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Topic: The Death of PC Game Piracy
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| 31 MAY 2008 at 2:36am | |
ghostryderColonel  Posts : 6937 Joined: 4 MAY 2004 Location: US, Texas Status : Offline | The whole purpose behind this chip is to verify that the software running (specifically the .exe you use to run the game) is the exact same one as was originally written. Its designed so that if you change the exe (i.e. you replace it with a cracked one) the program will know it is not genuine and can act accordingly. It doesn't tie your software to your machine only, it doesn't provide a unique serial number for your computer, it doesn't screw with your device drivers. Its whole purpose is to make it so you cannot use a cracked executible.And also modified .exe that allow mods to function too? Say good-bye to JA1.13 or Rome's EB or any mod that changes the exe. say goodbye to having your choice of update--as all certainly change the .exe. So now I'm forces to use the 1.62 patch for GothicIII instead of the older 1.52 patch that actually performs better on my system. And as mentioned- hardware failure is a lot more likely than a house fire- at least with the house fire my homeowner's insurance kicks in- what kicks in when I lose my harddrive? My email is stored online, I'm not going to forget how to log into that, and as long as the email service is still there (and it will be) I'll be able to get into whatever I need to to get the games back on a new computerGuess you use hotmail or something- my email however orginates from my server and directly is tied to outlook -mainly because as a game developer the limited attachment size of such accounts as hotmail or googlemail or any of the free services is limited. I frequently send file attachments to teammates the size of some games--well over not only the 2 meg limit of most online email services but I've sent files over 1G in size for beta builds- thus it is quite neccessary for me to run my account off my own server where I can set file size attachment limits if any on my incoming and outgoing emails. The server is a relay- files are stored on machines. My downloaded zips of games I purchase as well as the notes of any cd keys are also- so not everyone operates like you. I'd guess most gamers are aweful bookeepers and most don't even go to the lengths I do in fact let alone you- who seem to be organized. Uh, they do have to deal with some of the same copy protections. And if you purchase a piece of software for 9k, you get some level of support from the publisher (which usually is the same as the developer for these) and generally fairly easily get replacements as needed. As for installing it for a 4th new team member, well it would all depend on your license for the software - many business softwares require a seperate license for each seat it is installed in. In the cases where businesses don't have to deal with copy protection schemes are because there is in inherent expectation that companies won't take the monetary risk of piracy combined with increased risk of getting caught (you've got multiple employees that could whistle blow, plus clients that you bring through). Individuals can keep the fact that they have pirated software to themselves or their family (which aren't generally going to turn them in), and if caught they don't have the same amount to risk as a corporation would.Your making a lot assumptions here- and as a developer myself who does own these tools I can attest firsthand most are incorrect. First replacements aren't any easier to obtain than a game replacement. These developers also expect a level of knowledge from the user-- they aren't going to walk you through simple install procedures like a game publisher would- they assume some level of technical aplitude from you. Your typical gamer may have to have his hand held to tweak a line in an .ini file- your get no such support out of discreet or macromedia- Secondly wether i made a vortex model in a pirated copy or a legal copy no one would be the wiser. I use the legal copy for the same reason as I use a legal game copy. I'm honest- and quite frankly your whole line stinks of the same 'everyone is a thief unless forced to be honest' approach the bulk of the entire game industry takes. Whistle blowers my ass. Discreet is well aware 3d studio Max and all it's plug-ins are the most pirated software going- but they also know most people who KNOW how to use it on a comercial level are college educated and basically honest who has a lot of money invested in that knowledge and will budget for the tools as well. In my case it's a buisness expense. It's claimed on my tax return as such. Eventually BTW a certain percentage of the people who do pirate it will purchase it once they own it long enough to learn it- which takes years. They start out as modders and progress. These developers know this. It's why they spend little resources worrying about it. Stardock uses the same approach. They know thier game's gonna get pirated- but they also know if the game is good and they have content updates many who pirate it will purchase it to get that download. I'll submit most games are pirated heavily because most games ain't worth the asking price. Out of all the 100s of releases a year only a handful are worth the asking price- and this handful would do good copy protected or not. But most games nowadays are just like the 30 titles before it. I saw nothing in gameplay in Quake III I didn't in Quake I- and after Doom and Quake I wouldn't waste my time on such titles if they'd give them away. The game software industry had better totally redo itself if it expects to have the market grow. Start being innovative like they were in the 70s and 80s. I'll submit not much has evolved since them as far as game design goes. In many cases it's de-volved. ported over console interfaces, politically corrected game worlds (Daggerfall/Oblivion, Fallout/Fallout3,even Sid Meiyer's Civ series saw the elimination of fanatics when that became political correct) First they need a rating system not broke. Today the ESRB rating system is totally broken. Just look at it and compare it to the movie rating system. You have your "G" rating and you have one for PG in "M" for mature but after that it jumps to AO (or adults only) which is equal to a movie X rating. There is no PG-13 or R system. There can be no Last Tango in Paris games or 91/2 weeks- just Jackie Chan action/violence geered to adolesent teenagers. Otherwise it's branded as AO and not carried in any store. Rediculous as these same stores will sell the Director's cut of the aforementioned movies-but no software eqivilent. This is vital as if you go back to the 70s and 80s most titles then wouldn't make store shelves today- that freedom brang innovation. This rating system hampers it and puts it in a narrow box. The next phase to realise and acknowlege the average gamer is not only above the age of 26 but also not the left wing political correct San Fran Sicko gay guy musleim religious fanatic that listens to Jerry Farwell tapes--a pixelated boob is not going to bring internal damnation- it was quite common in the birth of gaming- along with adult subject matter. Removing it inheriently brings artifical worlds the player can never be immersed in. This also hurts games. Removing children from The Temple of Elemental Evil, Morrowind, Oblivion, - made those games suffer. The Witcher succeeded because it had greater submersion and adult themes- it's just more realistic. Not everything is Disney and scooby-doo. Last but not least- respect the gamer as all other fields respect thier customers. I have no problem with CD keys. Or an online content approach like Stardock- but this nonesense no file can be changed, you must be online, you must have CD in the drive, you MUST do this, you MUST do that...I got news for them. The only thing I MUST do is eat Capt Crunch Cereal, pay taxes and die. I don't have to purchase anything from them.
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| 31 MAY 2008 at 9:07am | |
LohengrinCenturion  Posts : 115 Joined: 16 NOV 2005 Status : Offline | |
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| 31 MAY 2008 at 4:59pm | |
ghostryderColonelPosts : 6937 Joined: 4 MAY 2004 Location: US, Texas Status : Offline | This may sound dumb to some of you but I think the answer to software piracy is to ignore it. Focus on the legitimate customers with good customer service and special perks available only to those who purchased. Why worry about someone who probably wouldn't buy the product anyway? While worrying about piracy they piss off their legitimate customers and in some cases actually turn people towards piracy. They need to focus on those that are buying instead of focusing on those who aren't. You don't bite the hand that feeds you.The smart companies do. Let's go back to the example of 3D studio Max. This program and all plug-ins that any developer would use can top 9k very easily. These can be renderers or file exporters for certain game engines to unwrappers, terrain generators, materials, shaders, animation, scene managers, mult-processor support and the like. Some plug-ins exceed the cost of the program. Most popular for example is Facegen, creature creator and tree factory. Now Discreet knows that almost all young gamers who wanted to create mods were pirating thier software as well as all the plug-ins. These people haven't yet even bought a car or thier own pair of jeans let alone some program that costs thousands. Pirated copies filed a gap that allowed the new young user to learn and use the program and all the tools. So Dicreet/Autodesk did a very intelligent thing. They released gmax for free to the community- a version of the program that had everything the modder needed to do thier job. Once these modders reached college age they could then buy a student edition of 3D studio Max for a mere couple hundred of bucks. Once they graduated and went to work for some software firm they basically use whatever version that firm provided them. BUT I'd wager all these people still had an updated version of the program at home even if thier employer was still stuck on version 7 because mainly they want to keep up and be able able to use the latest wizbang features offered. Maybe it's a 64-bit edition or the new edition with better scene creation- and maybe it's just for personal non comercial use- but once your a modeler you then are set to keep up to date even if who you work for doesn't want to invest in that. And I'll submit most game software firms unless they're big buck firms don't keep up to date. It's clear Bethseda uses up to date versions in Oblivion just as it's clear Piranha Bytes couldn't be using a version any higher than 7 in Gothic 3 just by the way the models look in game and respond to lighting and shadows. This buisness model works. Some draconian approach that the game industry seems hell bent on implimenting for gamers have no posatives however. They aren't bringing people in but instead driving them to consoles- where the narrow market then forces them into a cookie cutter approach to game design that has lead to years of stagnation and same old game release after release. It's the European developers that break ground or the independant developer. Games like The Witcher made RPG of the year because it went were most won't. The actual gameplay in that title is actually subbar in design. The combat is arcadish and a clickfest- the leveling scheme used is simplistic and almost meaningless. The inventory system is obtuse and confusing and limiting. Weapon, armor and clothing choices are almost nil compared to 80s RPGs. But the setting, story and 'immersion' holds the title together. It's old school like Arena, Fallout and Darklands. Here children are in the game and they CAN be harmed, used, betrayed and abused. Women can be there with romantic attachments and all that would naturally come with it. Infidality, betrayal or love and commitment. We have all the society failings like prejudices, class warfare and selfishness. This was all removed in many modern adaptations of follow-ups. It's what killed the Elder Scroll World in Oblivion for many a loyal fan and no doubt Fallout 3 will follow suit. Even if the 'system' hails the game as Game of the year because of the technology used many will never hail it as a good game because of the artifical world it bent to to fit in with the preconceived conditions the industry demands in the marketplace. As an adult gamer I can't be immerged in the inheriently artifical world of Oblivion as I can in the more believable world of The Witcher. Oblivion offers fed-ex and black and white one demensional choices. Nothing in the Witcher is Black and White and even the Fed ex style quests have a logical purpose. I have to make the same hard and unclear choices as I do in the real world. Do I back that witch that brews posions she sells or kill her as the priest demands as I later learn the priest sells children from his orphange into slavery? Like in life I have to decide the lessor of the two evils. It doesn't hurt also the Witch is attractive and is offering a rump in the hay. I also am not pessamistic like the current trend. 24 hour cable News is convinced if it's not a disaster it's not news worthy. They are more prone to report on the sexual excapades of Paris Hilton or the cheating ways of the top stars before they would report a charity even sponsored by another or the happy wedding of one that doesn't have sex videos making thier way across the net. I'll submit that contrary to this bleak outlook of human nature people like and want to see the opposite and they want treated differently. Game shows work because the audience likes to see people win. Survivor works because they like to see people overcoming aversity even when faced with bad behavor of contestants and adversity. The audience makes jusgement calls based on thier own morals and beliefs and roots for thier favorite which is rarely the backstabbing bitch that lied to win that particular episode. We like American Idol because we see someone succeed. We watch movies for the happy ending and also appreciate the ones with not so good happy endings (The Mist for example). I believe human nature drives most of us to excel and better ourselves. We are constantly trying to better our bad traits. That's part of living. I also recognise there's a certain percentage that don't. We call them socialpaths and criminals. I'm not in that group. Most here aren't so why be treated as such? This game piracy fiasco doesn't recognize this at all. It assumes like Fox News assumes we're all voyeors and believers of suffering and savory behavior. Perhaps a certain percentage are- but the rest of us are offended and we resent this treatment and we far outnumber the others and we WILL take our money elsewhere.
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