Update on Mass Effect (10 day check gone)

Bioware/EA have decided that the 10 day check is not worth the negative publicity:
There has been a lot of discussion in the past few days on how the security requirements for Mass Effect for PC will work. BioWare, a division of EA, wants to let fans know that Mass Effect will not require 10- day periodic re-authentication.

It still requires a one-time activation with a limit of 3, but whatever -- that's similar to Windows, MS Office and various other stuff. I am appeased.

 

Haha, somebody`s been watching the NBR forum

 

i knew it....it was quite a rip fest here yesterday lol i can see why they backed out

 

Or the internet...

 

thats good to i hear, i will be getting Mass Effect now.

 

I was "getting" it either way, I just think that idea of they'res was dumb..

 

with the lack of a good internet connection if it had that i wouldnt have been able to play it, as the connection can be working one minute then just decide not too work, we have tried everything, its just the point where we live its unlucky really><

 

I'm still in disagreeance with the limited amount of activation but the fact that they've decided to revoke the 10 day check makes me feel like I'd reconsider now.

 

coming out on the day i leave on vacation...oh how unfair you are, life

 

limited activation = lame. This isn't an OS that you install once every 6 months on one machine at most. They better make it easy to get extra activation keys. And have a end-of-the-road plan for when they take the activation servers off line.

 

A step in the right direction.

 

I still won't get ME, already played in on Xbox, but what about Spore, I hope they listened there too. That's the one I want to buy.
And despite what others may have thought, yes I WANT to BUY (I make enough money for me, quite willing to share with those not in the Oil patch ), if they do the right thing like this they will get my $50-70+ (depending on Special Edition features).

 

Well, activation sucks, but quite frankly at least you can play it once installed.

People who go out of town can at least play their game... but the game still REQUIRES internet to play at one point.

Still gonna buy it and pepper their activation people.
I am going to intentionally cost them more than the game is worth in "activation" support just out of principle.
After I take my chunk of support I'll likely hack it so I never have to worry about it.

We have to cure these idiots of their obsession... they are only hurting the people who actually support them, not the game crackers who will never pay for it.

 

Step in the right direction, I knew EA/Bioware would be changing the policy sometime soon, but I didn't think it would happen till the game had been out for a couple of months.

 

Oh, er, hooray! I was going to post about this issue, but it's good to see that they have realised what a monumental annoyance this would be for the buyer. Whether a measure like this had the desired anti-piracy effect or not, annoying paying customers sounds like a very silly idea.

However the 3-install thing could be a bit of a pain too. I suppose this means that they envisage someone buying the game, installing it and playing it and then either not playing it again or never removing it from their computer...? Or does this speak to their lack of confidence that people will want to play it longer than just on their desktop, their laptop and the next computer they buy to replace one of these? Games like Civ 2 and III, as well as even Doom 2 and Quake 2 I still enjoy, and with only 3 installs I would be at my limit with my current laptop - that's assuming I'd never want to reformat or reinstall everything. Because nobody EVER wants to do that, seeing as how fast everyone's computer runs months after purchase...

I wonder if games like Bioshock and others that have this feature will no longer be played in a couple of years' time more because they don't LET you play them anymore than that no-one WANTS to play them anymore. If it's a good game, people want to play it for years - just look at how many play Half-life still.

 

Is it possible this is a big marketing thing? I never would have heard about this game until I read about the copyright crap.

 

No. You've just been living under a rock if you haven't heard of Mass Effect or Spore.

 

Oh, that's nice. Seems to me like they've just been using the reactions they knew they'd get. Now they get to push through a restrictive DRM scheme, and still be seen as heroes and champions of the community.


Oh look, they removed the least worrying half of their DRM scheme.
It no longer requires net access, but it still won't install once you upgrade your computer a few times.
And people are grateful for that.

No, I'm still not buying it. I cancelled my preorder when they announced the first round of DRM nonsense, and as long as a pirate gets a better product than a legit customer, I am not paying them a single cent.

 

Right... so people don't buy it and the execs figure the only way to make money is to make console ones.

The idea is to encourage the right behavior and shoot down the bad.

Making console game = so-so
Making computer games = good
DRM = stupidity in motion

The execs must learn to fight the battles they can win.
Fighting the cracking squads is never going to be profitable as they have more resources and more time.
Making customers happy and creating long-term customers is the key.

The smarter customers (yes, you guys) need to prompt the not-so-smart execs (that would be the vast majority of gaming execs, because getting the job is usually about who you know and not what you know) to move in the right direction.

Console games do not create lifetime users.
Computer games do.

 

Maybe Mass Effect in itself is all about the hype and less about the game.
Nowaday you have to get attention any way possible.

 

It could be, but if so, it appears to have backfired (at least judging by their new thread). It seems that once people understood what SecuROM actually does (i.e. installs its own service, registry entries with null characters, conflicts with legitimate programs, etc. etc.), they are not too keen on putting it on their machine -- never mind that if they've played any of BioWare's PC games in the last 5 years they've probably had all of this without ever noticing it.

It just does not pay to draw attention to how you are screwing your customers over when they would otherwise be unaware of it. If this was a marketing trick, it was a pretty badly designed one.

 

Jalf, I understand, it's annoying, and it's a personal choice of acceptance level, won't get an argument from me on that (still prefer a Bethesda style approach).

The thing about the 3 x activations in Bioshock (which was the least of my worries it's SecureRom like Althernai said that bugs me and will keep me from ever buying it) you could 'un-activate' a previous activation by contacting them. So it iwas possible to do more than 3 times, just a wicked F'in hassle IMO, then they extended the max number of installs as if that was some great thing.

Once again they're $crewing their paying customers, maybe a little less outrage, but yeah it's sorta like going over the top at first to make people feel ok about having 70% of their freedoms back, instead of wanting 100% back. Kinda like 3 installs and then changing it to 10 or whatever it ended up being.

 

Not at all. Now they're seen as saints, heroes, champions of the community. Because they're so nice they're willing to reduce the amount of DRM they throw at you!

They get to force otherwise unacceptable DRM at the user (more restricting than Bioshock had), *and* they get no bad publicity for it.

Yep. But so far, Mass Effect hasn't gone that far. You can contact their support, and they *might* grant you an extra installation on a "case by case" basis.

 

Bioshock eventually landed in steam; Crysis did too. Does that mean that if we wait enough MEPC will eventually get there too? Because last time I checked Steam games don't get pirated quite as much as the others.

 

crysis is on steam?

...

i missed that boat.

anyway, i also feel like steam is the only acceptable drm. i reformat too much to have to deal with activations of games. activating windows has already been too much of a pain. at LEAST with steam they also give you seamless updates, game organization, and also unlimited download service. i guess i have just accepted steam. but steam doesn't really have any crap, if you think about it. there isn't a 3 activation limit. you only activate your game once, tie it to your account, and you are set. if i am going to buy a game, its probably going to be from steam. prefer it to CD's, personally. its kinda cool that installing 6 or 7 games doesn't require sitting there for hours swapping CD's. it just does it. thats my 5 cents. i support steam ftw.

 

My bad. Crysis is not on steam, but I'm pretty sure the masked guy ad appeared a lot during its launch period. Weird.

 

I, for one, don't like the current DRM status, but it's a step in the right direction. All they need is 2 or 3 more and they'd be golden.

 

Sounds good, I wonder if they will unbend any further on this issue.

 

Agreed. I never liked Steam that much, but I've accepted it. You're still screwed if Valve ever goes out of business, and I still prefer to buy boxed games when possible, but at least Steam offers value.
As you say, I can reinstall as much as I like. I can download updates seamlessly, it works. Hell, I'm even allowed to take *gasp* backups of my games.

Steam is still DRM, but it's tolerable, and I've accepted it. Perhaps you're right, I should just wait for Spore and Mass Effect to come on Steam then.

 

Its still trash, why do people who are paying customers with their hard earned cash be the ones who suffer?

Pirates wont feel a thing, security will always get beat, meaning people who are actually supporting EA and Selloutware/Pathedemic are the ones who will get the short end

 

Update: EA to sell every box and digitally distributed copy of the upcoming Spore and Mass Effect with violent asian 'Odd Job' along with timed explosives containing 'pirate repellent'. Insider sources also report wiretaps on all households or residences linked to a [1] copy of Spore or Mass Effect.

Save us Jalf, I have no idea what 'pirate repellent' is!!