Will the DRM affect your Purchase?

[Brag]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Yeah, I don't claim to know all the numbers with precision. I do know, with a high degree of confidence, that SH3 sold around 90,000 units within the first 18 months of its release. And a little over 900 people in this forum represents 1% of that total. I see I have a math error in my earlier post; 900 is 1% of 90,000, not .1% (that's what I get for using a calculator without commas). So you were right to question the 1% conclusion, it would be more like 10% after you take the Subsim 1% and increase it tenfold.

Still, that's 90% of the sales would be unaffected (under my premise).

Neal,

One also has to take into consideration the snowball effect in the Internet. Even ignorant of what's going on in this forum, people are bitching. I foresee a considerable drop in sales for other games also.

I think. the people who have voted in this poll are representative of a majority of people who bought SH3. So the effect will be much larger than 1% in lost sales.

Moo,

[jerm138]

Another big factor would be the large number of casual gamers who will only consider buying a game after it has been released and several user reviews have been made at websites like IGN. A lot of those potential sales will be steered by how well it performs for the front-running pioneers. If there aren't many problems, and DRM seems to be a non-issue to most, then it will score well and that could help support a lot more sales. On the flipside, if half of the early users have problems with the DRM servers and other bugs, then a whole lot of casual gamers will see "Readers' Score: 5/10" and keep right on going.

And as much as we don't like it... casual gamers are where the big $$ is at.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Brag

Neal,

One also has to take into consideration the snowball effect in the Internet. Even ignorant of what's going on in this forum, people are bitching. I foresee a considerable drop in sales for other games also.

I think. the people who have voted in this poll are representative of a majority of people who bought SH3. So the effect will be much larger than 1% in lost sales.

Moo,

Yes, that is possible. The uproar and bad word-of-mouth by a small percentage could influence a much larger population.

I hope not, though, or Silent Hunter is dead

Originally Posted by jerm138

Another big factor would be the large number of casual gamers who will only consider buying a game after it has been released and several user reviews have been made at websites like IGN. A lot of those potential sales will be steered by how well it performs for the front-running pioneers. If there aren't many problems, and DRM seems to be a non-issue to most, then it will score well and that could help support a lot more sales. On the flipside, if half of the early users have problems with the DRM servers and other bugs, then a whole lot of casual gamers will see "Readers' Score: 5/10" and keep right on going.

Yes, and you know, as badly as some people here think this DRM is, just imagine if the game comes out half-done, with bugs, glitches and broken features. Now, that's a real concern.

[Gilbou]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Understood. Using a cack on a legally purchased copy of the game is morally fine...but of course as we know, NO ONE steals games and uses these cracks to play them. So we cannot allow people to share info about cracks here. You can do as you wish but you cannot discuss it here

That's what I do for about 2/3 of my games. When I explained that the problem was on the DRM side and steps I have done trying to find a solution I have been censored on the forum.

So.. we are clearly not allowed to explain what happens when DRM goes bad.

[WarlordATF]

I was planning to buy SH5 just to support the franchise, but the DRM is the final nail in the coffin for me. I prefer the fleetboats anyway so i'll stick with SH4 and give my money to another game company that does not use invasive DRM methods.

[Rosencrantz]

Neal,


Can you give us some info about how many people there was in Subsim when SHIII was released? 30 000+?

You know it better, but I assume most of the guys here have somekind of connection with SH serie, plus maybe few DW-Only fellows. That's because SH is probably the best know sub simulation in the world.

So, I think, if there was let's say 30 000 members here, and let's assume most of them actually bought the III right after it was release, then those men (and ladys) actually presented about 30+ percent of SHIII sold within first 18 months after release. Or am I missing something?


Greetings,
-RC-

[jerm138]

Originally Posted by Gilbou

That's what I do for about 2/3 of my games. When I explained that the problem was on the DRM side and steps I have done trying to find a solution I have been censored on the forum.

So.. we are clearly not allowed to explain what happens when DRM goes bad.

As I understand it... there is nothing wrong with reporting bad experiences with DRM, but talking about using a "crack" for a game is strictly prohibited, and THAT is why you're being censored. It doesn't matter if you have a legal copy on your shelf... if you have an illegal copy in your computer, you can't talk about it here.

[Blackhawk1006]

My internet quite regularly loses connection for a few seconds, this means I'll have no hope in hell of playing this game without any problems.

So I will not be buying it until it is removed, I mean, why couldn't they just use something like Steam? It's easier.

[Reece]

Originally Posted by Mikhayl

IIRC it's Trenken who made the claim that DRM is embedded so deep in the game code that it could take months and heavy reprogramming to remove it.

Either it's not true and the system will most likely be cracked very fast (like GTA IV).

Or it's true and Ubi won't bother patching that mess to remove the DRM, so when they decide to discontinue support, the game dies.

That's what worries me, if I enjoyed it as much as SH3 that could be up to 10 years, I will not purchase it in the fear that after all the modding support will later be dropped and the game will become useless!

[SubV]

Originally Posted by jerm138

Maybe if they could make some sort of "time-bomb" release... So that the pirated copy works without issue, then a week later, the whole system locks up. By that time, enough people would have it on their computer to really make an impact, especially when it hits the news that "thousands of computers have been rendered useless when people used a pirated version of this program"

Agreed. But let's not forget that every protection system is a piece of code, made by people, and may contain some errors. Imagine a situation when protection system wrongly identifies you as one of illegal users, resulting in locking up your PC and destroying a bunch of your private data. Soon after such event happens, they'll lose their reputation -- forever.

[jerm138]

Originally Posted by SubV

Agreed. But let's not forget that every protection system is a piece of code, made by people, and may contain some errors. Imagine a situation when protection system wrongly identifies you as one of illegal users, resulting in locking up your PC and destroying a bunch of your private data. Soon after such event happens, they'll lose their reputation -- forever.

Only the "illegal" copies released covertly on pirate sites would contain the virus... it wouldn't be in the real version.

Doesn't matter... it's all hypothetical anyway and would still be highly illegal, so I doubt any company would take that risk.

[thehiredgun]

That's it for me with SH5, I will stick to playing the best one SH3 GWX3.0. It's not fair what they are doing to the game. I don't like to play online. This way with SH3 I can play when I want & with the subs I want. I don't have to follow any ones rules.

[THE_MASK]

The more i look into needing servers to run single player games the more i dont like it .
http://www.ea.com/2/service-updates

[KL-alfman]

Originally Posted by sober

The more i look into needing servers to run single player games the more i dont like it .
http://www.ea.com/2/service-updates

that' incredible!!

Despite some people’s perception, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping these older games up and running. We would rather our hard-working engineering and IT staff focus on keeping a positive experience for the other 99% of customers playing our more popular games. These decisions to retire games is never easy. The EA development teams and operational staff pour their hearts into these games almost as much as the customers playing them and it is hard to see one retired. We hope you have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of the games and we appreciate your ongoing patronage.

[Hitman]

I hope not, though, or Silent Hunter is dead

As far as me (And all others for whom the DRM is a no-no) concerns, it's already dead