I have no problem with Internet authorization at startup - I have a couple dozen games on Steam, and Steam does that as a matter of course, not to mention that Windows itself does it. The problem is that games that have intrusive DRM always seem to come with a lot of attributes that are nothing but a big "screw you!" to the customers, and that's assuming the DRM doesn't itself break your computer which does sometimes happen (which I know as a former Starfarce victim).
Quote:
Originally Posted by jokerl90
Koroush Ghazi is the one person on the internet in who I trust absolutely. If he says it, I believe it. If he gives advise on something, I take it.
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If this article is any kind of representative sample you should probably re-evaluate that policy. The article is well written but contains factual errors and some of the links for supporting evidence go to articles which don't provide the claimed evidence. I enjoyed when he cited the fact that the Wikipedia article for SecuROM has a "neutrality disputed" tag as evidence that somehow, this makes SecuROM completely OK. Then there was the time where made an irrelevant (and incorrect) claim that Daemon Tools is a rootkit... immediately followed by a page decrying the straw man argument. I mean, really.
There are also some conclusions which, while not really obviously flawed, I don't agree with. For instance, pretty much everything having to do with Steam. The obvious reason why Steam is popular and other DRM methods are not is that Steam makes the user's life better and other DRM methods make it worse. It has nothing to do with being a Valve fanboy as he surmises (actually I do not even like Counter-Strike).
By tying the game to the user instead of to the computer, the entire nonsense about install limits, activation and validation is rendered irrelevant. Additionally the game can be downloaded as many times as needed onto any computer, and accessed with your password, with no risk of losing or damaging the CD. And Steam can not sell out on launch day. "I am here to pick up my preorder" "Sorry, we have sold out" "What? I have a preorder" "There are no more copies in the store" "OK, I want my money back then" "Sorry, no refunds on preorders". (The manager did eventually give me the refund, at least). Certainly Valve could go bankrupt but I have lost or scratched a CD much more often than Valve has gone out of business, and even if they did, the games would mostly still be playable on the computer on which they are currently installed. I don't even mind occasionally paying more for a Steam game, just because it's worth extra to me to have the game on Steam instead of on a disc!