Here's Tycho from Penny Arcade, talking about the backlash to Ubisoft's DRM scheme:

"Visit any thread regarding the topic, and I mean any thread, and it won't be three posts until someone raises the *bleeping* Jolly Roger and says they'll pirate the game as a gesture consistent with some comprehensive ur-morality they've ginned up, one where stealing things is alright provided they were very angry when they did it. It's entirely possible that you don't like being spoken to in this way, but somebody has to get this done. What Ubisoft is doing here is Draconian - I don't mean those lizard dudes, I'm talking about laws which are characterized by their severity. Before they eventually dismantle it, and it will be dismantled, it will have achieved exactly the opposite of their intention. But what I won't tolerate from rational beings is the idea that you don't understand why they're doing it."

It's an old(ish) post, but it resonates with memore than newer ideas on the subject. The lack of rational dialog from both sides of the fence has created an environment of incredible hostility; anger that seems almost farcical given that the topic is the selling and purchasing of toys. But here we are: video game publishers are The Man, and gamers are rebels of various creeds, seeking to get the goods on whatever terms they've deemed to be acceptable. Should a publisher stray from what they feel is the moral and proper way to vend electronic entertainment, everything from secondhand purchases to outright theft is not only reasonable, but warranted. Publisher X broke the nebulous, unspoken code, and they MUST be brought to heel.

This movement, however, will never gain the power to shake up publishers - at least, not in its current form. While not every protestor supports piracy as a form of restitution and/or vengeance, enough of them do to color the crowd as a whole and erode bystander sympathy. To anyone who has ever worked for an honest check, the idea that theft (an act of personal gain) is some sort of political statement is nonsense. It's the eely rationalization of the opportunist.

The proper response, as usual, is the honest boycott. This was incredibly effective for the American Civil Rights movement because it illustrated to racist and/or dishonest companies that the disrespect or alienation of a large number of consumers had dire financial consequences. When you can show a corporation that you can live without them, you'll start to see change. A boycott is a position of strength - it shows that the protestors are willing to sacrifice their own pleasure and enjoyment to illustrate their point. It makes an impact.

Gamers, on the other hand, don't have the same stomach. Other than a few holdouts, gamer rebels still acquire the software they want and play it religiously. At best, it looks petty...a thumb to the eye of those evil fat cats at Ubisoft. At worst, it borders on the depraved; the scavenger behavior of the addict, travelling through dark channels to get their fix while cursing the very dealers that bring it to them. There's no narrative power here to draw on.

From here on out, games will be shipping with DRM, first-day DLC, later DLC, and any number of gimmicks designed to encourage new purchases and expansions. This is the publisher response to the burgeoning secondhand market and rampant software theft. Now, gamers need to respond. And the response needs to be rational, thoughtful, and based in Earthly reality.

Understand this: video game companies want your money. And that is not evil. YOU want money, don't you? Did you turn down your last raise? Your grocery store wants money; that's why they put the impulse buys next to the register and have three aisles of high-margin items like boxed cereals. Aren't THEY fat-cats too, then? Are you gonna buy second-hand olive oil to spite them, or steal celery? New cars have resale value factored into the price tag, thus sticking you for the second-hand market before the thing is even off the lot. DOWN WITH HONDA!!!

Game developers and publishers are not your enemy. They may not have the same goals as you - they'd love it if you paid $1,000 for a 20-minute demo, and you want the entire PS3 library for .47 cents - but you can pull a Benjamin Button and meet in the middle. Keep fighting and misbehaving, though, and they'll just use spikier bats. There are already talks of having the next X-Box be designedt o reject used games. And really, what does buying used games do for you as a statement, anyhow? GameStop ain't some Momand Pop corner store - you've simply given your dough to one group of suits rather the ones that actually MAKE stuff.

Hell, I'm tired of having to deal with the fallout of this silly slugfest. I'm sick of having to input 7 download codes to get all the pieces of a new game I bought because the publisher has to stash them in a Cloud to keep the vandals from enjoying them. So if you don't play nice for yourselves, do it for me. Either way, do it with a message more compelling than "you guys are greedy pigs!" 'Cause that's getting you nowhere at all.