[B3D News]

One of the rare negatives brought up by gamers during discussion about BioShock, the latest game from Irrational Games, now 2K Boston and 2K Australia, was its quite draconian online activation system. Acknowledging this outcry from their customers and fans, 2K games decided to raise the number of authorised online activations to a more reasonable level.


Read the full news item

[Cartoon Corpse]

still sucks when you want to replay it again 5 or 6 or 7 years from now. are we renting this game?

i still replay HL1...almost annually, and i remove it after im done.

not to mention NOLF's, SOF's, HL2, Nightfire, Max Payne, GTAs...

and have no plans to trash them.

and what about sale of used (classic) games?

[L233]

I decided not to buy BioShock because of this crap. It's too invasive. It's not like I can't wait a few months and then pick up this game for €20 in a, hopefully, SecuNazi free version.

[Bajzel]

Levine said somewhere down the line they'll remove it compleltely with a patch. Don't fret guys.

[Farid]

Originally Posted by Bajzel

Levine said somewhere down the line they'll remove it compleltely with a patch. Don't fret guys.

That's addressed in the news:

Originally Posted by News

Industry veteran, Ken Levine, also BioShock’s lead designer, chimed into that debate and cleared the doubts about the future and the activation system for BioShock. Speaking with Joystiq, Levine pointed out that the online activation system will only be available during the period of time the game is “really hot and there are people really trying to find ways to play the game without buying it.” After that period, a patch will be issued allowing the game to be installed without online checks. This information should put that part of the debate to ease.

[hesido]

Still, I urge not to buy this game -until- securom is removed. If it sells well, it will act as a precedent and more publishers will go this way.

Moreover, as you all know, reportedly, there's no mention of this installation protocol in their manuals. There's no mention of this being installed during installation, heck, I installed the demo, and I now learn even the demo has the Securom malware. (I call malware anything that I cannot uninstall)

And more to the point, how are we to trust them? I am sure he is telling the truth, that they will remove this check when the popularity cools down. But, from a legal point of view, we are talking about removing a system that is not even being mentioned in the printed manuals, that is installed without the consent of the user. And all we have to trust is their promise.

Is this how PC gaming is going to be like in the future?

[Kurt]

I bought the game. Entered the number. Activation took 1/2 second. Should I ever bother to replay the game (doubtful, seeing how it's one hell of a crappy boring pile of shit - apologies to American console players) I'd have to sit through four times 1/2 seconds maximum or install that patch. I think I'll be able to handle that. Jesus.

As long as it's not as obtrusive as STEAM or causing system instability, it's alright with me. I'd rather not have to deal with this, but as long as people download games illegally I can sympathise with game developers and publishers trying to make a buck as long as they can. Even if their games suck major ass.
Like Bioshock.

[Kurt]

Originally Posted by hesido

But, from a legal point of view, we are talking about removing a system that is not even being mentioned in the printed manuals, that is installed without the consent of the user. And all we have to trust is their promise.

Is this how PC gaming is going to be like in the future?

I don't know, it says here on the back of the box something to the extent that "this product is copy-protected through security measures"

Anyway I think you are really blowing this out of proportion. Remember that if your are using Windows you've already lost. Don't kid yourself. You don't have to register Bioshock, you don't have to provide an email adress, all it takes is a quick connection to the server and you are done.

I don't know what the future will be like, but it's possible that at some point you have to log on to a secure server every single time just to be able to play.

On the other hand if it bothers some people so much, they should consider buying the console version. That should really do away with their security concerns. YEAH, RIGHT.

[pjbliverpool]

Originally Posted by Curt

I bought the game. Entered the number. Activation took 1/2 second. Should I ever bother to replay the game (doubtful, seeing how it's one hell of a crappy boring pile of shit - apologies to American console players) I'd have to sit through four times 1/2 seconds maximum or install that patch. I think I'll be able to handle that. Jesus.

As long as it's not as obtrusive as STEAM or causing system instability, it's alright with me. I'd rather not have to deal with this, but as long as people download games illegally I can sympathise with game developers and publishers trying to make a buck as long as they can. Even if their games suck major ass.
Like Bioshock.

I totally agree with you (aside from the parts about the game being bad - I thought the demo was great).

I think this activation stuff has been blown out of proportion, it sounds pretty unobtrusive to me, especially with the limit of 6 now.

The fact is its necessary on the PC so while not ideal we should support it for what it is - a mechanism helping to keep devs producing PC games.

Just as long as its not as obtrusive as STEAM like you say.

[Silent_Buddha]

Good for them. I'm all for publishers/development houses looking for ways to protect their investment (thus encouring the developement of more games) as long as it doesn't cause general system instability.

And they are following along in Epic's footsteps. Where they have some sort of copy protection for the first half year to a year and then patches after that remove all traces of the copy protection other than asking for a serial number when installing.

Kudo's for them for realizing that it's really only in the first months of a games release that copy protection is REALLY needed.

Now, I'm curious to see what's going to happen first. Copy protection gets cracked by a pirate group or 2K removes the copy protection from the game in a few months. This protection scheme sounds much more robust than the one featured on SC:CT and that took about 4 months to crack?

Regards,
SB

[Sxotty]

As I said in the other thread I like activation far more than bullcrap like securom and starforce.

As long as when you click uninstall it credits the install back then 5 installs is more than anyone should need. And if they have terrible luck and their hDD crashed 5-6 times then they can always email and get it taken care of...

Long live activation, die die die securom and starforce (heh that did not work well... supposed to be like Die, Die, Die my darling by the misfits.)

[caffeinated]

The securom portion of Bioshock was cracked a few days after release, which just goes to show how useless it really is. I don't think it was worth the negative publicity 2K went through for copy protection that barely lasted a couple of days.

The activation portion, however, still has not been cracked. I think that answers the question about which one is more useful (and activation doesn't secretively install crap on your box)

[SugarCoat]

Originally Posted by caffeinated

The securom portion of Bioshock was cracked a few days after release, which just goes to show how useless it really is. I don't think it was worth the negative publicity 2K went through for copy protection that barely lasted a couple of days.

The activation portion, however, still has not been cracked. I think that answers the question about which one is more useful (and activation doesn't secretively install crap on your box)

Given the fact that most games are cracked and released weeks prior to their retail launch i think it worked as planned. Far from a failure.

[Mummy]

I believe that ppl who doesn't want to buy it will not buy it, regardless of when it gets cracked, while ppl who want will, so at the end protections like those just make legitimate purchasers angry.

[epicstruggle]

Originally Posted by Mummy

I believe that ppl who doesn't want to buy it will not buy it, regardless of when it gets cracked, while ppl who want will, so at the end protections like those just make legitimate purchasers angry.

I doubt that most legitimate purchasers will even notice. Im really suprised that this DRM scheme worked for this long. Looks like they are getting better at protecting their content, good for them.

epic

[BRiT]

Originally Posted by epicstruggle

I doubt that most legitimate purchasers will even notice. Im really suprised that this DRM scheme worked for this long. Looks like they are getting better at protecting their content, good for them.

I'm not surprised that their DRM scheme worked for the entire stretch leading up to the launch. They kept a significant portion of the working code off of the media that is sold. At the end of installation, what many consider to be the "activation" phase, the program contacts servers to pull down vital code. It's impossible to crack code that no one has, until they distribute that code.

[Malo]

Personally I hope that copy protection schemes are starting to work better, as indicated here with Bioshock, as it means development studios might be inclined to throw more time and money the PC way instead of everyone going to the console.

edit: as long as those measure are not too draconian in nature I guess.

[Silent_Buddha]

This one is actually a fun one to track. As well as being amusing reading various gaming forums where there's tons of kiddies (old and young) running around saying it'll be cracked anyday now.

Considering how this is a Triple A title with much "scene" cred attached to whatever group manages to get a working crack, I'm actually fairly surprised it still hasn't been successfully cracked.

It's extremely refreshing and gratifying to see this. Game dev's (and the publishers that take the risk in funding them) deserve to at the very least regain their initial investment and hopefully make a profit on their work.

And if people wouldn't have bought it even if it wasn't pirated. Well good. If they don't buy it or rent it, they bloodly well don't deserve to play it. Although I'd imagine 5 activations would make rental's a bit difficult. Although they could do something like...unlimited activations, but a new activation will invalidate a previously installed and activated copy. Granted that would require some type of check over the net each time the game is started, which could be a hastle for people living in the country using dial-up.

And heck even a non-refundable 5 activations is quite generous if they do indeed plan on removing the copy protection mechanism sometime after launch when sales inevitably start to die down.

Regards,
SB

[swaaye]

Are you sure it hasn't been cracked? It looks like it's on the various torrent sites now. Caffeinated said above that it had been cracked 2 days after release.

Those cracking teams will end up being single-handedly responsible of PC gaming moving to only icky MMOs, IMO.

[Richard]

Guys, let's try and get the discussion to the OT (increasing number of activations) instead of the "it's (not) cracked" debate.

[micron]

Originally Posted by Sxotty

. supposed to be like Die, Die, Die my darling by the misfits.)

Holy crap, another Misfits fan @ B3D.

[hesido]

Originally Posted by Curt

I don't know, it says here on the back of the box something to the extent that "this product is copy-protected through security measures"

Anyway I think you are really blowing this out of proportion. Remember that if your are using Windows you've already lost. Don't kid yourself. You don't have to register Bioshock, you don't have to provide an email adress, all it takes is a quick connection to the server and you are done.

I don't know what the future will be like, but it's possible that at some point you have to log on to a secure server every single time just to be able to play.

On the other hand if it bothers some people so much, they should consider buying the console version. That should really do away with their security concerns. YEAH, RIGHT.

I don't own an Xbox, but a PS3. But a keyboard/mouse fps gamer, I hate console fps, can't play them at all!

Some people don't like Steam, but I like their approach. I bought quite many games through steam and I can play them on any PC I like, and install, uninstall anytime I want. It even does have an offline mode for times with no net access.

Anyway, I do like your points, but I still hate the 5 installs restriction which could deplete very quickly. The notion that I am renting the game is a concept I do not like. I may buy the game when this thing is removed and the game will be cheaper as a bonus. Also, they should have showed some respect and tell on the box:

*They could only reinstall 2 times (at launch, this was the case)
*And that this restriction is temporary but for an indefinite time.

Of course on the internet, words spread quickly so people were aware, but they should have made this clear on the box, only out of respect to the buyer.