🚀 go-pugleaf

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic Bloodstar <george.w...@microsoft.com> wrote:
>> Galactic Civilizations had no copy protection whatsoever, yet it did
>> *very* well. Much better than anyone expected. It's crippling DRM that's
>> hurting the PC game experience and driving sales down.
> 
> And serial key is not copy protection by your theory? Shrapnel Games and 
> Matrix Games have copy protection like this, you can find pirated games but 
> later on you cannot patch it(pirated serials get's on the black list). They 
> don't get cracked as interest luckily for wargames in pirates and crackers 
> is minimal.
> So it's misleading that G. Civ 2 had no copy protection at all. no cd key 
> etc... Well, you can correct me if I am wrong.

Well, an activation code is a kind of protection ofcourse, but it's fairly
benign and not nearly on the level of most copy protection schemes.
GalCiv still allows me to install the game as many machines as I like,
so I can play how and where I like.

> BTW, it's not crippling DRM that drives sales down because if game is good 
> gamers will buy it regardless of copy protection (except maybe Starforce if 
> they really hate it lol).

True, but many people have already expressed the opinion that crippling
copy protection hurts the enjoyment they get out of a game, and some
people even buy some games just to reward the publisher for not putting
copy protection on it.

> But boycotting games because of copy protection is even worse and that will 
> just kill PC games if it is done on a large scale.

It will kill copy protection. If the people who boycott copy protection
buy an equal value of non-protected games instead, it won't kill PC
games, just the ones with copy protection. The ones without will thrive.
And my impression is that there's a growing movement in that direction.


mcv.
-- 
Science is not the be-all and end-all of human existence. It's a tool.
A very powerful tool, but not the only tool. And if only that which
could be verified scientifically was considered real, then nearly all
of human experience would be not-real.                  -- Zachriel