Given that this would be the case is it really strange then? Assume the case that they were rewarded for their work... it's not thanks to the people who are still holding on to their wallet because it's not DRM-free. They're choosing to support the people who rewarded them for a while longer still, instead of focusing on the ones who were too stubborn to support their game so far.

For people to then complain that they 'didn't keep their word'. Well, it's not like they owe them anything.

And yeah. I think some confusion probably comes from the notion that some people just see it as an intent to remove the DRM 'because' it's DRM... while for a lot of developers I'm pretty sure it's simply something to do when your sales have dropped off, and it's really just time to see who else you can still sell the game to. So putting it up DRM-free is just dipping into remaining markets then.

kudos for working in "mirthless" into a serious conversation.

I find this a little irritating. I bought it for quite little off of Amazon which was labeling it DRM-free at the time. I guess it depends on who you ask if that is technically true, but I'm going to call it fibbing. Regardless of interpretation the key check could be an issue for me down the road. I was able to check out the game briefly, but it may quite a while before I really get a chance to dig into it. (no windows for the foreseeable future.)

To their credit the key check hasn't been refused any of the 5+ times I've installed it under various wine versions to see if I could get it to run, but so far no dice. If they actually get around to it then whatever. If not, whatever. It was like $2.50 or something.

It's possible some folks purchased it recently due to their promise that they would remove the DRM, in which case some of their supporters actually were counting on it...

I doubt anyone cares that they keep supporting the DRM, as long as you have Steam support you basically shut that crowd up, no one else actively "votes" for DRM as a "thing".

Right, because when you promise someone something you don't owe them anything. It doesn't matter if I don't give someone something I said I would, it's not like I owe them anything!

Off-topic, but where does Amazon label DRM-free games? For the longest time they didn't make any mention of DRM and just recently they started to do that, but I don't see any labels for DRM-free. I checks Splinter Cell as I'm 99% sure that was one of the games they did during their buy 2 games for $5 special to promote DRM-free games.

It's interesting you say that, because it's very nearly something I did. When I originally asked back in January (before they gave the concrete date of May 9th), they said that since they planned to remove it in the next couple of months I might as well buy it now. I politely declined because there was no guarantee it'd really happen and apologised for my lack of trust.
But yeah, given that they publicly stated their intention to remove the DRM by a specific date, some may have bought the game then based on that promise.

A fair argument. I think i deleted the part where I meant to highlight I was talking about people who are still holding off on buying it, rather than the ones who did in one of the countless edits I made while writing it >.<

The Amazon store has always been pathetic at enumerating anything beyond a Steam requirement. I'd be shocked if they'd figured this one out yet. You probably have to rely on some third party compiled list.

Thats still a big "?" from what I can tell. They(AC, SC, etc) were DRM free during some DRM-free "test" and were clearly labeled at the time(i bought AC and installed it like 10 times so I'm quite sure it was DRM-free). I don't know that they are still being sold DRM-free. With SPAZ it happened to be labeled at the time too, but its not now as far as I can tell. I think Amazon just keeps flirting with the idea but hasn't found a way to make it stick. If it doesn't clearly state it up front then I wouldn't trust anything to be DRM-free.

Ow they promised? Was it a pinkie swear? Or did they just say they had plans to do it then? Because plans can change, but a pinkie swear is forever :3

They said they were doing it, so yes they owe it to those they said it to, to do it.

Those games are and were DRM free. Most of them had been DRM free for years already (most DRM removed through patches I think). Even AC was DRM free I think, maybe from the start even? (might be mistaken on that part)

If the devs tried to use it as a ploy to talk him personally buying for that specific reason, then decided it didn't matter, it may not be bad business but it shows up on the D-bag meter. If only just a little.
Why announce they are going to be drm-free then have a sale stating they are, then remove the label ? I had tought about getting the value ware AC in disk form from a local store, but chose not to because it said it "contained technologies that could conflict with some disc drives." I don't know what Amazon's download was like but AC has defiantly had DRM at some point. I have to think if it doesn't say so, You have to assume it does. If for no other reason than that it is the dominant practice.

That's certainly something I agree with. Better safe than sorry. But when the sale came up back then I looked up whether it was a relatively new 'movement' from Ubisoft or something but I found a list from 2009 about no-DRM ubisoft games and it had at least half of the games on the recent Amazon sale in it.

Most of those games simply have already had their DRM removed in one way or another for years, mostly through patching. AC1 Director's cut, from what I read simply has no DRM (unless put in by the distributor I guess). A lot of people made a hubbub about it when it came to GOG that it was so amazing to see a Ubisoft title DRM-free, but that just means they didn't know a lot of their titles already are.

I agree it would've been nice if they'd been clear what version they actually have up now though.

Hi Everyone,

One of the two SPAZ devs here. I am the one SirPrimalform had contact with. I wanted to throw in my two cents so you guys know we do care.

In the original post here: [url=http://www.spacepiratesandzombies.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2776 ]http://www.spacepiratesandzombies.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2776 [/url] look about 14 topics down.

First off, I should have not given a date but it was not definite. At the time, things seemed to be wrapping up, but things changed and we decided to continue development on SPAZ.

I say that we will "most likely" do this by May 9th. The "most likely" part fell through. The reason for this was our planned inclusion in a bundle deal before May 9th. The bundle was delayed, and we spent our time releasing a free bounty hunter expansion pack, and now mod tools. SPAZ is still being added to even one year after its initial release and our priority has been providing new free content instead of capping the game. We try to take very good care of our customers, as I hope you can see.

From our perspective, the disabling of the DRM is a measure to future proof SPAZ when we move on to our next project. Since we are still actively working on SPAZ providing content and patches, the activation server's future is secure so there is no need to bypass it and build a cd-key system or other work around, which would just be a waste of time that we could spend on content. Keep in mind that there are just 2 of us.

When we do deactivate the DRM, we will also not be building a CD-key system. Instead we will simply tell the game that if it cannot contact the server, then assume it is dead and run the game no matter what. If it can get valid info from the server, then the server is still up and it should check, if not, then ignore and run. This is the simplest approach, future proofs the game and seems pretty fair.

SirPrimalform is likely more disappointed because he has been in direct email contact with us and at one point I mentioned that if he has not heard from us in 3 months, it will be HIGHLY likely that the DRM will be off. This was meant to get him to take a look again in three months instead of having us follow up with him individually. We get a lot of mail and try to reply to all of it, so we wanted to have him do the checking in three months vs us committing to track him down and tell him individually when the DRM is off. I apologize for this and will send him a key that he can choose to use or not.

I hope this clears things up. Also, if you want a free key, just email me at ahume@spazgame.com and you can have one. I will put a cap of say 50 total over the next 24 hours on this so it isn't abused long term. It is a fun game and I hope you will give it a try.