Octopus Overlords

We´ve seen so many discussions about aggressive copy protection mechanisms causing a lot of trouble for the user while failing to prevent piracy. Zuxxez went their own way -inspired by by WinXP and Steam- which looks almost perfect to me if we accept that piracy prevention is necessary for adequate sales.

Earth 2160 ...
- has no copy protection!
- the DVD is not needed to play the game!
- has to be activated once per installation via internet or free phone number
- the first 3 activation codes can be obtained anonymously
- the activation code is bound to hardware. You don´t need a new code as long as you don´t change the hardware. This means you can use the same code an unlimited number of times.
- you have to register to receive the 4th registration code
- Zuxxez then may or may not ask you to prove you own a retail version
- if you can prove it (or at least convince them, if you don´t have a receipt) they will reset your counter
- selling the game to another person is allowed! The buyer may have to register, but he will be treated like the first owner.
- installing Earth 2160 on more than 1 PC is allowed as long as you use only 1 at a time!
- making a backup copy of the DVD is allowed!
- Zuxxez will provide a patch to get rid of the regristration process if necessary. This ensures that the game can still be played in a few years.
- it seems even lending the game to a friend is at least tolerated

Infos based upon the publisher´s FAQ. Of course I can´t guarantee that I´ve understood and correctly summarized everything.


Sounds good to me. Install without compatibility problems, activate once, store the DVD on the shelf, play the game.


On a sidenote, Earth 2160 was released in Germany yesterday. The first reviews are coming in. If they´re right it´s a big time winner: Visuals set the new standard in the genre, audio supports some THX stuff, the balancing is great, the campaigns long and the game feature complete including skirmish mode.

"Zuxxez will provide a patch to get rid of the regristration process if necessary. This ensures that the game can still be played in a few years. "

As long as they would promise to do this, I think it would be fine. If a game ever became unplayable, that would be unacceptable.

Lotsa games become unplayable. Either to new driver changes, new OS's or whatever. It is unrealistic to expect lifetime playability, especially with games made on legacy OS's.

I'd expect to get 5 years out of a game, if it doesn't work past that, then oh well. But since I don't keep games beyond the time it takes to play them even that wouldn't matter to me.

Kobra wrote:Lotsa games become unplayable. Either to new driver changes, new OS's or whatever. It is unrealistic to expect lifetime playability, especially with games made on legacy OS's.

I'd expect to get 5 years out of a game, if it doesn't work past that, then oh well. But since I don't keep games beyond the time it takes to play them even that wouldn't matter to me.

You know, if I really want to play certain old games, and that happen sometimes, up to 15 years old games, I just install the right windows or dosbox. There is no game in my collection that I can't play on my computer. And this is really important to me.

Kobra wrote:Lotsa games become unplayable. Either to new driver changes, new OS's or whatever. It is unrealistic to expect lifetime playability, especially with games made on legacy OS's.

I'd expect to get 5 years out of a game, if it doesn't work past that, then oh well. But since I don't keep games beyond the time it takes to play them even that wouldn't matter to me.

There is a huge difference between technology advancing beyond the capabilities of older software and a built in self-destruct.

I'm not sure how this would solve the piracy problem. Wouldn't pirates still patch around the registration code?

- you have to register to receive the 4th registration code

Having to register? Ugh.

Blackhawk wrote:

Kobra wrote:Lotsa games become unplayable. Either to new driver changes, new OS's or whatever. It is unrealistic to expect lifetime playability, especially with games made on legacy OS's.

I'd expect to get 5 years out of a game, if it doesn't work past that, then oh well. But since I don't keep games beyond the time it takes to play them even that wouldn't matter to me.

There is a huge difference between technology advancing beyond the capabilities of older software and a built in self-destruct.

Absolutely. Building/maintaining a retro rig or modifying your current one to run an old game may be a pain in the ass, but it is within your control.

A Steam-like system removes that control from you and forces you to place your trust in the hands of the company you've already given your money to, resulting in a lot of prayers from retro gamers that the company will stand behind their product if in fact they are still in business at all.

@Nade:
Of course registration. How many codes should they give away without asking questions? Three codes is enough for an unlimited number of installations on 2 PCs and 1 notebook. This should be enough for 99% of all players. Zuxxez said that somebody who can prove he is the legal owner of a Earth 2160 retail copy _will_ get additional codes if he needs them.

This is only a means to make sure your copy isn´t spread among all your friends. They already hinted that they´ll tolerate an installation on a 2nd PC or giving your copy to a ( = one) friend.

Registration has other advantages like additional content. The current gimmick are 8 new MP maps.

Josh wrote:I'm not sure how this would solve the piracy problem. Wouldn't pirates still patch around the registration code?

Yes, they would. Maybe I wasn´t clear enough yesterday. I posted in the middle of the night.
What I wanted to say is that this looks like a fair compromize between protection against piracy and a trouble-free gaming experience for the customer. I´m not aware of a better solution. It´s unintrusive - you anonymously get a 16 digit registration code per internet or phone and that´s it.
The German market has a serious piracy problem. If a game can be copied it will be copied. So unfortunately something has to be done against piracy. Compared to things like Starforce or other on-CD CP products this simple activation looks pretty harmless. Especially because almost everybody has internet access nowadays. Another positive point are advantages like playing without the DVD. You don´t need updated drivers or a noCD patch.

Of course pirates above the casual player level will be able to bypass the activation with a crack. This can´t be prevented in a single player game without verification via server. Casual gamers don´t know where to find the crack, and they´ll have trouble finding a new crack after the next patch, which requires a certain version for MP play. Zuxxez gets decent piracy protection without bothering their customers. A pragmatic solution.

Gorath wrote:@Nade:
Of course registration. How many codes should they give away without asking questions? Three codes is enough for an unlimited number of installations on 2 PCs and 1 notebook. This should be enough for 99% of all players. Zuxxez said that somebody who can prove he is the legal owner of a Earth 2160 retail copy _will_ get additional codes if he needs them.

I frequently change or upgrade the hardware on my computer. The thought of having to register or prove my owneership in order to install a game is insulting to me.

Registration has other advantages like additional content.

Like Spam.

Gorath wrote: The German market has a serious piracy problem. If a game can be copied it will be copied. So unfortunately something has to be done against piracy. Compared to things like Starforce or other on-CD CP products this simple activation looks pretty harmless. Especially because almost everybody has internet access nowadays. Another positive point are advantages like playing without the DVD. You don´t need updated drivers or a noCD patch.

Absolutely. You won't ever have no copy protection - there will always be something. Standard things are being broken in a heartbeat, so there are really two options - get tough with pirates, or get nice with legitimate customers. Starforce does the first - it gets tough with pirates, and really makes life a pain in the ass for paying customers. This has the potential to do the latter - they've realized they can't stop the pirates, so they're giving paying customers bonuses, giving some incentive to buy rather than steal.

Yeah, it is a bit of a pain, but games will never be pain free. I'd rather have my pain be registration than have my pain being disabling legitimate software and risking system errors.

Blackhawk wrote: Yeah, it is a bit of a pain, but games will never be pain free.

I dunno. I liked the copy protection Infocom used in some of it's games, where the freebees designed to enhance the atmosphere of the game were also designed to be necessary to solve some puzzle, etc. That wasn't just copy protection that was pain free, but copy protection that enhanced the gameplay experience. The chances of us seeing more of that kind of copy protection, though, seems small.

Sounds cool to me. But I like Steam, and any other protection where I can play the game without having to use the CD.