Fallout 3 - Roundup #4

[GhanBuriGhan]

What I'd like to see being tried, at least, is single player online gaming. Sure, you'd need the internet, just as for online authorization, but you'd also get something in return - similar to MMORPG's, server side content could be dynamic, frequently updated, could include live events, etc. And at the same time it would be just as pirate proof as current MMORPG's.

 

[zakhal]

well, 'unbreakable' is the wrong term. More like 'unbroken'.
I think the best solution is not DRM, but 'social advertisement'. Basically, push for piracy to be viewed as a bad thing. Almost like smoking or driving under the influence. In old movies you see people smoking in their houses and drinking a beer in their cars, something unthinkable nowadays.
Make people feel bad about it, advertise things like 'We would love to make such and such game for the PC, but piracy makes it not worth it', etc. Basically, make it so when someone says 'oh, I downloaded that game from a torrent', instead of people saying 'Wow, cool!', they look at you as if you just said you stole something from a store.
Right now, companies like EA are seen as the 'bad guys' by the public, and the pirates somehow are the 'good guys', in big part because of the draconian DRM EA likes, that just hurt the customers, and their tough stance doesn't help. In a weird way, right now EA are the bad guys, customers are the victims and pirates are the good guys. The idea is to turn it around, make them look like victims, the customers the good guys and pirates the bad guys.

Do you think that PS3 would have sold more games if they had removed all DRM alltogether and advertised that "pirates are bad guys" instead?

Online authorization is just another great way to make life of legal users pointlessly difficult - ISP gone down? No play for you. In travel, no good wireless around? No play for you. Idiotic. Easy to disable, too, so pirates would have fun time playing without all this crap.

Since when did pirates disable world of warcraft? I heard that the game is still making like hundred million a month from paying customers.

What I'd like to see being tried, at least, is single player online gaming. Sure, you'd need the internet, just as for online authorization, but you'd also get something in return - similar to MMORPG's, server side content could be dynamic, frequently updated, could include live events, etc. And at the same time it would be just as pirate proof as current MMORPG's.

Guild wars can be played very much solo. Its has story campaign superior to all mmos and intelligent npcs to fill your party that you can equip and level. GW and addons sold like 4-5 million. I havent heard pirates ever breaking that game - everyone buys the game and plays on the official servers.

 

[KazikluBey]

Since when did pirates disable world of warcraft? I heard that the game is still making like hundred million a month from paying customers.

There were World of Warcraft servers available for download years ago, and there are free-to-play fully functioning Lineage II servers operating in the open. I don't think there are any public pirate servers of WoW though, I think Blizzard shut down one or two early on with cease and desist letters or lawsuits. I've also heard of Ultima Online pirate servers.

 

[Maylander]

Actually, you can find a lot of "private WoW servers" if you go looking. They don't require any sort of subscription, and are usually one or two patches behind the real deal.

Unfortunately, they also come with their own silly rules (so you can get to lvl 200 for example, instead of 70), and a fairly hopeless community.

 

[f.]

Since when did pirates disable world of warcraft? I heard that the game is still making like hundred million a month from paying customers.

Long time ago. The so called "private" servers. WoW is making millions because of community, customer support and lof of technical staff to quickly fix most glaring bugs - something that pirates aren't able or willing to emulate.
And of course WoW is MMO. It cannot be played without internet connection, so online authentication is not a big deal here, unlike in single player games.
But ultimately, it's not DRM but people that makes WoW so succesful.

 

[zakhal]

But ultimately, it's not DRM but people that makes WoW so succesful.

If wow released & supported unofficial servers do you think that people would choose to pay monthly to play on official servers?

The whole game industry is very young - only 30-40 years and it has constantly changed all that time. Ill bet in the next 50 years they will come up with an effective DRM. Its just a matter of time and its no different than i.e researching cures for human diseases of which many have been found through time and dedication.