The Awful Anti-Pirate System That Will Probably Work • Hacker News Board

Re: The Awful Anti-Pirate System That Will Probably Work

#121

Post by barrkel » Sat, Feb 27, 2010, 2:52 PM UTC

wmf wrote: post #87

barrkel wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget my direction - a guy who always buys his games, but has been deeply disillusioned by the way games have been "consolified" of late, hence has spent less and less on games, and has built up a level of resentment of publishers who think that reduced game sales is owing to piracy , rather than crappy ports .

Just give in a buy a console; that's what I did. If the developers are going to develop console-style games, there's no point in playing them on the PC. And since the PS3 hasn't been cracked, there's no ridiculous DRM.

I don't have a TV to attach a console to, and I really couldn't be bothered with having to manage with multiple physical tokens for each game - I don't pirate, but I do use nodvd cracks and the like. And the games I enjoy, primarily first person shooters, work best with keyboard and mouse.

Re: The Awful Anti-Pirate System That Will Probably Work

#122

Post by stcredzero » Sat, Feb 27, 2010, 3:19 PM UTC

_delirium wrote: post #118

stcredzero wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is more pervasive DRM necessarily more of an inconvenience for the user? It will be an inconvenience for an unfortunate minority, but a well designed and executed system could well be unnoticed by most. I only notice Apple's DRM in iTunes when I have to de-authorize an old computer or authorize a new one, which is only once or twice a year at most.

It depends on how common the minority is, yeah. In the days where DRM required you to insert the original game disc to verify it, a lot of legitimate purchasers of games got cracked copies too just to avoid the hassle of having to swap CDs. With the internet-based DRM, I think it depends on how many gamers have flaky internet connections, or play on laptops at places where there's no internet (e.g. on most trains, bu…

A lot of that can be addressed by making the connection a bit more "robust." A lot of people who play on trains and buses can could be accommodated by having 24 hours to authenticate.

Re: The Awful Anti-Pirate System That Will Probably Work

#123

Post by roc » Mon, Mar 01, 2010, 2:10 AM UTC

dandelany wrote: post #102

roc wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Piracy isn't pushing anyone anywhere. Publishers have it in their head that piracy equals lost sales. It's this belief , that DRM can recapture those sales, that is pushing them in this direction.

Sales of PC games, which are dead-easy to steal, dropped off sharply at right around the dawn of the Internet. Meanwhile, the market for console games, which have a much higher barrier to entry to pirate, is booming: http://origin.arstechnica.com/news.media/video-game-sales-1.... Rightly or not, PC game makers have it in their heads that piracy is killing their business. I can see it both ways: On one hand, I find it…

There are plenty of other data points besides 'dawn of the internet'. Complexity of PC games shot up. Prices shot up. Consoles began to get titles in genres that were traditionally 'PC only'. Also, PC games have always been dead-easy to pirate. It's thoroughly unconvincing to wave your hand at an aggregate sales graph and note a single data point.

And, frankly, none of that matters. All that matters is that publishers believe DRM can turn would-be pirates into customers. It's a belief that's never been borne out by the data. But still they try.

Whether their cause is noble, or reasonable, or justified is irrelevant. It's their belief that DRM is worth-while that causes DRM. Not piracy. Not sales.