Hi,
SOASE looks like a fantastic game!
Potential new player of SOASE here. I have read in several places that SOASE has no DRM. This seems incredulous(sp), and too good to be true.
So...does SOASE have a DRM?
And by DRM I mean anything that would prevent me from deleting and reloading the game on my home computer as often as I want (for example, if I have problems with my computer and have to load and delete SOASE 5 times in one day), such as, but not limited to, the following:
1 having to 'Phone home' by internet connection at any time to complete and install or play the game
2 limited number of installs on my single home computer
3 having to call any telephone number to complete an install or play the game
(that is all that comes to mind ATM...unless I find out about other nefarious DRMs being used by game companies.
thanks in advance for your responses.
oh boy, you just opened a HUGE can of worms mate
right, heres how it is, and listen up before some other people get crazy and start spouting incorrect information
if you have the retail version with a disk, then you can install/un-install until armageddon, with absolutely no strings. you dont need internet, you dont need a disk, and im 99% sure you dont need a serial, but i installed my version (retail) a long time ago so i dont quite remember.
HOWEVER! installing from the disk does not give you all the upgrades. i think it will only give you v1.05. Right now with internet updates, original recepie Sins is on version v1.16 and Entrenchment (ill come back to) is v1.02. there are also new minor updates coming out soon, but meh
SO! if you want the most updated version of the game, or you want to play entrenchment, you need to get on the internet, download IE7 or later if you dont already have it, download Impulse, then buy Entrenchment, and update both games to the latest version (though you can upgrade your original Sins without entrenchment, entrenchment is just a micro expansion that adds some (REALLY GOOD) aspects to the game, your choice)
To download updates, you need to get an account with impulse, that means you need to give your email address and serial code and get an account, then register your game(s) which, if you bought them legally, wont be a problem
SO, back to the beginning, if you are happy playing SP on whatever version the retail ships as, and dont want entrenchment, then you are sweet to go, absolutely no DRM, but, if you want to install updates, then you have to jump through a few hoops, but honestly, its nothing too hard or bad or anything, its just Ironclad/Stardocks preferred method of updating the game.
MOST IMPORTANTLY! if you are playing SP, YOU DO NOT NEED IMPULSE RUNNING, OR TO BE CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET TO PLAY THE GAME!!!!! AT ALL!!!! NADA!!! ZIP!!!! if you are playing MP then yeah, you are going to need the internet duh, but you still dont need Impulse running
alot of people cant get that through their thick skulls. the extent of Sins DRM is that you need to log in to Impulse to get updates. and even then, if they dont release updates (like right now they are busy on other things), you dont need to open Impulse at all! and you can play to your hearts content
but, the most important thing to remember is this: to update, you need to run Impulse with the internet. for MP, you just need the internet, no Impulse, for Single player, you can play in siberia by your lonesome without so much as a link to a power socket (laptop) and you will still be able to play
hope i cleared all that up for you.
thanks for the info!
A question popped into my empty brain...
If i register my game, get the impulse and entrenchment can I later on delete and reinstall ONLY the original unpatched SOASE game (guess what I'm trying to say is that if dont' like an upgrade/patch can I roll back to the first version) without any problems?
ok, thanks for this extremely cruicial bit of info!!
I will definitely look at buying a DVD/CD copy of the game. I went to my local Gamestop (advertised on this site for retail copy) and the guys there were clueless about the game! haha
Just an FYI if you didn't catch this but Entrenchment isn't free (it's $9.99 USD) and isn't in retail (it's only on impulse)
It's worth it though
I'm fairly sure you can install Sins without Ent even if you own it... Just don't select that option...
A few other points to clarify
1) The EULA states that you cannot transfer your license to another person (no idea why you would want to anyway as the game is so great). The reason for this is that you can re-download Sins (and Ent if you get it) as often as you want from your Impulse account. They don't want you downloading a game you sold to your mate etc... This means that even if you have the disk and serial, you cannot use it to download the patches if someone else has the serial registered (support will fix you up if someone stole your serial before you use it though....(you get a new one))
2) Impulse is used to patch as it works for ALL stardock products, so they have a common platform, similar to how Steam works (but not 100% the same - as stated you don't need to be logged in). It works by working out the delta between what you have and what you need to get the newest version - be it the whole download of the game or just the latest updates. It allows you to take archives to restore from. These are OS dependent unless you do some steps that I won't go into (generally not an issue...).
What this means is that you cannot roll back to a prior version unless you have an archive of that version - 1.05 was the last version of the game to have a stand alone patch - this was due to Impulse not being ready...
3) You need to login to play online via ICO (Ironclad Online). You can play LAN with no issues - just copy the program to another machine. The other machine needs to have Sins removed at the end of the session iirc.
One other point to note - the game is great, but has an interesting learnign curve - quick to learn, long time to master... Single Player is fun and the AI is a challenge initially, but once you get good, MP is where the action is at (ICO)...
Yeah, Entrenchment is a separate installation, all you have to do to install just Sins is install just Sins.
I went to my local Gamestop
Don't mention them
GS are not popular on Stardock forums currently after the Demigod launch fiasco (basically what happened was that Gamestop screwed up and released the game early before the Easter weekend break. Stardock hadn't bothered to put the new servers up - why would they, the game wasn't released until Tuesday - and the flood of players caused the beta servers to crash, meaning that when the reviewers tried to play the game, the multiplayer wasn't working properly and they gave it bad reviews)
As for DRM, Stardock policy is about as sensible and user friendly as you are likely to get. Basically their policy is "pirates are going to pirate it regardless of what DRM we put on it (so that is pointless), but its pefectly fair if only legitimate users can get our nice juicy free updates".
nice quote
In a nutshell, I love Impulse and given the choice between DVD vs Digital, I take Impulse any day of the week.
I've re-installed Sins a dozen times. I've installed Sins on new machines, when my last one dies. There's no activations, no required internet connection (other than to download the game and patches of course). After patching you can play the game till the cows come home.
If you're a bit leary of digital services like D2D and Steam, Impulse is much, much better on the DRM side. The only thing you need it for is to download and patch, after that you can shut it off permanently.
If you still want the DVD, however, it's really cool because you can register your product with Impulse. Once you do, you have the flexibility of re-downloading the game off of Impulse if you ever lose the DVD! That happened with my GalCiv2 disks, I have no idea where they are but thanks to Impulse I'm always able to reinstall them.
The only way you can complain about SoaSE having any form of DRM is that it is there to a small degree. After that Stardock has made it so that not only do you barely notice it but it can offer to the customer many postive things that a pirated copy can't. This makes it so that customers want to buy the game instead of punishing them if they do.
ok, thanks for all the replies. I will look for a retail copy this weekend (but not at any gamestop!).
I really loved playing Starcraft compstomps so I look forward to some epic battles in SOASE (i usually don't play against humans because I'm such a terrible player and cannot provide a good challenge!
I think its all been covered, but one more reply just to summarize it for anybody else who finds the thread.
The retail disc has no DRM, at all. You can only pach it to 1.05. Impulse is required after that.
The digital version requires Impulse. Impulse requires you to make an account, and register the game (digital copies do this automatically, retail copies come with a CD key that you use).
Once it's registered, there are no restrictions on how many times you reinstall. It doesn't phone home to verify you can reinstall (though the digital version does connect to the download server to download the game as part of the install). You can play offline with no difficulty. You don't have to phone anybody.
If you want to play on another computer, you can actually install Impulse, log in, and download/install the game. I've never had any problem having it on two computers at the same time, long as they're both mine I don't think Stardock cares.
So there it is. Go find yourself a copy and have fun!
Not entirely accurate. I do not have IE7 as I'm a Firefox user and everything worked fine. It does warn that it may require IE7 but as far as I used Impulse (updating the game after I had installed it with my CD) it wasn't required at all.
IE7 is considered a critical windows update. If you have Windows Update set to automatically install, you may have it without realizing it. Actually *using* IE for anything isn't required.
Yeah, thats possible, i just understood that you needed IE7 because i heard other people complaining about needing to download it when they dont use it... idn, its a possibility that you dont actually need it, in which case, its fair sailing, but if you do then at least he knows
like was said above, you just need it installed, just like having firefox installed and using IE still cuts down on spam etc
again, its possible you do have it and dont even know =P
Ok, people please be truthful, does anyone bother to read the EULA when they are installing any software?! Sure, we sometimes (by sometimes, i mean never) read it, but it always say more or less the same thing over and over again, do not copy this software.
not that im advocating piracy or anything... but where did this comment come from? i thought we were talking about the lack of (intrusive) DRM? no the ability to copy the game?
Sometimes....
Impulse is actually a great system. If you have a legitimate copy, then you get access to all of the updates/patches. Those with pirated copies do not. Meanwhile, if you don't want to register or can't register (I know plenty of people who don't have an internet connection at the moment, believe it or not) online, you don't have to. As noted above, the retail version will work fine without Impulse or any form of online registration.
The only cause for concern to me was a statement on a previous post that was made by Frogboy (I believe):
"I think there are many lessons to be learned from Demigod. For example, if I had to do it over again, I would be inclined to require a valid user account to play LAN even if it only has to be validated one time. That way, we could also make it a lot easier for a legal user to have a LAN party with a single license."
Does this mean that either one of my friends or I would have to register online just to play LAN games even if we all have our own copies (which we do), or is this only if we were all using the same copy/license? The main reason that we (or most people that I know) play LAN games is because of a lack of or an unreliable internet connection. Having to validate our games just to play LAN would, for us, defeat the entire purpose. I would like clarification on this topic.
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