First Mass Effect, next Spore!

Seriously, they better get this SecuROM out of Spore too!

And people say complaining doesn't work.

Props to BioWare. This is really good news because I know the previous method was really making some of my PC buddies angry, as well as any PC gamer that uses the internet lol.

They're going to be overwhelmed if they try to do the over 3 computers thing 'case-by-case'. Just do the iTunes thing. If you run out of authentications, you have the option to clear all of your authenticated computers and start over again. It's a minor inconvenience since you might have to re-authenticate a computer, but I'm sure it'd be nothing compared to having to call tech support.

Sounds good, but I still don't like the idea of requiring an internet connection to play an offline game. I don't really see any point in trying to stop piracy in this manner. It's only going to get cracked almost immediately.

I suppose it's a start, but I already decided that I'm getting the 360 version of Mass Effect.

But my question is will EA get rid of the ten day rule for Spore and any other game they plan to make us suffer through?

Hooray!!

Ah, a developer who actually listens...

I love Bioware.

I don't get it. Steam does all of this without being as obvious, yet no-one complains about that because its from Valve.

Stop stealing games and this shit wouldn't be needed.

Except for the max installations part.

@willsueforfood:

Seriously!

Win! unless somehow you are in a backwoods place and cant get online to authenticate in which case your ass isnt reading Kotaku like you should.

Thank G-D.
Totally buying this one.
And listening to Rammstein while playing.

By god, I can't believe they backed down.

I'm getting sick and tired of this consumer outcry against PC copy protection.

You all bitch and moan that PC games are going downhill and that nothing comes out anymore, and then you bitch and moan some more when these companies try to prevent morons from downloading games for free.

As usual people can never be satisfied. As much as I love PC gaming, at this point I'd almost just like to see it go away completely so people can see what it's like without it rather than just have these things in place to at least attempt in lowering piracy.

It's funny how people who don't do anything wrong have no problems with these copy protection schemes. They don't bother me a bit.

Internet 1, PC gaming industry -9999.

Translation: "Hey kids, guess what?

Instead of breaking your leg like the last concept we had for buying our product, we'll just sprain it from now on.

Much better than being in a cast for a few weeks, right?"

Oh and of course here comes everyone telling me how wrong and stupid I am for thinking companies should try to prevent piracy.

@lurkaku: I don't understand what the hell is the uproar about all of this when Steam has been doing it since it arrived on the scene. Although I do understand what a hassle it would be to buy a physical copy of a single-player game and not being able to play it without being online, but at the same time I'm not going to knock a company that fights against PC gaming piracy, which is a huge reason as to why the platform is on the slow road to becoming abandoned.

@karasu is my homeboy: Saying it was complaining gives a negative connotation to the outcry over using SecuROM. I think what was done, was a movement.

I'm really glad to hear that EA/Bioware changed their minds about this one. I had been psyched to buy this game, but the SecuROM thing was tempting me to pirate it instead Now I can purchase it and know that I'll be happy with my purchase. See EA? Sane anti-piracy measures actually DO combat piracy, while crazy ones only encourage it!

I'm still waiting for people to complain that this game has copy protection...

Kudos to Bioware for listening to community.

@mva5580: Clearly you missed the point. The reason we complain, is because it often screws us, THE CONSUMERS, you know, the people PAYING for this product, while at most delaying the game slightly for pirates.

I am all for a copy protection system that doesn't affect people who actually pay.

I'm glad they don't bother you one bit. You are entitled to your own opinion, after all. But it might do you some good to actual step back and think.

@mva5580: Yeah, they should. So why are they wasting their time with SecuROM or the other stupid invasive schemes that have NEVER been successful?

Also, any words on if the robots are still involved? There's a big special on Vaseline going on right now and I wonder if I should stock up.

@ach77: It's an attitude like that that perpetuates the use of over-bearing, broken DRM. You'd really pirate a game just because you would have to be online to use it?

I'm confused. WoW has you reauthenticate every time you play the game--and if you want to patch it (right? maybe I'm wrong on patching). All MMOs do. Steam has you essentially constantly reauthenticate all your stuff. All the time. Because they're watching you. And they know when you've been bad. (you've been very bad).

Doesn't EA have it's own abortion of an online thing they had for football or whatever that they can utilize in this effort?

iTunes reauthenticates silently when you play a song in the M4p format that you bought. Not so silently when you're listening to someone else's playlist.

Xboxlive signs in automatically etc etc.

Does SecuROM require you to handjob the serial number again, or something? Or does it just check to make sure it hasn't wandered too far afield?

This goofballery is annoying. I can't even accurately determine anymore who I should be angry with. It's as though I'm yelling at the parasite attached to my face after it's shriveled up, fallen on the floor, and soiled the nice white labratory thing we have (in space). We're already being pantsed by every major software concern we come in contact with--at one point does it magically stop being a pantsing, and become an unwelcome grope?

I guess I don't give a flying shit about the difference between Securom's 10 day curfew check, and a bioware psuedo-MS online check-in seats count.

However, I do give a flying shit about stupid names for mundane things. Therefore SecuROM is evil.

@lurkaku:

Steam isn't a problem because you know what your getting when you buy a product from there. While removing the 10 day check is a good idea, the 3 limit is going to be a problem. I'm sure everyone here remembers what happened with bioshock.

@mva5580: You seem to miss the point, the only people this even effects is the people that shell out the money for it. It WILL be cracked and that's the version that "these companies try to prevent morons from downloading". So it's a waste of time and only makes the consumers life more of a hassle.

Fucking right.

I think I just might buy it. :)

Gotta love Bioware! Edmonton pride woot

@mva5580:
Because I think the general agreement is when I buy a product I...
1. Expect it to work.
2. Expect it let me use it how I see fit.
3. Expect that any requirements are necessary for my use of the product after I paid for it, not so you can constantly check if I stole from you.

Too much copy protection has got in the way of those basic consumer rights. I don't expect or want Nike to come to my door and check my receipt to see if my shoes were legitimately paid for, and nor do I wish that from ANY company.

Bioware backed down from 10 day authentication?

I'll get the cake! :)

"Q: Why are BioWare and EA implementing this new authentication process?

A: This serves to protect our software from piracy"

No, it won't.

Do they have ANY idea how piracy works?

@deathbunny: But here, the complaint is withstanding. It's a single player game, not MMO, not even one where leaderboards matter much. It's a single player RPG, online authorization might be a bit much in this context.
Just playing devil's advocate, though.

Go lynch your software pirating PC brethren for issues like this. At least for the moment a pellet has been dodged.

Old trick.

Girl calls home from college. "Mom, Dad, I have some bad news. I'm pregnant. I was so distraught when I learned, I cried for 2 days, and didn't study for an exam. So I cheated on it, got caught, and am on academic probation."

Mom and Dad reply, "What? Really?"

Girl: "No, not really, but I did flunk Calculus. See? It's not as bad as it could be!"

As much as we hate it, I don't see many options for developers. There has been copy protection on games since PC gaming began. I still remember looking up words in the manual to play Death Queen of Krynn, or cheese types to play Monty Python.

But the worst part is, these protections do little to prevent piracy anyway. A cracked version will be created, doing an end-around of the DRM. Sure, it's harder than going to the library to photocopy the manual, but the distribution is easier.

@wirebrain: If "using it as you see fit" includes making illegal copies, then the publisher has every right to stop it.

So is SecureROM gone completely, or is it just a lighter weight version of SecureROM?

I applaud your change Bioware. But I do not trust SecureROM or MediaMax at all! I do not want it on my PC in any form.

Great news, and I wouldn't mind the authentification on every start of the game just to get rid of having to have a DVD in my drive when playing the game.

Steam wins in that regard.

This is great news. A must buy for me anyway but.......what a relief. The other part I love is not having to have the disc in the drive.

Flight Simulator works like this, as well as Doom 3 and Quake on my PC, but not many others do. I hope this is a long term trend. With the Game folder in Vista, it would be so nice just to click on any of the icons and have the game just run.

"3 computers" that's BS.

Recently, I played good old X-Com and Half-Life 1. Both games I played on at _least_ EIGHT computers in my lifetime, not counting the odd exceptions.

The point is: Pirates will _always_ be ahead, not having to deal with any of the SecuRom BS. They have a more convenient playing experience then us customers who would (I say "would" because I, for example, didn't get Bioshock because of this) pay for the game.

It doesn't help to prevent piracy, it's just one huge advertisement _for_ piracy. "Sick of all the authentification crap? Welcome to the 'Bay!" This stuff will get cracked the day it comes out, just like it has always been.

It's a downward spiral, and Mass Effect should jump out of this ASAP. The reason PC gaming is slwoing is because it's so uncomfortable with all the driver issues and lack of affordable hardware. Now, by making everything _more_ inconvenient for anyone _but_ the pirates, it won't help sales one bit. I can predict that.

@NoahIdea: Copies aren't illegal, at least not here in Canada. Distributing them to other people, is, however.

This is a lose lose situation. The companies want to make money and even thought most of you will purchase a copy and be good citizens of the internet the majority will still get a boot leg copy or try to rip it. Also i see complaints coming in from everywhere when little joey shares his games and realizes that he paid for his friends to play instead. And the fact that 90% of people don't follow kotaku or any gaming site and just buy games and then shares their games unknowingly losing access after 3 games shares.

PC games are cheaper than console games and yet people still freak out. I agree companies should protect their software but it needs to be done in a way that it does not infringe on your rights. What happens 5 years from now you decided to crack this game open and play it threw again but the server that does the authentication is decommissioned ?

Piracy hurts everyone in the long run and for those claiming that because the company is such a sport i will buy this game i hope you speak the truth but lets be honest when 2 friends buy it and you can get also... why not will be the last thought on your mind.

@deathbunny: Online authentication every time you login only works for multiplayer games. Steam has an offline mode if you want to play single player games without an internet connection. The old Mass Effect copy protection basically says you can't play the game if you don't have an internet connection for 10 days in a row. Most people wouldn't have this problem, but I could imagine going without internet for that long and wanting to play some single player games.

I'm glad to see this new copy protection is similar to Bioshock's. I'm pretty tolerant of copy protection, but anything that would prevent me from playing a game I bought when I want, no matter what the circumstances, is going too far imo.

honestly people on the PC are lucky they even make games for it anymore. it's a filthy cesspool of piracy and barely, if ever, allows devs to cover costs let alone make a profit

@wicko: You only require the internet connection while you are installing. After that you can play offline to your hearts content.

I'm personally not totally against being required to be online while i play a PC game. Single player or not. If it protects the game from piracy, so be it. Its better than someone somewhere getting the game for free by illegally downloading it.

@NoahIdea: That's not what it includes. I do not have the right to burn my own copies and sell/give them to people.
I DO have the right to burn my own back up copy, or put the game on 15 computers in my own home or upload it 15 times on my only computer.

Why do I need to do that? It's my home, my property and it's none of your business what I do in there on any grounds that isn't already listed as a crime.

This is awesome news. Although I won't take this as a reason to buy the game (which would be kind of like rewarding one's dog for not jumping in front of a car), it's definitely nice to see BioWare step away from such action. I certainly think that they'll see greater sales figures than they would have otherwise.

Thanks Bioware/EA. I'll actually buy your game this time.

@wirebrain: You know anyone that steals PC games? Blame them, not the companies that try to stop the bleed.

@wirebrain:

Wirebrain is right on. I want to be able to buy my product and be able to play my product without the company interfering.

As an example, when last I tried to play Kotor on my computer (legitimately purchased), the game told me to insert the game disc into my CD-ROM drive. It was already there. Turns out that the SecuROM protection thought I must be using a pirated copy because my drive is a DVD burner. I had to ask for and be sent a new .exe from SecuROM in order to play the game. That is NOT acceptable.

That Bioware has elected to remove the draconian copy protection from this game means that I will consider purchasing it. It was a no-buy before.

Rock. I wondered how that once every 10 days things was going to work.

Being a former pirate I can tell you from experience one thing and one thing only:

Those who want to play a game but don't want to pay for it will get their hands on said game one way or the other.

By all means incorporate copy protection. Get ONE TIME authentication. But constant authentication? It won't stop piracy.

So deal with or move on companies.

I'd like to refer to this post from a dev of sins of a solar empire: [forums.sinsofasolarempire.com]

Should be an interesting read to the people who havent read it yet.

The point is as long as they punish their customers by using a copy protection i wont support them. Certainly not when they even limit my installations, granted i would never user more than one anyways.

@lumpi: No the PC game business is dying because there's not enough money to be made when so many people just steal your stuff.

@wirebrain: Yeah, that's why I said ILLEGAL copies, and not all copies.

@Tiberian: Yeah, I'm aware. I still don't like it, lol. Its certainly an improvement over the 10 day thing. To be honest, I don't mind Steam as much as I used to, so long as the games still work in Offline Mode.