btw if for some reason i dont know u cant update from impolse and u still have the bug.and ur a legal buyer the FIX has something to do with the date ur pc clock say

especially if you go around bragging about how against DRM and such like you're! I feel misled to be honest... as soon as I receive my box I send it back and ask for a refund

The point though is that any non-standard exe is a risk to legitimate players and the check was put in place before the memory leak and fix were discovered and applied.    It's not like it was malicious.

Lastly, teh next update to the game will likely address the semi-legitimacy of the patch and not check for it.  Sounds like a good thing.

lets say that in ancient greece august 30 was a celabration for the winter to come....thats what i heard from a friend

Yes, Elemental does not do a disk check. I got my LE box, and it's unopened and I'm playing Elemental just fine. The whole "I must crack the executable because I want to keep the box in mint condition" thing does not apply to Elemental, given the lack of disk check.

Fun fact: The pirated Skidrow version is based on the Digital Download of the game, thus it does require a cracked executable because the DD does do a one-time auth. If they had waited to pirate the retail disk, all they would've needed to do is make a disk image and upload it. No crack required.

Of course, once you start trying to patch it it's a different story Anyone who claims they need a cracked exe because they want to keep the box closed is an obvious pirate

First thank you for your answer... I was not looking for one, just merely stating what I presumed the silent mass was thinking

It's good to know that there's no security check of any kind and above all no spyware, but to be honest I candidly - and perhaps a wee bit naively - never thought it could be the case. I understand that what thrown people off was the fact that out of the blue the game stopped working when it was working very well beforehand... That's kind of spooky don't you think?
I understand it was some kind of time bomb and I appreciate your effort to prevent cheating and all that even if I personally think that this is a tad bit ludicrous considering there's many other ways to mingle with a piece of software like this one (other than modifying the main executable itself that is). Checking for a trivial chksum on the main executable is probably seldom going to catch real cheaters albeit if it's done with good intentions. In my eyes, stating that this is done for the good of the community is not only misleading but also profoundly disingenuous.

I'm are here to say goodbye to you for now, and we don't have a good word for it in English -- the best is au revoir. I'll see you in a 6 months when I can run the game as it's meant to be. If anyone is looking for a mint box version of the game in Europe I'll have one soon... Just send me a private message...

That and the fact that the DD version was available earlier than stores got their boxes. In some cases, the pirate groups manage to get ahold of retail disks before street date (swiped from factory floor, or access to retail store stock, etc), but in most cases they grab whatever is available first.

By the way, also, SD will be shipping at a later time versions of the game CD with the latest patch to those who want it and/or do not have internet access. 

Thank you for your answer kryo as I understand you guys are all busy

I appreciate that, but with my limited knowledge off your product I'm not sure how changes to the impulse side of things (or walking around any kind of security check for that matter) would indeed inject in-game problems... Maybe you can enlighten us. Once again while it might be true that some cracks add some problems, it's also disingenuous to state that those debugs generated with a cracked version are all a waste of time. The memory leaks, negative gold, and 3d graphics performance should not be impacted by a handful of cunning tricks upon startup...
I'm not in any way defending piracy, just merely pointing out the discrepancies between allegations and reality.

Machater, thank you for the patch you posted. It allowed me to play without the OOM errors that have plagued me (up until the 1st, of course).  Like the other poster said, you deserve a friggin' medal and if it were possible, you'd have a beer popping out of your disk-drive right about now.  Great job

Not to be splitting hairs, but

1) "Stealing software" is not the same as stealing bread or money. Software is a bunch of digital data that can be copied in infinite numbers wihtout any loss in quality. As that, you can't "Steal" it, unless you delete the source after you make your copy. With that said, you can still use it illegally, but thats a completely different article in the law, called copyright infringement. Sorry, but i really hate the stupid theft analogies

2) As SD is well aware of this, a pirate is usually not a criminal, but more likely a potential but hesitant customer. If your product is convincing enough, he may turn and buy it. While some would go out and buy games if there would not be an option to pirate them, there are a lot more who just wouldn't. Many of the pirates are kids or young adults, who have no income of their own and no parents willing to buy them everything. They are the gaming enthusiasts, who - once they grow up and get their own money source - will keep the industry running by buying several games a month.

3) Last, but not least. Copyright law varies a lot depending on where you live. Distributing illegal copies is against the law almost everywhere, but downloading / using copies.. now thats a rather grey area.

I just wanted to point out, that piracy is not as black and white as some people point it out to be, and while I do not think it to be okay to openly admit that you are doing it, i also do not think that it should be the thing to blame for every problem the software industry has.

Cracking involves disassembling the code and going through the assembly code to find the pieces that need to be changes. Thats why it is called reverse engineering. It is not just randomly modifying pieces of the executable file hoping for the best.

As with all programming, cracking is also prone to introducing bugs, especially since most crackers work under pressure to get things done before the other guy does. (It is some weird kind of competition going on in that scene, thats why they do it in the first place)

As for the bugs in the game. No offense, but my completely legal copy of the game plays like a beta, no matter how i twist and turn it, so i do not think that blaming any bugs on cracks is okay at this point. I do think however, that those with cracked versions should STFU and not pollute the forums with their problems as they make finding problems a lot harder by adding an extra variable to the mix: "Is it because of the crack?"

No idea really, why SD does not limit the forums based on game ownership. Not all of them of course, just the ones with the actual technical discussions in it. Would probably make their own life a lot easier.

Just registered to point out a moron. Here goes.

No, mr "loss prevention officer", you... are the complete retard. Who employs you as a what? You gotta be kidding me, you don't have the slightest idea on how the justice system works.

People can claim anything, we call that "freedom of speech".

I can claim for instance that I am Osama Bin Laden and I'm planning to sell nuclear weapons to Iran. Does that mean anything without proper proof that I am actually doing that? Of course not. The authorities would actually need SUBSTANTIAL PROOF about this before anything. But you don't know anything about that. You're just an idiot, "loss prevention officer" lol. That shit would probably work on 12 year olds, but pray you don't stumble on an actual intelligent well taught man while doing your silly job. You'll be rubbing your ass on them court benches on actual charges of "harassment" sooner than you would think possible.

Oh, and, of course, I too... am using an illegal copy of whatever you're trying to "loss prevent". I'll be happy to provide you with whatever info you need to track my ass down and sue me or whatever. Trust me... i have absolutely nothing against it lol.