If Ubisoft released a "Gold" version of SHIII, they better have more things to consider than Starforce.
(Not that removal of Starforce shouldn't be an important consideration). But they should be just as concerned with addiing Wolfpacks, more ships, etc, etc, - not the point of this thread though.
I continue to use SHIII with Starforce. I haven't had any problems, but I haven't burned any games for any reason either. I don't make backup copies - I keep them in good condition and would buy new copies if they were damaged (I also keep all the packaging - even the boxes). Maybe this is why I haven't had trouble, although I have burned mix CD's and such without problems.
I am not a pirate whining about copy protection - I don't even want a single backup copy. I just want to play a legally purchased game on one legally purchased computer without having my expensive hardware destroyed - is that really too much to ask?
If I had heard of the problems with Starforce, I would never have risked buying SHIII. Now I own it and enjoy it too much to get rid of it - although I now feel I am taking a serious risk every day which it is installed.
Releasing SHIV without destructive copy-protection would be an unimaginably good idea for Ubisoft. By all means though, include copy-protection. It may be useless for stopping the vast majority of large-scale pirates, but it will stop a few and that is better than nothing.
