More Copy Protection Woes!!!

[hadberz]

Here is another company that gets it about drm. http://www.gog.com/en/frontpage/ Most of their games are old, but I still enjoy MAX and the Fallout games.

I understand wanting to protect your product, but limited installs is just insane. I have yet to buy a game with this type of drm, and probably never will. Kind of a shame too, some of the games look good.

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: Son_of_Montfort
Well, not to demean your frustration, as DRM is a sticky issue, but I do think that developer/staff of OOTP2009 is particularly good about not making this a problem.

Well, I still haven't heard from anyone...no post on the Tech Support Forum to my post and nothing from the company I emailed about the licence. Whilst it's only been a while, and it IS the weekend, my point is I am unable to play the game I bought. And what makes that worse is it is out of my control. It's not a driver issue or hardware problem. It's not like my keyboard isn't working where I can run out and buy one...right now. I have to wait for someone to get back to me...and that's the annoying thing. I paid for this, I should expect to be able to use it. If it was a buggy game that was preventing me, then I probably wouldn't be kicking up half as much stink...but DRM gets up by bloody goat because it is restrictive and annoying to paying customers and a complete non-issue for pirates and thieves.

ORIGINAL: Son_of_Montfort
...but they should have records of your order and I have heard it is relatively painless to get back up and running.

As I said...I have still been unable to play a game I bought. It's the weekend. It's when I fit most of my gaming in and, with this particular game, I cannot.

ORIGINAL: Terl
Judge, I understand your frustrations. I have had limited install issues before but, painful as it may be, in every case an email has solved the issue.

And I'm sure they are, but I still haven't heard anything.

ORIGINAL: Terl
...I have found though, that one needs to just ask.

And my point is I shouldn't have to.

ORIGINAL: madgamer

it is clearly more costly but you could have a tech or computer shop copy you whole hard drive on to there server or storage system then install the stuff and copy yoy OS and data back.
I would think that with all the stuff you mention going on an investment in a large USB HDD backup drive is a must with good back up program like one by Acronis (spelling) would help a lot. When I had my new system built I bought a backup system and it has saved my backside three times now.

Madgamer

Again...why the hell should I have to?? Besides, there is very little on my hard drive that I need to keep. Everything I do have to keep is in a particular place on my drive and every weekend it's backed up to DVD...with plenty of space spare.

The problem I have here may well have been resolved by your suggestion...but why the hell should I have to? I paid to play this game. At the very least, I should be able to, as trouble free as possible.


I'll just point out, though. In amongst all this moaning, I was more than likely fully aware of the eLicence and limited installs. So I bought it with my eyes open. But I didn't see an issue. Now I have come across that issue (not remembering which games I have to uninstall/de-activate prior to a system rebuild)

Same for Starforce. Was running about the internet with people telling me not to buy this game or that game because Starforce was this big evil thing. I didn't listen to them. And then I noticed my DVD drive was refusing to burn every now and again. And it slowed down over time to the burning speed of a bloody floppy! I went through countless disks (thrown away because I thought they were a faulty batch). Replaced the DVD drive. Then I remembered what people said. I went back and found out how to remove Starforce and bingo. All was back to normal. From then on I said I would not buy a game with Starforce and I will stick by that. If they get my message great. If not - oh well.

If companies think "Oh sod this PC gaming crowd...right bunch of whingers" then fine. I can always go back to reading more books...a pastime I've severly neglected ince I started computer gaming.

And to reiterate, it isn't about having an issue. It's about obtrusive copy protection that makes me sing and dance whilst pirates and theives enjoy the game. There are very likely hundreds of people who downloaded this game from somewhere else, without playing, who are playing it right now whilst I sit here moaning about not being able to play it and waiting on some company I've never heard of to get back to my eLicence request form!

Not on...not on at all.

Whinge over [:'(]

[cdbeck]

Actually, do you still have the original email that they sent you with the original code? I thought someone told me that you could use the "code lookup" feature somewhere on the website or plug in the one from the email to quickly get back up and running. What is strange is that they used eLiscense with OOTP8 and I had no problems installing this on two different computers and getting it to run fine. So unless this has changed, it really should be as hard as this seems. They may have gotten more restrictive for OOTP9, so I am not sure.

Anyway, I agree on principle, limited installs are out of line.

SoM 

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: Son_of_Montfort

Actually, do you still have the original email that they sent you with the original code? I thought someone told me that you could use the "code lookup" feature somewhere on the website or plug in the one from the email to quickly get back up and running. What is strange is that they used eLiscense with OOTP8 and I had no problems installing this on two different computers and getting it to run fine. So unless this has changed, it really should be as hard as this seems. They may have gotten more restrictive for OOTP9, so I am not sure.

Anyway, I agree on principle, limited installs are out of line.

SoM 

Yes I do have the roginal email, but regardless, and I know I keep saying it, but I shouldn't have to go through this to play a game I purchased legally whilst others around the world are playing right now!

As for installing on 2 computers, that is most likely the case...2 installs. I installed it at work so I could play in my lunch hour, but because I didn't uninstall or unregister this version prior to my system rebuild (some games unregister when you uninstall, some you have to actively uninstall...another thing to work out before saving yourself time and heartache!), I have no licences left.

Like I said, all the signs were there telling me to turn left, I just carried on. Next time I'll listen.

Limited installs are dead for me. If I see those words linked to a game, I'll avoid like the plague.

[Krasny]

DRM is not about cutting piracy. It's about killing the second hand market in PC games.

My attitude is, if the company treats me like a pirate, I shall become a pirate.

Spore became the tipping point for me. Luckily, because it's not a very good game.

[cdbeck]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd
Yes I do have the roginal email, but regardless, and I know I keep saying it, but I shouldn't have to go through this to play a game I purchased legally whilst others around the world are playing right now!

As for installing on 2 computers, that is most likely the case...2 installs. I installed it at work so I could play in my lunch hour, but because I didn't uninstall or unregister this version prior to my system rebuild (some games unregister when you uninstall, some you have to actively uninstall...another thing to work out before saving yourself time and heartache!), I have no licences left.

Like I said, all the signs were there telling me to turn left, I just carried on. Next time I'll listen.

Limited installs are dead for me. If I see those words linked to a game, I'll avoid like the plague.

Ah, that explains the problems then, the simultaneous installs. I'm not too worried about systems that use codes, and Matrix's system is pretty good (although it helps to have the email saved from them as well, in cases of redownloads and reinstalls). Note, I am not debating you as much as I am trying to get you back up and running faster! [:D] You should get the new key next week, I would believe, as weekends tend to be a wash for stuff like this, especially with other Europeans (the developer is German, I believe). Continentals tend to not do much at all during the weekend, other than relax, drink, and watch football! Lord knows I am loving it here! [;)]

I'm just too much of an addict to let DRM stop me from gaming. I'll admit, not the smartest thing, but with the way the wind is blowing, I think there will be precious few games one can play without succumbing to the DRM bug. What annoys me most is that you get limited install systems on games that you buy on DVD and in RETAIL! I can sort of understand digital downloads and limited systems or install keys, but DVD versions!? Yuck yuck yuck. This is why I rarely ever buy the physical versions of games anymore. Why waste time, gas/metro fare, sales tax, etc, in going to a brick and mortar when I end up with the same DRM and install file as the digital version?

SoM

[Grell]

I hate the limited installs the most, I bought Mass Effect and got rhubarbed that way.

Regards,

Grell

[JudgeDredd]

Where are you based at the moment SoM? And why you there? Work? Pleasure? How long for?

Not stalking you...just asking. [:D]

[cdbeck]

Like my Avatar says, Marseille, France. Quite a rough and tumble city, much like New York, with a melange of culture and peoples, great cuisine, and a general Provencal lifestyle that is laidback even in the midst of a bustling city. They drink their pastis (star anise flavored liquor which is clear but served diluted with water to an opalescent white - much like Absinthe or Ouzo), sit at their cafes in the near omnipresent sun (which is as opposite in climate to London as it is opposite in culture), and smoke like fiends. I don't smoke, but otherwise, I fit in well here! [:D]

I am here on business, a research fellowship actually. The French government kindly paid me to come over and do some research in Marseille's two huge and very well stocked archives. Marseille had one of the oldest cultures of public notaries on the continent, and has city council minutes, notarial casebooks (which contain many documents similar to present day notaries), and royal or civic charters from all the way back to the early 1200s to near present day. This is pretty astounding for medieval period. As I study medieval privateering and letters of marque, this type of thing in a Mediterranean area is amazing! I won't bore you with more shop talk, unless you wish, and then I can answer better to a private missive to my mailbox.

The grant lasts for a period of nine months, but we arrived October 1 and thus have about 7 months left. We love it here, although my wife just had a family tradgedy that she is unable to get back to the states to attend to, and thus this is hard. Otherwise, we are acclimated well and enjoy the French culture and cuisine.

Best,
SoM

[Marauders]

Limited installs are crap!
 
 
 

[JudgeDredd]

Just thought I'd give an update on this, being as I was moaning about it.

The company I had to email about my eLicence emailed me tonight and allocated another licence to my order. As SoM said, quite quick...quicker than I thought.

Fact still remains I was unable to play it over the weekend.

[cdbeck]

Well, glad to see that resolved! I'm actually surprised to see Sunday service!

SoM

[Arctic Blast]

I definitely feel your anger on all of this stuff, Judge. I've recently made the decision that I will no longer be helping to financially support any game that has SecuROM installed as it's DRM. I don't agree with the way it 'works', so I sort of realized it was rather silly for me to be complaining about it, but then heading out to the store and dropping $45 to buy it anyway. So, no more. In an unexpected added benefit, it's saved me some money, because I'm no longer the impulse games shopper I was before...unless I know for certain it doesn't use really restrictive DRM (I have no issues with disc checks or serial keys or basically anything that doesn't sneakily install a pile of crap on my system), I don't buy it until I can look online and see for certain.

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

So whilst legitimate users have to go through these ridiculous steps to play a game they legitimately purchased, people who don't pay for it download it, install the crack and that's about the limit of their agony!!!

Ridiculous!

Hint: you can do the same. Some companies have made court cases against few people about such, and there is slim chance you get it too. In that case, you can just slap the lawyer with the game box & disc[:D]

[E]

I still play games I bought in the early 80's. Thanks to no install limitations, obtrusive DRM's or need to contact the manufacturer for anything, these games will keep on working as long as the media lasts (they ain't pretty anymore, but they are still fun for me). Any program that makes me have to contact a company that may or may not be around in the future, is a no-go for me.

[Phatguy]

ORIGINAL: E

I still play games I bought in the early 80's. Thanks to no install limitations, obtrusive DRM's or need to contact the manufacturer for anything, these games will keep on working as long as the media lasts (they ain't pretty anymore, but they are still fun for me). Any program that makes me have to contact a company that may or may not be around in the future, is a no-go for me.

I know what you mean.. I still play some of my SSI games from the early 90's and still crack open my copy of X-com.

[Perturabo]

My Fallout install survived 2 years and 3 reinstalls of Windows.

[Greybriar]

ORIGINAL: apathetic lurker

ORIGINAL: E

I still play games I bought in the early 80's. Thanks to no install limitations, obtrusive DRM's or need to contact the manufacturer for anything, these games will keep on working as long as the media lasts (they ain't pretty anymore, but they are still fun for me). Any program that makes me have to contact a company that may or may not be around in the future, is a no-go for me.

I know what you mean.. I still play some of my SSI games from the early 90's and still crack open my copy of X-com.

It's good to see that others share the same point of view I hold. The way things are going, I'm glad I purchased as many PC games as I did over the years as I have enough to keep me occupied for the rest of my life.

[SS Hauptsturmfuhrer]

You should just buy Matrix games so you'll have no more dirty tricks to worry about.  They got more cool games here than even a gaming freak could ever get through.

[SS Hauptsturmfuhrer]

And like any company that has SS in it's name is a good one... like SSG and SSI.