The gawd-almighty merged DRM in Silent Hunter V thread

[snapli]

Hi all!

I had to join this forum to comment on this DRM-issue, too. And there is one thing, that didn't get enough attention after all:

Originally Posted by Mikhayl

Crappy DRM would be the only reason for me not buying SH5. I don't care what the rationale behind this or that DRM is, it's crap. Eventually ALL games get cracked, no matter how "strong" their protection is, so a good old serial number is as good as any fancy protection, and it doesn't bother legit users.

You won't buy a complete game; all you'll get for your $$$ is just a fragment of a game, with the missing parts being downloaded at runtime. That's the reason for the permanent connection requirement and that's the reason why the whole crack-idea will fail, in the end.

I agree that almost every other game was cracked in the past, but these guys had the whole package in their hands to do their dirty work ...

I bought SH3, won't buy SH5 as I can not support buying something that I don't own completely and, furthermore, being dependend on external infrastructure.

Cheers,

Snapli

[JU_88]

The biggest question I would have is, what will Ubisoft do if (or should I say 'when') the pirates produce an offline crack for their OSP?
If this happens, wouldn't it be most wise for them to patch out the system on all effected games immediately?
If they dont, surely they could end up with a piracy epidemic similar to that of EA's Spore - or worse?

[Ragtag]

Well, even if they stream in runtime it won't matter. The files has to be local for the period one plays. Anything on a computer can be cracked,hacked and ripped wide open. It's just a matter of skill and time. And there's no doubt in my mind that the crackers out there will take on the challenge.

[snapli]

Originally Posted by Ragtag

Well, even if they stream in runtime it won't matter. The files has to be local for the period one plays. Anything on a computer can be cracked,hacked and ripped wide open. It's just a matter of skill and time. And there's no doubt in my mind that the crackers out there will take on the challenge.

Uhm, there was a minor but decisive glitch in my argumentation: I said downloaded, but why does this have to happen? Some small files just stay at their servers and being read at runtime. How do you guess their content?

Cheers,

Snake

@partyboy: Yeah, I know that - therefore this post

[partyboy]

Originally Posted by snapli

Uhm, there was a minor but decisive glitch in my argumentation: I said downloaded, but why does this have to happen? Some small files just stay at their servers and being read at runtime. How do you guess their content?

Cheers,

Snake

@partyboy: Yeah, I know that - therefore this post

In that case they use programs to "sniff" the interactions between client/server; watch what is being sent and requested, and either capture it outright or emulate it. Of course, this is a great simplification but that is essentially what happens. Stored remotely or not, necessary files, or functions, will at some point end up in the client computer's memory - and the crackers have direct access to that.

It could turn out to be very easy to crack after all. Or, it might go uncracked for months. Have to wait and see. But sooner or later the processes will be fully understood and broken. Pretty much a fact of life.

[snapli]

Originally Posted by partyboy

In that case they use programs to "sniff" the interactions between client/server; watch what is being sent and requested, and either capture it outright or emulate it. Of course, this is a great simplification but that is essentially what happens. Stored remotely or not, necessary files, or functions, will at some point end up in the client computer's memory - and the crackers have direct access to that.

It could turn out to be very easy to crack after all. Or, it might go uncracked for months. Have to wait and see. But sooner or later the processes will be fully understood and broken. Pretty much a fact of life.

If people who won't pay for software wouldn't profit from this, I, too, would wait for a crack: to buy the game and to get rid of the connection requirement!

But again: I don't think you can cover all possible server-requests with packet-sniffing. You won't get them all and then your game will stop to work. Apart from that, I totally agree with you, partyboy

[Ragtag]

Originally Posted by partyboy

In that case they use programs to "sniff" the interactions between client/server; watch what is being sent and requested, and either capture it outright or emulate it. Of course, this is a great simplification but that is essentially what happens. Stored remotely or not, necessary files, or functions, will at some point end up in the client computer's memory - and the crackers have direct access to that.

It could turn out to be very easy to crack after all. Or, it might go uncracked for months. Have to wait and see. But sooner or later the processes will be fully understood and broken. Pretty much a fact of life.

That's exactly my point

[dcb]

Just when Ubi discovered their ultimate protection tool, others who pioneered it are dropping it. Rise of Flight will get its OSP removed this February:

http://riseofflight.com/Blogs/post/2010/02/05/LOGIN-OFFLINE-ACCESS-GRANTED!!!.aspx

[Brag]

Ubi is doing two things wrong. One, is to alienate it's customer base, and, two, is challenging pirates.

The pirates will be further incentivated as large numbers of former Ubi customers will be eager to jump at a "patched" version while Ubi mucks about trying to sell DRM.

Ubi will not gain anything by delaying cracking by a few months because they will have lost it's client base who will be happily playing off line. without Ubi's permission.

[partyboy]

Originally Posted by snapli

Hi all!
You won't buy a complete game; all you'll get for your $$$ is just a fragment of a game, with the missing parts being downloaded at runtime. That's the reason for the permanent connection requirement and that's the reason why the whole crack-idea will fail, in the end.

I agree that almost every other game was cracked in the past, but these guys had the whole package in their hands to do their dirty work ...

There have been plenty of games released already where not all of the files necessary to play are on the game disc and you have to connect to a server to download the rest. Half-life 2, for example. And guess what? They were cracked.

The crackers simply go through the legitimate process at least once, gain access to the downloaded files, package them with their release and crack the executable so it doesn't try and connect to any servers. They either include the downloaded files as part of the normal installation process or in a separate directory which you copy over after the regular install.

There is nothing really new here. It will be cracked like just about everything else. The only benefit is in delaying the inevitable. That's what protection schemes are really about - not stopping a crack, just delaying it for as long as possible to increase sales.