There is a website called Reclaim your game that purports to be an anti-DRM site. I received an email today from a user that includes a link to an article on that site arguing that Stardock can no longer be considered DRM free because Demigod requires a user create an Impulse account (UserID and password) to logon and download updates to Demigod.
I would happily respond there but their site requires me to create a Prism forum account (UserID and password) to logon to make posts and I just can’t abide by such anti-consumer DRM…
lawl! Priceless.
Do it anyway! Make the post!
owned.
I shall never use a site that requires me to log on.
ohwait
LOL "we are yet to receive a response..." go frogboy!
Frogboy fights back.
It's forum posts like these that become the stuff of legends.
Win
Quote for truth.
Bara
epic win
hahaha, man, I would love to see you post there
Funny they are worried about privacy issues. What privacy issues? Impluse does not have anything of mying that isnt already secure. Sounds like whining to me.
I laughed my ass off ,
my wife laughed her ass off
and I think I can hear the neighours cat laughing its ass off
I dont like DRM either but come on having to log in to download updates is just standard procedure. Im against intrusive Drm that dont let me play on certain circumstances, like having to be on the internet or having the cd inside, but updates?, you have to be on the internet either way to download and you need an account to play online them so whats the problem with having to log in to download updates.
Wow, that's pathetic...that website is clueless and quite stupid...Frogboy, you should order all 3,500,000+ users to create an account on that website and spam it saying negative things and supporting Stardock, people would
I think they're assuming you need to give a lot of information when you make an Impulse account, and from what I remember of the process, it was user id, password, email, done.
ROFL WIN
Way to remind them that this isn't a crusade, just a bunch of honest people looking not to get screwed. Why is it that I want to buy something from you guys every time you make an opiniated post?
Moral of the story: perfection is always the enemy of good enough and in this case, way better than it needs to be.
Well, I'm a member of that website. Personally, I don't consider the change in system for Demigod to be a big deal at all...it doesn't bother me. Some people might, though, and that was the point of posting that. We're about information, not fearmongering.
We're hardly a group of tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorists screaming like Chicken Little about how the sky is falling because DRM is the epitome of evil, though. Right now we've been having a long conversation with the CEO of Byteshield about their DRM system and how it would work for gamers. A few of us have been testing the Byteshield system and putting it through it's paces, and at this point I'd have no problem recommending it at all. The vast majority of us play a lot of games involving online activations and the like and are regular customers of Steam and Impulse. Our pet peeve is garbage like SecuROM and it's ilk, with all of the associated issues that can come with.
Anyway, we'd love to have you join up, Brad. Believe me, you have a lot of fans amongst our little group who would love the chance to interact with you, myself amongst them. I've been enjoying Galactic Civ 2 for awhile now and am really looking forward to Elemental.
Oh, and Phalnax? Maybe try spelling your alias correctly before you start trying to talk like a big boy. Thanks.
Their article says:
As much as we like Stardock, their new title Demigod now requires a single online activation and as such, cannot be considered “DRM free” anymore.
Now I am clueless when it comes to technicalities here, but since you only need to activate the game to play online and to get updates, does that mean that every single game that has a CD key or username/password uses DRM? If so, I can't really see the point in a stance against that, seeing as there would be no protection to multiplayer networks from pirates without that.
They seem to take it to the extreme, yeah. I mean, I registered my new fridge to get the warranty started, but I don't think my fridge uses DRM.
The issue I think is how they define DRM is different then how most people do. I mean, almost nobody would claim WoW uses DRM, but by their definition it does. Likewise with Demigod, I don't consider it DRM (the program doesn't do any checking of its own validity, the pirate version is effectively identical to the release retail version). The multiplayer servers do check accounts, which is pretty normal.
Tridus : Personally, my thoughts on this pretty much mirror your own. And yes, your fridge is now evil. Like I said, we're a pretty wide spectrum of people over there with VERY differing individual opinions on what is and is not acceptable, pretty much like any other group of rational human beings.
LOL. As it happens, I prefer activation based DRM like Stardock's because it avoids having to have a DVD in the PC all the time.
The best method I have seen is simple. Basically you have to do a one-time activation on install. The software is hardware locked. There is an initial limit of installation on no more than 5 separate pieces of hardware. Most people never reach that.
Finally and most importantly, if you do not reach the limit and you do no installations for a long time (many months) the slate is wiped clean. This means that people who change computers infrequently get their count reset to 0 and theoretically could re-activate without contacting support on ten compuiters in a row, with very low risk of piracy.
What do you think, Brad?
I wouldn't say that logging in to update content is DRM persay so much as just logging into to a distribution system that uploads the updates to the consumers. If that's DRM, then I guess that's what it is. But, it's the most minimal scale that I know of.
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