Dragon Age 2 - News Roundup #4

[DArtagnan]

So now the favorite target audience is stealing their games?

Well, they always did - but at least that should be one less excuse for not catering to the PC market

 

[Couchpotato]

So now the favorite target audience is stealing their games?

Well, they always did - but at least that should be one less excuse for not catering to the PC market

EA will blame the pc crowd again while claiming console piracy is low it wont matter.
Must be nice living with your head in the clouds.

Problem solving 101 act like there is no problem and ignore it and hopefully it will go away.:lol:

 

[DArtagnan]

EA will blame the pc crowd again while claiming console piracy is low it wont matter.
Must be nice living with your head in the clouds.

Problem solving 101 act like there is no problem.

I'm certainly surprised they're not taking console piracy seriously, because it seems to be spreading like wildfire.

Still, it's probably nothing compared to the PC piracy culture - but since it's so easy to pirate on the consoles, they're not doing themselves any favors by not acting on it.

However, I'm sure the next-gen consoles will have more measures in place to handle that.

 

[Couchpotato]

I'm certainly surprised they're not taking console piracy seriously, because it seems to be spreading like wildfire.

Still, it's probably nothing compared to the PC piracy culture - but since it's so easy to pirate on the consoles, they're not doing themselves any favors by not acting on it.

However, I'm sure the next-gen consoles will have more measures in place to handle that.

I'm sure there will there's already talk about Sony making a console drm that will kill used game sales.

 

[MrSanta78]

Sony is way ahead concerning battle against piracy

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

EA will blame the pc crowd again while claiming console piracy is low it wont matter.
Must be nice living with your head in the clouds.

Or, like we often say here, like "haviong the head buried in the sand like an ostrich does" (there's a kind of proverb saying that if someone doesn't want to see/realize Reality, hen he or she is "burying the head in the sand like an ostrich does". No idead where this image of an ostrich putting the own head in a hole in the sand comes from).

 

[rich ruffo]

Thanks for that link Couch . You know what , this couldnt have happened to a more stand up company like EA, they have had really poor customer service with the PC community . I have an associate that live in India , and he says Cracking the consoles is big business .

 

[Captain Buzzkill]

Anyone who's been to a developing nation in SE/SW Asia has seen first hand how much software and movies are pirated, and I can tell you for a fact, it makes all of our torrent sites look like rank amateurs.

*EDIT* And please, don't get a warm and fuzzy that this happened to EA. As much as you may hate the company, piracy sucks the most for those of us that actually BUY games. And it doesn't matter if you don't buy a single thing that EA makes out of principle, DRM policies are only going to get crappier and crappier across the board. We gamers have to take an active and progressive role in the piracy issue, instead of clinging to the "victim" mentality and crying foul every time a company tries to protect its property. Most of us (myself included) know at least ONE person who downloads stuff without paying for it. Shame on us for not smacking that person or convincing them that what they're doing is wrong. It makes us just as culpable as they are.

 

[rich ruffo]

Very true !!! It is us the paying customers that feel the squeeze of DRM and the likes. EA treats PC like red headed step children , just glad to see that what goes around comes around.

 

[Tragos]

Very true !!! It is us the paying customers that feel the squeeze of DRM and the likes.

You can always pass to the dark side , or chose a middle approach.

 

[Captain Buzzkill]

Very true !!! It is us the paying customers that feel the squeeze of DRM and the likes. EA treats PC like red headed step children , just glad to see that what goes around comes around.

Ugh...that's not what I'm saying at all. PC users do get hosed with DRM, but it doesn't happen because EA "hates" us. It takes two to tango.

 

[adamsorkin]

Ugh…that's not what I'm saying at all. PC users do get hosed with DRM, but it doesn't happen because EA "hates" us. It takes two to tango.

No. EA and other publishers "hate" pirates, and justifiably so. It's just unfortunate when paying customers are penalized because of it.

 

[GothicGothicness]

The worst thing is that many console pirates earn lots of money to use for other illegal activity.

Just like torrent sites earn money on PC piracy... only the console pirate earns more because they often sell discs and such a things.

 

[Captain Buzzkill]

Developers and publishers are damned if they do, damned if they don't. If they don't include some kind of DRM, piracy will kill their profits, and if they do, those of us who pay for games get offended and irrational about it. The bad guys are the pirates, but it's easier to hate on Big Faceless Corporation - grrrr, and even more so when it's Big Faceless Corporation That I Really Don't Like - GRRRRR!! We take it personally, and it's stupid to do so. It's like being pissed off at the banks for having cameras and an armed guard, because it obviously means they don't trust you.

 

[adamsorkin]

Developers and publishers are damned if they do, damned if they don't. If they don't include some kind of DRM, piracy will kill their profits, and if they do, those of us who pay for games get offended and irrational about it.

By and large I don't disagree. To be fair, warranted or no, most DRM has not impacted my gameplay experience at all beyond the occasional minor inconvenience of having to sign up and/or log into to various services. Up to that point, it's a non-issue for me. It's when systems prevent down and break gameplay that I take issue. If I can't save a game, get full functionality, or play at all because a server is down, or my internet connection is spotty that day, well, I reserve the right to be frustrated by it if I'm doing everything under my control to comply with their policies. I just feel like some publishers do a better job than others allowing for the times when "shit happens" while protecting themselves.

Clearly, it's not personal, and I can and do read the attached disclaimers as well anybody. Doesn't make it any less annoying on that one day out of 20 or 50 or 100 when things don't work.

Note: Yes, I have played Settlers 7 recently.

 

[rune_74]

Very true !!! It is us the paying customers that feel the squeeze of DRM and the likes. EA treats PC like red headed step children , just glad to see that what goes around comes around.

What an insightful informative view.

 

[Ovenall]

What an insightful informative view.

Some people apparently don't understand the idea of a business model, and instead take the behavior of a large corporation as a personal affront.

 

[Gaxkang]

Is Dragon Age 2 even worth the bandwidth - were any of us here (hypothetically, ofc) to be the sort of people who torrent their games? We know the length has gone down by at least a third (1m lines to 400k lines), and the battles have become all frenetic with no point in pause&play and no proper tactical camera ... so what's left? The story of the mages versus the templars (which according to Gamestar lacks "epicness" anyway)? Right ... well I might as well buy one of Gaider's novels, instead and save $100.

I say this knowing that many people feel combat in Origins was bad as it was, and it's surely not possible to argue that it has been improved? And - in my opinion the art style is worse, purely because it feels as though it was created to appeal to kiddies. While gaming is escapism, I don't necessarily want my rogue to resemble a telly-tubby in DA3.

DRM always annoys me because I travel a lot, and have a gaming laptop. But I always forget the disc for whatever takes my fancy. So I end up visiting the Asian pirates Captain Buzkill mentioned (sheesh - Pantip Plaza, anyone?). And then travel around with legally purchased games, with illegal cracks to allow me to play freely.

 

[azarhal]

Developers and publishers are damned if they do, damned if they don't. If they don't include some kind of DRM, piracy will kill their profits, ...

Do you really believe that DRM stop piracy?

 

[kalniel]

Do you really believe that DRM stop piracy?

No, it just mitigates the worst of the effects by sometimes delaying it.