Starforce Posts Their objections to Toms Hardware Article

Soulcommander · 10-24-05, 12:22 PM

Hello all,
Well Now Starforce thinks they need to strike back at Toms Hardware so they have posted this article: http://www.star-force.com/protection...l?c=256&id=658

I urge you guys to read it. I am very upset. They call us begginer level hackers. I am no hacker at all! I have nothing on my computer that would even make the Starforce drivers act up. My machine is clean and legal. So are many others. Yet they want the public to believe its the hacker community that is out to get them. So far from the truth. Sure the hackers are always going to be around thats for sure...And from what I have been told have cracked the Starforce protection. SO WHAT I don't care, I buy my software. WHen I care is when Software starts to do damage on my computer.

Then they say they have had NO feedback from customers that have had to reformat their computers. Well they didn't fix my problem in the first place so why in the world would they even say that? Yes I did have to reformat, but it didnt make my problem go away. My CDRW was still not working. This article if you read it is so unprofessional in my opinion. I'm terribly upset and wrote to UBI to tell them how upset this made me feel.

For those of you who haven't gone through the Starforce fiasco you are so lucky. I am already starting to get letters from the people that have had problems and this Starforce article made them feel the same way as it made me feel.
Starforce will never be on my computer again!
If UBI acted this way the general public would never want to do business with them again either!

One other point I would like to make. Starforce wants us to come to them with problems right?
Then why when we do they lock the posts on their forum and later delete them all so they can't be read? Why? Because they don't want the public to see that their product is bad. They don't like negative feedback.

Enough said.

SC

UPDATE! Be sure to read further down to see the letter that Mr Aaron McKenna wrote to Starforce.

wetwarev7 · 10-24-05, 12:45 PM

Heh. Locks only keep honest people out. IMO, the copyright protection on games nowadays are no more effective than the earliest versions. Worse, they annoy/enrage us honest customers.

sik1977 · 10-24-05, 02:20 PM

Well the Starforce Article is certainly in bad taste. Toms Hardware is infinitely more respected online review site. I have been an avid reader of Toms for a decade now I think. I read the Article on War on Pirates, and what it said is so true. The fact that such intrusive copy protection routines only harm the legal user, who has bought the copy and thus now must suffer from the intrusive copy protection routines. The people who download the game can simply get a crack (even for version 1.4b of SH3 now) and the amazing thing is that the Crack is Starforce free and works great without any disc rotating for a minute or making the DVDRW drive redundant for the very purpose it was bought, i.e., writing discs. I am surprised that instead of trying to make a better, more efficient and less intrusive/anti-consumer copy protection, Starforce has attempted to throw dirt in the face of a respected online review site.

I wonder when they will learn from their mistakes.

Serverdaemon · 10-24-05, 02:26 PM

I found it rather amusing that the Dennis's article states,
"I wouldnâ€™t be so surprised if this article was written by a Russian and posted on some hackersâ€™ forum.",
while Dennis's last name is Zhidkov!

S

kiwi_2005 · 10-24-05, 02:28 PM

Man i would love to see Starforce come here discuss with us about the problems we have with there program. Why dont you invite them to subsim

im sure we will treat them nice

kiwi_2005 · 10-24-05, 02:42 PM

i just visited there forums and theres people asking for help on SF problems yet theres no replies. You would think SF would reply.

wetwarev7 · 10-24-05, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwi_2005

i just visited there forums and theres people asking for help on SF problems yet theres no replies. You would think SF would reply.

If they replied they wouldn't be able to say:

Quote:

And our technical support received zero feedback from people who had to totally rebuild their computers because of StarForce drivers.

tluchem · 10-24-05, 03:12 PM

Did the Star Force writer even read the Tom's Hardware article or did he just pick out some quotes? His time would have been much better spent addressing the legitimate problems people face with programs like Star Force rather than lambasting an article for something it clearly did not say (i.e. piracy is good). As for Dennis' argument about the EULA is should be shorter, more direct, and list all the software to be installed at its beginning if they really expect people to read it. One could certainly argue that the current format of EULAs prevents them from being legally binding.

Hellcat · 10-24-05, 04:27 PM

I actually had issues with my burner after installing sh III. So I just fired off a email to the guy who wrote the article and hope he responds with constructive comments. (gives these guys some credit I mean they are trying to make a living)

My biggest question is though...

Why can't star force uninstall itself after playing the game?

John Channing · 10-24-05, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwi_2005

Man i would love to see Starforce come here discuss with us about the problems we have with there program. Why dont you invite them to subsim :D im sure we will treat them nice ;)

Yes, as a matter of fact, we would.

JCC

Soulcommander · 10-24-05, 05:48 PM

WOW Thank you gentleman for the feedback. I have wrote to UBI and will now write them again and show them this thread. They (UBISOFT) have been very concerned about this and I have been in contact with them. I appreciate your imput and I'm sure UBISOFT will too. Thank you, thank you, thank you....

God Bless all of us guys who have legally bought the game and have had nothing but trouble with the copy protection on it.

God Bless you all.

SC

benetofski · 10-24-05, 05:54 PM

I read Dennis Zhidkov's (IMHO rather naive) response to Aaron McKenna's article 'The War on Game Pirates' and simply put it is 'unusually' defensive of Starforce's (apparent) continued ability to protect their customer's products, which are seemingly (according to Dennis) under a 'huge attack' by game-pirates despite what appears to be a somewhat 'selective sporty' hack-attitude within the gaming community at large!

What planet does Dennis come from? - only cash-starved kids have time and motivation to do that stuff right?

He also goes on to attack Aaron McKenna elluding to his youthfull looks and concluding that he is a probably Russian hacker?- Aaron claims he is a 'games jounalist' . .. :hmm:

Consider then Dennis's article as either 'scare-mongering' or a paranoid attempt at 'marketing' the virtues of Starforce to game developers...

On the other hand, Aaron McKenna simply states the obvious - a 'status quo' regarding the 'anomalys' that StarForce appears to inflict on many user's machines - I wondered why my own CD drive sometimes plays up as does McKenna's? (coincidence with the instal - maybe?)

So who is right and who is wrong?

I guess the jury is out on that one - and will probably stay out!

Now a question, would I (for one) knowingly buy another game with StarForce encryption seeing all the threads in the forums? :rotfl: errr let me think......

Now I have thought about it for 5 seconds - NO, and that probably includes SH4! (ah well ,I guess I will just go buy something else I probably need - perhaps a good bottle of Bols Schnapps!!)

On the other hand, would I go buy a simulator game that was well supported, no StarForce and a great user-manual in the box - and be prepared to pay a premium for it -

You bet I would!

I only have 2 games on my PC - SH3 and FS..... oh and card-games!
So - at my age I can afford to be both discerning and selective on my next purchase!

Floater · 10-24-05, 06:01 PM

Personally, I'd welcome an opportunity to have a polite dialogue with Starforce here, since my drive still isn't burning DVDs at all - even after running the SF removal tool.

It would probably best be kept separate and heavily moderated, though, and any offensive or angry comments (of which there will be many, of course) deleted. That way, people might get problems solved through calm discussion.

This isn't to say that I'm not fed up with that article, and with SF generally, but I can easily put that aside if those of us with bad SF problems have a hope of getting them resolved.

However, I've very little hope that they'll be interested in participating.

kiwi_2005 · 10-24-05, 06:02 PM

I dont trust these SF people. when they start accusing people that complain about SF as pirates its showing they really dont have a grip on the real situation. Then again i remeber when one of microsoft statements to the linux threat was "linux is a virus" so i suppose when your in the bussines of such, and the heat is on just accuse the accuser of being a pirate or cracker.

supersloth · 10-24-05, 06:30 PM

whats up everyone, longtime lurker, first time poster. unfortunately, i just realized that i may have a problem with starforce as well. for the past 2-3 months my burner had refused to burn cd-rs. never could figure out the what the problem was, and i never imagine that the burner the would be broken since my computer is only 4months old. but suprise, i bought sh3 about 3 months ago. before reading this article, i didnt even know starforce could damage burners.

and to all the developers/publishers out there, ill tell you know that i will NEVER buy another game that uses SF until the issues are fixed or SF is removed.

10-24-05, 12:22 PM	#1
Soulcommander Electrician's Mate Join Date: May 2005 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 137 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Starforce Posts Their objections to Toms Hardware Article Hello all, Well Now Starforce thinks they need to strike back at Toms Hardware so they have posted this article: http://www.star-force.com/protection...l?c=256&id=658 I urge you guys to read it. I am very upset. They call us begginer level hackers. I am no hacker at all! I have nothing on my computer that would even make the Starforce drivers act up. My machine is clean and legal. So are many others. Yet they want the public to believe its the hacker community that is out to get them. So far from the truth. Sure the hackers are always going to be around thats for sure...And from what I have been told have cracked the Starforce protection. SO WHAT I don't care, I buy my software. WHen I care is when Software starts to do damage on my computer. Then they say they have had NO feedback from customers that have had to reformat their computers. Well they didn't fix my problem in the first place so why in the world would they even say that? Yes I did have to reformat, but it didnt make my problem go away. My CDRW was still not working. This article if you read it is so unprofessional in my opinion. I'm terribly upset and wrote to UBI to tell them how upset this made me feel. For those of you who haven't gone through the Starforce fiasco you are so lucky. I am already starting to get letters from the people that have had problems and this Starforce article made them feel the same way as it made me feel. Starforce will never be on my computer again! If UBI acted this way the general public would never want to do business with them again either! One other point I would like to make. Starforce wants us to come to them with problems right? Then why when we do they lock the posts on their forum and later delete them all so they can't be read? Why? Because they don't want the public to see that their product is bad. They don't like negative feedback. Enough said. SC UPDATE! Be sure to read further down to see the letter that Mr Aaron McKenna wrote to Starforce.

10-24-05, 12:45 PM	#2
wetwarev7 Grey Wolf Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Deep Waters Posts: 871 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	Heh. Locks only keep honest people out. IMO, the copyright protection on games nowadays are no more effective than the earliest versions. Worse, they annoy/enrage us honest customers. __________________ Guess I should change my sig since SH5 has an offline mode now

10-24-05, 02:20 PM	#3
sik1977 Machinist's Mate Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 121 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Well the Starforce Article is certainly in bad taste. Toms Hardware is infinitely more respected online review site. I have been an avid reader of Toms for a decade now I think. I read the Article on War on Pirates, and what it said is so true. The fact that such intrusive copy protection routines only harm the legal user, who has bought the copy and thus now must suffer from the intrusive copy protection routines. The people who download the game can simply get a crack (even for version 1.4b of SH3 now) and the amazing thing is that the Crack is Starforce free and works great without any disc rotating for a minute or making the DVDRW drive redundant for the very purpose it was bought, i.e., writing discs. I am surprised that instead of trying to make a better, more efficient and less intrusive/anti-consumer copy protection, Starforce has attempted to throw dirt in the face of a respected online review site. I wonder when they will learn from their mistakes. __________________ Core i7 4790K 16GB DDR3 RAM Nvidia GTX 1080Ti

10-24-05, 02:26 PM	#4
Serverdaemon Loader Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Kirkland, WA. Posts: 81 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I found it rather amusing that the Dennis's article states, "I wouldnâ€™t be so surprised if this article was written by a Russian and posted on some hackersâ€™ forum.", while Dennis's last name is Zhidkov! S __________________ \"Never interrupt an enemy while he is making a mistake...\" ~N. Bonaparte

10-24-05, 02:28 PM	#5
kiwi_2005 Eternal Patrol Join Date: May 2004 Location: Aeoteroa Posts: 7,382 Downloads: 223 Uploads: 1	Man i would love to see Starforce come here discuss with us about the problems we have with there program. Why dont you invite them to subsim im sure we will treat them nice __________________ RIP kiwi_2005 Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.

10-24-05, 02:42 PM	#6
kiwi_2005 Eternal Patrol Join Date: May 2004 Location: Aeoteroa Posts: 7,382 Downloads: 223 Uploads: 1	i just visited there forums and theres people asking for help on SF problems yet theres no replies. You would think SF would reply. __________________ RIP kiwi_2005 Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.

10-24-05, 03:12 PM	#8
tluchem Swabbie Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 6 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Did the Star Force writer even read the Tom's Hardware article or did he just pick out some quotes? His time would have been much better spent addressing the legitimate problems people face with programs like Star Force rather than lambasting an article for something it clearly did not say (i.e. piracy is good). As for Dennis' argument about the EULA is should be shorter, more direct, and list all the software to be installed at its beginning if they really expect people to read it. One could certainly argue that the current format of EULAs prevents them from being legally binding.

10-24-05, 04:27 PM	#9
Hellcat Ensign Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 224 Downloads: 7 Uploads: 0	I actually had issues with my burner after installing sh III. So I just fired off a email to the guy who wrote the article and hope he responds with constructive comments. (gives these guys some credit I mean they are trying to make a living) My biggest question is though... Why can't star force uninstall itself after playing the game? __________________ "readiness is only accomplished when the need for it is over"

10-24-05, 05:48 PM	#11
Soulcommander Electrician's Mate Join Date: May 2005 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 137 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	WOW Thank you gentleman for the feedback. I have wrote to UBI and will now write them again and show them this thread. They (UBISOFT) have been very concerned about this and I have been in contact with them. I appreciate your imput and I'm sure UBISOFT will too. Thank you, thank you, thank you.... God Bless all of us guys who have legally bought the game and have had nothing but trouble with the copy protection on it. God Bless you all. SC

10-24-05, 05:54 PM	#12
benetofski Helmsman Join Date: May 2005 Location: Port Perry, Canada Posts: 106 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I read Dennis Zhidkov's (IMHO rather naive) response to Aaron McKenna's article 'The War on Game Pirates' and simply put it is 'unusually' defensive of Starforce's (apparent) continued ability to protect their customer's products, which are seemingly (according to Dennis) under a 'huge attack' by game-pirates despite what appears to be a somewhat 'selective sporty' hack-attitude within the gaming community at large! What planet does Dennis come from? - only cash-starved kids have time and motivation to do that stuff right? He also goes on to attack Aaron McKenna elluding to his youthfull looks and concluding that he is a probably Russian hacker?- Aaron claims he is a 'games jounalist' . .. :hmm: Consider then Dennis's article as either 'scare-mongering' or a paranoid attempt at 'marketing' the virtues of Starforce to game developers... On the other hand, Aaron McKenna simply states the obvious - a 'status quo' regarding the 'anomalys' that StarForce appears to inflict on many user's machines - I wondered why my own CD drive sometimes plays up as does McKenna's? (coincidence with the instal - maybe?) So who is right and who is wrong? I guess the jury is out on that one - and will probably stay out! Now a question, would I (for one) knowingly buy another game with StarForce encryption seeing all the threads in the forums? :rotfl: errr let me think...... Now I have thought about it for 5 seconds - NO, and that probably includes SH4! (ah well ,I guess I will just go buy something else I probably need - perhaps a good bottle of Bols Schnapps!!) On the other hand, would I go buy a simulator game that was well supported, no StarForce and a great user-manual in the box - and be prepared to pay a premium for it - You bet I would! I only have 2 games on my PC - SH3 and FS..... oh and card-games! So - at my age I can afford to be both discerning and selective on my next purchase! __________________ OLt.z.S.Benetschik (Benetofski) [IMG][/IMG] \"U-bootwaffe - eine Gemeinschaft zusammengebracht durch Schicksal\"

10-24-05, 06:01 PM	#13
Floater Pacific Aces Dev Team Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: England Posts: 158 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Personally, I'd welcome an opportunity to have a polite dialogue with Starforce here, since my drive still isn't burning DVDs at all - even after running the SF removal tool. It would probably best be kept separate and heavily moderated, though, and any offensive or angry comments (of which there will be many, of course) deleted. That way, people might get problems solved through calm discussion. This isn't to say that I'm not fed up with that article, and with SF generally, but I can easily put that aside if those of us with bad SF problems have a hope of getting them resolved. However, I've very little hope that they'll be interested in participating. __________________ Kriegstanz website Kriegstanz forum

10-24-05, 06:02 PM	#14
kiwi_2005 Eternal Patrol Join Date: May 2004 Location: Aeoteroa Posts: 7,382 Downloads: 223 Uploads: 1	I dont trust these SF people. when they start accusing people that complain about SF as pirates its showing they really dont have a grip on the real situation. Then again i remeber when one of microsoft statements to the linux threat was "linux is a virus" so i suppose when your in the bussines of such, and the heat is on just accuse the accuser of being a pirate or cracker. __________________ RIP kiwi_2005 Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.

10-24-05, 06:30 PM	#15
supersloth Seaman Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: CA, USA Posts: 41 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	whats up everyone, longtime lurker, first time poster. unfortunately, i just realized that i may have a problem with starforce as well. for the past 2-3 months my burner had refused to burn cd-rs. never could figure out the what the problem was, and i never imagine that the burner the would be broken since my computer is only 4months old. but suprise, i bought sh3 about 3 months ago. before reading this article, i didnt even know starforce could damage burners. and to all the developers/publishers out there, ill tell you know that i will NEVER buy another game that uses SF until the issues are fixed or SF is removed.