I have been a big fan of the Anno series since the beginning, so I was very excited to hear about Dawn of Discovery, and even more excited when I found out it was coming to Impulse.
Right now I’m playing through the campaign, but the open gameplay is also very fun.
If you press F1, you can go into a “postcard” mode which will take some beautiful screenshots as shown below.
50$? No thanks.
EDIT: Oh yeah, also the DRM.
I think nothing can teach the management of the big publishing companies that people are trustworthy, because they themselves aren't. The problem is also that they do not realize they're not selling cars or toasters. They're selling digital media in a society permeated by a digitial medium.
In other words, they're broadcasting. It can't be helped, unless you have a camera on everyone's shoulder. Game publishers and developers need to realize that fighting piracy via DRM and similar methods only frustrates their legitimate customers, while illegal users enjoy their products without hassle. It came to the point where it is perfectly normal to see someone buying a copy and then going online to find a DRM-removal patch made by pirates. Isn't that absurd.
As a respone to the_Monk and kryo.I do fully support and understand people who pirate games when it comes to extremly restrictive DRM. And please stop with those stupid comparisons of stealing a car. Havent people learned by now that interlectual property and physical propterty cant be compared 1 to 1.
To Kryo. What do you suggest one do then? Publishers/Devs clearly havent learned that they shouldnt use DRM. And yes im offended when i get treated like a pirate which i also belive warrent that i behave as one. It should be less problems buying the game then getting it pirated, but its not. As of now i stand a higer degree of getting a computer infection from installing a random game then i do from same random game pulled from some warez site.
I work as a software developer myself. Yes i would get pissed off if i found out somone used my companies software without paying for it, i would also be pissed if i found out my company used unlicensed software they havent paid for say (MS Visual studio, SQL Databases, Office, Windows, WMWare etc. etc.) to make money for itself.
But looking at the kind of software game publishers sells i just dont think the DRM is warrented. The software they sell aint the cure for AIDS. Yet they try to protect it like it was. We are talking about average Joe who buys a game for 50$ and wanna go home and play. Why should i put up with any DRM crap when i can get the game off the internet with none of those problems? Look at any forum where they used TAGES(Servers down, slow support, etc.)So yes i think piracy of restrictive DRM games is perfectly understandable. Is it bad for the devs? YES but its there own fault really. Atleast from my perspective. If my boss came and told me we would start treating our customers the way many publishers do, i would start looking for another job.
There would be no incentive to pirate games if it wasnt for the DRM so i dont get why publishers put it on. They would properly make up the mony lost to piracy from the cash they spend on DRM if they dropped it. And yes there will always be people who pirate games, but most of them are probably kids who play it for 2 days and throw it away again. 99% of the people buy a games why let them go through all that DRM shit when its 1% who is to blame and that 1% gets to play with no problems.
I cant remember when i last pirated a game myself, maybe back in the 90's. But ill admit if i had more time to play games i would pirate every single DRM game and feel damn good about it simply out of spite for the publishers who think they are oh so clever. Dont they get there are people out there smartere then them for which cracking games is a challenge? The harder they make it the harder they try.That said i probably own more games then most on this board. Legaly bought. But sure go support the publishers. In 10 years you wont need a internet connection to authenticate. You will need a hardwire from your brain to there mainfraim in order to authenticate your legit copy of there game. Have fun.
*breaks out Jolly Roger*
Many stores have anti-theft detectors which regularly give false positives, so by your reasoning that would be ample justification for shoplifting.
In which case you're just a hypocrite. The purpose of a piece of software is irrelevant; you have no more right to a game just because you disagree with the maker's anti-piracy policies than your company would have to pirating Office because they disagree with Microsoft's pricing policies.
It doesn't particularly matter to me if you opt to not buy something. But to try to reason that you somehow are owed a luxury good or should get it for free just because the company attempts to prevent people from doing so (whether that's worth doing at all is a completely separate argument) is just silly. You're only fooling yourself.
Awac A
When will people (who can't even SPELL) realize that it's not about comparing intellectual and physical property but about your LAME JUSTIFICATION for the act that is at the crux of this debate!
Please re-read and if you really need to, re-read my post again:
Awac A,
So...just because a product comes with any protection at all, is REASON enough to steal now? So if I lock my car around you, I can expect it to disappear? I should just trust that you and others won't steal it, and leave it unlocked?
I get it, offend the "sensibility" (oxymoron on it's own) of a pirate and he/she gets to feel JUSTIFIED in their theft. So the only way to stop thieving is to stop attempting to protect things. WOW, why didn't someone think of that before? I've been locking up my bicycle, locking my home and my car, password-protecting my PC's. My god.......I'm going about it all the wrong way! I'm just INVITING theft........thanks for setting me straight!!!
/sarcasm
the Monk
The only thing you are ENTITLED to is the right to NOT BUY something with "restrictive DRM". Just because something has "restrictive DRM" doesn't mean you have the intrinsic right to TAKE it, moreover relish the thought of "getting one over" on the DEVS (as you so nicely state here) "... But ill admit if i had more time to play games i would pirate every single DRM game and feel damn good about it simply out of spite for the publishers who think they are oh so clever. Dont they get there are people out there smartere then them for which cracking games is a challenge? The harder they make it the harder they try...."
Do this world a favour, and please don't have children......thanks!
Kryo are you comparing that i go into a shop and shoplift to download something from the internet? Its not a valid comparison. Hypocrite? well maybe. But only in the game industry are you allowed to take your customer in the ass like most publishers do with these DRM schemes. For no good reason. There DRM is the main reason games get pirated. There has never been more pirating and never been so much DRM shouldnt it have been the otherway around with less pirating the more DRM? And no i dont think its ok to pirate Microsoft products just because i dont agree with there policy. Re read my post, I said its ok to pirate games when it comes to extremly restrictive DRM. How else will you teach publishers that DRM aint working? Only by removing there cash flow. And i disagree with you. The type of software and what its used for do matter.
Hey the_monk. Sorry but my native language aint english but clearly you was able to read it so i guess it sufficed?And yes i think its warrented because only in this bussnies are you treated like a criminal to this extent. And its people like you who keep comparing piracy with all sorts of physical theft? so why do you think people keep bringing up this comparison? Please re-read your own post.
To boil it down. Why should pirates get to play with no problem while i get to have a shitload of problems all to blame on DRM just because i bought the game? NO thank you. And i know its wrong and no i have no right to pirate games and theres nothing i rather would then support devs who make good games. But its also wrong driving 10 mph to fast on the highway i bet some of you do it anyway, risking the lives of your fellow drivers.
And why make it so personal? Who are you to tell who should and shouldnt have children, cheer up a bit.
Kryo why I do agree with you that game companies have the right to protect themselves the answer unfortunately is not DRM---unfortunately there are many people out there including myself that have had problems with drm in the past---there are other ways companies can protect themselves---the problem I have personally with drm is whether or not I'm going to be able play the game out of the box when I have the system to run it---I shouldnt have to go into a forum or anywhere else to find help to play a game due to a drm issue---that is why I personally avoid drm games---it's just not worth the hassle------I hope stardock does not plan on using it!!!!
The whole point is there shouldnt be any need for game companies to protect themself. There is no logic behind pirating games other then somebody not wanting to pay for other peoples work. Those people will always be there and you simply cant beat them. Luckly 99% of the people out there buy there games. So no need for DRM.
Exactly. Pirates are not a factor. People who don't want to pay for the game, won't pay for the game, even if it means not buying it. They get an illegal copy just because its free and easy. Only a small percentage would actually go out and buy the game if it wasn't available for download, especially in today's oversaturated market.
As for the shoplifting detectors analogy, let me ask this: if the said store had detectors which go off all the time, which require you not to wear various items of property which might be used for shoplifting, so you have to take off your baggy trousers if you want to leave the shop (DRM often blocks other programs such as drive emulation software), and if the store called on you every day to check that your bought goods are really bought and haven't turned stolen overnight... and so on - how long do you think the said store would remain in business?
This sort of business practice is possible only because most of the gaming population are a semi-addicted bunch willing to take it up the rear so they can get their next "fix" and simply don't care how they are treated as long as they get to play. As far as I see, there's very little customer protection and rights when it comes to the gaming industry.
The point is that just because the prevention method for a crime is inconvenient to you it does not justify you to go ahead and commit the crime.
As I said, that's an entirely different argument, and yes, I think it's a futile way to go about preventing piracy. But it's their product and their right to do as they like. The consumer likewise has the right to boycott those products or companies if they disagree with the methods used. Piracy is not a valid or justified method of protest, however. The only messages that sends to the top suits are "we need to use stronger DRM" and "customers are a bunch of freeloading jerks".
Boycott them. Publicize your belief that their methods are unacceptable. Write letters to the management noting how their policies have resulted in you and your friends not buying it when otherwise you would. All of these are more effective than pirating it, which only proves them right.
The irony is so called "pirates" have a higher legitimate purchase rate than non-pirates, and the existance of such piracy is beneficial for price manipulation of the market.
Oh, and there are DRM methods that work, they just aren't widespread.
Like that would work. I think your forgetting the human factor. Like ManSh00ter said
Another point is this. Imagin if all piracy stopped tommorow. Where would we be? the publishers would triumph that DRM has won the battle and used even more of it in the future.
There have always been pirates and there will always be pirates. The reason why we have DRM is that products with the promise to eliminate piracy did appear on the market, nothing else.
Piracy is not free, you have to spend a lot of time into finding and downloading the warez, which can be of dubious quality. People are even prepared to pay for piracy given the popularity of providers warez binary newsgroups. When the balance between time investment, financial investment and product quality of warez copies is better than that of authentic copies, piracy will grow out of control. As soon as the balance of authentic copies is better, piracy will shrink.
Technological progress like P2P reduces the time investment for warez and thus promotes piracy. DRM reduces the quality of authentic copies, while at the same time it provides an intellectual challenge for crackers who jump on to show to their cracker friends how smart they are. This effect makes it technically ineffective. It is sometimes hoped the DRM will prevent incidental copies at LAN parties, but as most gamer know how to find cracks it does not, in fact the industry teaches gamers to find cracks, as removing DRM increases the quality of the product.
And there we are at situation the industry is in.
Now, of course, boycotting a product using unacceptable DRM is both the most ethical and the most effective. However, going to back to the shoplifting analogy. Suppose lamp manufacturers suddenly decide that people wanting light need to identify them using chipcards to the lamp and start making such lamps en masse. Only a few manufacturers care about their customers and keep producing normal lamps.
Of course, the only right thing is to buy the normal lamps, this will force the manufacturers to produce normal lamps again. But this will limit the customer's choices in various ways, instead of a choice out of 1000s of lamps he needs to choose between only a few lamps. It is not unthinkable that in this totally hypothetic situation a black market would come into existance that would remove the chipcard slots from lamps. One can expect that such a black market would attract a lot of sympathy amongst customers that want to buy lamps, suddenly they can get the lamps that they want without the limitations.....
It is in this light that I view piracy of games from publishers that fuck their customers. Legal? No. Ethical? Depends on your viewpoint. Understandable? Absolutely.
Exactly. Not buying and not playing it is by far the most effective way of making your wish heard by producers. It is not easy, if developers make an otherwise fantastic game it can be annoying that you cannot play it, and maybe you don't want to punish developers for the sins of their publishers. However, if you want to be taken seriously as consumer, just as businesses often make difficult decisions, so will you have to do as consumer. Buying=doing business. Be a good businessman.
Its a myth that consumers can control anything through what they buy unless it happens on a extremly large scale. Which it wont for games. Again i point to ManSh00ters post.
But now i shall go download Demigod from the internet!!!....Through Impulse ofc!Yes i actualy own all the Stardock games... gasp!
Nothing of what you've since tried to put more eloquently changes what you said here:
"... But ill admit if i had more time to play games i would pirate every single DRM game and feel damn good about it simply out of spite for the publishers who think they are oh so clever. Dont they get there are people out there smartere then them for which cracking games is a challenge? The harder they make it the harder they try...."
and the contradiction in terms here:
"...And i know its wrong and no i have no right to pirate games and theres nothing i rather would then support devs who make good games..."
All I hear you saying is that you HATE DRM and therefore will use anything even the fact that that DRM exists as a JUSTIFICATION for your (not right even as you put it) actions!
You even go so far as to say you'll steal the game to prove to the publisher that they are not in fact "oh so clever".
Those aren't valid arguments my friend. They are quite the opposite and only help to further strengthen my point: (quoting myself from an earlier post)
You have absolutely no argument against what I said, at least not from the position (of circular reasoning) you are coming from (because DRM exists I'm entitled to pirate, and not only that....but I'm entitled to ENJOY the act!)
EDIT: I have 3 kids, maybe that's why "circular reasoning" doesn't get anywhere with me....
Well part of the problem with games is you have buyers who buy them that don't actually play the games... aka family and friends. My parents used to buy me games when I was younger until they finally gave up because they couldn't follow the requirements very easily which, back then, changed more quickly than they seem to now. And then they didn't even have to worry about DRM. I mean this Wal-mart shelf space want so many publishers have, you know the part where companies remove content in an effort to avoid hire ratings to get it, seems directed at impulse buyers or friends and family of gamers than gamers themselves, also people less likely to know anything about the DRM attached to the game. I generally know a lot about a game before I buy it, and I only buy it B&M because of a better price or some sudden desire of near instant gratification.
The other problem is, unless you follow DRM news, you don't realize how it's going to affect you until the first time you go to install and are told you reached your limit. Very few of these companies are upfront about their DRM. They often put it in mice type on the back of the box, just like sleezy late night TV ads. They wait until the month of release to verify it if even that soon. Ghostbusters for the PC seemed to have a delay in not only that it required online activations but that was the only reason for the listed online requirement since it doesn't have a multiplayer component at all.
As for writing a letter of complaint to a gaming company. That's a joke. This industry, in general, barely responds to legit customer service issues as it is.
I know piracy isn't the answer, and I really don't pirate things myself. After the DRM incident with Amazon, waiting for the market to treat it customers better doesn't seem like an answer either. We're better off writing our congressmen and asking for some basic rights to what we buy, even if it is just to clarify that these are licenses, we don't own anything and therefore it should be marketed accordingly... oh and get rid of the EULA lunacy.
[duplicate]
Who said i needed any justification?
And yes i do wish to support devs who make good games who dont resort to DRM and yes i support and understand people who pirate DRM games to piss off the devs and publishers who use DRM.
Its rather simple if you ask me.
The publishers are stupid, they are wrong, im right. Basicly thats the logic and the justification if your looking for any, and poperly the only one you will find. There isnt some universal truth that says its wrong to pirate. Its relative. As long as the goal justify the means. And like so many others said. Protection of consumer rights is a black hole when it comes to software. So why should we treat them any different then they treat us.
Double post, damn forumns are buggy
No there aren't. Name one example of a DRM solution which is uncrackable and I guarantee you they haven't been cracked because nobody heard of the software they're supposed to protect and hence nobody is interested in pirating it.
DRM doesn't work - never will. You can't use high-level encryption methods with a product meant for public distribution and the only other way really is to lock the only existing copy in a vault somewhere. And throw away, no I tell a lie, disintegrate the key and then, depending on the popularity of the title, weld shut the doors and maybe set up a deadly booby trap for when the burglars get through.
Since this thread has turned into another pirate thread (hijackers!!!) I considered making my own thread about this wonderful game but in the spirit of trying to get this thread back on topic, I'll post here.
This is quite simply the BEST game I have played in quite awhile. In fact, it may be the game that finally gets me back into single-player only games. Let me explain: I played WoW for 3 and 1/2 years. I was addicted. I loved the feeling of levelling but also of showing off gear, experiences, etc. I loved being able to know that other people were adventuring around me and that I was part of an online human group battling it out against other humans and scripted events (Raids). I left WoW for good last November and since then it's been tough finding something to fill the void. And it IS a void. I picked up games like Sins of a Solar Empire, Gal Civ 2, King's Bounty, all of which brought me back to the realization that in the end I'm just battling it out against the computer, fun for awhile but where's the reward? I picked up Demigod and was enthralled for a bit and it is still fun but gameplay has started to become stale for me.
Before WoW I was STRICTLY a singleplayer gamer. I had games like Call of Duty, Battlefield 1942, Neverwinter Nights. But I would play them ALL singleplayer only. Online play didn't interest me in the least until WoW came along.
I picked up Dawn of Discovery a week ago and man oh man am I hooked. Hooked way beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I'm playing against the computer but it doesn't 'feel' that way. It feels much more like I'm just out there exploring, building, governing. The game is easy to get into due to the campaign helping you along. What puts this game over the top for me above other games I've tried recently is 3 things:
Excellent campaign that really immerses you into the worldVoice acting for lots of the campaignSimplicity of the InterfaceDepth of gameplayThey absolutely NAILED the graphics. Detail is incredible.
There's more I could say about this game but I don't want to make this a TL;DR.
It is awesome, awesome, awesome. The activation thing is not a big enough of a reason to not purchase this game.
Get the demo and you'll be hooked.
I will respectfully and whole-heartedly disagree. It is more than enough reason not to buy a game, and that opinion is not mine alone. You are welcome to do with your money as you see fit, but your disagreement with DRM objections does not mean that the topic is irrelavant or even a hijack to your topic considering this wouldn't even be an issue if the company hadn't used invasive DRM to begin with. Once they made that decision, to handcuff legal customers to unreasonable DRM, while doing nothing to stop pirates except delay them for maybe a handful of days, they brought this dicussion about that policy over the game itself on themselves.
@ ALL the DRM complainers,
Since the inception of DRM, I've owned games with all sorts of DRM ranging from Starforce and SecuRom to FADE (the DRM in Operation Flashpoint and was kick-ass DRM actually......enjoyed hearing about the pirated games FADE-ing away! lmao).
I have not had one single issue with any form of DRM on any of my many computer systems (with a variety of hardware and O/S configs) over the MANY YEARS I've been playing DRM-protected games.
Maybe it's because each of the O/S's on my systems is PAID for, and not a pirate-stripped version? Maybe it's because I'm an IT guy and just know how to keep everything in working order? Maybe it's just because the DRM knows I'm a good person and never bites me in the ass?
Who knows, but I'm willing to bet that the bulk of people in this world BITCHING about DRM haven't had one single PREVENTABLE issue with DRM other than those circumstances they've created for themselves.
I read enough forums to know that people often come up with RIDICULOUS circumstances for DRM failure. For example, what if I'm on a mission to the MOON, and the Space-Shuttle loses it's internet connection........how will I be able to activate my copy? Bad DRM, BAD!
The point is, the people who bitch the loudest about DRM aren't the one's (usually) who actaully have a legitimate reason to do so.
Again, in the MANY MANY years I've been installing and playing DRM-enabled games, I have NEVER EVER had even one SINGLE issue! I ask you, coincidence?
EDIT: So........given my DRM experiences above.......why would I ever care if something has DRM on it? Hasn't ever bother me.......
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