Sins Of A Solar Empire DRM

Biggest load of BS that I've heard in a long time.

Sins has no DRM or anything like it. All you need is a registration number to patch the game. Stardock published Sins and they wrote up a Gamer's Bill of Rights and have a strong anti-DRM policy.

You have to register on Impulse to download patches, but that's it.  You don't have to run anything in the background to play the game.  You don't even need the CD in the drive.

Well  what you do is to register the serial number to an impulse account. Once its registered you can redownload it as many times as you like.

You can archive a game, alowing you to back it up to a cd drive from which you can reinstall it (with all patches allready installed if you archived a fully updated version).

So really GOO is hassle free and I have no problem using. Yes its DRM but it skips all the annoying intrusive things usualy associated with that acronym

Thanks to all of you for your replies

My apologies, I was reading through some web posts about Stardock's Goo system and thought it applied to Sins as well. From what you said, it doesn't. But I think it was a reasonable assumption to believe a developer would use their own DRM system. Maybe they will for the upcoming expansion.

I would hardly say they have a strong anti-DRM policy by the way, the introduction of Goo says otherwise, even if it is a watered-down version.

I may be wrong about this, but I think Goo itself is a little bit more than this. From what I read, it seems to require activation when you install a product, so it would mean more than simply linking a serial number to an account, which is something that other companies did well before Goo, i.e Blizzard for World of Warcraft. However, if Goo has a defined option to archive a game with all the patches to a CD, then that would remove all the objections I had as you could retain control of the product long after support was dropped.

Is there any reason to buy the CD over the digital version of the game in light of this thread?

Thanks

Ironclad is the developer, Stardock is the publisher.  GOO was released after Sins and so far only non Stardock products have used GOO as far as I know.

None.

In fact, you link a serial number to an account...

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/26/stardock-introduces-flexible-drm-solution-goo/

By the way, with Goo, once tired of a game, you can resell it :

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/30/gdc09-understanding-what-stardocks-goo-means-to-the-used-pc-ga/

A few more articles :

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/03/stardock-unveil/

http://kotaku.com/5184001/stardocks-answer-to-drm-goo

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/stardock-goo-drm-copy-piracy,7390.html point 2 is interesting in case the game company die...

Now that you have read these link, make your own decision...

Thats fine man. I didn't read all of what you wrote in your original post, so I got the impression that someone told you that Sins has nasty DRM.

My apologies, I forgot about that.

GOO was developed so that Stardock could bring companies (Like EA) that want some form of DRM into its Impulse fold. Any games it itself develops does not use GOO, the ones that do are developed by someone else and request it (GasPoweredGames - Demigod)

This game is pretty much DRM-free.  The only form of DRM is that if you want to update it to the most recent version of the game then you need to download a program called Impulse and register your game's CD-key.  You only need to load and run Impulse when you want to update the game--so whenever a new patch is released.  You can set Impulse so that it does not load up at start-up and it doesn't need to be running to play the game; it's very benign.  Also, you cannot play the game in online multiplayer over Ironclad Online unless you have the most updated version of the game.  (I think you also have to register an account with ICO).

Sins is a great game.  It feels very slick and it's lots of fun for online multiplayer once you know what you're doing and can hold your own against other players.

Thanks for your replies everybody, you've all been most helpful

But if you setup a network on Hamachi ( not sure of the name ), you can play online without any problem...

Sins is not using Goo... so, you have only some minimal DRM for the upfate after 1.05... simply one time register... and you are lucky... one year ago, impulse was a mess but now it is  good oiled product...

Your computer crash... one click and impulse install the last version... new computer, same thing... in fact, for sins, if you are not honest ( i hope that your are honest ), you can install the game from the cd from a friend... will not be a problem until you upgrade or try to play online... yes, sins have no copy protection !!!

Okay, I purchased the game and unless I'm mistaken, Sins of a Solar Empire does indeed employ a form of DRM.

It's not the game itself that is protected, it's the Impulse installer. It's neccessary to register an Impulse account to the same email address that you used to buy the game. After you've done this, you can download an archive copy for your own keeping.

At a later time on a fresh or reinstalled system, the game needs reinstalling. However, the archive copy you have requires Impulse to install and Impulse doesn't seem to let you do anything until you login with an apropriate username/password. This means as far as I can see that you have to activate your copy of the game whenever you reinstall it. In fact, my firewall announced that "Product Activation wishes to access the Internet" which is just about confirmation.

This does mean that if Impulse falls by the wayside for any reason, nobody will be able to install Sins of the Solar Empire again, which was exactly my concern in the first post. So anybody looking at this game in the future that doesn't want to buy DRM products would be advised to avoid this one (unless I've missed something obvious).

Well, if you buy the digital version, I don't see how you'd be surprised by this.  They aren't exactly going to allow people to download the game off of their servers without authentication.  You don't need Impulse at all to install the game if you have the boxed version.

I've never used the archive feature before, but I do recall a Stardock employee explaining how it could be used to install the game on an offline computer.

You can use Impulse Anywhere to download the installation files. You can then install where you need to.

This is why I asked in this thread if there was any reason not to buy the digital version over the CD one in light of my concerns? I was told none.

But in all honesty, it wouldn't even matter. If you want to buy the expansion, you have to get it digitally and any updates you need will automatically require you to sign-up anyway. So the boxed versions as far as I can tell has few advantages.

This still requires the Impulse program to install the product, which must still connect online and authenticate your account. So unfortunately this is of no help.

Is this a joke?

Why the hell would you not buy a great game because you need to install Impulse? Impulse doesn't do anything invasive, what's your problem?

If you want to deny yourself a great gaming experience because of some bizarre download manager phobia, feel free. Me, I like to enjoy myself and I think there are more important things in life to worry about.

I totally agree, now with Steam it is a totally different story, you can't log on without being bombard with messages of new games coming out or reduction in price, that is pure annoying and the fact on steam, you need to log on just to play single player games, sure I get why for multi but why single.

...if you want to play with PIRATES!

Well, the boxed version only has an advantage if you want to play up to 1.05. If you want the most recent patches (which trust me actually make it a better game) you have to do much the same thing. I actually find it very convenient, compared to having to patch games like KOTOR 2.

I knew somebody would come up with this argument sooner or later..... In the context of this thread, it's totally irrelevant. I asked about the DRM in Sins of a Solar Empire, not if the DRM involved in the game was actually worth it when compared to the quality of the game.

But for the record, obviously your point of view has occurred to me well before now and part of me does agree with you. In reality, Sins is a very good game and I don't consider my money wasted, despite the DRM involved. But I believe that when you buy something, it's yours to do what you want with until you tire of it. It should not be subject to the affairs of Impulse in this case. I still play some games from 5+ years ago that I very much enjoy. Will I play Sins in the medium to long term? It seems that first depends on the reliability and even existence of Impulse and I don't like that.

Was Sins worth buying in spite of the DRM? Yes. Does DRM however affect my decision on what products to purchase? Yes. You may not care if you are leasing a game rather than buying but I do.

So no, it's not a joke.

Just an additional comment. You have no idea how Impulse may evolve.. and since the developing company hold the keys to your access to the game, it could very easily become like Steam in the future....

Read the gamer's bill of rights again and you'll see that Stardock / Brad W. would not do that.   Stardock has a long history of taking positions on design philosophy, DRM, etc. and sticking to it.

#4  Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and updaters not force them to run or be forced to load to play a game.

(Note, that's to *play* a game, not to install)

Now it is true that the GBoR isn't a legally binding contract however Stardock has a very strong reputation that they worked their asses off to earn, they're not going to throw that away.

Not really... my impulse account use one e-mail address, and my sins game a other... and Entrenchment a other one... in fact, when you activate the first time a product on impulse, you need to use the e-mail address that you have use during the order process... and it will be linked to your impulse account...

At a later time on a fresh or reinstalled system, the game needs reinstalling. However, the archive copy you have requires Impulse to install and Impulse doesn't seem to let you do anything until you login with an apropriate username/password. This means as far as I can see that you have to activate your copy of the game whenever you reinstall it.

First, you can make your own archive... simply zip the full game and write it to some storage device... you need to activate only one time your game copy... what you need to remember is your Impulse loggin/password... by example, if you have 20 Impulse game... you go to a other machine, install Impulse, log in... and you will see a list of all the Impulse games you own... a few click and Impulse reistall ALL the games, without the need to register again each individual game...

This does mean that if Impulse falls by the wayside for any reason, nobody will be able to install Sins of the Solar Empire again, which was exactly my concern in the first post. So anybody looking at this game in the future that doesn't want to buy DRM products would be advised to avoid this one (unless I've missed something obvious).

I repeat it... make your own backup... it will never need Impulse again... unless your wish to install a new upgrade/patch... if you install a new upgrade/patch, make a backup again...

Being a modder, own backup is a need... since Impulse update always to the last version... when a patch is release, it can take some time for some mod to be updated... so, i have all the sins version from 1.05 to now archived...

Just an additional comment. You have no idea how Impulse may evolve.. and since the developing company hold the keys to your access to the game, it could very easily become like Steam in the future....

It is why i advice you to backup your Impulse game... Impulse can be down tomorrow and i will be able to continue play Sins... your own personal backup don't need Impulse for be install on other system in case of computer failure... Sins need only a one time activation... in fact, we can say that sins have no DRM but that update have one since Impulse is needed to update... but after update, you can backup again... why own backup is better?  For now, i have buy a few game on Impulse... online reinstall of everything will take around 20gb of internet transfer... it is a lot for me... i have two 4mb/s internet line but have only 60gb upload/download by month... more, at my work, i have a laptop with wifi but the speed is only 10-20 kb/s ( i am located several hundred meter from the emiter )... so, i have 32gb SD memory card with all my Impulse game...

Ridiculous assumption... by example, the Hamachi network is used for private testing of the 7DS mod... Ico is really allergic to the actual alpha version of 7DS...

Or maybe you think that all of us at the 7DS team are pirates ?

It is not because some pirates use a tool that it is a pirate tool only... you can kill somebody with a kitchen knife but it is not the original function of a kitchen knife...