Raven's big mistake

[Swingman]

Not enough pirate protection. There' probably just as many players out there using a warez version of JK2 as people that actually did the right thing and bought the game.

 

It's a great game and worth the money but it's a little annoying knowing that some cheap bast*** is out there enjoying it for free.

 

Maybe it's a strategy for getting people addicted to Raven's games so that they will shell out money for upcoming games, i don't know but this is the first game I've gotten lately that hasn't had a CD-Key or anything noticeable to prevent warezers

[ps2maddenman]

"it's a little annoying knowing that some cheap bast*** is out there enjoying it for free"

 

 

There's so many things in the world today that are unjust, do whats right on your own and then you can feel morally good about yourself and don't worry about others, know that your money went to Raven to help the company put out great future products, the Warez people who don't buy the game to help support Raven are more into just pirating, not just playing JO, they will find the next "big game" to crack and move along to playing that, I wouldn't worry too much about them crowding the servers over the course of time.

[Emon]

Warez protection does jack nowadays. Within two weeks someone already has a crack, a hack a rip something to make it playable without a CD or CD-key. It's not even worth the effort to put it in there anymore.

[Pol Favre]

i totally agree. however, i have a bit of pride that i paid the 60 bucks for the collectors edition.

it's great to know im not some cheap bastard who calls himself a gamer but isn't game enough to buy it.

 

 

(waves flashy keychain around) the warez people don't get one of these...

[DragomanJK]

I think that if there are $8,000+(US) programs that aren't safe from hackers, a game company isn't going to be able to come close to stopping them...

I installed a noCD hack b/c I own the game and don't think I should have to keep in the drive, I like other music

[Halowse]

OLD ARGUMENT BUT

 

Most warezers only play a game in the first place because it's free...

 

if a game was 100% pirate-proof, it's not like all the warez people would run to the store and stand in line with their money... 90% would just not have it.

 

Face it... it is not like there is this huge class of people who could afford the game but choose to steal it anyway... people who warez either dont have the money in the first place (no sales lost) or don't really care about the title and only play it unless it was free (again no sales lost).

 

A $50.00 price point is prohibitive to low money types who would probably buy if they could afford it, (mostly kids) and encourages piracy among them. No one pirates Deer Hunter XII, beacuse it is $17.99. When teenagers get into the habit of warezing because they can not afford the retail box, the potential for them to become honest purchasers once they do get their money straight is dimenished.

 

It's a catch 22 for developers / publishers... you have to inflate prices to make up for "losses" to piracy and recoup development costs, which drives potential new buyers in the market to illicit means. The only way to stop it is for publishers to take it in the ARSE and sell a great game like JKO for $19.99, and that aint gunna happen.

[Fyunch Click]

I'm sorry but I disagree.

You use the arguement that they cannot afford to spend the fifty dollars to purchase the game. Many of these "kids" are also the ones who own multiple console systems and many games for them. The games alone cost between 45-65 dollars new. Apiece.

Additionally, PC game prices, especially for new, hot, A-list, titles are generally priced very attractively in the first few weeks of release by major mass market retailers, e.g., Best Buy, CompUSA, CircuitCity, sometimes at up to 50% off the suggested retail price.

Generally the only people who pay full price are those who pre-order or purchase the game in-store in the first few days of release, before such sales begin.

I submit to you that the reason that the games are warezed is not for any reason other than the fact than the act makes them feel superior to their friends. It allows them to say, "nyah nyah, I got something for nothing." It really has nothing to do with money, that is only a front, it has to do with self-image and self-worth.

I'm 31 years old, and when I was younger it was a hell of a lot easier to copy games, used to do it all the time without a second thought...not because I didn't have the money, because I could spend the money I would have spent on the game on something else and then I could say I was and elite hacker who could rip games and upload/download them on BBSs.

Since then I've grown up and have decided that developers need to get paid for their hard work and dedication. I bought the collector's edition. I usually do buy collector's editions, just so the dev's get a little more cash, hopefully.

[ThreshRPG]

I am glad when a company doesn't put a bunch of retarded copy protection schemes on their games.

 

Requiring the CD is lame for at least three reasons:

 

1) Safedisk is very buggy and often prevents the game from operating on some people's machines/cd-roms. When copy protection makes the game fail to work, this is the height of stupidity.

 

2) There is generally a crack out within a week or so, rendering this protection completely irrelevant.

 

3) I keep at least 5-10 games installed on my computer at any one time. I really don't like having to keep the CDs at hand on my desk so I can play whichever game I happen to be in the mood for. This is why we have nice 40-100 gig HDs - convenience.

 

As for CD keys, those I don't mind quite as much, but they still have some major flaws:

 

1) If I want to sell my game to someone else used, give it to someone as a gift when I am done with it, etc. this is a problem.

 

2) Again, there is generally a crack/code generator out soon after the game is released.

 

3) What if I lose the key, and months or years later want to install *MY* game on a new PC or a laptop.

 

There really is not preventing pirating. Further, it is pretty well known that people who go around to warez sites getting illegal copies of games wouldn't buy the games anyway. Thus, I am very happy when companies eschew moronic copy protection schemes that do NOTHING to prevent piracy, and instead only inconvenience or harm their legitimate customers.

[geronimo27]

Originally posted by ThreshRPG

I am glad when a company doesn't put a bunch of retarded copy protection schemes on their games.

 

Requiring the CD is lame for at least three reasons:

 

1) Safedisk is very buggy and often prevents the game from operating on some people's machines/cd-roms. When copy protection makes the game fail to work, this is the height of stupidity.

 

2) There is generally a crack out within a week or so, rendering this protection completely irrelevant.

 

3) I keep at least 5-10 games installed on my computer at any one time. I really don't like having to keep the CDs at hand on my desk so I can play whichever game I happen to be in the mood for. This is why we have nice 40-100 gig HDs - convenience.

 

I agree. I'm kind of miffed that the CD is needed to run a server. I have two computers, and want to run a server on one, but can;t because then I wouldn't be able to play on it. (Ya, I know, I can burn it, yada yada yada, but its a hassle, and I haven't had the time yet).

[Creston]

While I fully support a game developers' rights to protect it's Intellectual Property from piracy, I DO wish that those forms of protection against piracy would stop being so damn annoying to legitimate customers.

 

Entering a CD-Key when you install it I can live with, but so many of these so called "SafeDisc" features simply screw up CD's so badly that 50% of the world's CD drives don't read them properly.

 

Which is damn sour grapes if you then look on the Game developer's site and it says "Your CD drive blablabla doesn't work with our version of SafeDisc, you're stuck, buy a new CD drive.":mad:

 

And WHY developers still use SafeDisc is completely beyond my comprehension, every version of that program that's made immediately has an UnSafeDisc made for it, which undoes the whole protection thing..

 

Also, WHY do I HAVE to buy five copies of a game if I want to play it on a LAN with five close relatives? (Note that I use relatives, they are allowed to use my copy within current copyright stuff etc.)

 

Or what about the early releases of Age of Empires 2, which insisted on checking it's anti piracy stuff every single time it loaded, causing load times of over three minutes. Damn good way to treat your customers.

 

 

Also, I think one of the reasons people go to warez is that it simply gets the game to them much faster. You don't even want to KNOW how long we sometimes have to wait to get something in Europe. Games that have been out for a month or more in the States and still there's no sign of them in Europe. Sim Golf for example. Do a quick warez search, and download it, voila...

 

Publishers that deliberately delay games in overseas markets only have themselves to blame when gamers then turn to warez.

 

In that respect, Bravo Activision and LucasArts for getting JK2 out when you did

 

Creston

[COLT 45]

Every game is going to be pirated, so why be depressed and bothered about it? Just be happy that you paid your due to LA and be done with it.

 

It hasn't bothered me for one second that people are playing for free right now. But it does irk me that people are here complaining about it, when they could be just enjoying the game.

 

P.S. More copy protection isn't going to help anyways since the pirates will figure out a way around it.

[jipe]

I would rather wait three minutes for the game to load, then not play the game at all because the developer folded from weak sales...

[DrNutz]

Well hey... here's my two cents. I purchased the game, and immdiately made a backup copy of the disk at the office. I'm glad that it was so easy to copy, because when I got home my Official had a CRC problem! The copy was good though... I'm going to have to return it and get a new one, but at least I can play for now.

[CaptainPOE]

Even if they would have put some sort of protection on JO it would have been hacked within the first day. Thats how quick they can rip apart the defenses. So way spend so much time and effort and MONEY on helping prevent warez when it will be basically useless within the first day? Here is a good example: I bought Tribes 2 about 4 days after it initially came out, and you had to register you CD Key to play. Well my legally purchased CD Key was already taken within 4 days, I was able to e-mail them and provided them with my receipt and the deactivated that account and gave me a new one. But all they have to do is get another CD Key. It just causes a hassel unfourtantely

[XManny]

Opinions:

 

1) Why did Raven decide now to use the Quake III CD key protection? Ridiculous.

2) The average Warezers excuse "not having enough money": whatever dude. People (even teenagers and kids) can get great jobs. Help get rid of the garbage for the local company and you can get up to 75 bucks for 6 hours of work, just an example. That's almost 1.5 JO's.

3) I like sheep.

[Ah Boon]

the is actually no vaccine for piracy. it WILL be rip apart in a few days time and there is no way to stop these people. I feel so sinful

[Soul-Burn]

"within a few days"

 

Guys, stop hallucinating...

 

The games are ripped and delivered before they hit the stores.

 

They might have done this because:

A. Making auth server take ALOT of resources.

B. It won't make more people buy the game, simply less people will play it, less servers and so on.

[WooFerPPK]

You know windows XP, my friend got it 2 weeks before it came out. it worked fine and everything. Actuly he was playing on burning me a copy.

So really, there is no way to stop illgeal copys of what ever.

[Emon]

^ Exactly! Which is why that CD protection crap isn't even worth the bother. Half the time it ends up screwing the legit costumers more than stopping warez.

[Edward_Zeth]

Originally posted by XManny

Opinions:

 

1) Why did Raven decide now to use the Quake III CD key protection? Ridiculous.

2) The average Warezers excuse "not having enough money": whatever dude. People (even teenagers and kids) can get great jobs. Help get rid of the garbage for the local company and you can get up to 75 bucks for 6 hours of work, just an example. That's almost 1.5 JO's.

3) I like sheep.

 

 

^ Are you a teenagaer that you can say all of this without knowing yourself? I'm 15, I don't have a job, and won't have one for some time. First off, kids have school, and homework, and other things to do. I don't have enough time for much in my usual day. Get up at 6 leave to school at 6:30, get home at 4, do hw, use the comp or watch tv maybe an hour or two, if i dont have a lot of hw, eat, shower, then sleep. I don't have time for a job. Secondly, what place is gonna hire a 15 year old? You have to be a least 16 in most places to get a job. And don't give me that garbage or cleanup crap, who the hell would want to pick up garbage for les than minimum wage, just to buy a game that they will only play on weekends or when they have some time off. And school doesnt ecxactly give you more time for a job. And even if I did have a job, I sure as hell wouldn't waste my money on games or 3D cards. I would buy clothes or something more useful. I get 10 or 20 bucks a week which i need for food and maybe for something else. I don't have money falling out of my ass for games. Nevertheless, I would buy a game if it were great, as would many other people ( I know MANY warezers, and most of them buy the games they enjoy, they warez because they dont wanna get ripped off.) I could go and pay 50 bucks for this game,then go home and see that it sucks ass, or i need a new 3d card, or some other issue that would either cost time or money. I DLed this game to see if it was fun and would work on my comp, and was planning to buy it if it was worth it (even though I dont have money coming out my ass). But it freezes every 2 minutes on me, even on lowest graphics, or in the ****ing menus, and i cant even play MP for more than 2 minutes. I have the graphics at worse than Quake 1 engine graphics and it still freezes within 2 minutes of booting up, even in the menu. If i had gone out to buy this, i would have been gyped. Thirdly, it isnt that hard to warez a game, so protecting it would be a waste of resources, of time and money. And most warezers would buy it anyway. Don't go making conclusions when you dont know the fatcs:swear:

[JPMaximilian]

Regardless of how much money you have or don't have, pirating software is never right. If you're too young to have a job, thats not the software developers fault. You could mow lawns or something to make some Cash. I would know having been 15 not long ago. Do the right thing and buy the game. If no one had ever pirated software there wouldn't be CD keys or other copy protection, and you wouldn't have to worry about it. When people cheap the system legitimate people have to pay the price.

[vellox]

Ahhh, always gives me a good chuckle to listen to warezer's justifying their pirated games. Any way you slice it, warezing is stealing and no ammount of excuses will change that. I also beleive Raven made a mistake not incorporating CD-key protection, as, contrary to popular opinion, it is a system which works. Unless you have no life, and have the time to use a CD-key generator and keep trying to get a valid cd-key, which would take days, the system works. I know many people who have been forced to buy retail copies of games because "dude, this ^&%&* game needs a CD-key, that's BS".

[CrAZy]

I am all for copy protection that works, but safedisk is a piece of crap. I bought aliens vs preditor 2 a few days after it came out, and guess what. It didn't work on my BRAND NEW DELL. The friggin comp was a week old.

 

After about 15 calls to tech support and numerous times trying to take it back to best buy the best answer I could get was "your screwed". I finally went and got a no CD crack, and viola. It worked. My point is safedisk is ****ty and should never be used. They should use something that works or use nothing at all.

[Canis_Aureus]

Tribes 2 has a perfect copy protection. You can easily crack and copy the game. To play online you will have to register on sierras servers. Everytime you start the game i MP mode you log onto this server. Tribes 2 is a pure MP game... there is only 5 SP level sthat are tutorials for playing online... This also prevents asses on servers as you have ONE identity (unless you buy another copy of the game) ... so lamers don't live long in the happy world of T2.

 

TRIBES - the gameplay is strong in this one!

[toolboi]

Dude, why concern your self wit hwether some kid is pirating a game when there are SO many other problems (including obviously the fact that your cojncerned with something so trivial).

 

Many of these "kids" are also the ones who own multiple console systems and many games for them

 

Dude, thats pulled out of your ass and you know it. How many kids with multiple consoles do you know who pirate stuff?

 

People (even teenagers and kids) can get great jobs. Help get rid of the garbage for the local company and you can get up to 75 bucks for 6 hours of work, just an example. That's almost 1.5 JO's.

 

not to defend pirates or anything (wouldnt want to do that) but consider this. In BC (Canada) the minimum wage for a teen in their first 500 or so hours of work is $6/h, thats $4 US. JO costs (with tax) $80 canadian. Thats 13h of work, plus schooling time, a week.