BioShock

I post a link to an article on twitchguru that talks about some DRM problems the people is having with the game.

Boy, I love it when this kind of things happen. When will they cut it out with all this anti-piracy stupidity? No anti-piracy system has ever stopped "the scene" from doing their thing. At the very best, they can delay them by a couple of months (as it happened with The Two Thrones or The Suffering: Ties That Bind), and that's it. The more complex the anti-piracy scheme is, the harder the cracking groups will get to work on it. And they always succeed.

It's been proved over and over again throughout history: Ever since the days of the ZX Spectrum, the only thing that the best anti-piracy systems effectively managed to do was to fuck up regular, next-door paying customers --and most especially those who don't know where to get an illegal copy of the game and/or fear/don't trust warez sites.

And this is twice as stupid when it happens with such a hot-shot release; a game that was granted to be sold by the millions years before the release date was even announced. I know for a fact that several people who were positively onboard about getting the original Bioshock (including a guy who already owns the 360 version) decided to wait for a cracked PC version exclusively as a result of this whole SecuROM clusterfuck.

Nice going, 2K, you're a pack of morons.

Maybe it was Bill, who paid publishers to install this mm.. protection system onto long-awaited hit to attract more public to his console? In rest, I agree with Dr. Von Katze. Damn nice avatar by the way.

Try telling that to the folks that still can't crack Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.

I want to play that game so damn much... but I'll never let anything with StarForce in my system. EVER.

They did. Trust me. :)

There's been a NoDVD for that one for over a year already ô__O

A NoDVD crack doesn't necessarily mean that the game is already "cracked". I remember having to unplug the DVD to play the last Prince of Persia or having to disconnect from Internet to play Quake 4. And probably the crack file isn't even a real crack.

That thing with The Two Thrones was fixed a while ago already, there is a proper crack out there --no unplugging anything and such.

The same goes for Chaos Theory. Although people running Vista are reporting problems with that NoDVD which used to work fine under XP. But hey, is there one single person running Vista who doesn't have one problem or other?

I still can't get over that Steam issue in Half-Life...

Copy protection can be hazardous to a gamer's health.

And that's exactly what 2K needed. They do understand that any kind of protection will be outsmarted one way or another. And the truth is that the protection system on Bioshock actually worked well enough for initial release so that many people who couldn't get a working ISO release from any group actually bought a legitimate copy.

And I personally have nothing against that, and if 2K will keep it's promise and in the end release a patch disabling activation requirement then I hope more and more games will utilize the same scheme.

But it's unethical. You buy the game and you have to be annoyed for it while people who download it for free haven't, and they don't have to insert the stupid DVD in the PC every time they want to play it. And well, the price of the game also includes the costs of the copy protection.

But in case with "Bioshock" people who downloaded it for free can't even play it yet. As for inserting a DVD, using a no-DVD crack is legal as long as you own the original game and install it on one PC only (or more as in case of Bioshock). Btw, Bioshock no-DVD crack is available already.

So who's in better position now?

Did you read the article? It hardly paints anything remotely resembling a good position.

Being better doesn't mean being good. Read carefully.

I repeat once again. Every SecuROM problems are easily avoided with the no-DVD crack, and the activation process was promised to be abandoned in a couple of months. And most importantly you can play the game now and don't wait until some smart cracker will come up with the activation solution.

Yes, I think those who play the legitimate copy are in better position.

And while I agree that 2K messed up big time with BioShock's release, I still think that the fact there is no cracked copy yet (a week after official release) is a major victory for the company.

So all the torrents you can find very easily don't work? :P

I didn't look, I've just read a few trustworthy sites regarding the matter. Do you presume that you had any luck?

With what? I have no intention of downloading it (even if my PC could handle it).

With the teasing tongue. :p

:)

I'm not telling you how is it that I know this, but since yesterday morning there's at least one that does :D

Just curious but, is it "Bioshock.rar" or maybe "Bioshock.DVD9-ONEHiTWONDER"?

It's the wonder one, but you need to apply some crackfix that's been out there for a couple of days. I mean that's what I've been told. I wouldn't know myself because I was really moved by this guy's speech and I wouldn't ever pirate this game.

Or any other, for that matter. And such.

I thought you were talking about this release.

EDIT: Which one? The one with the "I am so hurt!" attitude, or the funny guy with the hammer named Dupre. I wonder if somebody has a screwdriver named Iolo or something.

Just watched the video. Those guys are a little creepy.

Anyway... I think it's completely retarded to say 'Boycott this game! Don't buy it!'

If you want to play this game, what would you rather have: 5 installations, on 5 seperate machines... or no installations at all, because you refused to buy it?

Also, boycotting the game takes royalties away from the developer, who worked hard to create a game that YOU want to play. It's not the developer's fault that SecuROM has been included in the product.

The solution is simple: Buy a copy of BioShock to show your support to the developer. Then download whatever crack you need to circumvent the evil copy protection system.

But what if you want to protest for the DRM stuff (do you always take things as they want?)? Yes, you can buy it or download it for free, but, maybe you want to support the developers after all. My suggestion would be, if you want to teach them a lesson, to download it for free and then to wait until the game's price drops enough to buy it.

By the way Doc, you realize you were moved by a guy with a RE4 poster behind?

The good news is, Ken Levine said that eventually down the road the DRM will be removed. He basically implied in so many words that 2K wanted to "ensure sales", because apparently, they didn't think the game was worth a shit. Boy were they wrong...all three Gamestops near me were completely sold out of the PC version on the first day. Good thing I reserved my copy.

Maybe 2K should consider hiring me as a consultant for their next release, because I can't even manage to stretch my salary all the way to the end of the month, but even I knew Bioshock was going to be obscenely successful about a year ago.

I might have to edit that "pack of morons" thing on my post, though.

Well, as the old saying goes, "Those that cannot do...become corporate suits."