DRM in indies: Maybe I don't know what DRM means in this context, but I just bought a copy of GalCiv2 from eBay (brand new), and you can't update the game unless you create an account with stardock AND register the game with the CDkey you got emailed when you bought the game online. Obviously, I DIDN'T buy the game online (at least not from them), but the despite my having what is obviously a legit retail copy (I don't think a pirate designed and printed up a whole PC game box just to fool suckers on eBay), the registration process didn't even acknowledge the possibility of having a CD key from a physical CD, and kept telling me mine was invalid and asking me for the one I got in email when I bought the game from Stardock. Eventaully, I was able to register using th CD key, but through a different part of the stardock central program, and only then could I update the game.
In the course of researching my problem, the most seemingly on-point post (sticky actually) I found on the Stardock forums was specifically addressed to people who'd bought a copy of the game on eBay and found that their CD keys were invalid (since they had already been registered). Stardock's position on this: Sucks to be you, because you had no right to buy a used copy of our game, now buy another copy from us. Being the clever fellow I am, I realized that this was not addressed to me, since I'd bought a NEW copy off of eBay, but it was clear that whoever wrote the post hadn't considered that there might be new as well as used copies on eBay, and the sticky certainly SEEMED to be targetted squarely at me, a person who bought off of eBay who was getting an invalid CD key message.
So that was a PITA, and here's the point. Relative to say buying a copy of a console game off of eBay, used or new, the experience of buying a brand-spanking new indie PC game was a titanic hassle, which I wouldn't recommend to anyone with limited understanding of the way these activation schemes work and a penchant for sifting through forums to get answers, ESPECIALLY if the person in question would ever call me for advice. No thanks, just go get yourself some Medal of Honor 17 for xbox and leave me out of the equation.
But I'm not of those people who don't understand PC gaming, and at this point, neither are most PC gamers. The nnoyances DRM schemes give us are indeed minor. If you honestly think that piracy doesn't affect game sles, then I still see why you'd think copy protection is stupid. But if you honestly think piracy doesn't affect game sales, then you seriously believe people will pay for something when they can get that same something for free. I wish I'd had your upbringing, because you must have had a pretty sweet life filled with honest, hard working people who never wronged you. If you lose your wallet, you figure it's going to turn up in your mailbox in a few days, with every dollar of cash still in there. That's a nice world.
Me and them pessimistic game companies, though, see things differently. And again I raise the airline anaolgy to counter that movie theater anaolgy. You do have to wait on line to get through those metal detectors EVEN THOUGH you paid so much for your ticket. You don't complain because you know this level of safety is necessary to make the industry work.
Of course there are limits to what we'll put up with, but automatic once-every-ten-days online activation is showing blatant contempt for your customers? I don't see it.
I write too much, but I say this anyway to address the notion that piracy does not affect PC sales. The fundamental flaw in most people's thinking about the 'morality' or the effect of casual piracy is the notion that mediocre games don't deserve to be bought. In the grand scheme of things, I cannot say if that's true. Bt, on consoles, and in movie theaters, mediocre productions ARE bought. Withuot the try before you buy of software piracy, people just pony up the dough. They still have access to movie reviews and console game reviews, but the public pays a lot of money to see crappy movies and play crappy console games anyway. Go to rotten tomatoes, and look at the ratings fro the top 10 movies. No correlation between quality and financial success. PC games, on the other hand, are held to this higher standard, since so many people have the option to try before they buy. You would have a hard time convincing me that this is not a major factor in the PC sales difficulties.