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The game will have disc-based copy protection – there is a Serial Code just like The Sims 2. To play the game there will not be any online authentication needed. We feel like this is a good, time-proven solution that makes it easy for you to play the game without DRM methods that feel overly invasive or leave you concerned about authorization server access in the distant future.
Wow, things are definitely changing.
good, time-proven solution
Time proven? Yes... But not by EA! Perhaps it is not to late to give up hope for EA... Maybe...
Huzzah! My fear is that EA would see Spore's experiment with SecuROM as a success (somehow). The voices have been heard!
It may or may not be too early to pass judgement on whether it's a shift in corporate strategy, but as I've said elsewhere a disruption in the flow of bucks *will* shake DRM-happy companies out of their complacency. Anyone who's ever had any dealings with large corporations knows they're full of Dilbert bosses who don't really know what they're doing and whose basic business plan is don't rock the boat as long as the black number is bigger than the red one and they're kept well fed with an ample supply of pie charts by their underlings. Corporate spin aside, everyone knows by now Spore sales were way off their internal projections so that's as good a reason as any for the execs to start asking why.
Companies like EA are the reason I don't ever pre-order games anymore. I am tired of hidden and/or just bad DRM schemes, buggy releases, features listed on the box that aren't actually in the game. It's ridiculous. I will say that if the Sims 3 doesn't have DRM and turns out to be entertaining like the Sims 2 was, i will buy it. I will still complain about the stuff packs though. what a rip. EA, the greed machine.
There's already a thread here going on about this.
https://forums.galciv2.com/344449
Looks like a completely different forum to me. On that note, there are tons of forums talking about this but I won't list them all.
What's so bad about the stuff packs? It seems pretty simple to me. I don't want any of them, so I don't buy any of them.
Hallelujah. EA having half a brain is good to know...I'm not all anti SecuROM or anything but the whole DRM thing is a big mess.
Kinda funny EA decides to do this on a game that mostly appeals to casual gaming masses, soccer moms, etc. People that aren't as likley to pirate it to begin with. Until EA shows this is the norm for all their new games, I would call it a publicity stunt.
I think it's a strategic decision based on how much a single Sims 3 sale is worth. The amount they make off of Sims in expansions sales must be massive so in their minds losing some sales to piracy is far outweighed by the extra sales they will get from the hype of not having DRM.
Also I wouldn't be surprised if there is some amount of online connecting to EA servers to get certain things or activate certain features, they just wont admit that's why they don't feel the need for their customer fuck DRM.
Seconded with a super sized helping of "Believe it when I see it in the flesh not hijacking my computer".
I think you are off point here. It doesn't appeal mostly to casual gamers that you label as soccer moms, it ALSO appeals to casual games. I consider myself a hardcore gamer, a casual gamer, a pc gamer, a console game player, and a strategy gamer... to name a few. I am also a woman who plays FPS and MMORPGs, RPGs, Mario Games, 4x4, to name a few. Oh and I play the Sims. I know how to obtain pirate copies of games. I buy my games. I know what torrents are and guess what, I play a few Stardock games. So funny how people decide to label a group of gamers without actually knowing what that group of gamers consists of. And believe it or not, these so-called casual gamers have been making noise about Securom for years, and there were discussions about Spore's DRM and it's potential impact on the Sims franchise very early on.
Stuff packs have been a way to release games and expansion packs with less content and allow EA to charge a fairly steep price for "stuff" instead.
EA has certainly disappointed throughout the years, and I share a certain degree of suspicion. But I prefer to remain optimistic. I think EA would have a big backlash on their hands by straying too far from the present course of action. I would expect something as friendly for BioWare's Dragon Age, which I eagerly await, and would be really pissed off if they'd go back at being a-holes again.
I still fear for the toxic effects of piracy though, and wouldn't like to see that as a reason for publishers to go back to silly protections. I believe distribution platforms such as Impulse and others to be more effective as a long-term compromise than the "time-proven" CD check; that had been considered ineffective at a given moment in time, for whatever reasons.
I tend to consider the big picture, and see Sims 3 as a patched stepping stone to shifting market rules.
As bad as the DRM was, I liked the removal of disc checks. I just want to click my game icon on my start menu and play without having to put the CD in the PC.
So what? It's not like they're being forced down your throat.
I am a hardcore gamer, and I plan to buy Sims 3. 2 was unexpectedly charming. I wish it had even more random stuff though. A satellite falling on my guy the first day I owned it was just hilarious.
Wow, with such a compelling argument you gave, I just can't believe I have the same opinion that I started with. I don't like them, and I don't buy them at full price. I think they are a rip-off and they short-change the expansion packs.
It is only a matter of time before EA, Ubisoft, and other publishers find another draconion DRM software thing. For now let us enjoy a securom free Sims 3.
There is a small risk that Valve could become a monoply. Since Gamersgate, Impluse, and Steam works better (in the long run) of reducing the effects of piracy, but people are too willing to put all of their eggs in one basket (Steam being the one basket).
I love steam, I love impulse, but I don't want either of them to become monoplies over digital distribution.
So we both have the same opinion we started with...which is actually a very similar opinion anyway. What ar we arguing about again?
Ubisoft is way too dense. They keep trying something different, horribly screwing it up, then fixing their mistake later after nobody cares anymore and saying 'look at how bad our PC sales are'.....duh.
Something like GOO could minimize that, though the competing factor and novelty of digital distribution might make it impractical at the moment.
I want to be proven wrong on this one though. GOO would be a step in the right direction for the need of a centralized system that protects the customer from distributor bankrupcy, but still allowing competition to thrive. Also, a GOO-like mechanism would be better accepted by other distributors if it could be regulated by a neutral entity.
Sorry for getting way off topic here.
I highly doubt this will happen. One of the recent post`s in Etrius`s thread made mention of the demographic diffrence`s between game`s. The Sim`s series are always high on PC sale`s chart`s. This is a blanket statement I`m about to make. The Sim`s is a far more "casual" series then Bioware product`s. I don`t think Sim`s customer`s care to much about DRM or really even know what it really is. I could be very wrong, Spore received a very rough welcome.
I Think Dragon Age will ship in the same condition as Mass Effect. Install limit`s are the absolute worst of the worst. After a few month`s, Crytek finally released a deactivation tool for Warhead. If a game is released with install limit`s, A deactivation tool should be availible at LAUNCH!
And you would be wrong. The Sims 2 forum has several threads full of people who not only know what DRM schemes are but care that they are used.
And what percentage of the millions of copies Spore sold do those posters represent? An extremely vocal minority only *looks* bigger, it's still a relative handful of users.
Try again. If people are unhappy with the DRM, then its not the percentage of the players/buyers of spore that matter but those who didn't buy it. And as usual, the most vocal is usually the minority, including you.
I think it's too early to draw any sort of conclusion about what this means or why they're doing it. If it becomes a trend with EA-published games, then we can analyze which game types don't have it as opposed to which do, and all the other goodies of that nature.
Until then, it's just one title that doesn't have DRM.
My personal opinion on why? Money.
Even though EA has games that sell very well, EA is not known for their ROI. They are huge, and even though you hear things like CoD selling 10 million copies, Sims 2 selling 10 million, they are still losing money and still laying people off. At the same time, copy protections cost money to use and you don't have to be a genius to realize that Sims 3 is going to sell by truckloads. It would follow that the amount of money they can save by using cheap, light protection would far outweigh any guessable loss to piracy.
Actually, it will have DRM. It just won't be Securom, won't have limited installs or online activation. It is supposed to be serial code and a disc check, according to employees on the official Sims 2 forum. Whether some players like it or not, Sims 2 is their biggest franchise on the PC (including the expansions and stuff packs), but that doesn't tell us anything as to why they are choosing to step back on this upcominng game and not on the their recent releases or whether or not they will follow suit with releases to come. I 100% agree, this is all about money, and despite popular belief, the Sims 2 consumer is not just soccer moms, and they must have concerns about selling the game to their base, and heaven forbid, the idea that they might want to bring more into the series too.
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