An Interview with Oleg

[Untamo]

Originally Posted by zapatista

piracy is a real problem, even if it is just friends at school making copies of games for each other, it all adds up in lost sales.

but the biggest problem is the real mafiosi who have organized networks for marketing pirated software, and it is bigger business to them then dope smuggling or women trafficking and their subsequent prostitution. piracy is BIG money ! this then gets sold openly to the public in 2e and 3e world countries in stores ( for ex even 90% of all chinese government computers actually use pirated OS and office programs), while in 1e world countries it is sold at markets and from car boots or down the pub. those really are the major thefts oleg needs to protect against (just like any other game designer), and a decent protection is needed for it.

Yes, I agree it's a problem, but dealing with it is an even bigger problem and I see it as a futile one. There aren't many examples of games that haven't been cracked and pirated. So, my opinion is that it's better to just ignore the pirates and focus on serving the PAYING customers.

Plus: It's a growing trend to crack games just because they have anti-piracy systems in them (to remove the invasive protection systems, to relieve one of putting the cd in and such).

[6S.Manu]

Originally Posted by Untamo

Yes, I agree it's a problem, but dealing with it is an even bigger problem and I see it as a futile one. There aren't many examples of games that haven't been cracked and pirated. So, my opinion is that it's better to just ignore the pirates and focus on serving the PAYING customers.

Plus: It's a growing trend to crack games just because they have anti-piracy systems in them (to remove the invasive protection systems, to relieve one of putting the cd in and such).

I agree... really you can do nothing against piracy. Above all if the game has a good single player mode... for multiplayer there are lobbies.

Antipiracy tools only ruins the life of the honest guys.

[Antoninus]

Exactly, even UBIsofts vaunted online DRM system was already cracked after just a few weeks.

Back in the 90ties publishers tried to offer their honest customers a better product than
the pirates. Games came in big boxes with thick manuals and printed maps. Today
UBI plans to ship all new games without any kind of printed manual at all. The
pirates have actually the better product now without any kind of restricitve DRM that only troubles people who have paid for their game.

Today no pirate has to rely on school yard copies from friends that could be
suppressed with such systems. Anybody can just download the cracked version from the
Internet.

Punishing your loyal customers won't win the battle against piracy.

[zauii]

Originally Posted by Untamo

Yes, I agree it's a problem, but dealing with it is an even bigger problem and I see it as a futile one. There aren't many examples of games that haven't been cracked and pirated. So, my opinion is that it's better to just ignore the pirates and focus on serving the PAYING customers.

Plus: It's a growing trend to crack games just because they have anti-piracy systems in them (to remove the invasive protection systems, to relieve one of putting the cd in and such).

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory is the longest standing.
It took over a year to get a proper crack out there.(422 days) Yes UBI did succeed once...

^ Todd Ciolek (2009-06-16). "Interview: The Return Of... StarForce?". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=24035. "Everybody remembers Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. It held for 422 days without a piracy crack. This world record for AAA-class games is still unbeaten and no other solutions managed to make a game last longer."

[Blackdog_kt]

In one of Oleg's simHQ interviews i somehow got the idea that he's not really keen on these methods. I could live with a one-time online activation that i can transfer to a new PC/OS at my leisure, something that's tied to a gmail account for example.

However, limited activations/deactivations and constant connectivity is a no go for me. There are quite a few titles i didn't buy because of this, as well as some that I wait until they are cracked first and then i buy them.

Silent Hunter 5 for example. I didn't buy it, but now that it's cracked and i can play at my own leisure, i'm thinking of picking it up. Aside from the irony however (if people need cracks before they buy the game, it's like pirates making them money), it's obvious what that does for the title's success. By the time i get SH5 its price will probably have dropped from 50 to 30 Euros, maybe even less. Not to mention it's unfinished state at release made me think "i'll wait 6 months for mods and patches", by which time i could be occupied with something else and skip it completely.

Similarly, RoF i could have been suckered into buying if it wasn't for the always online thing. By the time it got dropped (partially dropped actually), the rest of the game's shortcomings had been so well documented that i decided i'm not going to buy it regardless of copy protection. Chalk up one more lost sale thanks to DRM. It gave me reason to pause and a chance to see beyond the protection and into all the other things i equally disliked about its game design decisions. Essentially, that's killing off impulse buying. With Starcraft 2 and SoW around the corner, i have no use for RoF.

These so called protection schemes only present challenges for hackers (they do it out of competition between hacker groups most of the times), they make the game unplayable for a few days/weeks for people who will not buy it anyway (aka they are not lost sales if the DRM can't force them to buy it), and to top it all off they make it a hindrance for legitimate buyers, who will hold off on their purchase until it's in the bargain bin. And here lies the million dollar question. Is it worth it turning away the people who want to give you money, just to spite the ones who will never give you any money anyway, for a few weeks tops?

[Icewolf]

This would be impossible considering the numbers and locations but as an example I use a business software that generates a code number everytime it is installed and to activate it, I must phone this code number into their office ,they then give me an activation code that I must manually type into an activation box.

[Qpassa]

Originally Posted by Icewolf

This would be impossible considering the numbers and locations but as an example I use a business software that generates a code number everytime it is installed and to activate it, I must phone this code number into their office ,they then give me an activation code that I must manually type into an activation box.

photoshop uses some similar protection and have been hacked...

[WTE_Galway]

Oh well ... my gaming machine is offline.

I don't even fly FSX (with its one off activation) because its too much hassle to renew the activation.

The assumption that everyone that buys games is online is actually unfounded.

[zauii]

Been waiting way to long for this baby to care if it has online activation or whatever.. i am not missing out.
Sure if you live under circumstances where you've no decent connection options you can be worried but otherwise, just about any modern society has broadband.
Frankly it's not more than right that the developers exploit their right to protect their games, even if it's via online activation you do accept the terms when you buy the game.

The whole shenanigan about "We're not physically owning it then" Is just child's play, this has been done since 10 years back, besides a 40-50$ dollar investment ain't gonna cost you your life is it?
If it is maybe you should reconsider gaming at all...

[Codex]

Originally Posted by Icewolf

This would be impossible considering the numbers and locations but as an example I use a business software that generates a code number everytime it is installed and to activate it, I must phone this code number into their office ,they then give me an activation code that I must manually type into an activation box.

Originally Posted by Qpassa

photoshop uses some similar protection and have been hacked...

Same goes for Windows, you have a certain number of installs before you have to ring up and activate after a fresh install. It's interesting to think that software piracy has most likely contributed to Microsoft OS's being used on 98+% of PC's since the late 90's

I wish developers would get 100% earnings for developing games and apps etc but we don't live in a perfect world and we do need anti piracy measures, but +1 to Blackdog_kt for those comments, they're right on the money. I personally think anti piracy measures need to be re thought and become more imaginative.