Recently I've bought inside a shop a last generation videogame: Mass Effect.The game sector is enthusiastic about this game and positive comments raise the quality of the product.
But, there is a small difference between the ones that develop a game and the ones that protect it, in fact , thanks to my small experience, the protection systems are implemented at the end, and often they are bought from Third parts.
In that case the EA protection politics can be resumed as follow: Complicate the life of the honest buyers and lose your money for piracy as before.
I've bought the original game both for good reviews , both for the cheap costs: about 20 euro.
The price is the first way to fight piracy.
Think that look for a pirated version, download it, mount the iso, install the product and then again , crak the program and test it... with just about 20 euro I save my mind from everything and I can get all the optional!
Anyway, someone has decided instead that probably 20 euro wasn't sufficient to let me play in peace, probably they need more to ask:
In fact EA writes in small small char:"The game require the internet connection to be activated". First this kind of writings must be well noticed, but this cut off in Italy at least the 40% of the population because we live into a telematic degrade at wich we are condemned.
Me, living in Italy, I've not upon my play computer the internet connection! It's so, ok?
Connection require a contract , a telephone, a good line, and all this connected to the Pc where the game is installed... why?!?!? You could at least let me provide the key on a second pc, porting that key on the play pc with an usb pen!
The funny is that pirates quickly identify the transferred files that enable the game, while the common users suffer the connection with EA, the registration with sensitive data, a praying moment to hope that everything should work, and then a Download of the activation and, as incoming last news said, a periodic reactivation every 15 days... to instil more confidence, in short.
But, who provide support in long time ? I often play old games many years later they come out. There will still be EA after many years ? Will also support this game ?
In true words, we bought the 90% of the game, the remaining 10% can only be downloaded from them, and only if they want. This mania to gain total control, to know everything, to manipulate marketing informations and to suppress their customers, I cannot approve, but wost, I cannot undestand!
Time ago I renounced to Half Life 2 for all this motivations, and Mass Effect escaped my attention. If I should have known that, I should haven't bought it.
But all of this is unuseful at last, because....
...What an honest player does, after this huge requests, to play a videgame?
Simple, he cracks it! And so I had , against one's will, to look for a "No-CD" executable, overwrite the original and play.... oooooh finally I've playied! I buy a game and , incredibly, when I return home I want to play it! I'm abnorm ?
Mass Effect is very beauty, I've finished it in a couple of days (secondary mission included), and I reproach EA for the small longevity of a game where they should put a mai plot of at least 10 missions, instead of the 5 they did. After all it also has been called RPG!
Anyway is a good game, damaged by protection systems, damaged by sensitive data registration and from the distribution online politics of the additional contents.
But , what about add-on ? Yes, yes:
I've downloaded the free add-on for PC of Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky, but I haven't reached to play it because the installation requires a serial code. I gave my original code written on the back of the M.E. manual but without success. Now we got also the "genious" installer anti-piracy, so genious that they trust anyone
At the end I uninstalled everything and renounced to the expansion.
In short, EA, a true DISASTER! Fix your Head Quickly!!!
Probably "Oblivion (tm)" haven't teached anything! That game said: "Do a good game and you will sell, do it scarce and you will loose; damage your honest customer and this will remember about you for a good period (and you will loose also in this case)".
I would like to give some general advice to fight videogames piracy , and to set all this major whith drunk step about this discussion :
Do a good game, for collection, to keep on the desk and good to show to the friends.
Keep Installation easy and complete, even if wast gigabytes, and possibly quick!
Insert a Coloured Manual (always in gray it is!), readable, enjoyable, that identifies the game as a unique piece, and make it good to read before someone is going to bed.
Do not force users to do things that they cannot do or they don't want to do. Starting from registrations, passing through activations and unuseful forced advertising.
- Keep the costs down, now more than before cause we suffer the financial crisis.
- Level the price with the publish time, keeping the product on the marketing for at least 2/3 years (es: start with 60 euro, then fall to 40 euro after 3 months, then fall to 20 euro after 6 months, then give the game to the 7/8 euro magazines).
Moreover, do you want to undestand the "pirates" that make you lose the Budget, and broke your Businness ?
Pirates at the end are people that use the game for an half, they didn't play it truly, they didn't pay big attention to it and they will never buy it. Pirates are half-hearted inside their extreme mode to try games, while they never finish anything at all.
As they pirate your game today, they will do with the next 10 days after...
The Spontaneous question is: "Do you think that you can get some money from this persons? "
The Second question is: "Do You really think that penalizing honest customers will return to you the money of the pirates? "
The conclusion is that software, all the software, can be DUPLICATED with very cheap costs, and that characteristic is unique, absent in all the others economic sectors, but, conversely, it always have some piracy that follows. Is unuseful to obtain the advantages and regret the disadvantages. It's like to consider incoming and forget the outgoings! What a logic is this?
Ciao Ciao ! And... Good Year 2009!
Lord Hol Napult
