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Post by quadisys on Oct 15, 2012 15:37:32 GMT -6
Hello, I'll try to start a debate here, to avoid being only a private advertisement thread  On gamedev.net we posted a question what people think about our new software protection technology. What's your opinion on that? We at Quadisys think that a technology which is user friendly, invisible to user so to say, has big potential and could be useful to everyone. Apparently, some people argue that games should be protection-free and publisher has no right to control on how many computers given game/app runs. I.e. his only 'tools' for making money should be quality and support. |
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Post by Bolkonsky on Oct 15, 2012 16:01:55 GMT -6
I am a firm believer in no DRM. Games should be sold based on quality of the product, good support, and finally, complete lack of community for people that pirate the product. Also, games should be priced reasonably enough as well. If I were to use DRM, it'd be something like Steam because of the added features that go along with it. However, even that detracts from the end-user experience, which annoys the living crap out of me. Paying customers should get 100% over what are only potential sales, not lost sales, since the people pirating the game aren't necessarily going to buy it anyways. Besides, even the best anti-piracy measure can be cracked by memory hooks and oftentimes just changing the address value of a single address. If you could show me one piece of software that can't be pirated, then maybe I would become a believer in anti-piracy, but at the moment it's a futile effort that only pisses off the people paying for your product, while rewarding the people that pirate it. Also, it's a major pain in the ass when trying to do LAN parties and whatnot.  |
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Post by ATC on Oct 15, 2012 16:28:08 GMT -6
As I told quadisys on Gamedev, I'm a moderate on the subject. I believe that the most important thing is quality and marketing, but I recognize a need for some security; as long as that security doesn't damage the end-user's experience with your software.
A game where you can just directly copy the binary, paste it onto a new drive and play it (over and over on an unlimited amount of machines) would be in trouble. So obviously we need some sort of license key / activation scheme. And the product Quadisys has sounds like a very interesting solution we might even consider for our own products. But I think it should really stop there. Encrypting all the game content, requiring internet connection and license validation just to play (EVERY time you want to play), requiring some bloated DRM platform to run the software (e.g., Steam) are all going WAY too far imho. I hate Steam with a passion, just as I made clear on Gamedev lol.
Without actually seeing Quadisys's product and testing it I cannot render a real verdict on it. But from everything I've heard so far it sounds like a very reasonable copy/license protection setup that I can give my blessings for most software. But I'm a firm believer in quality and accessibility over security, and I believe games should be mod-friendly and community-friendly.
Perhaps when it's ready, quad, you would let us play with a trial version of it to see it in action?
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Post by quadisys on Oct 15, 2012 23:46:39 GMT -6
Games should be sold based on quality of the product, good support, and finally, complete lack of community for people that pirate the product. Also, games should be priced reasonably enough as well. OK, many indie games meet the mentioned criteria, I mean, $2 per game? Voluntary amount of money per game? And still pirated? Like 95% pirated? What would you like to see more? Mass Effect 3 for 5 cents? Take your time to read the gamedev.net thread. You'll discover that our technology can easily meet up your expectations Not with our solution |
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Post by quadisys on Oct 15, 2012 23:53:29 GMT -6
But I think it should really stop there. Encrypting all the game content, requiring internet connection and license validation just to play (EVERY time you want to play), requiring some bloated DRM platform to run the software (e.g., Steam) are all going WAY too far imho. I hate Steam with a passion, just as I made clear on Gamedev lol. If I could, I would put my signature here. This is exactly the reason why we'd started with the development in the first place. It's just nonsense if a thing, which is useless in user's eyes, abuses your OS, hardware, drivers, nerves, patience and dignity. WTF? We used to be gamers, too. I remember all the hassle even with cassettes, diskettes, first CD ROMs ... every frakking time it was about hiding, cheating, obfuscating and ... pissing of regular users. It's time for something new. Absolutely. We plan to do something even better. A crack challenge where everyone can put his/her best skills and prove us wrong. Plus normal users will have a chance to see it in action. |
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Post by Bolkonsky on Oct 16, 2012 5:10:00 GMT -6
Games should be sold based on quality of the product, good support, and finally, complete lack of community for people that pirate the product. Also, games should be priced reasonably enough as well. OK, many indie games meet the mentioned criteria, I mean, $2 per game? Voluntary amount of money per game? And still pirated? Like 95% pirated? What would you like to see more? Mass Effect 3 for 5 cents? Nope, but the fact is that games are overpriced. And if they're not, then they need to find a way to cut development costs. For the audience they appeal to, they're insane if they expect people to buy them for $60. I'd wager that half of gamers don't have jobs, as a minimum. And with the world in almost universal financial decay, the piracy situation is only going to get worse. And that's not lost sales, that just flat out people that aren't going to buy the game. Sure, I'll do that when I get a chance. Not with our solution [/quote] Well that's what I like to hear, lol. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not against DRM but it needs to be two things: 1) Cannot affect the paying customer's experience. 2) Cannot be cracked. I just don't think it's possible to have one of those without losing the other. At least, we've yet to see a working solution and some companies have spent big bucks and destroyed their PR (and many CD Rom drives) trying to do it. |
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On gamedev.net we posted a question what people think about our new software protection technology.
