Why is the X3 copy protection such a big secret?

Jasper · Post by **Jasper** » Thu, 27. Oct 05, 16:31

While I understand the publisher feels the need to protect their investment, I also feel the need to protect mine.

Starforce in the past has messed up my systems, I do and have run raid/scsi disks in the past. So I am very reluctant to let them have any more shots at my system.

But the need to protect my investment really hit home two nights ago when my CDROM drive decided it was time to die in a major way. When I placed my cd in the drive, the drive made a horrid grinding noise and literally broke the CD into many many pieces. Luckily it was not my new X3 CD which I have not received yet.

I ordered the CDROM version from Gogamer, we will see what protection scheme it has, hopefully one that will let me protect my investment, not just in money but also my time.

Jasper

Zanchito · Post by **Zanchito** » Thu, 27. Oct 05, 17:22

I had a CD explosion once too. Mechwarrior 4. Since then I always make backups (it is legal here as long as you own the original, of course).

Barred · Post by **Barred** » Thu, 27. Oct 05, 17:25

In reply to the threads title "Why is......."

I now have the answer

To take peoples minds off the bugs

Da_Junka · Post by **Da_Junka** » Thu, 27. Oct 05, 18:49

Zanchito wrote:Thank you so very much for the information!

I guess it was to be expected that DeepSilver would use Starforce, I read somewhere they had a contract for so many titles or somesuch, so they don't really have a choice anyways.

So, I wanna preorder from Enlight as soon as possible, but i'm in Europe. Does anyone know how to do it? Any online shop that would send the american version here? I fear Amazon will just deliver the british version.

Thank you in advance.

............................................................
I will be ordering the Enlight un-starforce-virus version from the link below. I have used them often and are totally reliable.
http://www.sps-systems.co.uk/index2.htm

Deep Silver must be barmey daft up a tree to use SF, don't they know how many sales they are about to lose?

Stealth · Post by **Stealth** » Thu, 27. Oct 05, 19:19

To shortly comment on the Starfarce interview's summary: The article's author needs a reality check. FreeSpace and Fallout didn't drop out of the bin because of the massive clonin of the games, that was the mess created by Interplay who weren't competent enough to keep the game studios running. The number and quality of games did diminish, but NOT because of piracy - it's because of the lack of imagination, innovation and creativity in the game studios - after all, there's only so many FPSes you can create without having a worn-out story with high graphical content and zero replayability.

The moral of the story is, don't take things at face value, especially in this case. I've been a gamer since the days of the old Commodore 64 (both tape-drive and FDD) - that doesn't give me much leverage in saying I know best, but I've witnessed some of the finest moments in game development. Rare came in the past two/three years, and copy-protection's not to blame.

MiSP · Post by **MiSP** » Thu, 27. Oct 05, 19:19

Da_Junka wrote:I will be ordering the Enlight un-starforce-virus version from the link below. I have used them often and are totally reliable.
http://www.sps-systems.co.uk/index2.htm

Deep Silver must be barmey daft up a tree to use SF, don't they know how many sales they are about to lose?

They are? They don't show... The site looks really amateur-ish!

Shintai · Post by **Shintai** » Thu, 27. Oct 05, 19:53

The interview with the starforce makers lacks quite a few things. no wonder..it´s a commercial push. Also when checking I haven´t seen any starforce game NOT cracked yet.

However I don´t favour piracy, and I wont do it myself. However when a X3 crack comes out I will use it on my original installation and remove the starforce drivers.

Starforce have still some serious issues with anything that is between an application and the files. This is usually seen as AV programs and other tools. Starforce is always behind and there is always alot of things it´s incompatible with.

Also the second part is more future oriented. When I tried looking for patches for my pre SF v3.5 games I can´t seem to find any, cept for 1 game. It´s the developers that need to make these patches, not the starforce makers. And updating the drivers alone doesn´t do the trick. So I have a few useless games with SF protection now, since they will never get to work on my x64 Windows. Tho the games without starforce protection would work just fine. But hey..a few cracks solved that issue.

My point is, why do we LEGAL buyers always get screwed

Starforce is a blind faith protection, it usually only buys them hours. SecuRom7 seems to be alot harder than SF. And they don´t have drivers that mess up your system and prevent any future changes.

Anyone know if Enlight is for release in the US only? Else it could be alternative as second copy so you didn´t need a crack to remove the SF infestion.

DJSoulJammer · Post by **DJSoulJammer** » Fri, 28. Oct 05, 04:23

Damn even here Deepsilver suply the game , hmmm use the removal tool for SF .

Avis · Post by **Avis** » Fri, 28. Oct 05, 04:39

just want to point out mention or condoning of the use of cracked exes is against the law in the hosts country and consequently explicitly against forum rules.

sq_paradox · Post by **sq_paradox** » Fri, 28. Oct 05, 04:49

Shintai wrote:SecuRom7 seems to be alot harder than SF.

Ah, but Securom 7 is brand new, and has definently taken a page out of Starforce's book. It is just as highly invasive, even though it doesn't install drivers. Most people I with both I have heard talking it say that Securom 7 is worse then Starforce. If you want some proof go to the relicnews.com forums and look at the amount of trouble people are having getting Dawn of War: Winter Assault to work. It claims the game installation is "corrupt", and it all stems from the copy protection.

However, unlike Starforce, I haven't heard any instances of Securom 7 breaking anyones computer; so it does have that on its side.

Galaxy613 · Post by **Galaxy613** » Fri, 28. Oct 05, 04:57

sq_paradox wrote:
Shintai wrote:SecuRom7 seems to be alot harder than SF.
Ah, but Securom 7 is brand new, and has definently taken a page out of Starforce's book. It is just as highly invasive, even though it doesn't install drivers. Most people I with both I have heard talking it say that Securom 7 is worse then Starforce. If you want some proof go to the relicnews.com forums and look at the amount of trouble people are having getting Dawn of War: Winter Assault to work. It claims the game installation is "corrupt", and it all stems from the copy protection.

However, unlike Starforce, I haven't heard any instances of Securom 7 breaking anyones computer; so it does have that on its side.

Funny how a GAMES WORKSHOP game is one of the first to use the newest COPY RIGHTPROTECTION software.

Duriel_LOP · Post by **Duriel_LOP** » Fri, 28. Oct 05, 06:31

Bye Bye Mr Topic!

Scarecrow · Post by **Scarecrow** » Fri, 28. Oct 05, 06:37

It always seems to end this way doesn't it?

Any discussion of piracy and/or bypassing the cp is strictly forbidden.

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

Why is the X3 copy protection such a big secret?