Comments on: Draconian Dragon Slain: Dragon Age DRM Free

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:03:05 +0000

I wasn’t refering to it in some sort of anti-piracy measure, I was referring to it in a “How did you cope with having to have the disc in the drive/swap discs to play games like you did when a CD held more data than your (well, my) hard drive” way. Like it’s some sort of terrible chore.

JKJoker – no check at all isn’t old fashioned, there has been DRM in one form or another since games came on tapes.

By: JKjoker

JKjoker — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:57:50 +0000

Seriously … guys… AGAIN?!?!, “old-fashioned” disc check IS DRM, dragon age is not drm free, get that article title straight

you know what is “older-fashioned” ? no freaking check at all, you are so dazzled by the blind rage you had against online verification you are accepting something you used to hate just as much before

By: jalf

jalf — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:48:47 +0000

I might assert that garlic bread should be free with pizza. But it isn’t.

I agree though. +1 for free garlic bread!

By: RagManX

RagManX — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:35:42 +0000

Guess I’ll be buying this. I have a strong tendency to buy major games released without DRM just as a show of support. I rarely even game any more outside of my limited City of Heroes/Villains time, but still feel strongly that I need to support publishers that do the right thing. World of Goo, Galactic Civilizations II, Crayon Physics, and so on. I’d love to play Dragon Age, but I probably won’t have time. Still, I love Bioware, and I love companies that release great games without restricting my legal use after I buy them.

By: Hmm-hmm.

Hmm-hmm. — Wed, 06 May 2009 09:43:45 +0000

I really don’t see what the problem is with disc checks. Online verification, however..
Sorry, forgot to add great post! Can’t wait to see your next post!

By: Hmm-hmm.

Hmm-hmm. — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:25:46 +0000

I really don’t see what the problem is with disc checks. Online verification, however..

By: Rich_P

Rich_P — Wed, 06 May 2009 05:39:12 +0000

heh, that’s a step up from your usual trolling.

Piracy will happen regardless of whether or not Dragon Age has SecuROM. This is about paying customers. They don’t like SecuROM, so don’t include it. But I agree: stealing a game and using the DRM as an excuse is weak.

By: catska

catska — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:47:11 +0000

I wonder what excuses the piracy deniers will use now when this game has a record piracy rate (seeing as how its targeted toward ‘hardcore’ pc gamers’). They won’t be able to trot out the ‘people pirated it to boycott intrusive DRM OMG MY RITES’ garbage that the us sane people can laugh at. The fact they had to delay this game and start working on a console version shows just how little faith they have in the ‘hardcore’ pc audience to support them when they make a game specifically for it.

On a related note, its sad to see Bioware going backwards instead of forward. Every one of their games since they moved to console development has been fun and original, while this is straight off the generic tolkienesque fantasy train that I would expect to see in the bargain bin at Borders. How can anyone honestly see this as a step forward after amazing games like Kotor, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect lined their console library?

This is just a commentary on what is left of the shell of PC gaming: A handful of people sitting around waiting for the ‘next baldur’s gate’ or ‘next planescape torment’, unable and unwilling to move on to new things. Bioware wanted to make stunning, original games so they moved their focus to consoles where they would be accepted. Now since the inevitable backlash of bitter PC elitists that a for-profit company ‘betrayed’ them, they’ve got their B-team working on something that looks like it just stepped out of 1995 for the 12 people left playing PC games who just won’t pirate it anyway.

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:05:08 +0000

Before the internet was widespread, most CD games didn’t full install to the hard drive, also. When you have to have the disc in because of technical limitations that’s a lot easier to swallow than when you have to put the disc in because they want to make sure you didn’t sell it on eBay.

By: Devan

Devan — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:55:18 +0000

This is great news! I much prefer disc checks to secuROM and/or online authentication. This is the exact opposite tune EA was singing this time last year. I’d like to find out what this means for future releases.
In any case, there’s no reason for me not to get this game now.

By: DosFreak

DosFreak — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:16:04 +0000

Nick says:

How did you people survive CD games before the internet was widely availble and cracks existed?

Oh, probably weren’t alive/old enough.

We used Neverlock (or similar) for floppy games or we downloaded the cracks from BBS’s if it wasn’t in neverlock.

The amount of CD-ROMS in computers was pretty small before the internet was widely available and most games didn’t need CD-ROM’s anyway. (I didn’t have a computer with a CD drive until 1995, first game I bought before I even got the computer was Mechwarrior 2). Before that for 6 years I owned a 286-12mhz with a 3.5″ and a 5.25″ floppy drive.

Mechwarrior 2 did require the CD to be in the drive, I didn’t mind though because it had a kickass soundtrack.

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:29:56 +0000

I’m truly amazed by the number of people who are willing to consign games to the trash bin of history just to save a little time, effort and storage space. (A game with an online authentication check -will- be unplayable someday if the check is not removed. No ifs, ands, or buts about that. Unplayable by anyone, ever, not just unplayable by you if you lose or damage your disc. That sucks.)

Fortunately, I guarantee you folks that you will be able to buy a digitally distributed version where you can have all the online authentication you so crave. Have you seen an EA title in recent memory that wasn’t? Hell, Bioware’s last two games are even on Steam.