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Catshade: Doesn't GG still use internet activation to install their games? So I guess GG could still detect any abuse of this trust and potentially ban the account...
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TheJoe: Jesus Christ! Digitial Distribution is about uploading an installer, securing it on a server then selling it.
It's not about trust or anti-piracy measures it's about DISTRIBUTION.
GOG got the memo.

Huh? Many gamers support GOG particularly because of their stance on anti-piracy measures a.k.a DRM...

That's what I said.
They also need to hire someone to approve the reviews that we submit - considering they have so many obscure European titles for which almost no information can be found in English, I would think they'd make posting reviews on them a higher priority. But reviews seem to sit in a queue for a very, very long time. Long enough to qualify as 'discouraging.' Discouraging reviews is not what you want to do, GG.
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frostcircus: The blue coins system is astonishingly vague - as near as I can tell, you are given a certain percentage of any purchase you make as blue coins, and you also seem to receive them for writing reviews and helping people out. Unfortunately, the exact rewards for these acts are not made clear anywhere.

Hmm, sounds weird. Sort of what I was thinking with the bonus scheme though, seen a few webshops do stuff like that but they're normally pretty specific
Speaking of gamersgate, what the hell are blue coins? Anything like microsoft points or is it a bonus scheme thing?
Think reward points. But also with the ability to purchase them. You basically earn "blue coins" for purchasing games, writing (and then having approved) reviews and for helping others in the Game Tutor section (but if said person can then be arsed to mark the problem as solved).
The blue coin system is great in principle but falls short due to the moderation required as far as approving reviews and approving problems marked as solved and due to people not even bothering to mark their problems as solved. Which is a real pity.
On the upside, if you ever manage to amass enough of the coins, you can use them to basically get free games.
Yeah thats sort of what I was assuming, so with each game bought you get 5 blue coins and only have to save 20000 for a free game...
Well it's not that bad. I got the Argos Naval Yard expansion free thanks to those coins, and have already made half of what I used on that back. And that's just with 2 game purchases.
I love Gamersgate but their prices are too expensive.
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chautemoc: Unlike platforms like Steam, GamersGate allows players to transfer games between accounts at any point in time, ensuring that they always have access to the products they have purchased. "For us, it's all about anywhere, any time," Bergquist explains. "We want gamers to access the games wherever they are, and we trust them." Though this policy opens the door for unscrupulous players to abuse the system, it's a source of comfort for the service's customers.

DRM is DRM it doesn't matter what type of face you give it. I've purchased a few games from them. It's a pretty good site, but InstallRite to backup those purchased games is even better. It even works with Steam games.
Get it here: http://www.epsilonsquared.com/
So that can image an individual app rather than a straight disc, making it appear to be the same install no matter how many times you unpack it?
Nifty
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Aliasalpha: So that can image an individual app rather than a straight disc, making it appear to be the same install no matter how many times you unpack it?
Nifty

Yes, but you have to run the program so it can snapshot your system before you install your new game or what not. So say you have a Steam game. What I usually do is snapshot before I install Steam. Then install the the game, let it patch, then snapshot again for changes. If it's heavy DRM I let the program make an installer or if it's a huge intall I go through the snapshot by hand and export what's important. After that I go to the install folder and pack it with 7zip or something.
It's kinda like those old Uninstaller programs they use to sell.
Post edited August 03, 2009 by dreadcog
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Catshade: Doesn't GG still use internet activation to install their games? So I guess GG could still detect any abuse of this trust and potentially ban the account...
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TheJoe: Jesus Christ! Digitial Distribution is about uploading an installer, securing it on a server then selling it.
It's not about trust or anti-piracy measures it's about DISTRIBUTION.
GOG got the memo.

Huh? Many gamers support GOG particularly because of their stance on anti-piracy measures a.k.a DRM...

There's no overall DRM system with Gamersgate...if a publisher wants to use it, it's there...if not, there's nothing. And they don't use a software client like Impulse or Steam, just your online account where you access your games, which works a lot like how GoG operates, actually. You log in and there are your games.
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Crassmaster: There's no overall DRM system with Gamersgate...if a publisher wants to use it, it's there...if not, there's nothing.

Unfortunately that is not the case. I forgot, this is the reason I haven't bought anything there before:
Can I download the game on my office PC and install it on my home PC which does not have an internet connection?
NO. An internet connection is needed to install the games.
So much for 'anytime, anywhere'. :P
Post edited August 03, 2009 by chautemoc
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Crassmaster: There's no overall DRM system with Gamersgate...if a publisher wants to use it, it's there...if not, there's nothing.
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chautemoc: Unfortunately that is not the case. I forgot, this is the reason I haven't bought anything there before:
Can I download the game on my office PC and install it on my home PC which does not have an internet connection?
NO. An internet connection is needed to install the games.
So much for 'anytime, anywhere'. :P

There is a loophole in that system though. You only need to be online for the first installation, to decrypt the installer exe. Make a back-up copy of the install files before finishing the install, and you have a normal installer you can use without a connection.
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chautemoc: Unfortunately that is not the case. I forgot, this is the reason I haven't bought anything there before:
Can I download the game on my office PC and install it on my home PC which does not have an internet connection?
NO. An internet connection is needed to install the games.
So much for 'anytime, anywhere'. :P
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ZamFear: There is a loophole in that system though. You only need to be online for the first installation, to decrypt the installer exe. Make a back-up copy of the install files before finishing the install, and you have a normal installer you can use without a connection.

They claim to be working on closing that loophole, so it may not be around forever.
While Bergquist seems to be more clued in than quite a few other folks in the gaming industry, I have to disagree on the matter of trust being important in digital distribution (or any other type of distribution for that matter). To state it plainly, trust shouldn't even enter into the equation. When I go to buy a game, I'm entering into a simple business transaction: I give someone some money, they give me the game I want. After that our business is concluded; they shouldn't need to trust me to do anything further, and I shouldn't need to trust them to do anything further (such as maintaining servers needed to authorize the game). The mindset that permeates the gaming industry that companies need to take measures to control what paying customers do with the games they've bought is a case of "You're doing it wrong."
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bansama: Gamersgate is a lot better than Steam, although they do have their problems, the biggest one being the unreliable payment system. They rely to heavily on third party solutions that don't always work.

Gamersgate using a third-party payment system is one factor that made me decide to not buy anything through them. Also, the fact that after signing up for an account they e-mailed me the password I had chosen told me the folks running the show knew fuck-all about information security, and combined with a third-party payment system and no encryption on the purchasing and account pages made any business with them a bigger risk than I was willing to take.