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General discussionEA CEO, John Riccitiello, tells us what he thinks of the whole DRM fiasco...(69 posts)(69 posts)
(69 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted October 16, 2008
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pkt-zer0: So you're kinda screwed either way...

Yep, that's the dilemma. The only proper solution, in this kind of situation, would be not to buy games and devote yourself to any other hobby instead of videogaming.
A pretty impossible choice, for me, considering that I'm a videogamer since the arcades in the Eighties (you know, KingofGnG literary means "The King of Ghouls'n Ghosts").
The "positive" thing about piracy is that you save money for other things, so if they blame you for the DRMs you can always ignore it and go to the movies on Friday night. Let them screw themselves on "this thing called piracy", and get the games you really wouldn't miss for the right price, that is the current value MINUS the nonsense of DRM....
Pretty unethical I know, but hey, It's a choice anyway....
Post edited October 16, 2008 by KingofGnG
Posted October 16, 2008
I wonder if they've ever even thought that the problem is simply coming from inside their own company? Then again, if you had some sort of definite flaw that everyone knows but is waiting for you to confirm, would you let the whole world know?
The whole thing with the piracy in the first place is that EA already had a bad reputation to begin with, what with all the rehashes they keep pulling out of their hats. They're trying to redeem themselves with new and fresh games, but the DRM is partially holding them down and adding to an already horrid reputation.
Posted October 16, 2008
I really don't see the point of total boycott. We resist DRM because we want to show that we want to be in control of the software we buy (among other reasons). Then what are you achieving by denying yourself the experience of playing that game? You are in control, not the publisher corporation! You can easily pirate a game and get it illegally, but if you want to support the company you pay money and buy it. You shouldn't lose either way, but if the product is good and you're treated right, the company might deserve to earn your money. That's how I see it.
Also I seriously doubt that any of it is gonna help. It's EA for crying out loud. The biggest and most ravenous of the corporate monsters in the gaming industry. They are totally incapable of changing, it's not in their biology.
Posted October 16, 2008
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Olegdr: I really don't see the point of total boycott. We resist DRM because we want to show that we want to be in control of the software we buy (among other reasons). Then what are you achieving by denying yourself the experience of playing that game? You are in control, not the publisher corporation! You can easily pirate a game and get it illegally, but if you want to support the company you pay money and buy it. You shouldn't lose either way, but if the product is good and you're treated right, the company might deserve to earn your money. That's how I see it.

Well, if you seriously want them to listen to complaints about DRM, then that would be the exactly wrong way to go about it. Why? Because the official reason given for including DRM on their games is to protect them against piracy. Keep in mind as well that JR recently stated that the 'cabal' of people complaining about DRM were made up of half that were just pirates and half that didn't understand anything about it.
If you go out and pirate a game, you're giving them complete justification for their DRM schemes. They just need to point to you and say "See, you're the dirty pirate we thought you were, so we need even tougher DRM to stop you". As well, they can just ignore anything you say in complaint against DRM if all you're going to do is pirate the game anyway.
That's ignoring the fact that if you don't pay for a game, you've no right to DL and play it.
Posted October 16, 2008
we should just incriminate ourselves and hold violent attacks against their DRM development teams.
just kidding, the only thing that'll do is get you in jail.
Posted October 17, 2008
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Weclock: we should just incriminate ourselves and hold violent attacks against their DRM development teams.
just kidding, the only thing that'll do is get you in jail.

Sometimes I think the jailtime would be worth it if we reduced the team that created SecuROM or Starforce to a fine bloody paste.
But yeah, I'm too delicate for jail.
Post edited October 17, 2008 by TapeWorm
Posted October 17, 2008
Coelocanth, what he meant, I think, was that he buys software but THEN pirates it, in order to rid himself of the DRM.
And to that, Olegdr, I say then they see your purchase and think "See? Our customers don't mind the DRM! Maybe we can get away with a little more..."
The point of ANY total boycott is: 1) they know WHY you're boycotting, and 2) they pay attention, because their sales are shrinking.
If you buy and complain, why would they listen? If you PIRATE and complain, you get Riccitiello's self-satisfied attitude.
Posted October 17, 2008
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Cliftor: Coelocanth, what he meant, I think, was that he buys software but THEN pirates it, in order to rid himself of the DRM.
And to that, Olegdr, I say then they see your purchase and think "See? Our customers don't mind the DRM! Maybe we can get away with a little more..."
The point of ANY total boycott is: 1) they know WHY you're boycotting, and 2) they pay attention, because their sales are shrinking.
If you buy and complain, why would they listen? If you PIRATE and complain, you get Riccitiello's self-satisfied attitude.

No you misunderstood me, I never buy DRM games. However I do pirate and then buy nonDRM games that I think that deserve my money. (The only DRM games I bought were the HL2 series from Valve and the Orange Box.)
I was excited as hell this year about Mass Effect coming for the PC and was sure that there would be nothing to stop me from buying it, turns out that EA and Bioware made the one thing that did. If the official MEPC boards archive that far enough, you'll see the original question about copy protection that started the whole thing was asked by me. I was also planning on getting Red Alert 3 (I own almost every game in the C&C series since the original was released). Well that's another one I'll go to the torrents for, and with the money that was meant for it I ordered The Witcher instead.
And Coelocanth, I decide what my rights are, and securing the revenue of giant multicorporations that piss on me as a customer is not something I see I owe. As I said, I am in control, not them. I decide what to play and how.
Luckily I also live in a country that has not turned into a copyright police state just yet (or hopefully anytime soon), so it's gonna remain like that...
P.S. If you think any amount of people not playing the game is gonna change EA's stance on the issue you simply don't realise what kind of company you're dealing with.
Posted October 17, 2008
I would like to remind all of you, that main reason for them adding DRM to their games is to prevent bazaar sales, not piracy (my English sucks, I don't know if "bazaar" means exactly what I think). They just don't want us to sell their games, after playing it, because obviously they have no profit from it.
However, this changes little on my attitude towards EA. And yes, I will probably pirate Mirror's Edge... Hell, I was looking forward to it since the day it was announced... I would be probably able to pay for it even with DRM involved, cause I really think it will be fantastic game, but after reading that interview... look, I'm a pirate whether I download it or not, so fuck you, JR!
Posted October 17, 2008
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Olegdr: P.S. If you think any amount of people not playing the game is gonna change EA's stance on the issue you simply don't realise what kind of company you're dealing with.

But you have a hell of a lot better chance of them at least hearing your case if you outright boycut them. On the other hand, you'll never get them to even hear your case if you just go pirate their game, they'll just devise some even more strict DRM scheme.
The way I see it, is that you got 3 choices when you're not satisfied with a copy-protection system:
1. You just buy the damn thing, but that will just be percieved by the publishers, as you being okay with the system they're using, so that will certainly not change anything.
2. You pirate the damn thing, but that will just be percieved by the publishers as justification for the strict DRM and you'll never EVER change their minds that way. So if you want them to continue with their unreasonable DRM schemes, then by all means, pirate their games.
3. You boycut their game. That can lead to two things; they either ignore it or they'll listen to your complaints. If they ignore it, well then they are a bunch of assholes and the boycut would've been almost as futile as pirating it. BUT whereas pirating the game won't under any circumstances chance their minds, at least there's a chance for change, if you boycut them, since they won't see it as an aggressive act, but rather view it as a passive resistance. It's only human nature to respond with an equivalent reaction. So if you react with an aggressive act by pirating their games, it's only natural that they'll react aggressively aswell by trying to counteract. They'll be more prone to listen to a civil and legal risistance imo.
Posted October 17, 2008
Boycotting the game is like voting for a fringe party that will never pass the minimum vote block (don't know the correct term in English, sorry). Your vote gets wasted, and the issues you believe in are no closer to getting adressed. Denying yourself an enjoyable game in the off-chance that the company might suddenly get some sense into it's head, is nothing more than futile masochism IMHO.
Posted October 17, 2008
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Olegdr: Denying yourself an enjoyable game in the off-chance that the company might suddenly get some sense into it's head, is nothing more than futile masochism IMHO.

Then call me an individual into masochism :)
It's not that hard to go without specific titles, there is plenty of suitable entertainment out there.
Posted October 17, 2008
Boycott may not bring a desired change, but a disgusting law suit is a better way. EA is facing two class action suits right now - one for SecuROM in Spore, and one for the same malware in Mass Effect. Both cases are being prepared by the same lawyers that punished Sony for their DRM infected music CDs and kicked Ubisoft asses for StarForce.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/10/08/MassEffect.pdf
http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/09/23/Spore.pdf
I'd say that JR from EA is about to find out that pissing off your customers is NOT something worth doing in any business.
Post edited October 17, 2008 by sahib
Posted October 17, 2008
Simply "not buying" is in my opinion nothing more than a fruitless act of prideful self-deprivation. I wouldn't even call it a boycott. A real boycott needs coordination, credibility, and exposure. All those people down-rating Spore: they're at least making a difference.
Posted October 17, 2008
Ofcourse if only a handful of people were to boycot a game, that wouldn't help a bit. But that's not what I'm suggesting. What I'm implying (I would've have thought that was obvious) is that all the people who are pirating games as a counteract to DRM, should instead boycut the game and in the case of Spore, that was quite alot of people. And ofcourse it's supposed to be organised (again I would've thought that was obvious, otherwise a boycut won't have any real effect).
And calling someone a masochist, because they're boycutting a game is simply silly. There are so many other games to choose from, that one game is like a drop of water.
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This is my favourite topic
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General discussionEA CEO, John Riccitiello, tells us what he thinks of the whole DRM fiasco...(69 posts)(69 posts)
(69 posts)
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