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Jeffpiatt: the drm is due to a desprate need to curb illegal downloading now that brodband is common. the advantage gog.com has are that the titles are so old that the publiisher no longer feels the need to impeed free use since the games sold here have already been paid off in development fees and other costs. but i still think someone would get persued for hosting gog games on usenet. we are on the honor system here.
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anjohl: Yes, that's true jeff, but DRm actually PROMOTES piracy, since because of it, the pirated versions of games are usually the "definitive" versions. The DRm industry is built around false promises, alterior motives, and parasitism, to the point that everybody KNOWS everybody else is lying to them, yet everyone still does business.

Indeed. The people behind DRM's like SecuROM have acutally created a billion dollar business out of demonizing piracy. They have convinced the big publishers that if they don't include their DRM products then they will lose millions in revenue. The simple truth is that no DRM can ever beat piracy and its the legitamite users that suffer. SecuROM, Starforce and other DRM's are nothing but a parasite that has driven a wedge between publishers and customers. Companies like Microsoft and Sony have done nothing but increase piracy which suits them as they profit from DRM systems.
@Navagon. I agree with you. However you have to admit that EA are making changes no matter how small. A year ago people would have laughed at the prospect of EA on Steam or Impulse. Big companies cannot change overnight and EA are trying albiet very slowly. Companies like Ubisoft and Activision have overtaken EA as the companies that truly hate their own customers.
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Delixe: I agree with you. However you have to admit that EA are making changes no matter how small. A year ago people would have laughed at the prospect of EA on Steam or Impulse. Big companies cannot change overnight and EA are trying albiet very slowly. Companies like Ubisoft and Activision have overtaken EA as the companies that truly hate their own customers.

A year ago EA were on Steam. They're not any more and haven't been for quite some time. No great loss though, as even when they were there they had the same DRM as the retail versions. Why they didn't use the Steam client for protection is anyone's guess. Impulse may seem like a step in the right direction until you realise that again they're just using the same damn DRM. So, like I said, it's the same problem re-branded.
Activision are utterly repulsive. That's nothing new, but it becomes more and more evident the larger they get. Ubisoft just seem scared, confused and directionless. I wouldn't even want to ask them for the the time of day, never mind entrust them with anything vaguely significant, like a multi-million dollar franchise.
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Navagon: A year ago EA were on Steam. They're not any more and haven't been for quite some time.

http://store.steampowered.com/publisher/Electronic%20Arts/
And Steam versions (of most of the games at least) have no SecuROM.
Post edited September 11, 2009 by chautemoc
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Delixe: I agree with you. However you have to admit that EA are making changes no matter how small. A year ago people would have laughed at the prospect of EA on Steam or Impulse. Big companies cannot change overnight and EA are trying albiet very slowly. Companies like Ubisoft and Activision have overtaken EA as the companies that truly hate their own customers.
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Navagon: A year ago EA were on Steam. They're not any more and haven't been for quite some time. No great loss though, as even when they were there they had the same DRM as the retail versions. Why they didn't use the Steam client for protection is anyone's guess. Impulse may seem like a step in the right direction until you realise that again they're just using the same damn DRM. So, like I said, it's the same problem re-branded.
Activision are utterly repulsive. That's nothing new, but it becomes more and more evident the larger they get. Ubisoft just seem scared, confused and directionless. I wouldn't even want to ask them for the the time of day, never mind entrust them with anything vaguely significant, like a multi-million dollar franchise.

EA are still on Steam. Sure they did not embrace it but like I said they were testing the water. The water the DRM people told them was acid.
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Navagon: A year ago EA were on Steam. They're not any more and haven't been for quite some time.
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chautemoc: http://store.steampowered.com/publisher/Electronic%20Arts/
And Steam versions (of most of the games at least) have no SecuROM.

That's odd... They're not listed on the main page. Those games weren't available not so very long ago. They have a demo of RA3 but no opportunity to buy it through Steam. The rest is Crysis-related. All of which have 5 activation limits. So I don't know where you're getting the "no SecuROM" idea.
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Delixe: EA are still on Steam. Sure they did not embrace it but like I said they were testing the water. The water the DRM people told them was acid.

Yeah, it seems like they've chosen to hide away a few out of sight. But even those weren't there not so very long ago.
Post edited September 11, 2009 by Navagon
EA is already on Direct2Drive since god know when....but only in North America, though.
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Navagon: That's odd... They're not listed on the main page. Those games weren't available not so very long ago. They have a demo of RA3 but no opportunity to buy it through Steam. The rest is Crysis-related. All of which have 5 activation limits. So I don't know where you're getting the "no SecuROM" idea.

I've always seen them. Perhaps Steam has a temporary mishap when you looked.
You know what, it might just be Mass Effect. I'm reading the disclaimer things on each page now. I remember users saying back when this announcement was made the Steam versions didn't have it, but I guess they do (except Mass Effect).
Post edited September 11, 2009 by chautemoc
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chautemoc: I've always seen them. Perhaps Steam has a temporary mishap when you looked.
You know what, it might just be Mass Effect. I'm reading the disclaimer things on each page now. I remember users saying back when this announcement was made the Steam versions didn't have it, but I guess they do (except Mass Effect).

I don't see Mass Effect. There's three flavours of Crysis and that's it. Apart from a RA3 demo, but that hardly counts. It must be down to some regional restriction crap.
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Navagon: I don't see Mass Effect. There's three flavours of Crysis and that's it. Apart from a RA3 demo, but that hardly counts. It must be down to some regional restriction crap.

That would do it. Poor guy.
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Navagon: I don't see Mass Effect. There's three flavours of Crysis and that's it. Apart from a RA3 demo, but that hardly counts. It must be down to some regional restriction crap.

Most of the EA games on Steam aren't sold in the UK for some reason.
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PoSSeSSeDCoW: [Most of the EA games on Steam aren't sold in the UK for some reason.

Why make money when you can... oh wait...
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Navagon: Why make money when you can... oh wait...

I have long since stopped trying to understand why publishers don't make the games available in all regions.
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PoSSeSSeDCoW: I have long since stopped trying to understand why publishers don't make the games available in all regions.

When different developers have different publishers in different regions, it makes sense. But this is EA not publishing EA's own games that EA made and EA - when they feel like it - published.
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Catshade: EA is already on Direct2Drive since god know when....but only in North America, though.

UK and Europe too actually (through the UK D2D store).
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PoSSeSSeDCoW: I have long since stopped trying to understand why publishers don't make the games available in all regions.
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Navagon: When different developers have different publishers in different regions, it makes sense. But this is EA not publishing EA's own games that EA made and EA - when they feel like it - published.

I suppose this is a good start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_lockout#Advantages_for_producers