Holy Piracy Deterrent, Batman!

Otacon

Has anyone else read this? Quite a number of things wrong with the article [Eidos were not the developers iirc] but it is quite funny how they are fighting piracy none the less!

News Story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8256405.stm

Forum Link
http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=95030

Video games developer Eidos have come up with a novel way of catching users playing pirated copies of their game.

Players using illegal copies of Batman: Arkham Asylum have found that essential control functions in the game have been disabled, rendering it unplayable.

One user complained on the Eidos forum that there was a bug in the code, only to be told by the administrator that they had "a bug in your moral code".

The PC version of the stealth action adventure goes on sale later this week.

Players attempting to use the glide function within the game will find it disabled in pirated versions, resulting in the Batman character coming to an untimely end.

The protection system came to light when a user complained on the Eidos support forum saying:

"When I...jump from one platform to another, Batman tries to open his wings again and again instead of gliding."

An Eidos community manager replied, saying the user had encountered "a hook" in the copy protection system, designed to "catch out people who try and download cracked versions of the game for free".

"It's not a bug in the game's code, it's a bug in your moral code," he added.

While Eidos did not want to spell out the mechanics of the copyright protection system, they did say that it was in place to deter hackers, although the fact the game is not yet on sale made this particular case of piracy somewhat obvious.

Hercule

nice move - its already been cracked since however :rolleyes:

Spear

Otacon wrote: »

Has anyone else read this? Quite a number of things wrong with the article [Eidos were not the developers iirc] but it is quite funny how they are fighting priacy none the less!

News Story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8256405.stm

Forum Link
http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=95030

Codemasters did this a long time ago with Fade in Operation Flashpoint. Didn't work for long back then either.

GothPunk

Hercule wrote: »

nice move - its already been cracked since however :rolleyes:

Spear wrote: »

Codemasters did this a long time ago with Fade in Operation Flashpoint. Didn't work for long back then either.

These kind of anti-piracy measures are usually to combat day-0 piracy, they're not really meant as a long-term thing. I doubt that the publisher would complain if they worked indefinitely though. :pac:

Hercule

I am not sure if its sensible to deter gamers from playing your game by crippling it with weird bugs that only effect fake copies. I know a lot of people that will use pirate copies as demos b4 they buy the real thing - I know in my circumstance it could have saved me a lot of money if it had gotten an "extended demo" of Quake wars/Medal of Honour Airborne/Wolfenstein - to name but a few

still think steam is the best anit-piracy by far - pitty they are getting greedy of late

Dont be at yourself

Yeah, Codemasters used to do this all of the time. Very smart move, as a lot of pirates would be too thick to realise!

humanji

Hercule wrote: »

I am not sure if its sensible to deter gamers from playing your game by crippling it with weird bugs that only effect fake copies. I know a lot of people that will use pirate copies as demos b4 they buy the real thing - I know in my circumstance it could have saved me a lot of money if it had gotten an "extended demo" of Quake wars/Medal of Honour Airborne/Wolfenstein - to name but a few

still think steam is the best anit-piracy by far - pitty they are getting greedy of late

Well it's sensible to the publishers. They don't want you testing a game before hand. They want you buying it.

But this article is a bit late, isn't it? The game was pirated almost a month ago and all the "bugs" were cracked not long after. There were even a few cracks that fixed graphical gliches too, I think.

Overheal

Youre right, lets talk about Kanye West that bastard.

Gummy Panda

Every time i see this thread title i think its about this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQwovonrVjc

Star Bingo

GothPunk wrote: »

These kind of anti-piracy measures are usually to combat day-0 piracy, they're not really meant as a long-term thing. I doubt that the publisher would complain if they worked indefinitely though. :pac:

ah yes, combatting day zero piracy. indefinitely - neither here nor there. fairly safe comment i can't quite decipher

.. but if it opens the possibility to the choice of abandoning physical discs altogether in favour of games on demand, can this please become more permanent?

and so it shall.

Overheal

well its the same way with preloaded games isnt it. Steam already does that. Basically you get 99% of the files in the days/weeks ahead of a launch, and then each user only needs to download ~1MB of an executable or code snippet that makes the game run properly. Its more a point of necessity (game launches brought the FTP servers to their knees in the past) but it is also effectively stopping 0-day piracy.

noodler

Hercule wrote: »

I am not sure if its sensible to deter gamers from playing your game by crippling it with weird bugs that only effect fake copies. I know a lot of people that will use pirate copies as demos b4 they buy the real thing - I know in my circumstance it could have saved me a lot of money if it had gotten an "extended demo" of Quake wars/Medal of Honour Airborne/Wolfenstein - to name but a few

still think steam is the best anit-piracy by far - pitty they are getting greedy of late

Bull**** imo. I always fell that people why type the "we pirate before we buy" argument are hoping the developer is reading the post and thinks "ooh we better not have copy protection then".

Star Bingo wrote: »

ah yes, combatting day zero piracy. indefinitely - neither here nor there. fairly safe comment i can't quite decipher

.. but if it opens the possibility to the choice of abandoning physical discs altogether in favour of games on demand, can this please become more permanent?

and so it shall.

Not sure what your point is here regarding the topic at hand.

Not looking forward to being screwed over with digital prices and a lack of competition anytime soon though.

Star Bingo

well it better - remove the the 'look what i've got' whilst doing the planet a favour, knocking half the price off a product which we only need the content which is a non-entity. as far as matter goes.. ironically the only part what matters - whilst restricting d/l of the purchase to one machine. but product on shelves, in the public eye.. an advertisement in itself when the posters have long been tacked over by notice of the latest green day concert, but then where even is the platinum release through the network. aside from Burnout =( quality apparently comes in quantity.. well most lines can actually handle it, was a rubbish excuse from Sony.

the success rate of this Eidos attempt to protect their disc is vague as my frustration. seems completely hit and miss so 360 is timidly dipping its toe in, only because it knows its CD system is screwed anyhow - the real piracy protection lies in 1 strict d/l to a moneyed machine from fortress server, the likelyhood of lazy suckas purchasing who would not buy the disc. so good at marketing these days, just polishing some old brass is all thats left to do. where next? games on demand. fullprice for halfprice. NOW.


i had to refrain from swearing so much getting this across to you.

TheDoc

There is a number of these purposeful bugs in the game.

I believe they work by yyou get to a certain point in the game, require to grapple or glide, and cant do it, stopping you progressing. This happens when you reach 30% and every incurring 10% of the game.

Great idea in fairness.

Then again, there is fixes to these bugs released daily at this stage on certain websites and I've been happily able to play the game without any restraint.

And feel free to have a sly dig at me for being a pirate" arrgg" I'm sorry but Eidos can **** of with their " bug in your moral code" these are the ***** that try blackmail and bribe their games top scores in magazines and websites....get a ****ing grip

Dont be at yourself

And feel free to have a sly dig at me for being a pirate" arrgg" I'm sorry but Eidos can **** of with their " bug in your moral code" these are the ***** that try blackmail and bribe their games top scores in magazines and websites....get a ****ing gripp

That is ridiculous reasoning. There is no justification for your piracy.

Gummy Panda

TheDoc wrote: »

And feel free to have a sly dig at me for being a pirate" arrgg" I'm sorry but Eidos can **** of with their " bug in your moral code" these are the ***** that try blackmail and bribe their games top scores in magazines and websites....get a ****ing grip

2 wrongs don't make a right.

Also it was Rocksteady who said the "bug in your moral code". Eidos are the publisher. They were the ones blackmailing for scores.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC5tp9OzXc8

the_syco

"When I...jump from one platform to another, Batman tries to open his wings again and again instead of gliding."

An Eidos community manager replied, saying the user had encountered "a hook" in the copy protection system, designed to "catch out people who try and download cracked versions of the game for free".

Meh. This has been fixed, or they've told people how to get around it. It is a nice idea, though. Saying that, many people will see it as a bug, and not buy the game, but meh, most people who finish the game won't buy the game anyhoo's, so that's a null point.

Nietzschean

Gummy Panda wrote: »

They were the ones blackmailing for scores.

was there any evidence of that ever produced? the scores in early reviews weren't any higher than the later ones...

Kernel

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

That is ridiculous reasoning. There is no justification for your piracy.

Here's a question. If there was no way in hell that he was actually going to buy the game/software/film/song ever, and then pirates it, he is not really affecting the bottom line of the corporation involved. So what harm would be done in that case?

Most games and even movies are **** nowadays, and overpriced, however I buy the few good games that come out that I know I will get value for money for eg. Half Life 2, GTA4, Empire:Total War (which I bought and was bugged to **** btw) and am more inclined to buy mediocre games and movies when they are at bargain prices, even if I will only get a few hours of enjoyment from them. But pay 60 quid for a piece of crap like Spore? No thanks.

Kinetic^

Kernel wrote: »

Here's a question. If there was no way in hell that he was actually going to buy the game/software/film/song ever, and then pirates it, he is not really affecting the bottom line of the corporation involved. So what harm would be done in that case?

The product comes with a price. If you take it without permission for zero remuneration, it's stealing. There is no ifs ands or buts about it. It's stealing.

Kernel

Kinetic^ wrote: »

The product comes with a price. If you take it without permission for zero remuneration, it's stealing. There is no ifs ands or buts about it. It's stealing.

Not really, I think that the whole demonisation of piracy is ridiculous. If I tape a song from the radio and share it with my friend then that's stealing too. Technically. The propaganda comparing piracy to robbing grannies of their pension books is farcical. If the gamer is any good then buy it, that's always been the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz-grdpKVqg

TheDoc

Well....

I took a turn for the weird.

I was blasting through the game no problems ( a new crack is out that solves the problems) then I got an email from a gaming site where it was being sold pretty cheapish for an xbox game ( i was playing pc)

Went and bought it....

This game is that good and that enjoyable...


I'm not going to stand here and tell people to buy it, cause you can get it free and no problems anymore with it, but its the first game in a long time I felt the need to have a physical box and copy on my shelf, to call myself a proud owner.

I havn't played a game that felt so polished and looked so beautiful in a long time..

Kinetic^

Kernel wrote: »

Not really, I think that the whole demonisation of piracy is ridiculous. If I tape a song from the radio and share it with my friend then that's stealing too. Technically. The propaganda comparing piracy to robbing grannies of their pension books is farcical. If the gamer is any good then buy it, that's always been the way.

Yes really. Someone (corporation or individual) has paid people to make a product for them in the hope of breaking even or shock horror, make a profit. If you take that product for nothing then you are stealing. If there's a demo out then play that and if there's not then let your wallet do the talking and don't buy the game. Whether you intended to buy that product in the first place is completely irrelevant and only some sad way of justifying to yourself that you haven't stolen anything.

noodler

Kernel wrote: »

Here's a question. If there was no way in hell that he was actually going to buy the game/software/film/song ever, and then pirates it, he is not really affecting the bottom line of the corporation involved. So what harm would be done in that case?

What if I stole a car I am never going to be able to afford?

L31mr0d

noodler wrote: »

What if I stole a car I am never going to be able to afford?

I think it's been reasoned before that if people knew they could steal cars they wanted and get away with it, that a lot of people would do it.

I mean you only have to look at the looting that takes place in a blackout regardless of country.

Our morality extends as far as this one point of reasoning "Will my actions detrimentally affect myself or anyone I care about". If the conclusion is "No it won't" most people will not have any issues with committing the action.

I can't tell you the amount of times in my job I've been asked if we have a piece of software to install on a PC for someone, when I say "No", it's usually met with "Well can't you get it for free then?", and this is in a professional environment.

Dont be at yourself

Here's a question. If there was no way in hell that he was actually going to buy the game/software/film/song ever, and then pirates it, he is not really affecting the bottom line of the corporation involved. So what harm would be done in that case?

- If you're using P2P, you're not just downloading it for yourself, but also uploading it to other freetards.

- While you may not be willing to buy the game at full price, who is to say you wouldn't buy the game a few months down the road if you spot it at a good price?

- By pirating a game, you're adding to the whole piracy culture. There's no social stigma to illegal downloading, and your actions would just encourage that attitude.

Most games and even movies are **** nowadays, and overpriced, however I buy the few good games that come out that I know I will get value for money for eg. Half Life 2, GTA4, Empire:Total War (which I bought and was bugged to **** btw) and am more inclined to buy mediocre games and movies when they are at bargain prices, even if I will only get a few hours of enjoyment from them. But pay 60 quid for a piece of crap like Spore? No thanks.

Presumably you're not downloading pieces of crap, though? The most-pirated games at the moment are Need for Speed, Batman, Call of Juarez etc. These games aren't crap, and most will find some enjoyment in them - perhaps not worth the full price to everybody, but that doesn't mean it's okay to steal them.

And there are plenty of legitimate demos, plenty of trailers, videos, previews, reviews and podcasts to let you check out a game before you buy it. You don't need to steal it.

Empire:Total War (which I bought and was bugged to **** btw)

Perhaps it was bugged to **** because reduced sales expectations due to rampant PC piracy resulted in a shorter development or Q&A period?

I work in the industry, and aside from the issue of freetards effectively stealing my work, it's clear to me that piracy is resulting in less resources being directed to certain projects, especially niche or innovative titles.

noodler

L31mr0d wrote: »

I think it's been reasoned before that if people knew they could steal cars they wanted and get away with it, that a lot of people would do it.

I mean you only have to look at the looting that takes place in a blackout regardless of country.

Our morality extends as far as this one point of reasoning "Will my actions detrimentally affect myself or anyone I care about". If the conclusion is "No it won't" most people will not have any issues with committing the action.

I can't tell you the amount of times in my job I've been asked if we have a piece of software to install on a PC for someone, when I say "No", it's usually met with "Well can't you get it for free then?", and this is in a professional environment.

Well I wasn't really making the point that people don't pirate, merely that they do not attempt to justify it so
poorly.

Its not like I an't admit to the odd album or tv series DL ever but if I do like to own certain stuff.

TheDonMan

Piracy is good in the way that PC games are reasonably priced these days even with retailers such as Gamestop where AA for PC is E35, not sure how expensive the console version is but i'm guessing something like at least E55? Way too expensive for a game imo.

Dont be at yourself

Piracy is driving up prices, not lowering them.

What's going to happen on the PC is that publishers will be forced to use services like Steam to control distribution and combat piracy. And as we've seen, Steam is often more expensive than the high-street.

TheDonMan

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Piracy is driving up prices, not lowering them.

What's going to happen on the PC is that publishers will be forced to use services like Steam to control distribution and combat piracy. And as we've seen, Steam is often more expensive than the high-street.

Maybe in the long term but in the short term piracy has without a doubt driven down prices. How else would you explain the difference in prices between the PC and Xbox 360 versions, do you really think the Xbox 360 version is really that much more in demand?

Kernel

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Piracy is driving up prices, not lowering them.

Bull****. Increasing profit margins through greed is the only thing driving up the cost of games. The industry makes more than the movie industry. Then they throw stuff like DLC and Episodes to increase the rip-off factor. It's digital ones and zeros, not a physical product like a sports car. The R&D might have cost money, but the product itself does not cost money to manufacture... since it's not real. And as I said, if I take the 1s and 0s for a test drive and decide (as in 99% of cases) that it's not even worth the space on my hard drive, and I wouldn't in a million years consider paying actual money for it, then I have done no harm to anyone at all.

There's a lot of moral high ground being taken by people here.