Re: FO3: A simple disk check...right?
- From: TheSmokingGnu <anonymityisavirtue@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:58:16 -0800
Zaghadka wrote:
40-year-old virgins always win because the DRM programmers have to contribute
resources to other, more *ahem* pressing interests that the other side simply
ignores or does not have.
Titties uber alles? :D
Have you read _Cryptonomicon_? ;^)
No I haven't, but a trip to the local Repository of Human Knowledge is overdue...
Providing a truncated disc image whose only purpose is to falsify a license
check? In my book, that's not "grey," that's clearly "black hat" behavior.
Period.
Whoa whoa whoa there, who said anything about falsifying? I use short images for most of my legit older games so that I don't have to use a crack; what does the DRM care if the signal comes from a virtual drive as from the physical CD? Like your daughter, it saves me the time changing discs out of the drive and the wear-n'-tear thereof (without losing all that HDD space to superfluous data).
Like a VCR (or DVR, damn you kids and your new-fangled technology), short images have both their legitimate and illegitimate uses.
Incidentally, sometimes "Mallory" and "Alice" are split personalities
manifesting within the same woman. That's when it gets interesting.
(That would make her... Malice? <G>)
Contrariwise, sometimes Alice does the deed herself; the best example I can think of is Egosoft and their X series of space games; they've always included no-cd executables in their 'final' patches, when the game has essentially run the retail cycle (Blizzard did it too for Starcraft a while back, I'm sure there are others).
There is no "acceptable collateral damage" in this business. A copy control
program should NEVER even dream about potentially damaging hardware.
It's the risk with /any/ type of software, but even moreso in the dark and foreboding areas of computing that DRM is forced to inhabit by rather poor OS design. Only drivers are afforded the requisite levels of memory security and runtime access to devices to be 'secure' enough (and clearly, even that isn't truly secure), but that access also means exposing the potential flaws or weaknesses of those devices, that regular use may have never seen.
Strangely enough, GCW claims that Bethesda is using StarForce on Russian copies
of "Fallout 3," just to get somewhere near the topic again.
Would not surprise me, StarForce is often the defacto protection for distribution to northern Asia Major where piracy sometimes exceeds 90%. It does the job (but it doesn't matter much to the pirates; why use the Russian version when you can pull a North American version using SecuROM off the internet in a matter of hours and have a hundred copies burned by next morning?).
That's the original Safedisc. It did the job. I purchased CloneCD to backup my
copy of Dungeon Keeper II. In my book, anything that requires a person to
purchase specialized copy making software, like CloneCD, is sufficient to halt
the "What's a DRM?" demographic.
Even simpler, return to the days of yore, whereupon the game asked for the word at a specific page/line/number reference to start a new game? Pirates will gleefully distribute the disc image, but how many times have you seen them include the entire contents of the manual (even if they had the facilities for OCR / scanning and made it into a PDF, how many times has it been done?). No, their interest is the code, the executable, but any looking for a free meal are sodded without the (nicely bound, full 4-color printed acid paper) manual. :)
All heavier DRM does, to my mind, is create a Prohibition-like "speakeasy"
atmosphere where your counterculture is legitimized as a bunch of "goodfellas."
And that's VERY Bad News (TM) for our culture.
And here I think it's Very Good News™ for our culture.
Some will always pirate for their own profit. Some will pirate because it is the only reasonable access they have. And some pirate on principle. But it is their combined effect that should spell out loud and clear that /DRM does not work/, and that it only serves to inconvenience legitimate consumers. DRM is not effective at stopping /any/ type of piracy, period. Thus, DRM should be gotten rid of, post-haste; the sooner that *everyone* is freed from the yoke, the better.
Then, companies gear their products towards encouraging and enticing consumers to purchase them; we want them, /we are made to want them/, because they are interesting, high-quality wares from trusted and exalted names.
Then, companies actively work to get their stuff into the hands of as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Multiple distribution channels and simultaneous worldwide releases become the norm; one price for everyone, everywhere.
I see piracy as a mediating force between the producers and the consumers. The consumers want things done differently, and the producers must adapt themselves and their business practices to meet that demand or else face destruction. It's now patently obvious that trying to restrict and contain the 'problem' doesn't work; even viewing it as a problem is silly. Consumers will get their hands on what they want one way or another; ensure that it is with eagerly opened wallets, direct to your coffers.
(There are stories that Starforce's makers may actually have done this with Gal
Civ 2.
Aside: I think they ended up a little more than rumors. Regardless, I have never taken a single Stardock game; in fact, I downloaded a copy of Sins of a Solar Empire, played the tutorial, remarked to myself in some colorful language and immediately proceeded to find out how to procure said game. That was my 'demo', but even that tiny taste was sufficient. So, lessons learned: more demos!
MOAR!
What will his mother think of him!?)
"Son, you didn't break 100K sales this quarter. Your father and I are disowning you."
|"*Our* company will demonstrate that its not your fault, in 50 page glossy |color dossiers and with hookers and blow. We will provide you with a product |that does not work, not EVER, and heartily say 'Atta boy! Go get them tharr |pirates!' This will allow you to cover your ass with your stockholders."
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it was black and white, 20lb. double bond just folded over, some old crotchety lunchlady taking a cigarette in the corner, and a whole lotta baking powder.
The repeated actions of "smart" CEO's in response to this pitch proves to me
that the MBA programs cannot teach business to save their lives
I hear numbers bandied about, that MBA programs are now teaching students to operate on a 5-year-plan; get hired, wring as much profit and bonus out of the company (using whatever methods necessary) as possible, resign after the fifth year on your bonus/pension/benefits/stock price, get hired somewhere else, rinse, repeat. Try not to get caught by the gravity well as the company implodes.
as this is a
basic protection racket that your average shop keeper in the Bronx knows how to
deal with.
(*shrug*) Oh well. I'm sure you know *all* about this stuff. <G>
Eh, fuggedaboutit. :)
TheSmokingGnu
.
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