Game News Bioware releases Mass Effect copy protection info

[Lyric Suite]

This sucks for military guys. We play video games in our down time. Guess how often the command lets us connect a personal computer to the internet when your deployed.

Don't you do enough shooting in real combat that you have to bother with video games as well?

 

[MountainWest]

This sucks for military guys. We play video games in our down time. Guess how often the command lets us connect a personal computer to the internet when your deployed.

Don't you do enough shooting in real combat that you have to bother with video games as well?

Not everyone sees gaming and shooting stuff as equivalent, you know. Some like to slash stuff with swords.

As for the horrible, nasty CP, that'll infringe upon everyone's right to play "crappy games" from the beginning to the end (forgetting that we are those grumpy fucks who, in the eye of the vast majority, enjoy "crappy games"): more power to it. Not that I'm anywhere near a saint myself but because it seems to create a level of rage in people in proportion to their "sad fuck"-status. And what can I say, I enjoy seeing sad fucks being all enraged and cute and stuff.

 

[tunguska]

Why not just be a man and refuse to play the game until they remove the draconian copy protection?

Would alien boobies be a good enough reason? I'd rather be a mouse and get to play the game. If I like the cracked binary version I can always send a check directly to Bioware, no? Actually nowadays all developers should have a "donate" button on their website for pirates who want to support their favorite devs but also want a working game and don't want to encourage publishers with their draconian copy protection schemes. In fact they could even explicitly say that the donate button is for pirates who didn't pay for their copy. Believe it or not I don't pirate games (from devs that I like) in order to save money. I want a fully working copy and they simply won't sell those anymore. So its also a protest as well. Whether you or even Bioware or EA see it that way is not my problem. It's not like I get any sympathy from the publisher when my CD gets scratched. And even if they gave out free copies to replace scratched ones, eventually they will probably go out of business or the game will go out of print and I will be left high and dry when my uncopyable CD gets lost or scratched.

And to those who say "everyone I know has an internet connection", I might ask "How many people do you know exactly?" I have a friend who doesn't have a reliable internet connection. He steals a neighbor's wifi instead of paying for his own connection. But that isn't reliable. So sometimes he doesn't have a connection for months. He lives near a library and just uses the internet there when he needs to. When I was living in Malaysia last year most people I met didn't have internet connections. They just went to an internet cafe when they needed access and if they needed files they just used keychain drives to transfer from the cafe computer to their computer at home. Also most people I have met from Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Colombia didn't have internet connections. And these are just based on my own personal experiences. I'm sure there are more countries like this. Also, aren't there rural areas even in the US that don't have a way to connect to the internet? Even if they allowed you a way to reset the timer via an internet cafe and a keychain drive it would still be such a PITA to have to go out somewhere just so you can play the game. And some people don't have any internet cafes near them either. The people who EA are ignoring here are in the millions. I am going to be living abroad for the next few years in some of these countries and I may not be able to get internet reliably for all kinds of reasons. So I would have to add myself to the list of people who couldn't play the uncracked game at all (until I get internet back again).

While I do understand the desire to prevent piracy and agree that such a mythical system might even be able to save PC Gaming from a watery death, this system is counter-productive. It will not work. It will only penalize legitimate buyers. The rest will just download the far superior cracked version anyway. Maybe they are betting that they have finally done it, finally created the Holy Grail: the uncrackable binary. Well if they can manage that I will officially consider them to be badass. I have heard of software that uses so many hooks embedded in so many places that the amount of work it would take to identify and remove them all from the binary is just not worth it to the crackers. It's not as if EA doesn't have the extra cash to make the attempt. And if they have tried that obviously they are not going to mention it. IIRC, most companies with such ambition have also gone to the trouble and expense of using USB dongles. I'm not sure if that would really help though since I assume that the dongle checking code can just be removed or the dongle can be emulated in software.

 

[hakuroshi]

I had doubts about buying ME for other reasons, but now all doubts have gone. More RL for me, I guess

 

[Araanor]

I'd love to be outraged, but I can't muster any enthusiasm for this game anyway.

 

[Texas Red]

I'd love to be outraged, but I can't muster any enthusiasm for this game anyway.

Me neither. I won't be able to run the game anyway. If doesn't concern me then I don't care.

Phun phact: The Bitcher doesn't even have a CD key. CD Project RED: 12324, Bioware: 0.

 

[Claw]

The only winning move is not to play.

 

[Shambelle]

Me neither. I won't be able to run the game anyway. If doesn't concern me then I don't care.

Me too...

 

[Futile Rhetoric]

I'd love to be outraged, but I can't muster any enthusiasm for this game anyway.

Me neither. I won't be able to run the game anyway. If doesn't concern me then I don't care.

Phun phact: The Bitcher doesn't even have a CD key. CD Project RED: 12324, Bioware: 0.

But it sure has copy protection, which means that I have to take out my goddam disc every time I stop playing, or have my DVD drive spin up all the time needlessly.

 

[Stavmixer]

Hate to say it, but I'm totally on board with this. I used to balk at copy protection, now I could care less. I'm sick of hearing about PC games sales being negatively effected by pirating, this will only help to negate that issue--Not totally fix it mind you, but it's something.

And by the way, fuck pirates. Little weasel fucks are no different than car thieves or any other petty criminal.

The fucked up thing is that this copy protection will only harm the people that pay for their games. People like me (pirates) are never affected. I have not payed for a game since counterstrike, and this new protection will be cracked in a couple of days. Btw, I would steal a car if I could get away with it.

 

[SuicideBunny]

Phun phact: The Bitcher doesn't even have a CD key. CD Project RED: 12324, Bioware: 0.

it has a serial that you need to input in order to register as a game owner and thus be able to dl the patches, djinni, and the other extras. a very similar mechanic to the one used here, only less aggressive.
also -1 for inane phreaking reference.

 

[Shannow]

I'd love to be outraged, but I can't muster any enthusiasm for this game anyway.

+1
I planned on torrenting it anyway. If I had liked it I'd probably have bought the original/add-on/sequel. Since ME isn't my kind of game they probably haven't lost much, but it is a shame about spore. Probably would have bought that (after reading some reviews and impressions of course).

Are there really so few people nowadays that expect their games to work out of the box and without further hassle?

 

[SuicideBunny]

yes, most of us died from old age or cooties.

 

[MetalCraze]

so the conclusion is that copy protection is just a nazi bullshit. it protects games from their legitimate owners.
pirates will still crack and play your game for free no matter what copy protection you invent. and each new copy protection in fact makes people to say fuck you and torrent shit - good job EA.

 

[msoltyspl]

Why can't just do what Stardock does ...

Overally it looks like Bioshock reloaded (and after seeing demo of it it's a waste to waste p2p bandwidth for that).

 

[Luhh]

I don't have a problem with this really if it was only that internet was required. I mean it would be written in large letters on the box, so you'd be buying the product with that in mind.

The only thing I have a problem with is working method of those currently available. They can be cracked, and they are a bit of a hassle, and like some people say, what happens down the road.

But if someone makes an uncrackable authentification system for the PC gaming platform - great!

 

[Herbert West]

I don't have any problems imagining the following situation:
-people learn about intrusive copy protection that phones home every 10 days, forever, and has this activation limit shit
-they refuse to buy the game due to this very fact
-low sales get blamed on piracy while part of the reason was the anti-piracy software itself

 

[Licaon_Kter]

Phun phact: The Bitcher doesn't even have a CD key. CD Project RED: 12324, Bioware: 0.

it has a serial that you need to input in order to register as a game owner and thus be able to dl the patches, djinni, and the other extras. a very similar mechanic to the one used here, only less aggressive.

you can get the patches/djini from other sites for free/legal
the extras were just some game guides and some trailers (so far)
maybe the ExtendedEdition (>1Gb) will not be free for all
the cdkey gets you a "Game Owner" status on their forum

 

[aries202]

If we have played the game and finished it - and want to play it again in 5 years or so, will the servers for the game still work?

Yes, or we will release a patch to remove the system if the servers need to shut down.

Heh. Hehe. Hehehaheheh. Ehehehe, hahahahaha, aaaaahahahahahahahaha, AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I asked this question because I really was worried bout this. I am still a bit worried, since EA runs the Securom servers, not Bioware. And EA could just as well decide not to release this patch that Derek French talks about. On the other hand, EA's servers are probably many and have many games on them, so they probably will be around for years to come. EA has stayed in business for about 25-26 years - a very very very long time in the gaming industry. My guess is that EA will be here in 20 years time, too...

I'm not getting ME at laucnh, partly because of this, partly because my computer can't run this game right now. But before this news broke, I planned to get MEPC just to show my support of Bioware - now, not so much

To me, it is silly to have the game re-validate itself every 10 days you have it installed. or more precisely, whenever you decide to fire up the game after the 10 day period has expired : If you look to the aftermatch of the Bioshock incident from august 2007 it stands to reason that at one time or another, there will be downtime at the EA servers when several people try to log-on to the EA Securom servers.

Also, this does not stop piracy at all...

 

[janjetina]

For me, this is a non-issue. This copy protection scheme is lame ( it looks like a cross between Bitdefender's, or Alcohol's copy protection which are easy to bypass and a previous securom version) and will be circumveted soon after the files are leaked.

I always download games illegally, play them for a while, and if they are good enough I do buy them to support their makers (however, my criteria are high, so my collection currently contains only 10 games - 6 RPGs (MOTB being the last addition, but I've installed it on top of a pirated OC) and 4 adventures). This will be the case with the upcoming games that rely on this new protection scheme as well. So, for me, nothing changes. For the paying customers of EA, however, there is a new major inconvenience.

 

[Jedi_Learner]

fuck ea and bioware for all this - I will torrent this shit if no "unsteam"-similar thing will appear

People like me (pirates) are never affected. I have not payed for a game since counterstrike, and this new protection will be cracked in a couple of days.

I planned on torrenting it anyway. If I had liked it I'd probably have bought the original/add-on/sequel.

I always download games illegally, play them for a while, and if they are good enough I do buy them to support their makers...

Thieving fuckers. Hanging is too good for you scum, especially the ones that attempt to defend their actions. Good thing the entire gaming community isn't as selfish as you people.

 

[Nicolai]

 

[WalterKinde]

Jedi_Lerner why did you single out the quotes from the file sharers?
I see this whole drm scheme as more trouble for the legit buyers.
Massive draconian drm is NOT going to affect the file sharers only legit buyers.
Whether the game is cracked before release, on the day of release or 5 months after release.
Its still the legit buyers who will be up a creek without a paddle in ALL these schemes.
Its NEVER the p2p people at worse like Titan Quest the game may get a reputation as being buggy from "the underground" at best the p2p users will be laughing at all the people who bought the game and then can't play it, with insults, threads being locked or users banned when legit users complain about the copy protection or ask for help on the official forums.

 

[MetalCraze]

Thieving fuckers. Hanging is too good for you scum, especially the ones that attempt to defend their actions. Good thing the entire gaming community isn't as selfish as you people.

why did you put my phrase together with those? reread my phrase and fucking think.
EA is known to close game servers after 5 years since the game release also add to this the fact that servers at EA sometimes shutting down (like it happened with Bioshock ones - and nobody was able to play/patch/activate this shit for 30 hours - now 30 hours can be beared but what if it will take days to bring servers online and I will be in a middle of the game?). JL if you don't understand that I don't want to not be able to play the game because I legitimately own it - then its your problem. plus when comparing salaries EA game costs like 4-5 times more here than it would in your country - I don't want to spend my money on a game I won't be able to play if some EA server will decide to take some eternal rest like it happened with Bioshock's one

fuck even german zuxxez did it better. you still need to activate f.e. E2160 online - but it activates just 1 time with giving you a serial number you can then enter later on a new installation to avoid online activation again or if servers will be down

plus you are forgetting that the protection of EA allows only 3 game installations on different pcs.
I will translate it for you: re-install windows 3 times and you won't be able to play the game never ever.
I want to know that I own the game not that EA owns me.

 

[Jaesun]

Has there been any clarification on what "Info" it send to the server?