Mass Effect - Copy Protection Details

Usually they only protect games that are still sold (i.e eye of the beholder series in forgotten realms archives) but this one seems like an exception.

Yes it is: Because of the company that made them. Infogrames. I regard it that because the company's still there and powerful, they don't include it.

A similar fate had Hare Raising Havoc[/url[, the Roger Rabbit game, by the way. Never found it, too.

There was a 16-colours version out there for the PC; the screenshots seen via this link appear to be from the Amiga version of the game.

The "Beauty & The Beast" game I meant was this: http://www.thelegacy.de/Museum/7453/

It was once - for a short time - published by the late WordPerfect company, shortly before it was bought by Novell - a move that made Microdsoft Office even stronger, because Novell was and still is a purely Network Company, which utterly fails to market anything Else Than This.

I once saw the WordPerfect version of the game in a warehouse, but I was a student then and didn't have enough money for a full-priced game. Then the warehouse closed and I never saw it again.

WordPerfect published it (and some other things) in their "Main Street" product range / label, so they did with Wallobee Jack & the Secret of the Sphinx, a nice game I once found (and bought) in a second hand games shop. It had the same "Main Street" packaging.

Another one of my very, very, very first games ever ( ;) ) was the demo of the very first Micro Machines game for the PC. I played it with my uncle, and we were laughing over it, because it was so funny ! :)

I sought it for a very, very long time, until i found it in a shop in Berlin which is seemingly specialized on older games. It's called the "Media Tunnel". They seem to habe specialized in older games - which I noticed when I heard the price they wanted for the full game. I have successfully forgotten it, because it was so high. Nevertheless I bought the full game - and found out that it has the craziest copy protection I ever witnessed: "polished" black letters or signs (don't remembver anymore) on a matt black background ... You can see it [url=http://www.thelegacy.de/Museum/game.php3?titel_id=4820&game_id=4862]here
as the black "code card" ...
So, you can read it only by distinguishing the "polished" letters from the matt background ... which is imho absolutely crazy - and therefore highly effective ...
Of the second game of this series I've got the so-called Special Edition ...
 
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I've been to the Bioware forums and RPGcodex and got to say this is the hottest topic around. A lot of people are screaming "Big Brother" and "What if they want to play it 50 years from now." 50 years!!! I can't even imagine what the world would be like or what computers would be. Hopefully I'll be dead and buried in 50 years time, if not I'll be one cranky old guy bitching about how games used to be good ;)

You miss a certain point: The actual waste of work, creativeness and inspiration used to develop these games.

Waste insofar as the time as long as you can play the game is considerably shortened. At one point in the future you might even not be able to play it anymore.

You can play board games still 50 years after their release, if they've been kept under good circumstances.

Not so long computer and video games.

Notice something ? Our attention span shortens ...
 
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I've been to the Bioware forums and RPGcodex and got to say this is the hottest topic around. A lot of people are screaming "Big Brother" and "What if they want to play it 50 years from now."

Well, Bioware adressed that problem in their thread:

Q: What happens in the future if I want to play MEPC and EA has shut off the servers?

A: If that should ever happen, BioWare would address this problem.
 
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The casual attitude towards piracy is just amazing. I post in one of the biggest finnish boards and there people post slogans like "P******ay - Its simply stupid to pay for games" (p******ay is the swedish torrent site).

They say that even though they have money their principles stop them from buying anything, because its freely available. Or that they save nature by copying only bits. Its not only accepted its recommended.
 
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You miss a certain point: The actual waste of work, creativeness and inspiration used to develop these games.

Waste insofar as the time as long as you can play the game is considerably shortened. At one point in the future you might even not be able to play it anymore.

You can play board games still 50 years after their release, if they've been kept under good circumstances.

Not so long computer and video games.

Notice something ? Our attention span shortens ...

I see what you mean, the argument that we're not purchasing anything but "renting" it. They talked about that over at Bioware too. They even have one of their own moderators a little peeved about this. If they want to do this maybe they should adjust their prices to reflect that we are just renting the game and no longer can buy it.

I'm not so worried. It may be a hassle but a crack will do away with any fears I have of not being able to play it in the future. I wouldn't trust EA to find it in their hearts to release a patch 4 or 5 years down the line that gets rid of the copyprotection. They still haven't fixed Ultima 9. It took the online community to somewhat fix EA's broken product and it will be the online community that fixes it so that we can play this product when we're old and gray.

There are a lot of new gamers or "casual gamers" that have never had a long attention span when it comes to computer games because they don't play them as long as some of us "hardcore" gamers do. So I'm not so sure the whole industries attention span has lessened. I think it's more along the lines that there are just a lot more people buying these products than there used to be. In the 80's and 90's computer games were still considered "geeky" so there weren't as many people buying them. But now computers are "cool" (thanks inpart to the internet, myspace, instant messengers etc...) Now you don't have people demanding longer games or more depth, but flashier graphics and more action. Just some random thoughts on why the industry has, imo, been going downhill for awhile now. It must be going downhill if one of the games on my wish list is an Indie that doesn't look like it will ever be released (Grimiore).

I'm not happy with the ET phone home thing, but I'm still going to buy it when it comes out and and will crack it if I have any problems with their protection. If there is no problems then I won't have to and be happy that I don't have to look for that damn DVD anymore.

Well, Bioware adressed that problem in their thread:

Q: What happens in the future if I want to play MEPC and EA has shut off the servers?

A: If that should ever happen, BioWare would address this problem.

LMAO, funniest and saddest answer ever from Bioware.

I remember reading that and they talked about how after many years it still wouldn't be cost effective for EA to get rid of one of their older games on their servers because all of EA's games use them. It's probably true but I think they are trying too hard to have the kind of anti-piracy protection that MMOs have.
 
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The casual attitude towards piracy is just amazing. I post in one of the biggest finnish boards and there people post slogans like "P******ay - Its simply stupid to pay for games" (p******ay is the swedish torrent site).

They say that even though they have money their principles stop them from buying anything, because its freely available. Or that they save nature by copying only bits. Its not only accepted its recommended.

Well, the release scene has a tendency to romanticise what they are doing - "freedom of information" and all the usual yadda yadda. I guess parts of the filesharing scene have already deeply incorporated these ideas, after all you can read them in basically every .nfo file.

LMAO, funniest and saddest answer ever from Bioware.

I remember reading that and they talked about how after many years it still wouldn't be cost effective for EA to get rid of one of their older games on their servers because all of EA's games use them. It's probably true but I think they are trying too hard to have the kind of anti-piracy protection that MMOs have.
What's so funny about it? They simply have to release a crack for their copy protection should they ever decide to shut down the servers. So - what's the point?
 
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What's so funny about it? They simply have to release a crack for their copy protection should they ever decide to shut down the servers. So - what's the point?

The funny thing is that I'm still waiting for EA to fix Ultima 9. I may be wrong here but Bioware doesn't make those kinds of decisions anymore, it's EA's call and the last time I checked EA isn't known for their quality control or supporting their products after a certain point.
 
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I see what you mean, the argument that we're not purchasing anything but "renting" it. They talked about that over at Bioware too. They even have one of their own moderators a little peeved about this. If they want to do this maybe they should adjust their prices to reflect that we are just renting the game and no longer can buy it.

Well, not exactly. In a way yes, but what i originally meant was that we just don't care that much aout games anymore - and the heavy work involved, the creativity, the inspiration ...

We just dismiss it after a few years, because we can't play it anymore. Because the systems have grown far too complex to be emulated in the same way/manner like DOSBOX does it and can do it.

To express this in money, the 10.000 dollars of development in a game are degrading so fast ... Far too fart, in my eyes. Within 10 years, there's ZERO left of these 10.000 dollar development costs, because the games just can't be played anymore.

We currently live in a highly materialistic "ex & hopp" world, where you just throw things away like litter & rubbish after you think you can't use it anymore. It's like a one-way game. Or a self-destructing messaage: You read it once, then it self-destructs itself.

Games - contemporary games, that is - are similar. They can be played a few years, hen the OS changes completely (thanks to Microsoft), and then it's gone. You just have to throw it away, because you just can't play it anymore, the nerw OS has most probably become incompatible (once again thanks to Microsoft). And there's no way to easily emulate the OS, becaus it has just become far too complex.

Play once - then throw it away. Okay, a few times. Compared to the several decades of board games.

And the whole industry isn't innocent in this problem. the hardware- and software wheel spins too fast now.

Look at console games instead: They have a far longer life-span, because the console itself dioesn't change.
But then, there's a new console ... Remember how Sony left the emulation chip for PS2 games out ? Now the PC hardware and software wheel has come to the consoles as well ...


The whole industry lives by a far too short attention lifespan. Everything changes far too much and far too fast.

You just can't "invest" your money into games anymore, because they just degrade so fast. In contrary, money spent into board games just stays there, several decades, even !


So, in my opinion, the industry is part of the copy protecxtion problem itself. Because it negates / neglects th will of the customer to "invest" money into a game.
In principle, the industry has become a fast burger king or mc donals - like machine of games. Put the money in, the game gets out, after you eat it, you can throw it away.

There's no love in it !

Only cash cow.
 
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LMAO, funniest and saddest answer ever from Bioware.

Indeed.

It makes the assumption that Bioware will still exist if/when the EA servers are taken down. Who wants to bet on that given EA's track record of consuming, digesting and then spitting out the bones of those it buys out?
 
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Best sports and driving games are only on the newest consoles. The prime genres for many pirates I know. Infact EA just recently ceased to make sports games for PC alltogether.
I really meant why do more people buy the console version of a game that also exists on the PC.

EDIT: What I find interesting is that hardly anyone complains about the fact that you can only activate the game on three different computers.
I'm looking forward to the increased number of computers I can play it on - most of my software is only licensed for use on one computer.

Indeed.

It makes the assumption that Bioware will still exist if/when the EA servers are taken down. Who wants to bet on that given EA's track record of consuming, digesting and then spitting out the bones of those it buys out?
Didn't you read the stuff when when EA bought pandemic? They do things differently now - they're not the same Origin munching company anymore. A short while ago Bioware were the darlings of players everywhere - can't you trust them to do something like make a game accessible when they have said they will?
 
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The funny thing is that I'm still waiting for EA to fix Ultima 9. I may be wrong here but Bioware doesn't make those kinds of decisions anymore, it's EA's call and the last time I checked EA isn't known for their quality control or supporting their products after a certain point.

I dunno, but from my point of view that's two different things really. You're talking about supporting a product after a certain point, but this is about releasing a crack because you do not want to support a product anymore. The costs to do the later are minimal if you know how to do it, so I don't think it's the same thing.

Quality issues are a different thing really - they are always mixed in with the piracy debate, but not always rightfully. With all due respect, but how often do we buy games and rely on the word of the publisher or developer that they will patch the game, etc. without thinking twice. That's simply part of the deal - we have to trust them and, should they disappoint us, draw the consequences and simply don't buy their products anymore. Which is what you should - also if you don't like their copy protection systems, but simply saying they won't stick to what they are saying now sounds like a pretty weak excuse imo.
 
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I'm looking forward to the increased number of computers I can play it on - most of my software is only licensed for use on one computer.
The overwhelming majority of games so far could be installed on an unlimited amount of computers. Software in general is a different thing...
 
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Its too hard to pirate games on the newest consoles. On pc though its too easy.

I think it mostly has to do with the fact that consoles have more of a "entertainment only" image. Relatively cheap and you even get a Blueray player or whatnot.

Since this thread is about piracy, there was an interesting article on gamasutra in February: Casual Games and Piracy: The Truth

Granted, I wouldn't call Mass Effect a casual game, but the piracy mechanics might be similar. Assuming that to be true, copy protection increases sales somewhat (and may help to prevent 0-day piracy), but beyond that, extra sales saturate quickly. And in that light, I wonder how much piracy actually helps to promote games, something that usually demos are meant for.
 
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Since this thread is about piracy, there was an interesting article on gamasutra in February: Casual Games and Piracy: The Truth
The article was already mentioned last time we discussed piracy on these boards, and I totally agree that not every pirated copy equals one copy that isn't bought. But I would be careful, since the article is not necessarily representative.


Granted, I wouldn't call Mass Effect a casual game, but the piracy mechanics might be similar. Assuming that to be true, copy protection increases sales somewhat (and may help to prevent 0-day piracy), but beyond that, extra sales saturate quickly. And in that light, I wonder how much piracy actually helps to promote games, something that usually demos are meant for.
I wouldn't go down that route... I know of not one single respectable study which proves that piracy has such such a side-effect. If you know of one, I would be very interested in it (without irony, I would be really interested in it).
 
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I think it mostly has to do with the fact that consoles have more of a "entertainment only" image. Relatively cheap and you even get a Blueray player or whatnot.

To som extent perhaps but the real reason is that it also has a very effective copy protection. Everyone I know pirates most or all of their games - console or no console - except one who has ps3. There are no modchips for it yet and he would loose the online services that he likes very much, so he stays away from piracy.

And in that light, I wonder how much piracy actually helps to promote games, something that usually demos are meant for.

Usually though people prefer to save the money by acquiring as many pirated copies as possible. They will pirate all the games they can and possibly buy the one that has no effective crack yet (i.e multiplayer games). Thats how it has always been like 20 years as fas as I can remember. There are of course few exceptions but those just prove the point.
 
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The article was already mentioned last time we discussed piracy on these boards

Oops. It does seem to be "one of those topics" that pop up regularly, doesn't it? ;)

And no, I don't know of any serious studies. I only remember reading somewhere that some previously unknown rock bands got really popular because their music was shared and copied from tape to tape in the days of old. Ironically those bands were suing people nowadays for filesharing.. I don't have a source, unfortunately.
 
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Oops. It does seem to be "one of those topics" that pop up regularly, doesn't it? ;)

And no, I don't know of any serious studies. I only remember reading somewhere that some previously unknown rock bands got really popular because their music was shared and copied from tape to tape in the days of old. Ironically those bands were suing people nowadays for filesharing.. I don't have a source, unfortunately.

Too bad, I'm always on the hunt for new info on the topic... unfortunately studies are scarce - especially about software piracy (I mean independant ones, not the BSA crap).

I know about quite a few studies concerning the music market, and you are right... you can sometimes see such effects there. But we should not forget that the music market and the pc games market are not quite comparable. There are certainly similarities, but there also differences. Personally, I have my doubts that someone who has previously downloaded a pirated copy will later on go to the store and buy a legal copy.
 
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The overwhelming majority of games so far could be installed on an unlimited amount of computers. Software in general is a different thing...
It seems to me an awful lot of games are only licensed for use on one computer as well. I think I first noticed it around about the time Morrowind came out, though it might have been the case before then and I just hadn't noticed.

And in that light, I wonder how much piracy actually helps to promote games, something that usually demos are meant for.
None in my opinion. If a pirate recommends a game to a friend they're going to recommend the pirate copy, not the original. If it does have any promotional effect it's in reducing demand for a competitor's product, because they're now paying yours for free instead of paying a competitor. That's not a very nice viewpoint to take, but it works well for Microsoft (the situation that is, not necessarily the viewpoint).
 
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How many RPGs over the years have actually released patches that disable copy protection? Especially in the case of RPGs, since they tend to have a much longer selling lifetime than most other genres?

The only one I can think of is Sacred.

Arguably, Morrowind had one with the very, very first beta patch, which disabled copy protection (though I'm not sure if it went so far as to no longer need a disk in the drive), but the first full patch re-enabled copy protection with lower settings that did no impact performance nearly so much.

What other RPGs have done this? I don't know of any other game in my collection that has a legitimate no-cd patch.

In the absence of evidence, I can only assume that this copy protection will never be disabled.

After all, doing nothing takes no effort. Releasing a no-cd patch, on the other hand, takes engineering and QA resources. If the game is far enough past its prime that EA no longer cares about sales, why would they be willing to expend the time and money for another patch?
 
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