection all last week, and I was unable to play when I wanted to. A lot of people only have a limited ammount of time for sims, and this type of DRM will turn even the most hardcore simmer off.

There`s nothing stopping them from going that route, and selling each type of U-Boat, and other shipping, or addons for a price, but I think they will lose a large fanbase if they do market it in that fashion.

Their sales figures for the Silent Hunter franchise says different. :hmmm:

btw I'm all for the goodies and better manuals and such. :woot: