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DRM, Online Pass, Project Ten Dollar and the like


Yantelope
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We have a thread about whether or not you pirate games but what about games with heavy DRM, online passes or other kinds of purchase restrictions. Does it affect whether or not you purchase a certain game?

 

THQ just said they're going to be using the Online pass model for Homefront so if you're gonna go online then you're gonna have to pay them $10 or you're not going to be able to advance past level 5 (out of 75).

 

I know I opted to buy Assassin's Creed 2 on the Xbox rather than on the PC because of the DRM system they were going with. I also know that it kept me from buying Spore. I don't think that the online pass bothers me much though because I usually buy games new and I usually buy games that I'm gonna play online when they're new releases.

Edited by Yantelope
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I bought AC:B on console for the same reason that you got AC2, and I probably wouldn't have bought Spore if I'd known about the DRM ahead of time.

 

The Online Pass system doesn't bother me at all, for the reasons you listed: if I'm gonna play multiplayer then I'm probably going to buy new. On top of that, I don't play multiplayer very much, so I really don't care if they restrict my progression (though it might bother me if they locked me out entirely).

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Yeah, EA's "buy new" initiative really doesn't bother me. I mean, I always prefer buying new (I'd like to make sure the developers get compensated). Plus, it's just EA protecting their investment and guaranteeing that their hard work doesn't get completely passed by from the likes of Gamestop.

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Ubisofts DRM scheme, though recently lightened a little bit, was massively over reacting. Especially since it could only ever be detrimental to legal owners. A pirated copy could play issue free regardless of the state of Ubisofts servers.

 

EA's Project Ten Dollar is kind of okay. If you're buying new theres no cost, if you're buying used, well sort of tough luck to you if you'retrying to save a skimpy £3.

However in the future it will provide many issues since just as we'd maybe be out on the hunt for an old copy of say Timesplitters, you'd be bummed if you couldn't access the MP section when you got it cos it's a Project $10 thing and the stores now obsolete.

Them charging for online pass with the EA Sports titles is pretty shitty. On one hand EA run their own MP servers so every right to charge even new buyers. Buuut people already pay for XBL, and EA's server support is even worse than MS's so it's kinda shitty you'd charge $10 for what's potentially only going to be 18months of online MP access.

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However in the future it will provide many issues since just as we'd maybe be out on the hunt for an old copy of say Timesplitters, you'd be bummed if you couldn't access the MP section when you got it cos it's a Project $10 thing and the stores now obsolete.

But if the store's obsolete then you can't do the multiplayer anyway, so it's kind of a moot point.

 

Or do the online passes also apply to local/LAN multi? If so, that's BS.

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Timesplitters does local multiplayer. I guess maybe not the best example.

Well ME2's project $10/Cerberus thing. It's not MP but come several years time you'd be fucked getting access to it. They're already starting to disable bits of it. It's something that kind of fucks over with all DLC though so maybe it's a bit of a stickler, but when with most of EA's stuff it's things they've taken out so that the new buyer gets the whole game n the used buyer is missing a chunk it kind of sucks more than regular DLC.

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Yeah, but making your game worthless after a few years seems to be part of the larger plan. Backward compatibilty is taking a large hit because companies seem to make endless money by re-re-releasing old games. I'm sure there will be some sort of future XBLA version of ME2 for future generations to rebuy with all the content in-tact.

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I imagine Cerebus will get disabled in the future when the inevitable GOTY edition comes out with all the DLC available on the disc.

 

As for project $10, like the level headed minds have stated in this thread, I really don't mind because I mainly buy new, to support developers / actually influence sale numbers, etc.

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What have they disabled on Cerberus?

 

I'm not entirely sure, (and since I've got the game at launch and already activated the stuff I don't think I'd be able to boot up n notice) but seems you won't be able to get the stuff the cerberus pass could get you anymore and and updates. Just giving it a bit of a bump with the PS3 release coming out then shutting it off.

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EA's scheme doesn't bother me because I tend to buy games new anyway. The first used game I bought in years was RDR for 360. Then I bought Undead Nightmare through Live, so Rockstar ended up getting my money anyway.

 

But I dunno if I like the idea of every game having a $10 online component for used copies. I rented AC:B for a couple weeks and really enjoyed access to multiplayer.

 

I can see why it bothers folks who buy a lot of used games. But I'm also sympathetic to publishers and developers trying to get some money from the used games market.

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I don't want games with stupid kinds of DRM on them.

I don't want games that make you buy them new to get access to all the content it already has at launch.

WTF is this shit? I understand servers cost money but if it's an issue let us make our own FECKing servers...

So what you don't make money on the resale of a game. It's the same with the resale of everything else. WHY IS THE GAME INDUSTRY SPECIAL AND GET AWAY WITH BEING SO CONTROLLING?

I just noticed the word TROLL in controlling...................FECK

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Oh while I'm kind of against the project $10 stuff I should maybe point out I don't buy (most of) my games used, and I don't trade in. So it doesn't affect me as such, but in principle you know.

 

Also EpicBattleAxe have a podcast which has covered stuff about the VG industry getting away with stuff like this.

Like if you had a CD that only comes with 12 tracks n to get the 13th you have to use an online code.

No one does this kind of shit.

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What have they disabled on Cerberus?

 

I'm not entirely sure, (and since I've got the game at launch and already activated the stuff I don't think I'd be able to boot up n notice) but seems you won't be able to get the stuff the cerberus pass could get you anymore and and updates. Just giving it a bit of a bump with the PS3 release coming out then shutting it off.

It's not shutting down, it's going on new content hiatus.

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And actually, they said there will be one more piece of new content before they close shop.

 

Personally, used game things really don't bother me, since I only buy used when new isn't really an option- either because it doesn't really exist anymore, or because the price differential is completely immense (example- I bought Capcom vs. SNK 2 for PS2 used, because new would have cost me another hundred dollars, and that's nuts). DRM, I only find annoying when it's the Ubisoft sort- I do sometimes not have the internet, and if you make it so that I can't play my games while I'm offline, I will burn your goddamn house down.

 

That said, I'm primarily a console gamer, so it doesn't affect me that much.

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You guys are getting mixed messages. The only thing they're disabling for the Cerberus Network are the daily news updates that show up in the main menu. They said there will be a few more before a piece of DLC sometime, and before the launch of ME3. None of the content is being taken down.

 

Anyways, as for the topic at hand, I'm not really feeling EA's project thingy. Mainly because I'm a used game buyer, and secondly because all the versions of it I've encountered sucked. At least do something actually worthwhile, not the bare minimum.

Edited by RadiantViper
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Not really a problem for me, I buy pretty much all of my games new, the only ones I buy used are for previous platforms, and therefore stuff like this doesn't affect those games :P

 

As for DRM, Ubisoft was wrong in the way they implemented it, they're reducing the requirements for it and that's good I guess, but seeing as how I'm primarily a console gamer, and how, in all the purchases I've made for the PC I've never had any problems with DRM I should probably stay away from the subject :P

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  • 4 months later...

DiRT 3 just signals codemasters entry into Online Pass. Looks like it's here to stay. I wonder now just how long it will take for online pass to become more restrictive. I was pretty shocked when Supreme Commander 2 shipped with only half of the game on the DVD and the other half had to be downloaded from online. I can't help but wonder if that's going to happen very soon where if you buy the game used you have to pay a $10 fee just to play the game period. I mean, why not?

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The "Online Pass" initiative is completely misguided and poorly thought out. People who buy used games do so because it's cheaper (i.e., they're trying to save money), so a company that turns around and says "U WANT ONLINE? THAT'LL BE 10 BUX PLZ" isn't going to push those penny pinching gamers to drop money on an "Online Pass", they're just not going to buy the game, period. If they didn't care about an extra $10 they wouldn't have considered buying the used copy in the first place. This does nothing.

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No, that is the point Ryan, they want to do as much to hurt the used market as possible. If they stop people from buying the game used then they've succeeded, even if it means those people never buy the game at all.

 

Disagree. Like with piracy, this "problem" is best combated not by deliberately hurting those who "hurt" your business, but rather turn them into actual paying customers. They ought to think of a real system in place to get people to buy new games rather than piss all over the people who buy used ones.

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