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On the note of piracy, DRM and Steam: a indie developer recently started a one-man research into the topic and got these results:

Conclusion

So it was all very worthwhile, for me. I don't think the whole exercise will have much effect on the wider industry. Doubtless there will be more FPS games requiring mainframes to run them, more games with securom, games with no demos, or games with all glitz and no gameplay. I wish this wasn't the case, and that the devs could listen more to their potential customers, and that the pirates could listen more to the devs rather than abusing them. I don't think that's going to happen.
But I gave it a go, and I know my games will be better as a result. I'll never make millions from them, but I think now I know more about why pirates do what they do, I'll be in a better position to keep doing what I wanted, which is making games for the PC.

I'd also like to highlight a comment on Steam, (bolding mine):

Digital Distribution

Lots of people claimed to pirate because it was easier than going to shops. Many of them said they pirate everything that's not on Steam. Steam got a pretty universal thumbs up from everyone. I still don't get how buying from steam is any different to buying from me, other than you may already have an account on steam. For the record, I'd love to get my games on steam. I wish it was that easy.

Zixinus wrote:

Sarevok wrote:Given how Portal, Left 4 Dead, HL 2 and others are so easy to pirate why does Valve even bother with copy protection ?

I may be wrong here, but its because its not immediately pirated at launch, when sales are the highest thus is the most important.

EDIT: Also, because they want to protect their work. Look above.

This may sound surprising but pirate DVD stores seem to have games within days of official release if not earlier. In more civilized countries people downloading instead of buying games could probably get them even faster. And there is no exception to wraith of pirates. Even xbox games are available en masse as soon as they are released. Name a popular game and its available for free. So that brings up the original point - companies are not deterring anyone other than legitimate customers who spend dozens of dollars for a game.

I love when people sound like they've just discovered this new issue that is fresh and interesting.

DRM has been on the back of my mind since the Paladium ranting back in 2001 (since turned into Trusted Computing). I think everyone got the rude shock when Valve introduced us to DRM with Steam. Now my anger has been slowly brewing.

Trusted Computing
HDCP
HDMI
SecureRom
Starforce
Advanced Access Content System
Extended Copy Protection
And all other proprietary DRM that renders software unusable if the company turns off the servers.

With Obama being a tech Geek, I hope we have a President who sides with consumers and against the monolithic corporations who want to screw over the customers for a few extra pennies.

Dear lord. The president will save us from annoying drm? That's a bit hard to take seriously.

It's pretty funny that the combination if massive backlash against drm and the massive piracy is a major factor in developers shifting to consoles.

Stark wrote:It's pretty funny that the combination if massive backlash against drm and the massive piracy is a major factor in developers shifting to consoles.

Pirating stuff for consoles is pretty simple. Really simple actually. Following the first result for "pirating xbox 360" on google will even lead you to a youtube video that walks you step by step on how to do it.

Which is why it's a problem on the same scale, I guess. Turns out 'is possible' != 'people do it'. Indeed I doubt it's ever been as serious as the pc issue, even though it's only getting relatively harder.

Turns out google trivia doesn't drive boardroom meetings. Well, LOL, it does, but not on this issue.

Stark wrote:Dear lord. The president will save us from annoying drm? That's a bit hard to take seriously.

He can influence congress and veto bills that they send to him.

Stark wrote:Which is why it's a problem on the same scale, I guess. Turns out 'is possible' != 'people do it'. Indeed I doubt it's ever been as serious as the pc issue, even though it's only getting relatively harder.

Turns out google trivia doesn't drive boardroom meetings. Well, LOL, it does, but not on this issue.

Pirated Xbox discs have flooded markets in many places where laws are not strict.

I know this is another week-old bump, but I also wanted to say:

I remember when games not only lacked DRM, but actually gave you a second disc with explicit instructions to let your friends borrow so that you could play together.

What most prominently comes to my mind are the original Red Alert, and X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter - which had a multiplayer disc.

Isil`Zha wrote:I know this is another week-old bump, but I also wanted to say:

I remember when games not only lacked DRM, but actually gave you a second disc with explicit instructions to let your friends borrow so that you could play together.

What most prominently comes to my mind are the original Red Alert, and X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter - which had a multiplayer disc.

I remember those...I also preferred those games that sort-of included DRM, but integrated it into the game itself. Like the ones that required you to enter something from the manual as part of a puzzle in-game...or just the ones that came with a book - encyclopedia or dictionary - and asked you to enter something from it when you started the game. That way, the DRM was minimally bothersome, and you got a free book out of the deal.

Hell many early games did even need a CD-key, like the original Diablo.

Sarevok wrote:Pirated Xbox discs have flooded markets in many places where laws are not strict.

Which is why it's a problem of similar magnitude as piracy on PC, right? PROTIP - the markets for consoles and PCs MAY be a tiny bit different and console owners may pirate less ANYWAY due to a lack of interest or technical knowledge even if it was as easy as pirating on PC (which it isn't by a long shot). But who cares, because in CHINA everyone pirates console games and that's RELEVANT!

Talking about the old pre-internet pre-torrent pre-'I download any game I want the day of release in a few hours' and using that as an example of how DRM is horrible draconian stuff is just retarded. Yes, it doesn't work. Yes, it annoys some people (primarily nerds). Guess what? Developers are still out to make money, and when Starforce shows them a powerpoint about all the 'millions' of 'lost sales' and how they can 'help', they are often convinced. Back in the code wheel days, people ALREADY had disk boxes full of pirate software, because it DIDN'T WORK, and it's only become EASIER to steal software. You're not going to talk developers out of absurd and useless DRM-driven attempts to secure 'lost sales' by pining back to the Golden Age of schoolyard piracy.

The hilarious idea that cut-down multiplayer installs/disks is relevant makes me giggle. Even Sacred2 with it's retarded DRM of Fuck You lets people use the install as a demo and have a pair of valid full installs simultaneously. That's not the issue; the issue is how much it annoys people and how often the systems simply break and don't work.

Whatever dude. Pirates don't give a shit about lame arguments for or against DRM. They play their games for free, they win and they feel happy. Turns out DRM = worthless for anyone wants to bypass it. Life goes on despite epic forum posts that prove moon is made of cheese, the sky is pink and DRM is actually a sound marketing decision.