• Game Industries solution to fighting Piracy, DRM not included!
    175 replies, posted
Well, lack of DRM.. and an unfinished product. :\ [quote=CVG]DRM anti-piracy measures are an increasingly hot topic in games. Publishers say DRM is the best solution they have - but gamers complain it dampens their experience and punishes legitimate consumers. One publisher boss, however, believes there is another way. Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens is a fan of a new model; one which would see a segment of a game sold in a box - with optional additional downloads for those that want the full game world. This, he explains, could be the middle ground cash-strapped publishers and grumpy gamers are looking for... I'm not necessarily a fan of DRM measures. I think sometimes they're almost counter-productive. I can still be persuaded on them, and I completely understand why they exist. But my initial thought is that DRM is not the answer to the piracy issue. The video games industry has to learn to operate in a different way. My answer is for us as publishers is to actually sell unfinished games - and to offer the consumer multiple micro-payments to buy elements of the full experience. That would create an offering that is affordable at retail - but over a period of time may also generate more revenue for the publishers to reinvest in our games. If these games are pirated, those who get their hands on them won't be able to complete the experience. There will be technology, coding aspects, that will come to bear that will unlock some aspects. Some people will want them and some won't. When it comes to piracy, I think you have to make the experience the answer to the issue - rather than respond the other way round and risk damaging that experience for the user. But I may be a lone voice in that. It's one of the things that troubled me greatly with the Digital Economy Bill last year [which sought to 'ban' online pirates via their ISP]. Piracy has been there forever. Whether we care to admit it or not and whether we say it's right or wrong, it's a factor. It's never going to go to zero. Lyndon B Johnson once said 'you want to be on the inside pissing out rather than the outside pissing in' - and I wholeheartedly agree. Look at the partial demise of the record industry - they never embraced technology, they fought technology and I think that created a huge downturn vacuum for them. Actually, if they persevere now with the technology they've got, in a few years it will probably take the record industry to a level that exceeds the past. But you've got that hiatus going on - that was inevitable and self-fulfilled, and if we're not careful the games industry will make the same error. So I believe we as an industry have to be far more creative in addressing the issue, and think much more about the experience the consumer gets in the end. As publishers, we can use that to our advantage as well as theirs. [/quote] Would be fine if they would charge a smaller initial amount for the "big demo" version of the game. Then a reasonable size for the DLC. But we all know that will not happen. TL;DR Remove DRM, give the users unfinished games in hopes of scoring more money on DLC and Micro-transactions.
Retards Inc. Taking a shit on the industry for more cash.
What a bunch of bullshit.
How will this solve anything? The solution is to give people MORE for their money, not less. Fuck's sake every facet of the entertainment industry from music to movies to games is crammed full of fucking idiots.
Ok then, you have to download two things rather than one. Since when has DLC not been piratable?
I already payed for a game, don't wanna pay again for the rest of it.
what would stop people from pirating the game then the dlc then?
how to solve PC gaming piracy: sell your game through Steam
Yar, this be a bad decision.
And yet the game will still be $60.
I think they should remove those dollars signs out of there eyes and look at what costumers want
[QUOTE=Foda;23384580]how to solve PC gaming piracy: sell your game through Steam[/QUOTE] Well you could still pirate singleplayer steam games if you really wanted to I guess. But Steam is just too convenient for me to give a fuck.
[QUOTE=starpluck;23384594]And yet the game will still be $60.[/QUOTE] The game will likely be more than 60, when all of the transactions are put in place. Stuff like this is a publishers wet dream, regardless of whether or not it stops piracy.
Actual, but unreasonable, solution to piracy: Sell your games with a DRM dongle, such as programs like Cubase do. They're nearly impossible to crack
FADE is a nice copy protection me thinks.
This will never happen, thankfully.
Soooooooooo.... They would start [b]selling[/b] game demos, with a DLC that is basically the whole game? Fuck this shit, I'm never buying retail games again.
[QUOTE=Perfumly;23384626]Well you could still pirate singleplayer steam games if you really wanted to I guess. But Steam is [B]just too convenient for me to give a fuck.[/B][/QUOTE] This, people in the industry, is how you combat piracy. Make it more convenient. Stop making your paying customers jump through hoops.
[QUOTE=Xen Tricks;23384634]Actual, but unreasonable, solution to piracy: Sell your games with a DRM dongle, such as programs like Cubase do. They're nearly impossible to crack[/QUOTE] Makes digital distribution impossible.
What kind of game do these people think they're playing
[QUOTE=that1dude24;23384631]The game will likely be more than 60, when all of the transactions are put in place. Stuff like this is a publishers wetdream, regardless of whether or not it stops piracy.[/QUOTE] I'm talking about the initial purchase, without all the DLC.
[QUOTE=that1dude24;23384699]This, people in the industry, is how you combat piracy. Make it more convenient. Stop making your paying customers jump through hoops.[/QUOTE] This reminds me of how I had to download a crack to get my [b]legit[/b] copy of Test Drive Unlimited to work. Then when I later went to the game forums for support, I got flamed by the staff themselves, because they made a broken game which I couldn't start without a crack.
How about this for an anti-piracy measure: Make buying games more convenient then pirating them.
Intresting, I'm neutral on this. At least they're moving away from extreme DRM.
Activision are going to go overboard with the "micro-payments"
[QUOTE=starpluck;23384715]I'm talking about the initial purchase, without all the DLC.[/QUOTE] Oh. You're probably right, or going to be if this gains traction. :sigh:
So the current trend with DLC only with higher prices! Bethesda'll love this idea.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;23384702]Makes digital distribution impossible.[/QUOTE] That's pretty much what a dongle does. You can share the program files all you want, but you still need the unique USB dongle for it to run.
Just makes you wonder who in the name of hell let THIS guy in the industry. I don't want an unfinished game that I have to pay off in installments. If I wanted that, I would order it off of an ad on TV.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;23384536]How will this solve anything? The solution is to give people MORE for their money, not less. Fuck's sake every facet of the entertainment industry from music to movies to games is crammed full of fucking idiots.[/QUOTE] If Bill Hicks still lived, he would make a big joke out these idiots in the industry.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.