Nocd Patches
 

Ok, so companies make protection so people cant copy the games and as annoying as some people who just want to make a backup find it, i can understand it, but, if u think about it, why couldnt game companies make nocdpatches? i mean it would let users be able to play their games without using the cd and thereby saving them from a reason of why having to make a backup and yes it would piss many out there because some of u download the games ;) and i have to admit im not exactly innocent but i buy the games and i think this would be a good idea, what u guys think?

erm thats a contradicction

the cdrom (as far as the companies are conscerned) is your ONLY proof of purchase, as its a protected cdrom, deemed uncopyable beause of the protection, the executable is wrapped with the protection, the protection checks the cdrom for authenticity.. therefore a nocd patch from the company would completely defeat the protection, and allow you to install the game, take it back to the shop, get a refund, go back home and backup your install which obviously would be illegal and against the rules of this board.. but maybe that helps paint the picture for you?

hmm i ddint see it that way, well wat about an installation that didnt require a cd to play?

In my view, if you can't backup the CD, then you don't OWN the game, you just own the right to play it, as long as the CD holds out (Which won't be long at all, if it has to be in the CD ROM drive all the time).

Mind you, Luciel, there have been quite a few very nice games whose late upgrades removed the copy protection or they have never been protected at all: Quake 2 and Return to Castle Wolfenstein comes to my mind, but DOOM also came on plain floppy disks, if I remember correctly! ;)

Joe

that is rite joe, i still proudly own in mint condition the floppy version fo doom in its original box with the 39.99 price on it :P

Or an installation with a "FULL" option for all the people with enough HDD space.
I think the protection should be in the install/setup part and not every single time you run the game. This should defeat the "return to store" thing.

How do you actually return a game to a store? "I didn't like it"?

Do people still have floppy drives? Do floppy disks actually live that long? Did ANYONE play doom with a mouse? was it even an option?

well in doom95 u could but only sideways and yes i do own a floppy at times its very usefull :)

And in the uk at least "game" have a policy of if u dont like the game (if u paid full price, not a reduced one) u can return it within 15 days wich its extremly stupid or u could always do wat i did with trackmania, yes it was good but not enough for wat i paid so i said it was buggy and it wouldnt run properly so they took it back, its not like there gonna install it and check is it? ;) hope i dont get banned for this lol :) and for the record, i didnt make a backup lol

Protection What I think they should do
 

I reckon for a protected Disk they should go at it like this:

You buy the Game from a retailer
You need a Serial but the package has no Serial or Activation thing except a Phone Number

You get home & you can not Install the Game, Until you Ring or Email the Company that made the Game (With your Proof of Purchase Receit) before they will give you a Serial Install Key.

So in otherwords you have to Register your Name with them for the Serial Key they gave you, & at the Same time the Disk has no Protection on it because it can not be installed without a Serial.

I guess they could make a CD Check on the Protection as it can still be easier to Backup with as its I believe our write to have a Backup of the Original.

Also I reckon if they keep going with all these Protections things that they should replace our Disks if they are Damaged through a lot of Playing with.

;) :rolleyes:

Another revival. Looks like this board is being visited by Thread Paladins lately.

@Jedimaster Player: Wake up from your dream and learn much more about what crackers are capable of. E.g. Windows XP's activation - which is similar to what you described - was cracked within days or even hours... Also, activation is a bitch if you 1) have no Net access at home and 2) there are no distributors for the game in your country in which case you have to do an expensive foreign call! (Mind you, no, not all people live in the USA...)

The only way to do it properly, is to either..

1. Distribute games with a unique code on each cd, which has to be activated via online or via phone call.

2. publishers to keep a note of all serials being used when games are shipped, and ask people to call or activate online, and cross reference the serial. If used more than once in a short time, they will know if one copy has been leaked.

Protections
 

@Joe Forster/STA
Yes I can see where you are comming from, as this topic took me by surprise & its what I had 1st impressions of what they should do, but after you pointing that out with me its not as good as I 1st thought.

As they say there is always another way wether it's better or for worse, I reckon that Protections on Games will always be around...

Gotta think about what the guy thinks about his own Copy Protection when it comes to buying a Game with his own Protection Creation on it ? LoL

1. Does he get rid of his protection in the Game to play without it

or

2. Does he live with it & use the Original Disk all the time (I Bet Not)

or

3. Does he get the Game without the Protection on it ?

What do you think... What would you do in this sitsuation. Especially if you created the Protection for the Game you bought.

:confused: ;)

sounds all good,but if i had to ring a phone number everytime i bought a game i just wouldnt bother anymore.

people dont like hassle.

hell i never even rang microsoft for my activation code,i just cracked it.(before i had the net)

Phone
 

Yea ok But what if the Phone Call was free for the 1st Time only just to get your Code ?

:D

like they would pay operators and not get anything in return... and if they did,it wouldnt be many,so there would be like 5 hour cues.

also,the more hassle that comes with a game,the less people buy it,look at teh awful sells of chaos theory as evidence.

also if each key was protected,what would teh point be of these forums,because you wouldnt be able to make a backup.

Good point

I'll rest my case, it just go's to show that Protections just might stay around for a long time comming, the only problem being is that it will just get worse, just look at StartForce & Tages.

:)

Just few considerations:
1.The only way to defeat piracy is to keep prices low and quality high; also reducing the quantity of clones published every month would be a great thing (I wish EA published a new FIFA every 3-4 years and in the meantime released an update patch with a small price).

2.Publishing games which don't require the original cd while (or just before) playing is the right thing to do to encourage the mùst primitive way of piracy, that is to say "one cd for 30000 installations)

3.For the codes there are keygens, for net activations there are hacked accounts and for telephone call dunno cause it's the most stupid thing I've ever heard, if PES4 had phone registration I would have waited months before playing.

4.Maybe if F.E.A.R. had full support for my video card (mobility radeon 9600 128mb) I would have bought it, I think a lot of people in my situation will solve the problem in "other ways", maybe "trying" it for free. What I want to say is: NO RESPECT FOR THE GAMERS; not all the people have the possibility to upgrade their pc every 6 months, "they" should think about it and about the opportunity of releasing games with absurd requirements and not optimized for med\low-end systems.

5.Too much hype around too much games will make people desire to "have everything". If reviewers had more courage there wouldn't be 5-10 must-buy games every month.

6.I'm tired, I go and play with MotoGp3, one of the most underrated games of the last year. See ya! :eek: :D

DUKE_NUKEM
I agree with you fully, & we should not be forced to Upgrade our pc's just for a Game we like. Sometimes still I like Playing Quake 1 Yes it works on WinXp with SP2.

:)

that is what demo's and beta's are for

well, i understand using demos, but i (maybe you?) dont have full access to every beta appearing for a game.
a) you get them illegal or
b ) you get them with good contacts to publishers or luck by finding websites where you can register for it.
but in general you cant say "i want the beta" and download it just anywhere
i can just say, lend the game in video shop or whereever, try it and if its good, buy it. i often lend games to see how they are, i dont get a limited gaming experience like in a demo, i see the final status and i dont have bugs that arent in the full stores version.

Any ideas on what would be a good system in your opinion then ?

Would an ideal system be that all games would be free of copy protection and developers and publishers would just rely on good human ethics so people wouldn't copy/download games instead of buying them ? And more importantly, do you think such a system would work in real life with the modern society ?

Didn't think so...

I was only saying that Jedimaster Player's idea, the phone/Net activation, was not only annoying to the user but also easier to crack than most copy protections. (Although some said on this forum that they'd rather activate their games via Steam than have this awful Starforce installed on their PC.)

As for my dream - now that you asked for it -, I believe in free (or very cheap) software, without goddamn publishers/resellers/distributors/shops taking away like 95% (there was an estimation about the percentage on this forum a few months ago) of the final price of games/applications/music CD's. (And, yeah, I am reading/watching too much Star Trek and other sci-fi all the time... ;) )

@ Muji.Fighter (is that your name? lol)

In my country it's not so easy to lend PC games, as anyone takes them only for ripping. There's no need to pay for a week lend when in few hours you can have isos on your hd, don't ya think?
Anyway, I really don't understand the matter of betas. If all works fine, one should ask himself "will it work good also in the retail version?"; otherwise the question will be "will they solve the problem in the full version?"
Lack of respect for gamers is a matter of fact, especially for laptop owners (anyone remembers the res problem of SH4? Why a game should check my hardware if it isn't able to do it properly? The game said I had a 112 Mb Video Card....never seen one before lol), so I don't want to spend more words about it.
There was a time for few games, good games, with packages which made you remain on the seat staring at the case, not at the game. It was amazing to "smell the circuit" from Gran Turismo 2 GT Mode Disc.
Today, with little money you can almost replicate the packaging of everything you want, you have to be feared of protections that could kill your hardware, and, after all, games are no more so special. Take e.g. F.E.A.R. (tried the demo): exceptional concept, ordinary game.
Wasted too many words today, it's time to relaz :cool:

Why not USB games
 

What if they made a jump drive instead of a dvd/cd . The new HDs coming out will not have any moving parts and will pretty much be a USB jump drive. What if they made a jump drive that could only be read , put the protection on there so that it is encrypted with a key. Kinda like the floppy's but the write protect switch was always on so you wouldnt accidently overwrite them. When you have to start a game , you just switch what jump drive is plugged in. They would definitely last longer then a cd and would take up less space on your desk.

all that does is change the medium, and it will still be copied, all you have to do is sniff the data, and it would cost more to produce, thus increasing the cost of the software.. nice idea, flawed in concept though