Bioshock Copy Protection Stupidity

I

icyrus

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Saw this on digg and thought it was quite funny:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/more-bioshock-shock/bioshock-pc-+-you-only-install-twice-292222.php

http://www.digg.com/pc_games/More_Bioshock_stupidness_you_can_only_install_the_game_twice_WTF

In short: you can only install the game twice.

Now, 2k have responded that if you uninstall it with the uninstaller it registers that and then you can reinstall it again later, but this is incredibly short sighted of them. Say for instance if your computer is stolen, or your hard drive crashes, or you get a virus or you just plain forget before formatting.

I guess it is beyond hope that the retards making these kind of decisions will get a clue and realize that copy protection doesn't work and all it does is harm legitimate customers.

Stupidity.

I was thinking of getting a copy of bioshock for the PC when it came out - now I think I'll give it a pass.
 
icyrus said:
Stupidity.

I was thinking of getting a copy of bioshock for the PC when it came out - now I think I'll give it a pass.
Click to expand...

Yeah it is rather pathetic :o. The R400 price put me off unitil it drops. Now I'm not so sure I'll get it at all :rolleyes:
 
Shame, as hard as they try to enforce that the faster there'll be a hack team to break it. I wouldn't really worry about it.
 
I only buy a game once the NO-CD is created. I have 3 games sitting on the shelf with scrached media that I cannot play, and i'll be damned if i'm falling for that trick ever again.

What I don't understand is that my black PS2 cd's are scratched so badly that they look like them old records, and they still work, but one wee little scratch on a Digital Versatile Disk, and the copy protection is buggered.

LAME LAME LAME.
 
This is stupid. The people who actually pirate the software will download it with some NO-CD/Crack to bypass this, then install it as many time as they want.

While legit customers paying money will be stuck with a crippled game if they have more than 2 PC's or have to format etc...
 
they really should reslise that copy protection things only make things harder and worse for the consumer.... thats why most people turn to piracy
 
Hey, personally I think it's totally fair. How does this in any way prevent fair use? You install it, you play it, you uninstall it. Then you can sell it and the other person has the same ability.

It's only if you're trying to play it on more than one, or even two pc's at a time it's going to bite you, in which case, technically you're pirating it anyway.
 
Hmm, kinda stupid how legitimate buyers always have to suffer whereas a pirate copy is so much easier to play.

So much easier to just run an image to play a game than to wait for a cd/dvd to load everytime.
 
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I don't disagree. I think the MMO's kind of have it pegged and I'm surprised more games don't offer that model, although I guess you do through things like direct2drive.

Basically the physical media is not the game. Even if it's a standlone game, you simply "login" over the internet to play, no discs required, the CD key is bound to the account. If you want to sell the game, you sell the account, not the media.

Either that or go the console route - disc in - play. Works for me, I know others disagree.
 
doobiwan said:
Hey, personally I think it's totally fair. How does this in any way prevent fair use? You install it, you play it, you uninstall it. Then you can sell it and the other person has the same ability.

It's only if you're trying to play it on more than one, or even two pc's at a time it's going to bite you, in which case, technically you're pirating it anyway.
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Agreed. This is incredibly fair. To quote from the first link:

hey guys,

first, let me say this. you DO NOT NEED TO USE THE INTERNET EVERY TIME YOU PLAY THIS GAME. it is only the first time.

second, you can uninstall and reinstall this game, and if, by chance, you have 2 computers you want to simultaneously play this game on, you also can do that.

if by some chance you are reinstalling this game without uninstalling it first, a lot, there is a chance you may have to call securom and get a key, or deactivate some older installations.

but if you upgrade your hardware next week, you'll still be able to play the game. if you revamp your system and need to reinstall bioshock, just uninstall it before you go through the overhaul, and then do your reinstall.

calling it "hardware fingerprinting" is a bit alarmist. we do not transmit any of your data to any companies.

really, the only people who will be concerned about any of these security measures are those who are rapidly putting bioshock on many pcs... if you use the game as you normally do, you won't notice this at all.
Click to expand...

That's not a problem at all and doesn't bother me in the slightest.
 
The problem with your logic Lycanthrope is that you are simply assuming that it's okay for me to be forced to put the damn meda in my CD/DVD drive so that I can play it FOR EVERY GAME I OWN!

I have 19 games installed on this machine. If you think that I have 19 DVD's neatly stacked on a shelf somewhere so that I can swap the media out whenever I play a game you are sadly mistaken.

I don't see haw on earth ANYBODY can think that it is reasonable for me to swap the media for 19 games when I want to play them.

NOW .. they go and ADD another requirement, that I remember to UNINSTALL them all and be online when I do this before my hard drive crashes. It's bordering on absolute stupidity. As the years march on I will have more and more games installed, and I'm not going to remember all their stupid little rules.

In the meantime, a little shop in china is pumping out 100 000 dvd's a month that DO NOT HAVE ANY OF THIS CRAP.

Now .. who on earth do you think I am leaning towards?
 
lol...

Alright stoke, I get and understand your point. But the lady (I assume it was a lady, as the link refers to her as Elizabeth), says quite simply that the "average" gamer won't even feel a difference - I'm tempted to believe her. She even says that "if by some chance you are reinstalling this game without uninstalling it first, a lot, there is a chance you may have to call securom and get a key, or deactivate some older installations."

That doesn't strike me as something that has a very high possibility of happening. And, if it does happen, the fix is a phone call away. I just believe this whole "Omg! Install it twice and never again!" thing has just been taken a little out of hand by the *cough* "media."

The wide-screen issue is more of a concern for me than the copy protection. My suggestion to everyone is just to calm down and relax instead of freaking out about something which I seriously doubt requires a hissyfit over - it just seems trivial to me...

Edit: Sorry, forgot to mention - I'm a gamer as well, but I tend to finish one before moving onto the next... It's a habit of mine... So the disc-swapping has never phased me, but I can understand your point... I guess to each their own.
 
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first, let me say this. you DO NOT NEED TO USE THE INTERNET EVERY TIME YOU PLAY THIS GAME. it is only the first time.
Click to expand...
I refuse to do it even once. I do not allow software to phone home. This type of thing tells me they want me to get the game without paying for it because free versions come unencumbered by paranoia and stupidity.
 
noxibox said:
I refuse to do it even once. I do not allow software to phone home. This type of thing tells me they want me to get the game without paying for it because free versions come unencumbered by paranoia and stupidity.
Click to expand...

A lot like when you activated Windows? :p Assuming, that is, you use Windows ^.^

Edit: Or Adobe, or AutoCAD, or certain anti-virus software... Now that I think about it, it's kind of common :/
 
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icyrus said:
Saw this on digg and thought it was quite funny:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/more-bioshock-shock/bioshock-pc-+-you-only-install-twice-292222.php

http://www.digg.com/pc_games/More_Bioshock_stupidness_you_can_only_install_the_game_twice_WTF

In short: you can only install the game twice.

Now, 2k have responded that if you uninstall it with the uninstaller it registers that and then you can reinstall it again later, but this is incredibly short sighted of them. Say for instance if your computer is stolen, or your hard drive crashes, or you get a virus or you just plain forget before formatting.

I guess it is beyond hope that the retards making these kind of decisions will get a clue and realize that copy protection doesn't work and all it does is harm legitimate customers.

Stupidity.

I was thinking of getting a copy of bioshock for the PC when it came out - now I think I'll give it a pass.
Click to expand...

Quite honestly, Just because they try so hard to make it difficult for legit people to use their paid for product, is exactly the reason why i'll go out of my way to crack the damn thing!.
 
Personally I wouldn't want to install any game that uses securom or starforge.

I believe that there is no legitimate way to remove securom once you've installed it.

Pathetic.

Steam is about the only manageable copy protection I am willing to tolerate.
 
I have everything running off a virtual drive often without a crack. I hate having a DVD
in the drive the whole time. This trend towards online activation is becoming a hassle though. Soon every bloody thing will want to activate. (I can already see it: No you can't open the textfile. You need to activate notepad first)

On a side note: I recently actually bought a game. Bizarre feeling.
 
Lycanthrope said:
A lot like when you activated Windows? :p Assuming, that is, you use Windows ^.^

Edit: Or Adobe, or AutoCAD, or certain anti-virus software... Now that I think about it, it's kind of common :/
Click to expand...
None are allowed to phone home under any circumstances. I would do what is necessary to fix these defects.
 
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