Morning Discussion

Thread Truncated. Click to see all 72 replies.

• i've never used it on a mac, is it better on there? I've heard some people say that the windows versio... : Demius
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  I fucking hate that I can't make ITunes copy my ipod to the pc. My pc died so I hadta reinstall windows o... : Solstice
  • get winamp and the ipod plugin for 5 minutes and your problem will be solved. : conandan
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    There is an option for that somewhere, but I'm trying to remember what it's called. Transfer purchases? S... : Fayk
    • Yeah, that only works for music purchased from the iTunes store. : crummynz
• iTunes is free dude. : sumo-hacker
• it's a bloated piece of shit. : steelsamurai
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  what do you mean by deselect an entire album? : electroly
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    maybe his Ctrl key is broken? : ucanbfuzzy
    • actually, its easier to use the shift key to select an album or genre worth of songs, using the control k... : conandan
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  highlight whole album, right click, deselect (or something like that). my library updates when i add new... : dignan
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    i think he means if you add files to the itunes music directory, it doesn't pick them up automatically. ... : electroly
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      So...it should poll the directory constantly? If you you have it manage them yourself, just import from C... : Fayk
      • Yeah, WMP lets you "monitor" folders for music. : crummynz
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        It doesn't have to poll constantly, OSX has a file system event API that can notify applications when dir... : zakk
        • He's complaining about the Windows version. The mac version probably has the same 'issue', I suppose, ... : Fayk
  • ^^ this. Select a larger area, deselect the exception. Or only select individual things, if that's a smal... : Fayk
• Buy a mac...not even joking. iTunes is so bad on windows :( : soggybagel
• I'm still surprised at how shitty iTunes is on Windows and how nice it is on OS X. : dmason
• For whatever reason, when I'm adding songs to the library, iTunes will quite often add songs two, three ... : Sacred Sperm
• iTunes fucking sucks. : virus
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  But version 8 is supposed to be like God's semen! : prime8
  • skycocksucker. : skryte
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  I must be the one person in the world who doesn't have any issues with iTunes : Bantis
  • you don't hear the people who are fine with itunes because they have noting to post about. : electroly
  • Make me 2. Works perfect for me : Slowtreme
  • It's got issues, but I've learned to work around them : prime8
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    Yea, I have like 115GB of music on my iMac and it's fine. I sync my iphone and ipod and it's perfect. I d... : askedrelic
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      i hate having a library larger than my device, how do you deal with it? : dignan
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        I use playlists. Particularly the smart ones that are based on most played and least played. : Jonathan
        • ^^ I only listen to like 4-6GB of techno at a time. Mostly new music anyways, I only listen to like 1-2GB... : askedrelic
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        Smart Playlists FTW. I have several that I have marked to sync with my iPod: - All 5-starred music -... : electroly
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          hmm i really like that last one! : askedrelic
          • i've been using this scheme since day 1 when they introduced smart playlists and i love it. even though ... : electroly
        • Sounds close to what I do, but I only keep about 6-7 gig on my iPod at a time out of maybe 200. One time ... : Slowtreme
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          i guess i have too many podcasts... 80 gigs worth. : dignan
          • i don't have any podcasts so yeah, i don't account for those at all. : electroly
          • if you are carrying 80 gig in podcast, aren't you doing it wrong? : Slowtreme
          • rofl wtf? how many hours is that? : FrayLo
    • The Mac version is fantastic. The Windows version leaves much to be desired. : Bamtan
  • I don't have any problems with it. : NastyJack
  • I'm fairly happy with it. : Freon
  • the ratio of people who are fine with iTunes to those that have issues is like 10 to 1 : Korban
  • Nah, you're not alone. But I can say that the performance difference between running it on my Mac and run... : halophoenix
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  Is there a way to make iTunes stop moving my view whenever a the song changes? Sometimes I'll be messing ... : cfalcon
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    what do you mean? the little album art window in the lower left corner? if so, do you have it set to "S... : electroly
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      No he means the entire music library view. It does this to me too. : FrayLo
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        hmm. i'm pretty sure i haven't experienced this but maybe i don't understand what's going on? when it s... : electroly
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          No. Go in to library view (the one that shows all music files), play something, scroll until it's off the... : cfalcon
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            Ah, now I see. Yeah, that definitely happens here too. I usually edit my tags in the Get Info window wh... : electroly
            • You can open more than one window too : Slowtreme
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  Sorry how much did you pay for iTunes? : Mustard Clause
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    iPod shuffle From $49 iPod nano From $149 iPod classic From $249 iPod touch From $299 http://... : doomed
    • This is such a stupid post. It's free software! Oh look they bundle it with hardware! Jesus Christ. : Mustard Clause
• i hate it too fucking worst : fuzzydamnit
• Coverflow lags terribly on my new computer, and yet it's flawless on an iPhone. >:( : Scoots06
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  iTunes is free, durrrrrr.. and well, I don't have an issue with it. : ghost hacker
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    This is the worst excuse for shitty software. And iTunes is made to be used with Apple Products. How ma... : conandan
    • that's not totally fair. There's a lot of shitty free software out there. Saying that it should be better... : halophoenix
    • actually i use it with my rio sport all the time but hey, whatever you say conandan. itunes will sync wi... : electroly
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  I'm with the folks who can testify to iTunes being fantastic in Mac OS, but absolutely shitty in Windows.... : halophoenix
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    What can I use to manage it other than iTunes? I'm a n00b sorry :) : Phreakin
    • Winamp has iPod support these days, and I hear it's good. :D Alternatively, Ephpod still works, as does F... : halophoenix
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    Yeah it's so fucking awesome that it does the sam stupid crap on the Mac. Doesn't update your songs, and ... : stuka
    • I've never had that happen to me, sorry. Also, there are scripts that will auto-update your library. Go G... : halophoenix
• iTunes is awesome, you are doing something wrong. : ErneX
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  Mediamonkey....my son. Mediamonkey. : PlanetPerfecto
  • yep I started using that recently after being fed up with iTunes. : h o s t i l e
  • ^^^ correct answer (unless you have an iPhone...) : stuka
• maybe songbird is good : Luminair
• hijack: guys, check out "air sharing". it just came out today. free for only the first 2 weeks. seriously... : festivalman

Thread Truncated. Click to see all 85 replies.

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  Three Leaf Clover is the best mission in the game, man. I wish I could do it more. Also with this thre... : Deathlove
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    yah I loved that mission... I think I got it on my 2nd try though. I didn't find it as hard as some pe... : Shadowdane
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      3LC is only hard if the player is doing it wrong. Use cover, lob grenades at the cop cars, and evade t : walker270
      • ok, doing it wrong? The problem is if you want to try something out and get killed you have to go thr... : gibolas1234
• I agree although I don't have the three strike rule. I usually have a rule if it takes me like 2 hours or... : baronzemo78
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  Sometimes you have to just push yourself to finish things though, longer it takes the greater sense of re... : Vincenoir
  • Not any more. It just eats up time. I feel like an asshole if I sit down for an hour doing the same ten... : EvilDolemite
• I hate long turnaround cycles for learning : spiderfill
• Yeah I stopped playing because of that mission. I'll probably try and do it again sometime. : nomaad
• I don't mind redoing missions if I'm not forced to watch an unskippable cutscene over and over again, if ... : stump
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  Are you one of those people who repeatedly tries doing the exact same thing in video games hoping for a d : walker270
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    walker what do you think? I've been playing games for about 22 years now. : EvilDolemite
    • Do you think that actually means something? In college I would watch people with 17 years of gaming unde... : walker270
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    and it's not necessarily doing the same thing in an attempt to win. It's doing the same thing for 90% of... : EvilDolemite
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      You're having problems escaping from the police? If so, practice outside of the mission to learn some ev : walker270
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        I found getting into the car to be the most difficult aspect of that mission actually. The first few time : ieGod
        • I just ran down the subway tracks until I escaped the long arm of the law : redfive
      • You don't even have to do that. You can glitch the hell out of the mission. When I beat it I never had to : sigpro
  • I'd always throw a grenade and then my chump partners would run over to it and explode. : gibolas1234
• I was playing Kane & Lynch with Mad Brahmin Disease this past Saturday, and the last part of Chapter 7 we... : Maarten Goldstein
• You would love Mercenaries 2! : Lawgiver
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  I both like and dislike the "dynamic difficulty" feature you see in some games. God of War, for example, ... : Home Nugget
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    The Max Payne games did that right : dognose
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      Max Payne did it right by letting you 0wn the place up no matter what your difficulty : Postal
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        Well the games were not without their challenges, they just weren't ragequit frustrating. Or maybe that'... : dognose
        • the slow-mo was everything - it always gave you a chance to do a bit better : Postal
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  haha, you suck at GTA : NexusOne
  • Actually I finished the mission on Try #4, but I needed a few days to forget about the annoyance. : EvilDolemite
• I guess I was lucky, since I've finished it on my first try... but GTA4 can be a bitch sometimes, though. : Nitrium
• with you on that, unless I really like the game. In playing MGS4 and trying to get through with no alert... : flagg209
• Everytime I try to play GTA: SA I stop because I cannot beat one of the early missions, the shooting in t... : aethyr
• people like you are the reason games are getting more and more dumbed down and now are pretty much devoid... : JINKY
• I think it took me 2 tries on that mission. I thought it was a fun one. Overall I didn't think GTA4 was... : FormerHPB
• You're not being aggressive enough. I kept trying to fight from cover and realized it wasn't worth my ti... : jingletard
• I do the same thing, but it's not necessarily limited to 3 strikes. 3LC was a bitch for me as well. It ... : changejar419
• iirc i beat that first try :( : AMikaboshi
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  I like games where repeating missions can be more fun than frustrating. Like Mercs 2, my stupidity often ... : Dave-A
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    Also I think a lot of GTA missions are "artificially hard" because they bend the rules a bit at points. : Dave-A
    • i.e. Non driving mother fuckers during chase missions. : changejar419
• I use the three strike rule for Guitar Hero. Although after failing TTFAF twice near the end, my hands h... : Defacil
• this is about how I feel about scenarios where you have to re-play entire missions or levels, but I'm mor... : kungfusquirrel
• Im at a hard boss in Ninja Gaiden 2, shit i driving me crazy because there are TWO LOADING SCREENS to ret... : mrseldowski
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  You should be done with Ninja Gaiden 2 by 2012 or so. : MrAdults
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    I think he actually already finished that which is crazy that he has finished that but not gta 4. : sigpro
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      Most checkpoints in Gaiden are like 2-3 minutes from a difficult part. The missions in GTA are sometimes... : EvilDolemite
      • i never had it take more than maybe 5 in gta to get back to the start of a mission just use the retry opt... : sigpro
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      I actually finished NG2 and not GTA4 as well, but it's because GTA4 got incredibly repetitive and the gam... : MrAdults
      • Same here; I've finished NG2 but not GTA4... looking to get back to GTA 4 soon though. : sevogajre
• Video games are not work, agreed. : kaddar0
• i had several of those moments in crysis. or REALLY poorly timed checkpoint saves where i'd end up having... : cpt_gloval
• LOL I've played this mission twice and beat it on my first time on both occasions. Just because a chall... : deadhorse
• if i get frustrated on normal i don't hesitate to go down to easy. most games i just want the story or to... : xxiv
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  I am on that same mission, and have also tried three times. However, it doesn't really feel too hard. I : SolveChrist
  • Gun or a Cell phone... but not both. : Sebastian-TEC
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  How many people in the thread saying it was easy have auto-aim turned on? : gibolas1234
  • IIRC I had auto aim on, but only because everything in the game required instant targeting + headshots or... : dedgecko
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  GTA4 has a dumb save system. I wish I could save without doing all that other BS again. : ultramega
  • I especially admired Super Mario Galaxy's save system, or even Total Overdose (which is similar to GTA) b... : drbriefs
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  hahahaha - what?! Best mission of the game (despite some horrible flaws from what I can recall), but I... : dedgecko
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    I think you're in the minority. : Lone Swordsman
    • I definitely am part of the minority, but it's still a valid criticism. : dedgecko
• so you never beat mario bros? : spectr3
• I hear your frustration, particularly on that mission. Mostly the problem is the game's lack of a checkpo... : jason bergman
• preach it brother! games need more quicksave for those of use that are not of the "can do anything on hig... : XchumpoX
• i still havent finished the last mission in GTA4... it's just so fucking bullshit. : -=kodiak=-
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  Is it me or is GTA IV going to be a lot more manageable once it comes to PC with mouse and keyboard? : Attica Blue
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    I hated the other GTA games on the PC. I only finished the 2 PSP GTA games and GTA4 because I didn't hav... : FormerHPB
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      Never played them. What was your issue with them? : Attica Blue
      • It was the controls. It just didn't feel right. I tried GTA:SA again and tried reconfiguring the gamepa... : FormerHPB
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    depends. i played GTASA on the PC and it controlled very nicely with KB+M except for the flying parts. th... : cpt_gloval
    • there's like one or two missions where you have to fly and it's only a chopper : mikecyb
  • The controls on console are awesome. I can easily headshot three enemies without releasing the trigger. : evildanish
  • Mos def. : thejm4n
  • This is one game where it's simply isn't true. Driving and flying are somewhat painful with the mouse/KB. : Pettytheft
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    At first I could not do it without auto-aim on the PS3. Once I got it down a bit better I was popping hea... : ieGod
    • GTA4's auto-aim implementation in particular is, i'm pretty sure, a bit more effective than a m/kb for mo... : xsoulbrothax
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  It's like you never played NES games. : Sebastian-TEC
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    I did, and if I had to now, I'd kill myself. : EvilDolemite
    • What I was saying is that it has always been the job of game developers to make us hate the game a little... : Sebastian-TEC
• The only GTA I finished was SA. All the rest have this exact same problem with me - after retrying like 1... : avatar_58
• Three leaf clover. Just wait until you get to the motorcycle chase mission in the tunnels. I got so frust... : Pettytheft
• Never EVER try the last level of Call of Duty 4 on Veteran [No Fighting in the War Room] took me liter... : jackomack
• Gotta say that as I get older it's more like: fail 3 times == shut it off and never play again at all. Es... : duderonomy
• I was stuck on this one Soul Calibur IV Tower of Souls level for like 3 weeks. The crazy Amrita super def : pharoah mike

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• Tip: don't include features in your software that cause a massive hostile backlash : dirge23
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  DRM's a difficult issue, obviously, and Spore's issue a complicated one, but i agree with you that gamers... : dahanese
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    i think this is exactly the kind of thing that will work. : dirge23
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      Yup. These reviews will kill any potential casual purchases from amazon. DRM in games like Spore and Bi... : Horn
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        casual purchasers from amazon will probably wonder WTF DRM is and not care. if they even read those revie... : dahanese
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          as the article points out, truly casual gamers may not even read the reviews and will simply be put off b... : dirge23
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            or maybe they won't look at the star and just see it's the #1 seller. as a truly casual gamer. my firs... : dahanese
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              i'm pretty sure spore would still be the #1 seller even if it had the most intrusive DRM in the world : dirge23
              • to these reviews it's more intrusive than sticking a camera up your ass. if that's not intrusive i do... : dahanese
          • This is what I was getting out. No doubt they won't know what DRM is but a 1.5 score is pretty bad. : Horn
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          Exactly! So true I bothered to respond while on the bus. I actually do know what I'm doing and have zero ... : bozer
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            Something has to be done when torrent sites have the game available before stores even do Well obviously... : Jonathan
            • They were up because it was released in AU a week before the states. : Grumbeld
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          actually I bet casual gamers are the ones that will be bit by DRM more than hardcore gamers. Hardcore ga... : Modulus
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            Joe Gamer who lends his game is one of the things DRM is supposed to protect against. if i am reading all... : dahanese
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              I wouldn't call lending a game casual piracy (as long as it's not copied, and only one person plays at a ... : Modulus
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                passing and trading is different. and another issue to be debated depending on what you are thinking abou... : dahanese
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                  I've never been a fan of Steam for those reason. It's just another limit on my ownership of a game (can't... : Modulus
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                    i'm kind of asking everyone. and i'm asking what people think is okay to do with games and what isn't. ... : dahanese
                    • I have purchased a number of games on Steam and like the platform (although I resisted it for a long time... : mtgDoofy
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                      I'd accept DRM that allows me to abandon the CD, registers a limited number of install but automatically ... : Jonathan
                      • Basically the idea that I shouldn't have to maintain my games if I want to take them somewhere, say on ho... : Jonathan
              • no lending, no resale, what's the next thing I'm not allowed to do with the product I bought? : Marauder IIC
            • Actually, BlackCat and I are using the same copy of spore for the moment. I don't think anything is trig... : DianeOfTheMoon
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      it's a PR nightmare, that's true. but i think fucking up amazon's system is all you are doing -- fucking ... : dahanese
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        i have no doubt that a lot of the reviews are juvenile. but childishly written reviews aside, it's not in... : dirge23
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          good DRM is worth the trouble. we have to find the best balance of DRM. to help stop piracy (casual, ... : dahanese
          • I realize that there is some Kool-Aid that has been consumed here, but you went from one extreme to anoth : SinistarX
      • I wonder if a large part of the problem with DRM, at least the root of its backlash with the hardcore, do : Danny5225
  • well it's getting articles written and we're discussing it here because of their actions. I wouldn't have... : steelsamurai
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    Oh. So, what channels do you propose for people to express their dislike for the DRM methods that compan... : boarder2
    • (I should note that I haven't read any of the reviews on amazon, so I don't know what the content is, it'... : boarder2
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  What? So because they decided to blow 10 years of development time on Spore, we can't criticize it? ... : deathofrats
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    "10 years is too long to work on a game." that's a weird comment. i mean, for spore, a lot of the tec... : dahanese
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      Meh, it's just my opinion that if a game takes 10 years out of your life to create, you are doing it wron... : deathofrats
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        as i said, there are a LOT of games out there that took that long to create, i don't know if you are awar... : dahanese
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          Two years is too short? Good grief I would love to work on a game that took 2 years from thought to box.... : deathofrats
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            i think so many games would suffer without that prototyping period. : dahanese
            • I don't disagree. : deathofrats
      • I think Spore is designed as such that it can overcome all of those problems. it doesn't require an amaz... : mikecyb
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    You missed the pont. : Pettytheft
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      Of what? Unless I read the OP wrong, his point was basically a big 'fuck you to those who dare give a ba... : deathofrats
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        His point had more to do with hardcore gamers shitting all over the game's review because of the DRM -- s... : walker270
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          The article and the URL mentions them bashing it over lackluster gameplay, which IS a valid reason. That... : deathofrats
          • Most of the 1 star scores only cited the DRM. : walker270
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        My point was people acting like little babies on amazon. They should review the game based on the game it... : bozer
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          that's ridiculous. installing DRM is just as much reason to dislike a game as the gameplay these days : AllYourBase
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            You realise every game has had some form of DRM, save for Stardock's, since the late nineties? They all h... : crummynz
            • CD checks / keys are not as intrusive as a lot of these other DRM bits that install extra bits into your ... : Grumbeld
        • No, the DRM is part of the game and purchasers should know that the game that they're putting in their ma... : Grumbeld
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  Spore's DRM was surprisingly invisible, for as bad as it was being hyped. I wouldn't even know about the... : walker270
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    securrom in general is pretty good at hiding itself. it doesn't generally break the game or your compute... : mikecyb
    • The nice thing about Spore's DRM is that you don't need the disc in the drive to play. I'm all for activa... : Gonzo
• Hmm, developers.....how is Valve handling this?? HMMMMMM : Phreakin
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  Poor, poor EA, losing billions of dollars of revenue from potential Amazon customers! Sure it sucks to... : antareus
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    Where do you get off deriving joy from a company loosing money on something that they own. And what else : DrillBit
    • What? antareus didn't say word one about the game being too expensive, only that hating DRM and not buyi... : SinistarX
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  I don't like DRM. EA ruined the game it seemed? : DM7
  • I couldn't really give a fuck about how long development took if they decide to fuck us with DRM. Why sh... : n0v4
• I was going to buy Spore but when I found out about the 3 install limit I decided not to. Hell, I've even... : DOOManiac
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  What the fuck is the matter with people? I hate DRM too but it is hardly EA or Spore's fault. DRM is a ne... : avatar_58
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    completely agreed! people are retarded, including a surprising amount of the shack's population : feek
    • I think Amazon should lock comments to paying customers with a CC attached to their account. This is prob... : avatar_58
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    If DRM worked you'd have a chance at making a point there. : Freon
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      Oh give me a fucking break. DRM isn't the be all end all solution but neither is having no protection. No... : avatar_58
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        You, sir, are delusional. IT DOESN'T FUCKING WORK. I'll stop short of linking to it, but you are more t... : Freon
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          Guy - I've posted several times about DRM not working. Take a pill. It's not 100% but you know what? You ... : avatar_58
          • Online check? I think you need to do a little research before you step into the fray. It's the 3 insta... : stratedge
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            Seriously, after reading what this game has for DRM, I'm not buying it. And no that's not a hint toward ... : TheNiXXeD
            • Hopefully they pull a bioshock and nuke the 3 install limit. But after that whole scenario, I really can'... : terath
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              can you tell me what you read and what you think the DRM entails? seriously, this isn't loaded. the pr... : dahanese
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                I'm in the same boat as Nixxed so I'll answer your question too: 3 installs and that's it? No thanks. ... : DOOManiac
                • I'm pretty sure uninstalling it ups the counter, so if you do it right you'll never have any issues. If y... : crummynz
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                  3 installs and that's it being a bad thing i can understand. i don't know if i, as a consumer, care, but ... : dahanese
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                    Does spore work this way too? With the uninstalls crediting back an install? And with three concurrent in... : terath
                    • it doesn't credit you back, for whatever stupid reason. you can always -get- more if you call/email, but ... : xsoulbrothax
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                      i don't know. i'm still very confused and trying to find out the official word on how spore works. fro... : dahanese
                      • yeah, you pretty much got it. as an addendum to 2), it also tries to phone home once after you install... : xsoulbrothax
                      • Ok, the arstechinica article makes it sound like what you listed, and calling in sounds like a huge pain.... : terath
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                    Glad I could provide you w/ some input that hopefully helps. RE: the Bioshock limits, glad to hear the... : DOOManiac
                    • i think that's what good devs and publishers are working towards. at least that's the world i'm fighting ... : dahanese
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                  ^^^ That's about what I would have written anyway minus the bioshock part. I bought bioshock on 360. ... : TheNiXXeD
                  • To further clarify, when I say I love the concept of Steam, I mean I love steam itself. Valve's. It's p... : TheNiXXeD
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            Yes, how dare us paying customers whine about being treated worse than the people who stole it... It i... : DOOManiac
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              problem with Steam is that you cannot sell or transfer your license of a game to someone else. : Modulus
              • Yes this is one of the downsides, though it is one that does not affect me because I never ever sell my g... : DOOManiac
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                Indeed, this sucks, but honestly I've never made much back selling games. They have at least given somet... : Freon
                • You also can't lend a game to a friend (unless you want to give him your account info, which I don't) : Modulus
              • Isn't that a positive for the developers? Seems perfectly fine to me as it solves that age old 'used gam... : TheNiXXeD
              • This does make it shitty for people who like to sell their games, and you could potentially argue the sam... : ieGod
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              -Spore only needs the internet to activate -Does not need the disc in the drive -Offline mode is availa... : avatar_58
              • It doesn't need the DVD in drive to play, true. How the fuck do people still not know this, this was the ... : xsoulbrothax
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            I'm pretty confident that DRM does not work, and I'm not going to back down on that point. If you think I... : Freon
            • DRM doesn't work for nerds. There are plenty of people, especially the target market for Spore, that it w... : crummynz
            • what makes you think DRM doesn't work at all? because to date, yes, eventually every game has been cracke... : dahanese
  • I would argue with your assertion that DRM is necessary. : Ebu
  • Necesary evil yes, but is it really 3 activations? If so, that's *really* stupid. In my case, I'd prob... : terath
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    PC gaming will die without the latest trends in DRM? : capt tripps
    • The big names won't publish games without DRM - so YES it will. Even the little guys like Telltale use DR... : avatar_58
  • You only need minimal copy protection. A simple CD check will do, and cd keys for online stuff. No matter... : lapskaus
  • a certain amount of copy protection is good, but current drm schemes are very complex and do cause people... : Luminair
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    Of course it's EA's fault. They put stupid ass DRM on the game. Put something on it that requires the... : Dynotaku
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      Judging by Dahanese's defense here it sounds like Bioshock's DRM was considered a success... : Jonathan
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        The whole gaming community gave them a TON of crap for it initially, but I think they moved on without mu... : xsoulbrothax
        • I think that's because they fixed the DRM after people complained. Uninstalls credit back installs, and c... : terath
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        please don't make that leap, as i'm not talking about BioShock DRM. i'm talking about my personal int... : dahanese
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          Do you think BioShock DRM will make it better? : capt tripps
          • i'm not at all interested in getting in to that debate. i'm interested in creating DRM that works aga... : dahanese
    • They're hoping that people will eventually get used to it. Assimilation. Consumers are fighting back. : capt tripps
  • DRM is not created equal. Spore has a retarded implementation of DRM. Why should we be limited in this wa... : TrptJim
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    I think there's a good possibility that DRM antagonizes people that may have purchased the software were ... : Richese
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      the question is: how many? almost every product created has something about it that will piss off a p... : dahanese
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        That ratio is a good question. Piracy will never be stopped of course. I think the PC gamer market is l... : Richese
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          i think you are totally wrong with who you think makes up the PC gamer market. you are talking about a sm... : dahanese
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            I could be wrong, ultimately it's a dead-end game and you're going to have to compete with free. : Richese
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              i think you are wrong. : dahanese
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                Well you're having to compete with free now so I'm definitely right about that. : Richese
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                  that's a really weird statement. compete with free? you mean people suck and steal shit if they can get a... : dahanese
                  • For example, the RIAA was selling CDs in 2001 while people were downloading the same stuff for free from ... : Richese
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          Disc fucks legitimate customers too. I remember when Diablo 2 came out I pre-ordered it, was in the be... : DOOManiac
          • I would buy a new drive to play a game in a heartbeat. I am a gaming whore. : Sapiens
  • PC gaming will never die... drm free or not... long as there is any money at all to be made, someone will... : chilln
  • look how wrong you are. : Robotic Puppy Eater
  • PC gaming didn't die before DRM. I don't think it'd die in its absence. : SinistarX
• While that sucks, blame EA and the publisher. The customers don't like or want DRM on the game. : askedrelic
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  Crazy DRM like EA's on Spore is basically the publisher equivalent of piracy. If piracy is the consumer t... : stratedge
  • Well said. : DrillBit
• i think it's awesome, and i think DRM should fucking die. and EA. : skryte
• does the mac version also have this DRM? : Mmmmmoo
• DRM sucks. Not much else a publisher can do at this point, though. It will take time for DRM to fail and ... : dmason
• Uh oh! Looks like users found a way to slap a bitch. : Zolneirz
• If I can go and check out the usual places for torrents, and see 50k people on a single spore torrent, I ... : d0gbert
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  Steam is the answer for PC games. It's encouraged me to actually buy title I would otherwise think twice ... : Bamtan
  • Didn't valve just say they wanted EA to buy Steam? : capt tripps
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    As a DRM method Steam doesn't deliver either. A few months ago there was an article about a Steam client ... : Marauder IIC
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      Steam has one strength in this regard. It's actually more convenient than piracy. : lapskaus
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        That's true. Personally, I'll stick to retail until Steam prices become competitive. : Marauder IIC
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          How are they not competitive now? : Ebu
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            The games I'm intrested in are generally 50 - 100% more expensive in Steam than via Amazon, and that does... : Marauder IIC
            • I understand what you mean. Unless I'm getting the game at launch, I'll typically wait to purchase it on ... : dmason
            • Oh, the older stuff. Yea, just wait for sales to come along. Like the id bundle or the TQ deal they had s... : Ebu
      • Exactly. This has been the difference for me, admittedly. : dmason
      • Thats the way things have to be. It *has* to be easy for you and me to buy the game and support the dev, ... : avatar_58
      • Perfect summary of the situation. : Bamtan
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        Exactly. And that is the *only* way to combat piracy. In truth, I think nearly all protection schemes are... : terath
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          I think the best way to combat piracy is kickass must-have multiplayer. : Marauder IIC
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            and IP tracking torrents/p2p networks + automatic fines Ubi, EA and a few other devs started doing tha... : Marauder IIC
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              Didn't into music piracy. :/ And a lot of people like single player games as well as multiplayer. It woud... : terath
              • You're talking about those RIAA lawesuits in the states? I don't know much about them, but 80,000 fines o... : Marauder IIC
      • Exactly. This weekend I bought Doom 3 and it's expansion because of the weekend id deal. Apparently Doom ... : Iazu
  • ^^ IAWTP - too bad ISPs are beginning to choke digital distribution with their caps. : newek
  • Steam is great because they don't limit how many times you can install it. Imagine if you only had 3 trie... : festivalman
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  Final comments as I ride over the verrazno bridge. My disgust has to do with the amazon low rating who... : bozer
  • It's the FMEFU principle in action. pc gaming will not die : capt tripps
  • Thats what really bothers me. Why not just mention the DRM in the review? Warn people of what they are bu... : avatar_58
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    That sounds a bit dramatic. As long as there's a market and there's profit to be made there will be PC ga... : Marauder IIC
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      That's the thing. If you work hard on a game, do you want to celebrate finishing the game by dealing with... : bozer
      • I don't know. I'm not a developer. Hypothetically, I guess It would depend on the type of game I'd like t... : Marauder IIC
  • Verrazano Bridge checkpoint passed. All non-essential personnel, report to the holds in ten minutes time : DOOManiac
• guess EA can count me as a pirate. all of my games (including steam games) have been installed at leas... : cpt_gloval
• Since when has Spore been in development for 10 years? you get no points for saying "since 1998" : Dynotaku
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  Here is why DRM is bullshit and you are wrong: My favorite game of all time is Jagged Alliance 2. I b... : kill9
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    This is why I'm going to be pissed at Steam eventually. There will be some point in the future that I ... : DOOManiac
    • Yeah, I'm hoping that Valve's success continues and some day if they ever decide to move beyond Steam, th... : kill9
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      with steam, valve's repeatedly promised that if they go away, they've got something up their sleeve to ba... : xsoulbrothax
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        Except thats not possible for every single game. It's embedded in the exe files. Valve would have to rele... : avatar_58
        • I would imagine the publishers and developers of the games that Valve didn't develop might have something... : capt tripps
  • That's MY biggest concern. I play games which are 10-20 years old regularly. However there is a law about... : avatar_58
• stupid article branded stupid and left unread because spore wasn't in development for 10 years. the exec... : Luminair
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  I don't even understand what the purpose of DRM is for. Yeah I know "to prevent piracy" but Spore was ou... : dilutedq
  • It was "leaked" just because it sold early in Australia. : crummynz
  • legit users in australia could get it, and it appeared on torrents right after that. real retail copies w... : xsoulbrothax
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    some DRM put out today has stopped cracks for weeks after release, and even after those cracks became ava... : dahanese
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      you're talking in general but dilutedq is talking specifically about Spore, which had its DRM cracked bef... : electroly
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        again, it was released in parts of the world and was pirated -after- that. and the initial crack had memo... : xsoulbrothax
        • It was fixed like, an hour later. : Vincent Grayson
      • yeah, that sucks. they could have worked to make that not happen, i'm surprised they didn't. : dahanese
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      i would have no problem with this, if the publisher agreed to release a patch that removed the DRM after ... : kill9
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        Why 6 months? Why not two weeks, or once it is cracked. But if you take it out after 6 months, what wa... : Freon
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          none of what you are saying is completely based on fact, but seems a lot on your perception of how this s... : dahanese
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            Sure, I don't think it would directly translate to increased retail price. But neither would installing ... : Freon
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              Think about the core market of The Sims. Recognize that a lot of that market is the same as the market fo... : crummynz
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                I think you're missing the fact that The Sims players are pretty social. They have webpages dedicated to ... : Jonathan
                • I really, really, really doubt that Sims-esque modding communities are going to turn to teaching themselv... : xsoulbrothax
          • I've done software QA for 15 years and spent the last three QA'ing DRM solutions. Yes, it adds significa... : SinistarX
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      I'd love to hear of those games, and then see the technical issues legit users were having because of the... : dilutedq
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        I think the best way to fight piracy is to increase the value of your product over what a pirated copy ca... : Richese
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          what does that even mean? how can you increase the value of a product and keep that value from a pirated ... : dahanese
          • Online distribution with long term availability (IE not the EA way) and automatic patching are two obviou... : Jonathan
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            Well, one quick example would be to make it downloadable as many games are already doing. : Richese
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              downloadable games (ala steam) can be cracked. : dahanese
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                Stop hunting for a bulletproof protection method, it doesn't exist. : Richese
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                  You're gonna have to increase the value of your product vs a pirated copy if you want to get back those s... : Richese
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                    i'm not looking for anything bulletproof. please read what i am looking for, stated above, to know what i... : dahanese
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                      I'm not a game developer nor do I create DRM schemes, I'm just looking at it from an economic perspective... : Richese
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                        i think the idea is that people are saying 'give us this added value that pirates can't get,' but as it s... : xsoulbrothax
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                          No, there are plenty of features in single-player games like Spore or Sims that will not work because you... : Richese
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                            you are far overestimating those who care about the limited activations. that being said, i agree that th... : dahanese
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                              http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3563629.stm : Richese
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                                what are you proving by this? other than your "compete with free" thing? because links aren't really good... : dahanese
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                                  You are getting way too aggravated and misinterpreting my reasons for posting, I'm not "arguing" with you... : Richese
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                                    not aggravated. i care passionately about this topic, as i'm sure you can tell! as for the word argument ... : dahanese
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                                      The link is just an example of how the ability to copy something perfectly creates a market in which you ... : Richese
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                                        those who want to get something for free will steal it until it is inhumanly possible for them not to ste... : dahanese
                                        • I can't believe I'm going to follow up to your analogy but here we go... The problem is that in store the... : Jonathan
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                            Spore, yeah. The online psuedo-community galaxy of creatures is cool. Though pirates already realized it'... : xsoulbrothax
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                              Sins of a Solar Empire has the same sort of thing as GalCiv2 and it has sold very well. I may have been ... : Richese
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                                No, Sims was pretty much 110% your-computer-singleplayer. Sins also sold awesome for Stardock's budget... : xsoulbrothax
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                                  The Sims has features that are very similar to Spore - uploading of families, houses, items made with the... : Jonathan
                                  • ah, that's cool! i forgot that it had the key tie in - a lot of the modding in the game goes on independe... : xsoulbrothax
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                      We're telling you exactly what we want - convenience, no more stores, no more physical media, less time s... : Jonathan
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                        most new games are up on steam though. EA refuses to do it but that's their own choice. retail still ac... : mikecyb
                        • Steam is wonderful. Company of Heroes is good on steam but there's times when I wish I'd kept my original... : Jonathan
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                          I'd say that digital distribution is still very much in the minority of sales for most products. : mittense
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                            even if digital distribution was a majority retail sales would continue until the cost of selling a game ... : mikecyb
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                              When Film, which if you consider how long it has been a pure analog medium, is making a stronger showing ... : Jonathan
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                                it's different though. first off games that are digitally distributed are limited entirely to PC games a... : mikecyb
                                • You're overrating the need to pick up the item or receive it at the time of purchase - people are willing... : Jonathan
                        • When people are buying game soundtracks separately from the game, I bet you could do a special edition an... : Jonathan
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                Ideally I think the only way to make piracy go away is to give legit customers goodies. Give them a rich ... : avatar_58
                • Why don't I proofread? Ah whatever, you get the gist of it : avatar_58
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                  RIght, Spore is doing a lot of things right but they fucked themselves over with the activations. : Richese
                  • That does seem awfully stupid. I mean everyone wanted the online stuff right? Do they really need to dril... : avatar_58
      • well no. you are working under the assumption that DRM is supposed to work 100% of the time and prevent ... : mikecyb
      • the only one I know of is a splinter cell that required starforce. Of course we all know how fucked up st... : aeg1x
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      Weeks... lol. : Delusional
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        BioShock and Mass Effect are two notable recent games that were not cracked for weeks. i'm not going to d... : dahanese
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          I would like to know whether or not the techniques used are still effective today or if it was just the f... : Delusional
          • well, mass effect came out months after the BioShock technology happened. it wasn't a full year, but it w... : dahanese
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        Bioshock, for one. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory took quite a while (ov... : crummynz
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          Starforce hurt machines though and went behind people's backs. At least securom and internet access as a ... : avatar_58
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            Yeah, thank god Starforce usage has nearly died out. : crummynz
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              In our area, yeah.. in eastern europe and russia it's still the copy protection du jour. : xsoulbrothax
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                I hate seeing little adventure devs pairing up with publishers who use it in europe. Games lose a massive... : avatar_58
                • yeah.. after IIRC trackmania, i simply stopped touching things with starforce. never tried splinter cell ... : xsoulbrothax
  • I think the point of DRM is to frustrate people who pay for the game, and to act as a small challenge for... : nevicata
  • didn't EA put the same tech on the creature creator? that's probably why it didn't hold until release, th... : thebigbeefsandwich
  • Spore was targeted by pirates to crack ahead of time because they hated the DRM so much. Any DRM can/w... : Zhaneel
• Nah - EA is full of shit here. 3 times? Fuck that. I won't be buying this. : virus
• I don't want to pay money for this game anymore. : NastyJack
• Honestly, I think the coolest part of Spore is the creature-sharing feature, as well as community stuff l... : crummynz
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  It's like these DRM threads happen every so often and every time a different person posts the same stuff.... : mittense
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    Yeah my original post isn't even about DRM really. Just the war on amazon comments I find really annoying... : bozer
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      I think it's fucking horse shit. I want to find every single mothefucker who posted and stab them in thei... : mittense
      • Well if it was my product I'd rather have people complain about the DRM than dismiss the game based on so... : Jonathan
• What's impressive is that a number of these comments aren't flat out spam, but well thought out posts reg... : stonedonkey
• You're kidding? This is a GOOD thing. The people finally have a way to get the issue out in the open an... : boarder2
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  Shouldn't that read Nothing like people spending ten years working on a game, then your publisher tack on : aeg1x
  • Also this hits exactly on what Brad Wardell was talking about in his interview on the front page. This ki... : aeg1x
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  I'm more pissed at Amazon for allowing ratings prior to a products release. What the fuck is that? 2 five... : K1Bond007
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    Is DRM really out of bounds when reviewing something? : Richese
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      Nope. Its part and parcel of the game. : Robotic Puppy Eater
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        it is one of the last elements of a game to be finalized before release (since the decision on whether to... : the archvile
        • Good point. : Richese
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        Well then I guess every PC game for who knows how long will be getting shitty reviews. Except maybe the o... : bozer
        • I don't have problems with a simple CD check (though I'm still paranoid about SecuROM since they have a v... : the archvile
    • Reviews on Amazon are about reviewing the purchase and in that respect, no, DRM isn't out of bounds at al... : K1Bond007
  • I tend to not even look at star ratings and just read what someone who sounds intelligent may have writte... : bozer
• It's the only recourse we have, other than not purchasing a game we really want to have. : Thresher
• Damn, that sucks for the Maxis guys : ColoradoCNC
• It didn't meet the hype and it limits installations on a machine, I expected some sort of a backlash. I'... : jingletard
• It's disgusting, but who's at fault here? It's not just one side. It's not like the gods of game developm... : zehh
• I'll be honest. I picked it up. EA can leave their DRM on there. I plan on "fixing" it when I get arou... : supertech68