rec.autos.simulators

SimBin a well known and PROUD Starforce Publisher has UPGRADED
its copy-protection system to a even more AGRESSIVE one, and
off course it had to be STEAM, the top of the line in AGRESSIVE
copy-protection.

SimBin's "RACE - The Official WTCC Game" will be STEAM INFECTED!
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

Is it surprising? Not at all!
If a Publisher had the nerve and arrogancy to use Starforce it
will also have the nerve and arrogancy to use STEAM.
It suites well in SimBin personality.

And like in the good old Valve tradition, all versions will force
you to use STEAM, ALL!
Even Retail! Yes even Retail!
So No choice! No alternative! STEAM always!

So beware, EVEN "RACE" Retail will FORCE and IMPOSE you STEAM.

Also a big disappointment to Eidos for distributing the game, so
they don't have any problem in being associated with more abuse
done to PC Gamers.

Links to Amazon so you can memorize this cover box.
The game is due out in November 24, 2006
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

And for those STEAM LOVERs that will say "that's good I like
STEAM", let me tell the others don't pay attention to this,
cause STEAM is a MILLION time worse than Starforce! at least
a MILLION! Why?
Well Starforce the version used in Retail PC Games is nothing
more than a disk based copy-protection system... yes it is
driver based, it creates incompatibility and stability issues
and overall its a major headache and inconvenience for users,
but that is it, it has no other reach.
As for STEAM, its a totally new paradigm, its a SERVICE based
system for PC Games, meaning, end users are turned into SLAVES
totally dependant on the SERVICE PROVIDER (Valve), and no
longer there will be FREEDOM, CHOICE, ALTERNATIVE and specially
Privacy; Yes say GOODBYE to PRIVACY and FREEDOM with STEAM.
STEAM basically turns your own PC into a PRISON with those
selling the games having ABSOLUTE POWER and the customer having
NONE!
I know for some at least, at the "surface" STEAM looks better
than Starforce but believe me you are being FOOLED, and please
don't!
STEAM is way more WORSE than Starforce.
STEAM reaches are not as obvious as Starforce.

Also I want to ask PC Gamers to not be LAZY.
I know STEAM is very ATTRACTIVE for LAZY Gamers cause every
thing is automatic and you almost don't do anything except
PAY and PLAY, but with that comes less FREEDOM for you.
And do you exchange doing less work for your own FREEDOM!
Come on! we are talking about FREEDOM!
Don't be LAZY! Don't let LAZINESS turn you into a SLAVE in
a PRISON in your own computer!

To all the boycott continues!
If you boycotted Starforce infected games now with STEAM it
must continue!
IT MUST CONTINUE!
And we must be UNITED!
PC GAMERS MUST BE UNITED IN THE BOYCOTT!
BOYCOTT STEAM! BOYCOTT GREEDY ARROGANT PUBLISHERS LIKE SIMBIN!
Fight for a PC Game market with FREEDOM, CHOICE and consumer
rights!

For more STEAM INFECTED and PRODUCT ACTIVATION games check my
list at:
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

PS: Please help me build my list as complete as possible, so
if you know of any Retail PC Games that is either STEAM infected
or has Product Activation warn me and all other PC Gamers!
Information is the weapon! INFORMATION is the only weapon we got!

Andrew McP

Excellent.

I'm currently loading Medieval 2 and I will be loading RACE. I'm
personally saving $25 per game due to having to pay US price.
Local price for games is around $75US!

It's also great to have steam automatically update my game the moment
a patch is ready and not have to endure a CD check whenever I want
to play the game!

Backup is also an absolutely breeze. Kudos Valve.

Cheers,
Rod.

Originally I thought Steam would cut out the middle men (publishers) and
give us cheaper games. But I suspect the publishers used their leverage
to make sure this didn't happen. Not yet anyway.

Andrew McP

Cheers,
Rod.

Incorrect.

With HL2 I went to a friend with Internet connection and was able to install
and set it up for off-line play.
It worked for about a month and, I don't know why, it ask me back to
connect.
(If someone know why it would ask to go back online, it could be usefull if
I disconnect from the Web again)
I had 2 solutions:
- Moving my PC again to my friends place.
- Desinstall.

I selected the easiest.

Andi.

I had Steam for a long time when i played HL2 and Counterstike. Never had an
issue with them and wasn't worrying myself to death about them spying on me or
something.

Usually the only people who yell the loudest about privacy and freedom, are
those that have something to hide... like copying games.

And you could at least have removed his outburst...

Im with Brad Wardell on the issue. I have taken the liberty to cut and past
a part of an interview he gave to Gamasutra.

<Start of quote>

GS: Speaking of single player, how do you feel about copy protection?
BW: I've always been pro copy protection in the general sense, but I don't
like the way game companies approach it. It's like the game industry has
lived in this cocoon that the rest of the software industry has already
broken out of. I don't like having to keep a CD in my drive or having
something installing spyware on my computer to tell me what I should be
doing. When I want to run Photoshop or Word I don't have to put a CD in the
drive. Microsoft and Adobe aren't installing drivers on my machine to
monitor what I'm doing. "Oh look, you have a CD burner on your machine, I
won't work." That's the sort of thing I really object to. I think so many
game publishers are behind the time. The software industry went through this
as well. Remember dongles?

GS: Oh yeah. I used a lot of 3D Studio back in the day.

BW: There were all kind of goofy things on all kinds of software, but they
grew out of that. They realized that the goal of copy protection isn't to
stop people from pirating but to increase sales. That's an important
distinction. I don't like people pirating my game.

GS: Naturally.

BW: I find it annoying on principle. The question is "would they have bought
the game anyway?" If they wouldn't have bought the game, then why should I
be concentrating on them? I should be concentrating on maximizing my overall
sales. Don't inconvenience legitimate users but inconvenience illegitimate
users. Some percentage of them will buy the game.

GS: You don't waste that time and money stopping someone who won't buy your
product anyway.

BW: Right. Did you hear that twenty eight percent of gamers won't even buy a
game? This was a study put out by one of the copy protection companies as
proof of why copy protection isn't negative. This study says that ONLY
twenty eight percent of gamers won't buy a game with copy protection. I was
thinking "HOLY COW, that's a disaster!"

<End of quote>

The industry screaming all over the place is much like the music business
crying about people stealing their songs. Yes, there is a lot of trading
going on, yes, if those people had all bought the music legaly, they would
have earned a *huge* amount of money.

Hello!

Many of those trading songs back and forth wouldnt have bought the music
anyway, cause they simply dont have the money (does anybody think 12 year
old kids would spend 100 bucks a month for music, if there werent any
trading portals around?).

So whatever you do, you wont earn that kind of mony. Investing in copy
protection, that doesnt prevent illegal copies, wont increase sales, and
pisses off a substatial part of your customers is a big NO-NO, businiss
wise. Perhaps the suits will somewhen get to understand this. In the
meantime, the customers have the right to choose what they buy. If you dont
like the copy protection, dont buy the game *and* let guys in the shop you
regularly buy your games *know* why you dont buy it. If there is enough
complaint, maybe they will react.

I, for example, am playing pc-games for at least 15 years and have bought
some 300+ games over that time. Lets assume a game, on the average, costs
30?, then I have spent 9000? on games. Would you, as a business person, want
to throw that kind of money away, because, well "we have to use a more
agressive copy protection. I know it wont keep our game from being cracked,
and yes, it wont help our sales, but hey, everyone does it"

Bottom line though... life's short, and we're talking about games, not a
cure for cancer or throwing away thousands of lives in Iraq. The older I
get, the harder I find it to get upset about ***.

Andrew McP