Malfador Games Pirated

[Fyron]

reducing the speed of the internet to something redicously low (14.4 anyone?)

That is just ridiculous. Trying to fight the tide of technological progress will only get you run over. Noone would go for such a vast reduction in their internet speed, even regular dialup Users! Well, surely there are a few kooks (or however you spell that...) that would, but not many.

or redesigning both Operating Systems and the Internet itself to prevent it.

MS tried that, and look where it got them... But more seriously, all that would do is cause more and more pirates to go to free, open source OS like Linux et all. You can not redesign the internet to prevent it, unless you want to give up basic rights and have it patrolled draconianly (even by programs).

Then CD Burners. They made that Copy Proof CD, but as CNN reported, that's bypassed by a single key.

It is impossible to make a copy-proof CD. Any method can and has been cracked.

Why not design copy-proof programs?

Because that won't work.

Programs that'll self destruct or void itself if you try to copy it

Impossible. If you can read data, you can copy it. There is no way a CD (or any other realistic medium from which you read the data) can tell it is being copied instead of being read normally.

where the programmers and developers alone know the special codes to install patches.

Umm... so you have to call them and have them come install updates to your program? Reverse-engineering can and does undo all of the anti-piracy stuff built into programs. Go ahead and write in the need for special codes. Someone will just remove that from the program. Unless you want to make your program run 24/7, which will never fly for the vast majority of software applications, and never for games.

[ January 14, 2004, 03:18: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

some of you didn't seem to notice this:

like increasing the resources of the citicens of those countries.

crime tends to follow low-income areas. why? because they have to feed their families somehow. and no job prospects means depressed. and depressed means anger. and blah blah blah dark side.

so, help those areas acheive prosperity and democracy.

[Fyron]

That's harder than you would think.

[tesco samoa]

Also copy protections should not break the law itself. I am allowed to make back up copies. If I cannot then perhaps this is not the product for me.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

That's harder than you would think.

i didn't say i thought it would be easy, just that it would be the right answer.

[Azselendor]

The problem with computer piracy is that it is not limited to low income Groups. The problem is with the core nature of the internet.

The net was designed to be open source, free for all to use and add to. But the law and human nature operate in the opposite direction.

Increasing the quality of life would help in reducing some of this, but not all of it. The underlying problem is the net's dual nature. Secrets and Stealth vs Access and Information. Sure, you can hide on the net, but that is a mere illusion.

Fyron, my post was to merely point out how insane prevention is, but avenues that can be taken. Like an STD, 100% prevention cannot be achieved unless you simply don't do it.

[Paul1980au]

Creative developments in copyright protection will help to make it harder for the pirates and help the underlying bottom line for software companies the alternative is to do nothing which is not such a good idea to keep creative game programmers in business.

[Fyron]

I have not seen any game companies go out of business from piracy. Sure, it reduces profits, but the vast majority of people that pirate a game would not have paid for it in the first place, so it is not really much in the way of lost profits.

Unlike a STD, software pirates are sentient beings and very ingenious. Copy protection and such has always been breakable, has always been broken, and will always be breakable.

[ January 15, 2004, 03:49: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Undertakr]

Well, I worked at a major software company for 10 years, so I have some opinions on this...

1) Many software companies have gone out of business due to piracy and not just because of lost sales but also because people get it before it's released, say it sucks and it keeps people from buying who would have bought the game (and hated it possibly. )

2) There is no way to keep a game from being pirated. The company I worked for spent millions to 'copy protect' our games and it never worked. It's stupid to even try. Instead of spending money on that spend it on making a better game.

3) There are many games that I thought I'd hate that I downloaded just out of boredom and ended up liking and purchased. Many of the pirates actually go out and buy the games after they've pirated and finished them because they were so good.

4) Software companies don't understand their customers worth a crap. Lets be honest, how many 10-15 year old kids have $500 a year to buy 10 games? Not many at all. Games are too expensive for the core demographic they are designed for and then add on a $13-15 a month fee for the newer games and you've priced your customers out of the market, all but forcing them to pirate some of the games they want to play simply because they can't afford them.

5) Many games don't have demos, which means you're going to pay $50 to see if you even like a game. I just dropped $55 on Horizons and I find it hugely boring. I wasted $55 on a coaster. If they had a demo I wouldn't have wasted my money.

Game companies need to not waste their time on anti-piracy software and simply make better games and people will buy them. The most successful companies are the most pirated (Lucas Arts, Electronic Arts, Blizzard) and they're still making a crapload of money simply because they make QUALITY games that people WANT to play.

In my opinion, 90% of the games released every year are crap. They're nothing but technology demos on how pretty graphics can be with no thought behind them. No story, no challenge, no emotion, but simply a point and click kill fest of monotony and repetativeness.

When Halo is the 'Best Game of the Year', things suck. It's not a good game. It's a pretty game, it's technology is impressive, but I was never challenged in it. I never had to out think a puzzle or achieve anything spectacular. I didn't feel like HOLY CRAP when I beat the game. Max Payne 2 was light years better than Halo was. It had a great story, great level design, great easter eggs and an amazing conclusion to the game.

Space Empires succeeds because it's not a clickable screen saver like the games that are out now, it's a struggle. A challenge that is always changing and has many different solutions. It's emotional from the beginning to the end, you feel loss when your ships die, you feel great when you kill someone off. THAT is a game and THAT is what the pirates will actually pay for after they've pirated it, not to mention the word of mouth the pirate gives to all of his/her friends about how great the game is.

That's how I found Space Empires, from a pirate talking about it. Otherwise, I never would have heard about it.

*hops off the soapbox*
- takr

[Phoenix-D]

Copy protection isn't just futile- it can cost you sales if done badly. Case in point are the schemes that cost 10-20 FPS in performance. This gives -everyone- an incentive to crack the game. And it always is.

CD checks can be bad too. SF's for example has the auto-run always triggering the installer..annoying. It also costs laptop Users power unless they dedicate a lot of HD space to a copy of the game cD.