*Poll* Will You Buy Mass Effect?

Many are complaining about the way EA is handling the whole SecuROM ordeal. I'm just curious as to how this might affect sales (although I'm well aware that this board is hardly representative of the masses). Will you purchase ME, and if not, is the online activation affecting your decision?

For those of you who don't know, apparently you only get 3-installs with the game, which aren't reclaimed if you uninstall the game. So if you upgrade your PC, reformat your harddrive, etc. you'll probably lose an install.

Meh, online activation doesn't bother me at all. I don't understand why people are making such a big fuss over it. I had absolutely ZERO problems installing and playing Bioshock, and I have no doubt in my mind that it will be the same case with Mass Effect.Rottenberry

I'm not completely informed, but I heard that this new version of SecuROM will behave more like a rootkit, meaning it will be more intrusive. Furthermore, you only get 3 installs and can't reclaim them by uninstalling. That last bit is what really has me concerned since I reformat my PC on average twice a year.

they are just throwing away money trying to protect games, very sad

gonna buy the game though, did buy Bioshock after they softened up the security :)

already have it for the 360 and have played through nearly 4 times. im all set :D.

for those who are buying it however, youre in for one very special treat. for me, this is very easily THE game of 2007. Not many games have locked me in a basement for 3 days on end.

See how the reviews go, look for a demo, then I might buy it -

That is if I don't go to Alaska and never come back first...

See how the reviews go, look for a demo, then I might buy it -

That is if I don't go to Alaska and never come back first...

biggest_loser

Care to explain? Sounds like Into the Wild.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

See how the reviews go, look for a demo, then I might buy it -

That is if I don't go to Alaska and never come back first...

BlueBirdTS

Care to explain? Sounds like Into the Wild.

That is exactly what it is meant to be like, expect without Vince Vaughan. You just have to read my blog to understand.

they are just throwing away money trying to protect games, very sad

gonna buy the game though, did buy Bioshock after they softened up the security :)

promajo

They may be throwing money away but I dunno I'm not even sure if I was a publisher I'd fly naked and take the Stardock route.

The game looks interesting to me and since I'll be buying it either digitally or from a store shelve I fear not their copy protection schemes.

Definately. I was about to buy a 360 for it @_@.

[QUOTE="BlueBirdTS"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

See how the reviews go, look for a demo, then I might buy it -

That is if I don't go to Alaska and never come back first...

biggest_loser

Care to explain? Sounds like Into the Wild.

That is exactly what it is meant to be like, expect without Vince Vaughan. You just have to read my blog to understand.

Ah, trouble at home, I see. You should probably just mull life over before taking drastic measures, we all have our bad days. Also, I didn't know that mfsa got banned! He was a very insightful poster.

I will wait until I know more about the 3 activation limit thing. I know it's on 3 computer, but I plan to change my graphic card this fall and I wonder if securom will count this as "another computer" installation.Franko_3

Yeah you want to be careful about that. I hope its not that touchy.

Can you explain the picture in your signature.

I feel like the guy with his head down lol.

I will wait until I know more about the 3 activation limit thing. I know it's on 3 computer, but I plan to change my graphic card this fall and I wonder if securom will count this as "another computer" installation.Franko_3

One of the programmers said he exchanged multiple cards and none consumed an activation.

Absolutely NOT.

You all know my reasons.

I will be waiting at least a week after release to pick it up to see what, if any, problems arise from the SecuROM.foxhound_fox

Same.

If the antipiracy measures are legitimate and do not inconvenience the honest buyers, then I would be happy to contribute to the success of it and hopefully get other developers on board.

[QUOTE="Franko_3"]I will wait until I know more about the 3 activation limit thing. I know it's on 3 computer, but I plan to change my graphic card this fall and I wonder if securom will count this as "another computer" installation.biggest_loser

Yeah you want to be careful about that. I hope its not that touchy.

Can you explain the picture in your signature.

I feel like the guy with his head down lol.

lol, watch zero punctuation review for The Witcher, you will understand :p

[QUOTE="Franko_3"]I will wait until I know more about the 3 activation limit thing. I know it's on 3 computer, but I plan to change my graphic card this fall and I wonder if securom will count this as "another computer" installation.Roris0A

One of the programmers said he exchanged multiple cards and none consumed an activation.

Thx for the info. I might pre-order it finally.

no steam version = no buy i will still play it through.johnny27

:o You're going to pirate!

Absolutely NOT.

You all know my reasons.

RobertBowen

Why are you blaming SecurRom? Its the people who are pirating games you should really put the blame. Imagine if everyone on this planet were honest and bought their games instead of stealing them. There would be no need to make anti pirating software.

[QUOTE="promajo"]

they are just throwing away money trying to protect games, very sad

gonna buy the game though, did buy Bioshock after they softened up the security :)

Krall

They may be throwing money away but I dunno I'm not even sure if I was a publisher I'd fly naked and take the Stardock route.

Why? You know copy protection stops few if any pirates at all, so why? Why even spend the time and money to implement a measure that is doomed to fail at accomplishing its purpose?

[QUOTE="Krall"][QUOTE="promajo"]

they are just throwing away money trying to protect games, very sad

gonna buy the game though, did buy Bioshock after they softened up the security :)

JP_Russell

They may be throwing money away but I dunno I'm not even sure if I was a publisher I'd fly naked and take the Stardock route.

Why? You know copy protection stops few if any pirates at all, so why? Why even spend the time and money to implement a measure that is doomed to fail at accomplishing its purpose?

Agreed. Stardock has the right attitude. They don't discourage you from pirating, they encourage you to buy the game.

[QUOTE="RobertBowen"]

Absolutely NOT.

You all know my reasons.

Jd1680a

Why are you blaming SecurRom? Its the people who are pirating games you should really put the blame. Imagine if everyone on this planet were honest and bought their games instead of stealing them. There would be no need to make anti pirating software.

I live in the real world, not some idyllic fantasy world, and unfortunately copy protection schemes have been proved time and time again to be absolutely useless in combatting piracy. Their anti-piracy mechanisms thus far have simply not worked, yet they persist in using them. Bioshock was apparently hacked within days and pirates are now playing it without activation limits and other nonsense. And people have been stealing from each other since the first man picked up an object and considered it had value. There will always be someone who covets what other people have.

So yes, if there were no pirates, we wouldn't need copy protection schemes. If there were no murderers or rapists, we wouldn't need laws to punish them. If there were no stealing at all, we wouldn't need locks. But sadly that is not the world we live in.

As for this version of SecureROM, as I stated in the other thread I hold it responsible for causing a DVD drive failure and interfering with my use of NERO to back up data. I've had almost no problems with earlier versions of SecureROM, and have many games that used it. Whatever they've changed in the most recent versions, I do not think it is stable. So I don't want it anywhere near my PC, which I use for work as well as play.

If you've never experienced a problem with the latest version, then that's fine and good luck to you in the future. But there's an old saying, "Once bitten, twice shy", and that is my stance. I won't say any more about it in this thread as I feel it is going somewhat off-topic.

[QUOTE="Krall"][QUOTE="promajo"]

they are just throwing away money trying to protect games, very sad

gonna buy the game though, did buy Bioshock after they softened up the security :)

JP_Russell

They may be throwing money away but I dunno I'm not even sure if I was a publisher I'd fly naked and take the Stardock route.

Why? You know copy protection stops few if any pirates at all, so why? Why even spend the time and money to implement a measure that is doomed to fail at accomplishing its purpose?

I believe copy-protection is there to dissuade 'common' piracy. You know like the avg Joe who happens to own something like Nero and makes a backup copy for his friend, the people who aren't going to jump through hoops to get a copy of a game instead of just shelling out $49 bucks.

To use a real life analogy, say I have 2 fiberglass ladders in my truck. Well if I leave them unlocked chances are given the right opportunity someone is going to walk away with them because I've made it so easy to do. Now if I lock them my chances of keeping them go way up, sure it cost me $10 to lock them but it's cheap insurance. I'm only going to lose them now to the ballsy people who happens to own a lock cutter.

[QUOTE="Jd1680a"][QUOTE="RobertBowen"]

Absolutely NOT.

You all know my reasons.

RobertBowen

Why are you blaming SecurRom? Its the people who are pirating games you should really put the blame. Imagine if everyone on this planet were honest and bought their games instead of stealing them. There would be no need to make anti pirating software.

I live in the real world, not some idyllic fantasy world, and unfortunately copy protection schemes have been proved time and time again to be absolutely useless in combatting piracy. Their anti-piracy mechanisms thus far have simply not worked, yet they persist in using them. Bioshock was apparently hacked within days and pirates are now playing it without activation limits and other nonsense. And people have been stealing from each other since the first man picked up an object and considered it had value. There will always be someone who covets what other people have.

So yes, if there were no pirates, we wouldn't need copy protection schemes. If there were no murderers or rapists, we wouldn't need laws to punish them. If there were no stealing at all, we wouldn't need locks. But sadly that is not the world we live in.

As for this version of SecureROM, as I stated in the other thread I hold it responsible for causing a DVD drive failure and interfering with my use of NERO to back up data. I've had almost no problems with earlier versions of SecureROM, and have many games that used it. Whatever they've changed in the most recent versions, I do not think it is stable. So I don't want it anywhere near my PC, which I use for work as well as play.

If you've never experienced a problem with the latest version, then that's fine and good luck to you in the future. But there's an old saying, "Once bitten, twice shy", and that is my stance. I won't say any more about it in this thread as I feel it is going somewhat off-topic.

I think everyone assumes every person on the street is a hardcore user. That's not the case, 90% of the people you know isn't going to bother trying to copy a game. 8% of the people you know is going to try and copy a game and most likely will fail. The final 2% who is going to scour the internet for ways to get around from paying $49 will succeed. Game developers are targeting those 98% with copy protection; the other 2% is a lost cause.

It's like PC Hardware, it's something like 2-8% of total sales that go to high-end CPUs and GPUs. People always assume everyone is cutting edge with their hardware.

I lot of people whinged about StarForce but I never had any problems with it. Ever sice SecuROM came out with SR7 though, I've had a helluva time getting games to work. FEAR and Civ IV both required that I contact SecuROM and get special modded .exe files from them every time a new patch was released.

Star Wars: Empire at War just would not run no matter what I did.

Bioshock was also a huge headache as the online activation system would lock up at 4%. Took me 3 days to get the damned thing to install.

I was really looking forward to Mass Effect and was going to buy it on on near the initial release date. I'll be holding off until I've had a chance to cull through the forums and see what problems people are having with installations. Hopefully, a patch will eventually come out which removes the DRM nonsense (like they did with Silent Hunter III and IV, X3 and a few others.) If that happens, I'll gladly pick up a copy.

I think everyone assumes every person on the street is a hardcore user.

Krall

That's not the case, 90% of the people you know isn't going to bother trying to copy a game. 8% of the people you know is going to try and copy a game and most likely will fail. The final 2% who is going to scour the internet for ways to get around from paying $49 will succeed. Game developers are targeting those 98% with copy protection; the other 2% is a lost cause.

It's like PC Hardware, it's something like 2-8% of total sales that go to high-end CPUs and GPUs. People always assume everyone is cutting edge with their hardware.

[QUOTE="promajo"]

they are just throwing away money trying to protect games, very sad

gonna buy the game though, did buy Bioshock after they softened up the security :)

Krall

They may be throwing money away but I dunno I'm not even sure if I was a publisher I'd fly naked and take the Stardock route.

The game looks interesting to me and since I'll be buying it either digitally or from a store shelve I fear not their copy protection schemes.

Don't want to beat a dead horse here, but neither do the pirates. In the end they get a thrill out of breaking the latest and greatest in copy-protection tech, while I have to worry about EA servers staying online when everyone tries to activate it at once.