MysticRhythms

[quote who="JoHBe" reply="9" id="1903155"] Didn't you get your money's worth when playing the game for hours and hours, the way I see it, a game that is fun to play has payed itself ! Not only that, developers/publishers who give in return a rock solid game, NEEDS to be backed up (certainly PC games !! ) to show others that there is still a profit IF you create a good game ! So, why would I sell a game for less money ? I'd recommend Gamer B to get the game asw

[quote who="CobraA1" reply="15" id="1897264"]. . . and forget "activating" the games, simply installing either of the clients requires an internet connection. Just tested on a virtual machine.[/quote] So, just as I indicated, when the DRM servers are gone, you are SOL.

[quote who="CobraA1" reply="10" id="1896783"] They depend on a remote DRM activation server, when that is gone (as it will be at some point) you have nothing. You have all of your games at the state you last left them. Neither Impulse nor Steam have an absolute requirement tht you be connected to their servers for you to play the games. Last I checked, both of them also have backup/restore capabilities as well. [/quote] This is a short sighted view

[quote who="CobraA1" reply="6" id="1896212"] I'd say the Impulse/Steam system of having an accounts is pretty close to ideal. [/quote] Hardly. Impulse,Steam and EA remote activation are all broken and they are essentially the same basic model with the same basic issue. They depend on a remote DRM activation server, when that is gone (as it will be at some point) you have nothing. In the mean time they use this as technical "solution" the the problem of your "first sale d

[quote who="Asret" reply="17" id="1895698"] Just out of curiosity, has Microsoft ever successfully enforced their EULA against a home user?[/quote] This guy?? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Corp_v._Zamos The problem is like I mention above. The system is stacked against the private citizen when facing down large corps with lawfirms on retainer and staff lawyers. Though this guy did pretty well.

[quote who="tandleheart" reply="2" id="1894947"] Morally, ethically, and IMHO legally, this is a sham. Like I have noted in prior posts, (1) a publisher should not be able to recharacterize what is essentially a sale into a "license" merely by putting a piece of paper in the box or setup program, and (2) a publisher who benefits from the protection conferred by copyright law should not be able to remove the parts of copyright law that it doesn't like (or "avoid getting exploited by

[quote who="Annatar11" reply="3" id="1895063"] But if you s ell a million copies? Even if on average it costs $5 (number out of nowhere, obviously) to support each copy, and a million copies change hands , they now spend another $5 million on support without seeing any revenue from the 1 million new users.[/quote] You are building a ridiculous house of cards out of "what ifs" here. Do you work for these guys? First th

[quote who="kryo" reply="24" id="1894250"] The product should be solid out of the box. But as with any used product, if someone's going to pay less than full price for it why should they expect to get it in exactly the same condition and with all benefits of a new one? You don't buy a used car with 60,000 miles on it and expect to get a warranty from the manufacturer for the next 60k just because the first owner had one. Getting the full warranty (or one at all) is an added value of buyi

When I refer to servers and activations WRT Stardock, it should be obvioius I am referring to Impulse downloaded games. All the remote server issues apply to Impulse purchases rentals. Stardock being private doesn't mean EA can't buy, it means it is easier for EA to buy them, since they don't have to deal with shareholders. They just have to convince the major equity holders. The fight aganst resale is just further attempt to

Stardocks fight against the right of resale speaks for itself. They are not on the gamers side. They are on the same side as EA here. I have zero interests in game "rentals" that involve any activations servers at EA, or Steam, or Impulse. They all present a the same future point of failure issues. Company failure, company disinterest in maintenance (see Yahoo,Walmart, Microsoft DRM music servers). Also the effects of acquisitions and consolidations in the industry. EA could purchase

[quote who="taltamir" reply="24" id="1893115"]I never said I expected microsoft, yahoo, or apple will go under. I expected them to shut down their music DRM servers when people wouldn't bite unto low quality renting of songs. And look at those now. Stardock on the other hand, has been making money, and prooving that their business model is both viable and acceptable to the customer. Stardock has also shown a great commitment to their customers, something none of the above mentioned

[quote who="Craig Fraser" reply="18" id="1893314"]I am a gamer, a developer, and a supporter of Stardock's Bill of Rights Initiative. [/quote] Saying you are a gamer in this context is irrelevant. That is about as relevant as the Authors of the above mentioned Exxon/GM clean air act saying, "you can trust us, we breathe air too". What matters, in this context, is that you are a producer of goods and you agree with another producer/distributor(your distributor in fac

[quote who="Craig Fraser" reply="16" id="1892860"]As a gamer, I am glad that someone took the initiative at all. Call me crazy, but isn't it a GOOD thing that a publisher is fighting for your rights? How often do you see this?[/quote] I haven't seen Stardock fighting for my right of resale, in fact I have seen them speak against it. So clearly they are not fighting for my rights. Sorry Craig, but I don't know everyone here. Your previous post made it sound like

[quote who="Craig Fraser" reply="13" id="1892434"]" If our customers are happier than we should be too - it is good for business. I don't understand this false barrier you are creating. Its not a matter of gamer vs publisher/developer, its about improving the industry for everyone. Even if you felt there was something missing in the Bill of Rights, explain to me how this can somehow detract from all the positive that is already there? Are you saying you would you rather n

[quote who="taltamir" reply="21" id="1891660"] 2 years ago you could have said Microsoft isn't going anywhere and the music DRM servers will run forever. Now who is being naive... I have been buying stardock stuff, but I have NEVER bought DRMed music or video and warned other not to, it was completely obvious to me that they ARE going under, and when they do there is NOT going to be recourse (redownloading thosands of songs is much more impractical then download 5 game cracks)

[quote who="Craig Fraser" reply="6" id="1890761"]Recycling and reusing play a large part of my life and I encourage both these wholeheartedy. The major difference with digital commodities is the original buyer maintain full benefit for the product AFTER he/she has parted with it. Being a liscense that it is, our customer is really selling our property. Customer becomes Competitor, and we end paying to support the product. It wouldnt be a problem if the original installed/copied

[quote who="bobbobber23" reply="17" id="1891280"] Have you tried GOG.COM? Unlike Stardock products the games here (although old) have absolutly NO DRM and NO 'activation' rubbish and NO stupid download/product managers. [/quote] I mentioned GOG in my first post. I have signed up and will be getting Fallout 1&2 when I actually have time to play them. [quote who="taltamir" reply="15" id="1891201"]MysticRhythms: while it is not the ideal, it is also not as bad as

[quote quoting="post"] I've been getting a lot of email since the announcement of the Gamers Bill or Rights -- quite a bit from game developers who make the argument that it's easy to throw stones at what other people but what solution do we suggest for them? For example, one of the things I've seen is that Stardock is "anti-DRM" in all cases. This isn't true. WindowBlinds, for example, requires activation. In fact, nearly all our software requires activation. Ye