The anti-DRM thread

[DrMrLordX]

Regardless I do not see being required to make and be licenses by Microsoft as a big hurdle for a manufacturer

If MS wants to protect sales of their own peripherals, expect them to abuse the position. Also it's unlikely that MS would whitelist any products already on the market.

 

[BFG10K]

Sony at it again, removing purchased content from users' libraries.

Sony is purging some TV shows from users' libraries, including purchased content

If you have purchased Discovery content from PlayStation at any time in the past, prepare to lose it. Sony has notified some PSN members that it is...

www.techspot.com

Discovery Entitlements Affected Titles

www.playstation.com

Why is there still a "buy" button? It's actually "purchase license until we revoke it at any time". Streaming is "convenient", yo.

 

[BFG10K]

Capcom just added DRM to 11 year old Resident Evil Revelations. It blocks mods and has other technical issues like resetting the game to 60Hz every time you launch it.

Capcom caught adding Enigma DRM to older titles, for no good reason

The recent patch for Resident Evil Revelations highlights Capcom's practice of incorporating new DRM into some of its games. This software seems to disrupt modding and could...

www.techspot.com

This is the problem with "games as a service", enabled by DRM platforms like Steam that enforce mandatory auto-patching of single player titles. This wouldn't be possible on GOG because you actually own your games there.

 

[BFG10K]

Ubisoft confirming what I've been saying right from the start:

Ubisoft says gamers should just accept not owning their games

On Monday, Ubisoft announced its Plus (Ubsoft+) subscribers would now have two choices to play their favorite games - Premium and Classics. The Premium tier goes for...

www.techspot.com

 

[DrMrLordX]

Ubisoft should just accept going out of business.

 

[BFG10K]

They're not even trying to hide it anymore.

HP CEO says customers who don't use the company's supplies are "bad investments"

HP is very insistent that users of its printers don't turn to cheaper third-party alternatives for their ink cartridges. It introduced a feature called Dynamic Security in...

www.techspot.com

 

[BFG10K]

Currently GOG has an outage due to server upgrades. You probably wouldn't even notice, because all your single player games keep working.

That's the difference between true offline ownership and a "service".

 

[BFG10K]

Printers as a "service", complete with monthly page restrictions.

HP rolls out monthly subscription service for "hassle-free" printing

All plans include automatic ink delivery before you run out, as well as 24/7 customer service. In the event HP can't fix a problem over the phone,...

www.techspot.com

 

[BFG10K]

Class action lawsuit against HP. Consumers need to burn these donkeys.

Class-action lawsuit accuses HP of monopolizing aftermarket ink cartridges

Lawyers representing plaintiffs have rejected one of HP's arguments against a class-action lawsuit filed in January. HP has long been criticized by customers for repeatedly blocking the...

www.techspot.com

Ubisoft removes access to The Crew from paying customers. Another example of "games as a service".

An Update on The Crew

In December 2014, we launched The Crew, our beloved first game of the franchise and one of the most ambitious racing games of its time. Nine years later...

www.ubisoft.com

New initiative to stop this behavior.

Sign the petitions here.

Stop Killing Games

stopkillinggames.com

 

[lakedude]

They're not even trying to hide it anymore.

HP CEO says customers who don't use the company's supplies are "bad investments"

HP is very insistent that users of its printers don't turn to cheaper third-party alternatives for their ink cartridges. It introduced a feature called Dynamic Security in...

www.techspot.com

Never again HP, never again!

My $170 Brother just works with no fiddly accounts or ink service required.

 

[lakedude]

It is super frustrating to buy a game or movie you end up not liking or that does not work well with your system. In the distant past that lead me to "other" methods of procurement, however if I enjoyed a game or movie and it played nice with my system I'd buy a copy (or several). The "other" method became effectively a demo.

I bet I've purchased a dozen copies of FarCry over the years.

Now with actual demos or the ability to return a game on Steam (if you do it quick enough), combined with games tending to work better than in the past, the need to use "other" means is virtually eliminated.

In the old days I preferred the "other" copies even when I had a legitimate paid for disk because no disk was required. Or I'd make a disk image of the real disk so I wouldn't need to carry disks. Of course now with Steam you mostly just need an internet connection, which is handy, unless you don't have said connection.

 

[thetechfreak]

In the old days I preferred the "other" copies even when I had a legitimate paid for disk because no disk was required. Or I'd make a disk image of the real disk so I wouldn't need to carry disks. Of course now with Steam you mostly just need an internet connection, which is handy, unless you don't have said connection.

One more issue with the more intrusive DRM we have now is how much performance is impacted. Some games have been measured to have 30-40% FPS MORE when they played the "other" copies of the game. Ofcourse, with the increased insensitivity, there is sometimes no other option than to not play the game

 

[Ranulf]

Class action lawsuit against HP. Consumers need to burn these donkeys.

Class-action lawsuit accuses HP of monopolizing aftermarket ink cartridges

Lawyers representing plaintiffs have rejected one of HP's arguments against a class-action lawsuit filed in January. HP has long been criticized by customers for repeatedly blocking the...

www.techspot.com

Ubisoft removes access to The Crew from paying customers. Another example of "games as a service".

An Update on The Crew

In December 2014, we launched The Crew, our beloved first game of the franchise and one of the most ambitious racing games of its time. Nine years later...

www.ubisoft.com

New initiative to stop this behavior.

Sign the petitions here.

Stop Killing Games

stopkillinggames.com

Lots of drama has popped up with this petition in the past few days.

PirateSoftware, a dev/publisher/streamer/former blizz/amazon security guy is against it. Lots of pro/con heat now.

My quick take, game devs and publishers really really don't want to lose any wiggle room on being able to make live service games.

Good explantion of the petition and issue by Bellular games:

PirateSoftware's response to the youtuber Ross (accursed farms) promoting the petition (he has a 2nd one too):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioqSvLqB46Y&pp=ygUSc3RvcCBraWxsaW5nIGdhbWVz

Louis Rossman, right to repair guy with a long rebuttal to PirateSoftware original comments on his live stream (before the 2 video responses):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF4zH8bJDI8

One of PirateSoftwares dev/streamer friends " TheoRants" on youtube has a hilarious response that is basically, "gamers are all entitled jerks". He mentions RedDeadRedemption2 as playable offline. News to me for the PC version. Maybe the rockstar launcher has an offline mode I don't know about. Just running the game starts up the launcher and requires a login and thus internet authentication. He even mentions Epic Games and Steam's 30% cut for games on steam.

My favorite response to all of this though, is this brief one called "keep killing games" with some healthy sarcasm and some editing involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoPZ783uWW8

 

[jamesdsimone]

Sony at it again, removing purchased content from users' libraries.

Sony is purging some TV shows from users' libraries, including purchased content

If you have purchased Discovery content from PlayStation at any time in the past, prepare to lose it. Sony has notified some PSN members that it is...

www.techspot.com

Discovery Entitlements Affected Titles

www.playstation.com

Why is there still a "buy" button? It's actually "purchase license until we revoke it at any time". Streaming is "convenient", yo.

Who didn't see this coming? They suckered everyone in and now they can take away your "purchase" anytime they want. People put put up with it and now they are surprised? I did not nor will I ever sign up for Steam. I have purchased 100+ games from GOG however.