Crossworlds DRM

[ailurus]

I'm a big fan of both Legends and Armored Princess, and I was just about to buy Crossworlds (through Impulse), when I noticed that it said Crossworlds has "Protection: StarForce Online Activation". Checked with gamersgate, and same thing there.

I recall from threads back when Legends was released that Starforce was initially present in the Russian and Polish versions of KB:TL, but removed for the US and European versions. I was wondering, therefore, what's the copy protection status on Crossworlds?

Is starforce included on US versions (purchasing through Impulse, if that matters)?
If it is included, what exactly is the "StarForce Online Activation"? Does it just do a check once when you run it for the first time, and that's it? Or do you need to be online every time you run it so it can check?

And is there a limit on the number of uninstalls/reinstalls you can do (I play on a laptop with limited hard disk space, so every few months I rotate out which games are installed and not, and activation limits would mean this cannot be done with Crossworlds)

[megakill]

Online activation just asks once for the serial number, you don't have to be online all the time. There is a limited number of activations, but we are always customer friendly - so in case you personally need more, we will provide.
Also Steam version has it's own wrapper, so you can buy their version, it is different to other portals as far as I was told by our tech guys.

[vmxa]

Gamersgate has a total of three acticvations. I hope they remove that in a year or so as it could be an issue years from now. I still have games I play from 1993.

[megakill]

Gamersgate has a total of three acticvations. I hope they remove that in a year or so as it could be an issue years from now. I still have games I play from 1993.

I can't remember we said no to anybody who needed an extra serial etc.
Though for example in Russia a lot of people sell their keys online - their extra 1-2 activations. Which really kills me. They get PC games 50-75% cheaper than rest of the world, yet they try to cheat. :-( Oh well, maybe I shouldn't complain about my fellow citizens.

[City Builder]

I can't remember we said no to anybody who needed an extra serial etc.
Though for example in Russia a lot of people sell their keys online - their extra 1-2 activations. Which really kills me. They get PC games 50-75% cheaper than rest of the world, yet they try to cheat. :-( Oh well, maybe I shouldn't complain about my fellow citizens.

And the funny thing to me is that it wouldn't even cross my mind to try to sell any extra activations that I might not use. Strange.

The Sims 3 was rumoured to have only 3 activations, then rumours said they raised it to 5 because of complaints, yet I've installed it on one of my computers well over 5 times due to computer issues, and not once has it requested that I call them to straighten anything out, it just installs and works, same thing with Microsofts FSX, I've installed that well over 10 times on the different computers that I've owned since FSX was released and not once did I have a problem. I wish more would use their system and maybe erase how many times a game has been installed if nobody has requested activation in like 6 months or 1 year.

Oh, by the way, if I were to uninstall KB C would it unactivate itself or once one activation is used up theres no way to get it back automatically by uninstalling KBC? I know that The Sims 3 is setup like that to unactivate the product and get back an activation slot if one uninstalls the game. I never do because well... Who's going to remember to uninstall a game when they are reinstalling their Operating System? Not me, that's for sure.

[ailurus]

Thanks for the quick and informative reply, Megakill. You guys earned my trust with Legends and AP, so I'll take your word for it not being too bad :)

[megakill]

And the funny thing to me is that it wouldn't even cross my mind to try to sell any extra activations that I might not use. Strange.

The Sims 3 was rumoured to have only 3 activations, then rumours said they raised it to 5 because of complaints, yet I've installed it on one of my computers well over 5 times due to computer issues, and not once has it requested that I call them to straighten anything out, it just installs and works, same thing with Microsofts FSX, I've installed that well over 10 times on the different computers that I've owned since FSX was released and not once did I have a problem. I wish more would use their system and maybe erase how many times a game has been installed if nobody has requested activation in like 6 months or 1 year.

Oh, by the way, if I were to uninstall KB C would it unactivate itself or once one activation is used up theres no way to get it back automatically by uninstalling KBC? I know that The Sims 3 is setup like that to unactivate the product and get back an activation slot if one uninstalls the game. I never do because well... Who's going to remember to uninstall a game when they are reinstalling their Operating System? Not me, that's for sure.

I am not an expert in this, let me ask some questions on Monday!

[megakill]

Thanks for the quick and informative reply, Megakill. You guys earned my trust with Legends and AP, so I'll take your word for it not being too bad :)

You are welcome, enjoy Crossworlds :-)

[vmxa]

I can't remember we said no to anybody who needed an extra serial etc.
Though for example in Russia a lot of people sell their keys online - their extra 1-2 activations. Which really kills me. They get PC games 50-75% cheaper than rest of the world, yet they try to cheat. :-( Oh well, maybe I shouldn't complain about my fellow citizens.

I am not concerned that you would say no. I am concerned that you would no longer exist. The cheaters is why I did not ask for it to be removed now, only down the road when it is not really bringing in money anyway.

You know how many games I have that the company is no longer around? Many are gone in a year or two. Even if you are around, you may not have the same prosition on lic or may not even have the means to issue a new one.

Things get lost over time.

[megakill]

I am not concerned that you would say no. I am concerned that you would no longer exist. The cheaters is why I did not ask for it to be removed now, only down the road when it is not really bringing in money anyway.

You know how many games I have that the company is no longer around? Many are gone in a year or two. Even if you are around, you may not have the same prosition on lic or may not even have the means to issue a new one.

Things get lost over time.

Well, life is unpredictable that's for sure. This far I worked about 12 years for 1C and I am in charge of this 1C publishing business for quite some time, but you never know. :-)