Electronic Arts' DRM Outrage

thelordofcheese

MOH wrote: »

Well, it's not doing a good job of it.

If publishers think they have some god given right to install stuff on my PC without my permission. which is going to trash my dvd drive, meaning that I can't play the game I bought legally from them, or any other game I legally bought that needs a disk in the drive (and also prevents me using a virtual drive to get around that), and have to go to the expense of replacing my drive, then I'll jump through whatever hoops I have to to avoid the risk of this happening again.

Actually, they have your permission the second you click 'I Agree'.

And yeah it's shitty when that happens, but it's not the pandemic people make it out to be. I can understand the software misfiring on occasion, i mean it's the PC we're talking about, with it's myriad hardware and software configurations things will go wrong.
But if the internet is be believed (and it's not) DRM is either causing everyones PC's to melt into slag or transforming them into vicious soulless robots who then proceed to rape you.

MOH wrote: »

Boycott - a group's refusal to have commercial dealings with some organization in protest against its policies

Yes, however if you're boycotting say.... nestle you don't refuse to buy their products THEN go steal them so you can still have your yorkie whenever you feel like it.

It's a shitty justification for piracy, is what i'm getting at and it's not achieving anything bar making the case for more DRM stronger.

MOH

thelordofcheese wrote: »

Actually, they have your permission the second you click 'I Agree'.

Wtf? Eh, no.

EULAs generally include a disclaimer that publishers won't be responsible for any kind of damages resulting from their product's use.

Installed Fallout 3 two nights ago. Looked through the EULA specifically looking for any mention of Securom, found nothing. OK, it's not a great example, as it's only the disk check version, so maybe it doesn't actually install anything extra. But I'm pretty sure previous games involving Starforce and Securom don't tell you that you're installing a completely separate application which can potentially bork your system.
The EULA relates to the game, not a separate application, unmentioned within, which will remain on your system, even after uninstalling the game*.

And again, the legality of EULA's is still undetermined. There was a recent post (may have been from yourself) stating that most companies put their EULAs on the web. The back of the Fallout3 box just says that by installing the software you agree to the enclosed license agreement. There's no reference to anywhere you can read the agreement without buying and openenig the game, at which point your money is gone.

I've no problem with DRM** if publishers are willing to clearly mark on the outside of the box that by installing this game you're also installing <name of DRM> which has been known (albeit in a relatively small number of cases) in the past to damage peoples' systems, which will definitely prevent you from running any virtual disk program, and which remains on your system after the game is uninstalled, and is difficult to remove.

This warning should also be included in the product description at any online point of sale where you don't have the option to inspect the box before purchase, or perhaps as a footnote in any advertising material.

If they're willing to do that, and they still believe that DRM will save them more customers than (those they lose to piracy + those who boycott DRM), then I'll never download another DRM-protected game. Although I'll probably just get a console instead, along with everyone else.

But I still think there's got to be a better way to make piracy difficult or impossible, without alienating people who've been buying their products for years.

*By reading this post you agree to any conditions I have set down, although I'm not actually going to tell you what they are until you've read it.

** By DRM, I'm obviously talking about Starforce, Securom, TAGES and the like. If someone comes up with some super duper new form of DRM that doesn't harm *any* paying customers, then great.

Dartz

In the last year I bought the following:

Stalker CS.
Bioshock.

And that's it. I don't buy games that much as it is, but I just don't like copy protection. The most irritating thing of all was when I had Bioshock installed on my Laptop, and activated already, I brought it with me on holiday. My brother wanted to play it, so I made a new account on my laptop for him, and sent him away. Five minutes later, we're getting the activation message.

In the backarse of wexford with no web connection.

I have a bit of a crack for Stalker alright, that stops it checking for the disk. It hangs when I start it sometimes, which is an absolute pain in the butt. It doesnt now. It even seems to run that little bit faster. EDIT: That's Stalker, Shadow of Chernobyl.

thelordofcheese

MOH wrote: »

Wtf? Eh, no.

*snip*

Eh, yeah.

The DRM is part of the product, they don't have to explicitly mention it. The same way they don't have to explicitly mention they use DirectX, Havok, Blink or any other API or middleware that powers the game.

****ty, but there you go.

MOH

thelordofcheese wrote: »

Eh, yeah.

The DRM is part of the product, they don't have to explicitly mention it. The same way they don't have to explicitly mention they use DirectX, Havok, Blink or any other API or middleware that powers the game.

****ty, but there you go.

So if they want to install a keylogger that records everything I do and sends the details back to them without my knowledge, that's OK?

Or if they decide to randomly delete every third file on my system, that's OK too?

Or, just to be on the safe side, why not just re-format my hard drive?

By your logic, they can do anything they want, because by agreeing to the EULA I'm giving them carte blanche to do anything to my system.

L31mr0d

This thread is hilarious, reading MOH and Cheese Lords posts is like watching an episode of the Odd Couple

sinbad269

MOH wrote: »

So if they want to install a keylogger that records everything I do and sends the details back to them without my knowledge, that's OK?

Or if they decide to randomly delete every third file on my system, that's OK too?

Or, just to be on the safe side, why not just re-format my hard drive?

By your logic, they can do anything they want, because by agreeing to the EULA I'm giving them carte blanche to do anything to my system.

I'm with MOH on this. Why do you think EA are in four court cases? Because they didn't mention their inclusion of SecuROM and what it does to the system. Unlike UbiSoft, where they actually wrote a disclaimer on the back of the box for Far Cry 2, for the world to see

MOH

L31mr0d wrote: »

This thread is hilarious, reading MOH and Cheese Lords posts is like watching an episode of the Odd Couple

Maybe more "Never the Twain" - can't see either of us ever swaying the other's opinion, so I'll get off the soapbox for a bit.