Starforce is supposed copy protection that installs drivers to your windows system that has been said to cause damage to DVD writers.

The goal of it is to check the cd and confirm its the correct one. Doing this it revs up the drive it very fast levels. This is likely a crap attempt to limit loading time.

Its not my job to tell you to buy. But PLEASE be informed what you are getting youself into when installing SH3. I decided to take the risk and install it. I paid the price with my writer being damaged.

All over the net there is people disgusted with SF and these arent theives and hackers these are normal paying people sick of being treated like criminals.

The sad thing is the theives and hackers getting SH3 by nonlegal means are said to be playing a better faster loading version than the people buying it. This totally gets me ticked as I paid good money for my copy and am having to go through the SF crap and they arent.

SH3 is cool SF is not. It's up to you to weigh the pros and cons and make your decision.

Remember I have a bias view towards so I suggest you hit the net and see what others think what SF thinks (If you can stand their attitude towards people that dont absolutely adore SF) and make your decision. Its best to get a broad view to cut past the spin.

Im sure UBI is looking all over for what people are saying about SF and I doubt they will buy any further licences from that scumbag company.

But this effort is to make sure that the grand SH4 will not inculde this walking disaster of malware in it.

This is very true and Happened to me.
Not sure if all of you have been keeping up to date with things.
Starforce has a lame conntest on their web page now that is impossible to win. It's just plaine stupid for even pulling this so called contest.
Drives that die I believe, die because Starforce drivers check the drives often and in some cases cause some kind of conflict on some cdrw drives. HIgh rpms on my drive is what I first noticed. Then after some time a complete drive failure.

As far as SH 4 not having SF???
I would agree it would be in UBI'S best interest not to have it but use some other copy protection instead.

I have some news I can't totally share with everyone ...But SF is and will be undergoing some changes. Will these changes be for the better? Word out is yes. But they have already changed to many peoples minds out there int he gaming world and I doubt that to many fans will ever trust them again.

Anyway....as far as SH4? I think Ubi willnot get the hint and still use SF in the game.

The only way to get the word to Ubi is to write their tech support.

If anyone needs info on that just PM me.

I continue to send Ubi info and letters from all of you with issues and gripes.

So please if you have never sent a letter to Ubi do so now. Or send it to me. Personal info will validate your letter more so if you want to make an impact don't leave personal info out. Name address and so on.


I will NOT give this info to anyone except Ubi and they will keep it confidential too.


Thank you !
SC

I don't have a CD that writes or copies disks so I don't have a problem with this. However I take great pride in having the best drivers for my computer devices. It should be a crime for a company to load drivers on anyone's system without permission. I guess they get by this by putting something in the Legal Claus that we all never read and have to accept to load up a new game or program.

Legal action would be moot but a boycotte and word of mouth is the best course. I dread loading anything new on my computer as I never know what all the programmer put on my computer.

I have had to reformate my system too many times because of faulty drivers or bad programs that changed settings on my system.

Thanks for the heads up about SHIII. I think I am going to skip buying this game due to this information. I was just waiting for the price to come down.

I purchased SH II and Destroyer Command and was burned once by Ubisoft when they promised that those two games would allow me to play them together online. I found out that it never did happen. So I have tried to avoid that company ever since. Fool me once shame on you... fool me trice shame on me! I have read all though this thread and I don't like what I have learned.

It's too bad they can't just use copy protection schemes that don't ruin our computers.

I would opt for a new improved version of Starforce.

The way I see it, Starfoce is not really the problem... the problem is that starforce is a pain to deal with. If they fixed that, then I would have nothing against it.

Starforce.....
 

Drebbel - I both agree and disagree with you on starforce. First, I agree that starforce needs to be updated, so that companies choosing to use it will not cause their consumers to have the issues we saw with SH3 - Doing this will remove the majority of complaints by customers. I will more than likely purchase SH4, just as I did SH3, regardless of copy protection used.

However, as an IT guy, I have deep rooted issue with the WAY starforce works - installing vdd's without informing the pc user. This is the same type of thing as the Sony issue.... installing "software" that impacts the system without notifying or getting specific consent from the user.

As a gamer, I don't care what protection scheme is used, because as long as I get my game to work without blowing up my machine, I didnt waste the 40 or 50 dollars the game cost.

In the end - let UBI use Starforce, or any thing else they want. I only ask that they insure that whatever they use is implimented in a reasonable, responsible way. That means that if they go with starforce - it would require a major overhaul to meet those criteria.

That is what I would ask all the gamers here to let UBI know - protect your product however you want - just do it responsibly!

Good Hunting!
CC

No more starforce
 

I did not believe those who said starforce would trash their dvd writer. I bought sh3 and installed it anyway. Unfortunately after that my dvd writer no longer work. So I will never buy a game with starforce again, never no matter how good the game is.

If you don't want to consider the fact that SF may ruin your drive, consider some other aspect, like the intrusive behaviour. When I installed SH3, I meant to only install that, but then I discover that it has also installed a hidden system driver, of which they've never said anything neither in the box nor the manual. It's like a virus. You download some data, but you also get some software of which you don't get any notice, and may damage your system. Before buying SH3, I only knew that SF existed by reading the forums, but I didn't knew what it was, and if it really was going to be implemented. If I didn't have Internet, I may have never noticed that I had a new system driver installed.
And I don't say that companies shouldn't protect their property, but that they should use some other methods like they have used before. Anyways, it's a waste of money, because every game is already cracked after 1 or 2 weeks of being published (this is real, no invention, nor any try to promote the use of warez & Co.)

Cheers :rock:

I hate Starfarce yet....

...I have bought SHIII twice.

Why? When I travel I like to take my favourite games with me. Normally I don't have to take the original discs because nocds work. With SHIII I had to take the disc. On one trip I lost the DVD. Had I have had the option to leave it at home (safely) it wouldn't have happened.

I now use firewire drives and "workarounds". Screw you Starfarce, you will never beat us!

Several things to cover here.

First of all, for all of you who plan to use SF banners: It might be an idea to have them link to this thread or some other media informing people of how much SF allegedly sucks.

Next off, a little link.

As for the thing about my CD-burner no longe reading empty CDs due to StarForce: Happened to me, I think. Not sure yet, but it's acting up. The burner, that is, not StarForce.

I did a little take on an anti-SF banner if anyone's interested in hosting it. Right here

If anyone wants to host it or use the idea for a more advanced sig', go ahead.

Excellent sarcastic analogy. I'm in favour of both door-locks and copy-protection for the same reason: Yes, there are work-arounds, but it's better to have protection that can be broken than to have no protection at all. Pepper-sprays, door-locks, X-Rays at airports, not taking candy from strangers - all can be worked around, but they do SOMETHING. The fact that 9/11 happened doesn't mean all airport security should be removed, to put it that way :P .

However, if SF is as bad as people claim here (I just heard about this and you have to admit it sounds unbelievable that a copy-protection program would do all these things), then I'm all against it.

Add copy-protection all you want, just not one that screws up my computer (also see my location for another decent way of screwing pirates, especially those with Dial-Up connections:arrgh!:)

Keep rocking :up: ! Those two (Terror and UFO Defense) are easily the best strategy games ever.

There is a way around StarForce (and not usually mentioned)
 

I have found through months of experience that there is a way to purchase and enjoy SH3 without the hassle or worry of StarForce and its possibility to hose your optical media drive. It doesn't involve removing StarForce products from your machine, either.

That solution is to purchase the downloadable version of the game. As far as I know, the only distributor licensed in the US market to sell the downloadable version of SH3 is Direct2Drive.

While I don't agree with Ubisoft's inclusion of these sorts of protectionary drivers, here are answers to the most commonly discussed questions/comments regarding the downloadable version of SH3:

(1) The Starforce drivers are included in the downloadable version, too.
(1) Yes, they are. But not all of them. You can compare the drivers appearing on a newly-formatted OS with only SH3 installed via the downloadable version of the game, against the drivers appearing on a newly-formatted OS installed with the CD version of the game. The result? The drivers that interact with the optical media drive are not present on the install of the downloadable game. This makes perfect sense as no spin-up of media is necessary in the case of the downloadable game. In fact, I have tried to 'provoke' the Starforce drivers in the downloadable version of the game, and I have not been successful. I can't determine their functionality in the downloadable version of SH3.

(2) If you use the downloadable version of the game, you only get to reinstall SH3 four times maximum.
(2) I have learned that this rumor is patently untrue. I went on a reformat kick during this year so that I could learn more about the Windows OS. I have in that same time period installed SH3 eleven times. The element of reality is that after the fourth install, you need to contact the distributor with your original order information and your hardware code, and they will email you back another serial number code to activate the product again and again. I must give credit to Direct2Drive/GameSpy/IGN Entertainment for alleviating this particular issue with efficiency and politeness every time.

(3) Why would you pay for a game and not own the media backup of that game?
(3) With all the problems people have had with their optical media drives BECAUSE they used the CD version of the game, I think this question answers itself.

Thanks! I didn't know that it damages your driver, and I got a new computer YESTERDAY! Is it possible to uninstall somehow, cause I just LOVE SH3!?!

Starforce should be not allowed. It's an stupid system that sucks our DVD drives. The solution for piracy is to down prices, not to **** us with a filthy DRM.

Is there any way of uninstalling it?

How to remove StarForce components, according to the company that makes StarForce:

http://www.star-force.com/protection.phtml?c=91

For those of you who don´t know the forum rules yet, here they are:
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/faq.php

Well...I think the developers should be able to protect their interest. I`ve had starforce problems also. Just make sure the protection system is researched properly. I`m not happy about starforce or any other copy protection system, but I believe it to be a necessary evil.

JUST MAKE SURE IT WORKS AS ADVERTISED

Any protection is fine as long as its not starforce.

OK. I removed SH3 from my system, but how do I remove Starforce drivers? Anybody know how?

SD

Well, the only thing that I know of is to download the removal tool. Other than that, to be absolutely sure they ate gone is to probably reformat the harddrive. :shifty:

http://www.onlinesecurity-on.com/protect.phtml?c=55