Insane PC Game DRM Drove Me To Piracy

News · 04-05-10, 11:20 AM

An anonymous gamer wrote in to tell us why he felt justified to illegally download a copy of Red Faction: Guerilla: He bought it on one computer but found the DRM locked him out of re-activating the game on his new computer. When customer service couldn't help him, he went rogue.

He writes:

I recently bought a copy of the PC game Red Faction Guerrilla. The game installed fine on my system and I played it for a bit until the hard drive it was on bit the dust. I replaced the hard drive and reinstalled the game. However, when you try to launch the game it gives you a DRM check where you have to enter your email address and cd-key and it will then connect to its authentication servers to allow you to play the game.

However, when I tried to enter my info and hit ok, it would come back would a general error saying

"There was a problem activating Red Faction Guerrilla. Could not start activation process."
I tried contacting THQ/Volition the makers/publishers of the game and they could not help and instead told me to contact Games for Windows Live, who apparently runs the online checks as its incorporated into the game with this platform. I spoke to several Windows reps there who knew nothing about how to fix the issue, was hung up on several times, referred back and forth between THQ and then made to run through ridiculous steps to try and fix the issue, and finally told me there's nothing they can do to help.

What I had to do instead is pretty sad considering I paid for a legit copy- I went to a torrent site and downloaded a cracked exe that let me bypass the security check and play the game the online portion of it.

I could have pirated the game from the start but I chose to be honest and try and support these companies. What good did that do? As a result of paying for this game I was treated like garbage from the companies I bought it from who were unwilling and unable to help, and then had to turn to pirates because the DRM installed with the game prevented me from playing it.

What is the point of paying for these games if you get no support from those you purchased it from and can get a better version for free by pirating it? I am in no way advocating piracy because its wrong and is hurting the industry, but the publishers and developers are in turn treating their paying customers like criminals and are just making them turn to piracy instead.

Do you think the gamer was in the moral right to do what he did?

More...

six_storm · 04-05-10, 11:37 AM

Oh snap!

04-05-10, 11:46 AM

**musman** · 04-05-10, 11:55 AM

I think he was right for what he did. He paid for it, can't play it, got no help from the people he purchased it from. I know of a similar story.

A friend of a friend purchased MS Office, (1998 I think) installed it and a few days later they came out with a new version. He called MS and asked if he could be upgraded to the new Office program and they told him no, if you want the new office you half to pay for it. He said they were rude and completely unwilling to help in any way. So he just went to a torrent site and downloaded the new Office program. From my understanding he still does this today. Personally I use Open Office and would never pay for (or steal) MS Office.

**musman** · 04-05-10, 11:57 AM

Bearclaw, dude that's awesome! LMAO!

04-05-10, 12:33 PM

I pay for everything I have. Then again I've had zero problems that couldn't be fixed with a quick google either.

**Rakeesh** · 04-05-10, 01:40 PM

I admit I pirate a few movies TV shows I watch. It's just a hell of a lot more convenient. I tivo most shows, but occasionally it won't record one (it missed a new lost episode two weeks ago) so rather than wait for it to air again I just downloaded it off of a torrent. When I want to watch a new show that has already gone through several episodes, I'm not going to wait for them to air in sequence again, or to come out on netflix; I'll just download them instead.

The occasional time I want to watch a movie in high def, and it's a really really good movie with good visuals (e.g. the dark knight) I can't stand the crappy compression and crappy seeking netflix live streaming does, and because of DRM I can't play the blu-ray in XBMC. I like XBMC because it isn't picky about what kind of remote I use (I use my tivo's remote control) it has excellent seeking (8 second back and 30 second skip work beautifully, whereas crap software like powerdvd doesn't even support these that well) and its renderer is VERY good. Oh and I CAN SKIP THE GOD DAMNED PREVIEWS.

mojoman0 · 04-05-10, 01:43 PM

eh its not like he actually pirated it is it? I mean he payed for the game. After I got robbed of all my PC games I've contemplated downloading the iso's for the games I have the serial keys saved for. Would that be illegal?

Q · 04-05-10, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mojoman0

eh its not like he actually pirated it is it? I mean he payed for the game. After I got robbed of all my PC games I've contemplated downloading the iso's for the games I have the serial keys saved for. Would that be illegal?

I feel the same. He didn't pirate it. He circumvented the DRM. I would assume that 9 out of 10 people who work for the company who made the game would be fine with this, especially since he bought the game.

No harm, no foul.

04-05-10, 02:11 PM

Circumventing DRM is completely different from hacking IF you PAY originally then seek to go around it.

t3hl33td4rg0n · 04-05-10, 02:59 PM

I don't see how anyone could get upset over this. Whenever I buy a retail copy of a game, this is what I do automatically when I get home before installing. A quick copy/paste of a file is better than dealing with disc checks, activation sequences, and all the other douchebaggery associated with DRM.

FearMeAll · 04-05-10, 04:11 PM

I do this these days. I buy all my games, and even went back and bought the games I used to pirate in my young days. (I think I've bought Beyond Good and Evil 3 times off of steam, direct2drive, and the GOG)

If I buy a game I have no problem circumventing the DRM if it gives me any problem at all. I just want to play the game.

Rule of thumb, buy the author's work, and cirvumvent the publisher's DRM. You are still supporting the devs, and that's what it's all about.

04-05-10, 11:20 AM	#1
News Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 34,558	Insane PC Game DRM Drove Me To Piracy An anonymous gamer wrote in to tell us why he felt justified to illegally download a copy of Red Faction: Guerilla: He bought it on one computer but found the DRM locked him out of re-activating the game on his new computer. When customer service couldn't help him, he went rogue. He writes: I recently bought a copy of the PC game Red Faction Guerrilla. The game installed fine on my system and I played it for a bit until the hard drive it was on bit the dust. I replaced the hard drive and reinstalled the game. However, when you try to launch the game it gives you a DRM check where you have to enter your email address and cd-key and it will then connect to its authentication servers to allow you to play the game. However, when I tried to enter my info and hit ok, it would come back would a general error saying "There was a problem activating Red Faction Guerrilla. Could not start activation process." I tried contacting THQ/Volition the makers/publishers of the game and they could not help and instead told me to contact Games for Windows Live, who apparently runs the online checks as its incorporated into the game with this platform. I spoke to several Windows reps there who knew nothing about how to fix the issue, was hung up on several times, referred back and forth between THQ and then made to run through ridiculous steps to try and fix the issue, and finally told me there's nothing they can do to help. What I had to do instead is pretty sad considering I paid for a legit copy- I went to a torrent site and downloaded a cracked exe that let me bypass the security check and play the game the online portion of it. I could have pirated the game from the start but I chose to be honest and try and support these companies. What good did that do? As a result of paying for this game I was treated like garbage from the companies I bought it from who were unwilling and unable to help, and then had to turn to pirates because the DRM installed with the game prevented me from playing it. What is the point of paying for these games if you get no support from those you purchased it from and can get a better version for free by pirating it? I am in no way advocating piracy because its wrong and is hurting the industry, but the publishers and developers are in turn treating their paying customers like criminals and are just making them turn to piracy instead. Do you think the gamer was in the moral right to do what he did? More...

04-05-10, 11:37 AM	#2
six_storm Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Nashvegas Posts: 11,575	Re: Insane PC Game DRM Drove Me To Piracy Oh snap!

04-05-10, 11:46 AM	#3
Bearclaw Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Insane PC Game DRM Drove Me To Piracy

04-05-10, 11:55 AM	#4
musman I Derail Threads Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: USA Posts: 976	Re: Insane PC Game DRM Drove Me To Piracy I think he was right for what he did. He paid for it, can't play it, got no help from the people he purchased it from. I know of a similar story. A friend of a friend purchased MS Office, (1998 I think) installed it and a few days later they came out with a new version. He called MS and asked if he could be upgraded to the new Office program and they told him no, if you want the new office you half to pay for it. He said they were rude and completely unwilling to help in any way. So he just went to a torrent site and downloaded the new Office program. From my understanding he still does this today. Personally I use Open Office and would never pay for (or steal) MS Office. __________________ Antec Nine Hundred case. Core I-7 920 @ 3.56GHz, Noctua NH-U12P Cooler, EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX-285 1GB, EVGA GT-240 Superclocked 512Mb used as a Physx card, DFI LANPARTY JR X58-T3H6, OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 SDRAM 1600 7-7-7-18, Intel X25-V SSD, used as a boot drive, 2X Seagate 500Gig 32MB Cache 7200RPM in RAID 0, Logitec G-15 keyboard, Logitech MX-518 Mouse, CH Combatstick 568, Xboc Controller, LG L227WTG-PF 22" LCD Monitor 1680x1050. Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit. Speakers: KRK Rokit8 studio monitors. http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/media/customer.jpg

04-05-10, 11:57 AM	#5
musman I Derail Threads Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: USA Posts: 976	Re: Insane PC Game DRM Drove Me To Piracy Bearclaw, dude that's awesome! LMAO! __________________ Antec Nine Hundred case. Core I-7 920 @ 3.56GHz, Noctua NH-U12P Cooler, EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX-285 1GB, EVGA GT-240 Superclocked 512Mb used as a Physx card, DFI LANPARTY JR X58-T3H6, OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 SDRAM 1600 7-7-7-18, Intel X25-V SSD, used as a boot drive, 2X Seagate 500Gig 32MB Cache 7200RPM in RAID 0, Logitec G-15 keyboard, Logitech MX-518 Mouse, CH Combatstick 568, Xboc Controller, LG L227WTG-PF 22" LCD Monitor 1680x1050. Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit. Speakers: KRK Rokit8 studio monitors. http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/media/customer.jpg

04-05-10, 12:33 PM	#6
grey_1 Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Insane PC Game DRM Drove Me To Piracy I pay for everything I have. Then again I've had zero problems that couldn't be fixed with a quick google either.

04-05-10, 01:40 PM	#7
Rakeesh Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Sonoran Desert Posts: 6,853	Re: Insane PC Game DRM Drove Me To Piracy I admit I pirate a few movies TV shows I watch. It's just a hell of a lot more convenient. I tivo most shows, but occasionally it won't record one (it missed a new lost episode two weeks ago) so rather than wait for it to air again I just downloaded it off of a torrent. When I want to watch a new show that has already gone through several episodes, I'm not going to wait for them to air in sequence again, or to come out on netflix; I'll just download them instead. The occasional time I want to watch a movie in high def, and it's a really really good movie with good visuals (e.g. the dark knight) I can't stand the crappy compression and crappy seeking netflix live streaming does, and because of DRM I can't play the blu-ray in XBMC. I like XBMC because it isn't picky about what kind of remote I use (I use my tivo's remote control) it has excellent seeking (8 second back and 30 second skip work beautifully, whereas crap software like powerdvd doesn't even support these that well) and its renderer is VERY good. Oh and I CAN SKIP THE GOD DAMNED PREVIEWS. __________________ Want to listen to audio without your computer going to sleep? Try this. Core i7 2600k 4.4Ghz 1.385v \| Corsair H60 \| 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600 8-8-8-24 \| MSI P67A-G45 \| OCZ Vertex 3 \| Sapphire 7850 OC to Max settings

04-05-10, 01:43 PM	#8
mojoman0 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: California Posts: 3,566	Re: Insane PC Game DRM Drove Me To Piracy eh its not like he actually pirated it is it? I mean he payed for the game. After I got robbed of all my PC games I've contemplated downloading the iso's for the games I have the serial keys saved for. Would that be illegal?

04-05-10, 02:11 PM	#10
Bearclaw Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Insane PC Game DRM Drove Me To Piracy Circumventing DRM is completely different from hacking IF you PAY originally then seek to go around it.

04-05-10, 04:11 PM	#12
FearMeAll Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 827	Re: Insane PC Game DRM Drove Me To Piracy I do this these days. I buy all my games, and even went back and bought the games I used to pirate in my young days. (I think I've bought Beyond Good and Evil 3 times off of steam, direct2drive, and the GOG) If I buy a game I have no problem circumventing the DRM if it gives me any problem at all. I just want to play the game. Rule of thumb, buy the author's work, and cirvumvent the publisher's DRM. You are still supporting the devs, and that's what it's all about. __________________ Consoles: Xbox Elite with HDDVD drive and PS3. Screen: Panasonic AX200U Widescreen Projector (1280x720), 160" HighPower Screen, AND A BIG COUCH. [FONT="Courier New"] HTPC: Intel Wolfdale 3ghz, 4 gigs DDR2 800 ram, 500gig HDD, Craptastic 7600GS, Windows 7 32bit, XBMC installed [/FONT] :D [B]My Video Encoding/Office rig:[/B] [I] Intel QX9650 @ 3ghz, 1333mhz FSB, 4gigs Patriot Extreme DDR3 @ 1333mhz, XFX 790i 3-way Sli mobo, Xf-Fi Extreme Gamer, 400watt Fanless Power Supply, 9500GT 64-bit bus(ouch!), 8.750TB HDD, Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate. [B][FONT="Arial Narrow"]Everything at stock and completely boring..[/FONT][/B][/I] :type: