[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by TDK1044

The vast majority of people who acquire a game like SH3 or SH1V, in my opinion, do so legally by purchasing it. Those people are then punished by having to load needlessly intrusive drivers onto their system, that are there to protect the game from a small number of thieves who will have defeated the protection software within weeks of the game's release. This leaves a high number of legitimate purchasrers struggling with unwanted and intrusive software, while the thieves laugh all the way to the bank. My argument is that the piracy figures would not be any higher, at least not by much, if this software protection was not in place, so why punish the good guys?

I don’t have any verifiable numbers but I think in the case of SH3, yes, most users acquired that game by purchasing it, because it had very strong copyprotection (I did not say "uncrackable", so all you guys waiting to tell me there was a crack online 3 months before the game came out, please--exhale )

I respectfully disagree that "vast majority" of people who buy games like SH3 get them legally. One game developer was quoted as saying that there were 5 times more requests for tech support on their game from users without the serial number than from users who bought the game legally. (I wish I had the link handy, if you want I can dig it up tonight, maybe someone else read that blog and they can supply the info). I know from my own experience with Subsim and the web, people use pirated software routinely. I can't begin to tell you how many people have offered to "share" something with me, even good friends and people I work with. It's pretty common, it usually goes like this:

Guy: Yes, I stayed up late last night playing NEWGAMEX, man, it's cool
Neal: Isn't that the one where you play as a Space Ranger?
Guy: Yeah, and you have 32 types of ships and guns.
Neal: Wow, sounds neat.
Guy: Here's a link, get a copy for yourself and let's play.

Not everyone does this, but there are a lot. I believe if you don't pay for it, you shouldn't play it. I know, I know; I don't score any popularity points with that attitude

I agree with you that software protection should not punish the good guys. But I don't think having a dongle to insert into the USB port with the DVD is exactly nerve-shattering punishment I put more effort into making a bowl of oatmeal. But, hey, it sounds like we both agree that games should not be pirated, right? If a guy spends hundreds of hours working through code and art, putting together a new game, endures the griping that it isn't perfect, witnesses the congratulatory cheers some modder gets for adding a unit, etc…. he at least should get paid for every copy that gets played.

cheers
Neal