rec.autos.simulators

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Steve

"Military intelligence, two words combined that can't make sense."

Therefore the protection serves only as a punishment for the purchaser,
and a very minor impediment for the would be pirate.

As the DRM debate says, trying to keep an honest user honest is like
trying to keep a tall user tall.

I refused to buy HL2 for the reason of Steam, and I'll surely refuse to
buy GTR if it insists on dumping hidden files on my computer.

John

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Andi.

Remove only one zero to reply

Fact is, the makers of these products pitch them to retailers.  And
they have a done such a good job of convincing retailers that this
stuff works, today no retailer will accept a game without some kind of
copy protection.

I've heard all the arguments, pro and con.  If these products cause
legitimate harm to your computer, then your complaint is warranted.
Too often, it's just selective griping about an easy target like
Starforce.  Ya know, we wouldn't need cops if it wasnt for all those
damn *crooks* . . .

j   c

I purchased HL2 and I am VERY upset with how it works (Steam).  I haven't
played it more than 15 min since I bought it.

I want to sell it,  but because of the draconian system that's involved I
don't even know if that's possible.

-Larry

Up till recently the internet has been the wild wild west of our generation.
Do you think its now ok to go around shooting people at a poker table now
as it was in 1880?  Well thats how future generations will look back and
see this time period of the internet IMO.  I could be wrong but history
sets a pretty good example.

Mitch
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Remove "nospam." to reply.
SuSE 9.2 Pro KDE 3.3.2a

I would have to agree.  Maybe I've been lucky but I haven't had any problems
with Starforce or Steam.  I was dead against Steam when it first came out
but I've grown to like it.  Obviously all of us would prefer not to have any
of this sort of stuff but if I was game developer, I'd feel like I had no
choice.

However, what this just might do is to have me looking elsewhere other than
the local retailer for a copy; now how ironic would *that* be?!! :)

Bruce

I was thinking that myself Bruce and it is ironic.

They spent a ton of money to pay protection developers only to have it cracked within weeks.  In the end, the honest consumer gets charged more for this protection to be added and is the one who gets it up the ass.  The hackers and pirates end up laughing while the average Joe ends up not being able to even make a backup copy.  Now isn't the joke on us, the legitimate consumer.

Wag

  The wonderful thing about freedom of choice is just that; the freedom to
  choose.
  Like you, I abhor insidious programs which, whilst protecting copyright,
  "invade" my computer in order to do so.
  So I won't be buying GTR either....not that such a move will bring the
  developer crashing to its knees in a flurry of stock exchange selling
  transactions, but I will be disappointed, as I was looking forward to this
  sim as a possible "replacement" for GPL.

  However, what this just might do is to have me looking elsewhere other than
  the local retailer for a copy; now how ironic would *that* be?!! :)

  Bruce

  > Because they are putting Starforce protection drivers in it. Even the
  > freaking demo has Starforce in it. I didn't buy HL2 because of Steam
  > and I certainly won't buy anymore games with Starforce after buying
  > Toca2. I classify Starforce as a Trojan. Look it up.

I do agree that the Mfg's won't be crawling to our doors trying to sell
software to us due to Steam, Starforce, etc., but neither will they for
the relatively small number of "alternative" purchase locations.

If the latest demo has the protection as reported and the full version
runs as well as the demo, then I have no problem with the software
company at least (in their minds) trying to protect their property.

If a relatively insignificant thing like Starforce causes you to miss out on
a piece of sim history then you need to get your priorities right.  Some
people pretend to have such high m***fibre and yet they're really just
scared of the unknown and are too lazy to try to understand it.

So what should the developers do? Just forget copy protection and say
"OK crackers, you've won. We aren't going to copy protect our software
because it's not worth the hassle."

In the early 90s I used a Commodore Amiga. I was FAR superior to
anything in the PC world at the time, and the PC didn't catch up until
the late 90s. The Amiga should be a force in the market today but it's
not. Why? Two reasons: 1. the idiots who ran Commodore; 2. software
piracy. Most Amiga games were'nt copy protected and piracy was rampant
in the Amiga community.

Of course this isn't going to happen to the PC but you get my point.
Piracy is a real threat and must be addressed by software developers
somehow. Do you really think they like having to spend their development
time writing copy protection into their software?

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Todd Walker
http://www.toddwalker.net
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As for Steve's comment about "prior" and "sim history" and "m***fibre"
(odd that you didn't spell it the American way, Steve!)
all that I have to say in response to the first is "game", to the second,
"game" and to the third, "will that help prevent constipation?"

Now, where wuz that warez URL...........

Cheers!
Bruce

.
.... but I have never bought the "backup copy" excuse.

Bruce.

Two reasons: 1. the idiots who ran Commodore; 2. software piracy. Most Amiga
games were'nt copy protected and piracy was rampant
 in the Amiga community.

Whatever they do, at least don't use something which will sabotage
other present programs, like Nero. I also remember I tried to update
my legal copy of Operation Flashpoint, which didn't work. The reason
was that the update installer found a CD writer on my PC, and just
stopped updating OF without any message....

Cheers!

Remco