Is CMBB Windows 7 friendly... ?

[Redwolf]

The problem with the original 'copy-protection' that the CMx1 games had was that it was so easily circumvented anyone could do it. A consultant found thousands of copies of our games online that had been hacked to operate without copy protection.

There was also a version of the CMx1 games that did not have the disk-based copy protection either, some European bundle.

The 1.04 patches happily introduce DRM to this version, too. And just today we've seen somebody who had his games (the newer license CMBN games) de-activated because he upgraded his amount of RAM, and in the past the act of using a USB headset (which pretends it is a new soundcard) disabled the games.

Definitely not OK, BFC.

[Schrullenhaft]

Redwolf - you're mixing the DRMs and their issues. CMBB 1.03/1.04 uses eLicense, which is not overly sensitive to hardware changes like the latest versions of the 'Online Activation System'. Unfortunately the latest versions of OAS are overly sensitive to hardware changes such as more memory or USB devices, etc. eLicense will have issues with some changes to the system, but it isn't as sensitive as the DRM used with CMFI and CMBN 2.0 (and future games). You can also unlicense eLicense, make your changes and then relicense the game and you will not have issues. OAS unfortunately does not have an unlicense feature.

In each of the cases you have mentioned we fixed the issue for the customer (i.e. - they don't have a game they can no longer use). DRM is obviously imperfect, but we assist the customer when they notify us.

The decision to use DRM is NOT being reversed any time soon.

[Redwolf]

Redwolf - you're mixing the DRMs and their issues. CMBB 1.03/1.04 uses eLicense, which is not overly sensitive to hardware changes like the latest versions of the 'Online Activation System'. Unfortunately the latest versions of OAS are overly sensitive to hardware changes such as more memory or USB devices, etc. eLicense will have issues with some changes to the system, but it isn't as sensitive as the DRM used with CMFI and CMBN 2.0 (and future games). You can also unlicense eLicense, make your changes and then relicense the game and you will not have issues. OAS unfortunately does not have an unlicense feature.

In each of the cases you have mentioned we fixed the issue for the customer (i.e. - they don't have a game they can no longer use). DRM is obviously imperfect, but we assist the customer when they notify us.

The decision to use DRM is NOT being reversed any time soon.

So if I ever remove some memory from my gaming machine temporarily (testing purposes or whatever) and I'm stupid enough to start one of your newer games while the memory is reduced then I will lose a license, right?

And correct me if I'm wrong - sure you helped the customer to have a game that's playing right now but that customer still permanently lost an activation due to no fault of his own.

You can put it whatever way you want, nuking an activation on plugging in headphones or expanding RAM is not OK. It is a permanent loss of something that was advertised as part of the game when purchased.

And back to this thread, it is not OK to introduce your favorite DRM to a game that was originally purchased with a different kind of DRM, including none like the CMx1 Anthology collection. This again is changing things that were part of the original contract behind the backs of user.

Now you are trying to make it sound like criticizing details about your DRM must mean that somebody is demanding no DRM.

[Schrullenhaft]

So if I ever remove some memory from my gaming machine temporarily (testing purposes or whatever) and I'm stupid enough to start one of your newer games while the memory is reduced then I will lose a license, right?

Not quite. You will probably get an error that requires running an utility. If you are only temporarily removing the memory, then when you restore the configuration back to the way it was when you license the game, it should, usually, work. If you insist on playing the game in that configuration, then you would need to run the utility, which deletes the current activation and then reactivate the game/module.

And correct me if I'm wrong - sure you helped the customer to have a game that's playing right now but that customer still permanently lost an activation due to no fault of his own.

Games that utilize the 'Online Activation System' (OAS) DRM have 'expendable' activations. Each game initially comes with 4 activations. This is not for the purpose of activating 4 installs. Instead it is for reactivating a game when changes are made to the system or activating the game on a new computer and other contingencies. Originally the system was also to allow for adding an activation by the user once every 365 days. However the latest version of OAS doesn't have that feature available to the end user.

So 'losing an activation' isn't the end of the world and it is basically how the system functions since it doesn't have an unlicense feature like eLicense does. We can typically add activations on request via tickets submitted to the Helpdesk. Yes, it is an extra step that does involve delays, but it should get customers running again.

You can put it whatever way you want, nuking an activation on plugging in headphones or expanding RAM is not OK. It is a permanent loss of something that was advertised as part of the game when purchased.

This is somewhat answered above. Activations for OAS are somewhat expendable and losing one is not as catastrophic as eLicense (though we can 'reset' those to in order to activate again). However the over sensitivity of the latest version of OAS to certain system changes is NOT desired by us, but it seems to be what we're stuck with. Customer's aren't 'losing' anything, other than the hassle of contacting us and the potential delays in getting another activation.

And back to this thread, it is not OK to introduce your favorite DRM to a game that was originally purchased with a different kind of DRM, including none like the CMx1 Anthology collection. This again is changing things that were part of the original contract behind the backs of user.

The eLicense DRM is introduced for customers who purchase the 1.04 patch and who owned CMBB or CMAK before 2006. For customers who purchased those games after 2006, they are already running eLicense. For customers running the Anthology (which was stripped of any DRM to my knowledge), then they are in the same boat as those who purchased the games before 2006 if they need the 1.04 patch.

The 1.04 patch was released to address some issues with DirectX 10 compatible video cards and drivers under Windows Vista. The problem prevented running CMBB and CMAK. A short while after the 1.04 patch was released both AMD and Nvidia released drivers that fixed the original issue, so the 1.04 patch wasn't always necessary. However current AMD Catalyst drivers have a bug that the 1.04 patch addresses (since it uses some slightly newer DirectX calls to draw portions of the screen).

Admittedly eLicense can be a hassle with security software and DEP. In the vast majority of situations we can get it working, but on occasion we can't (or it requires changes to the security software a customer doesn't want to make).

Now you are trying to make it sound like criticizing details about your DRM must mean that somebody is demanding no DRM.

I just threw that statement in there since most "discussions" on DRM seem headed in that direction.

We understand the hassles involved with DRM. We have to answer questions and perform duties every day for issues involving DRM. Despite the hassles involved in using and supporting it, the decision remains to continue to use DRM for the games we sell.

We don't program the DRM ourselves, but instead license it from a DRM vendor. We're limited to what is available in the market that supports both Mac and PC and works with the amount of sales we do, etc. We try to utilize the least intrusive systems we can find, but there are always changes and updates that cause us grief. The 'fingerprints' that the latest OAS version uses being one of the more annoying issues we have to deal with. Changing DRM vendors is a huge hassle and isn't practical in any sense (if we could somehow find one that served all of our needs and doesn't have the issues we currently have). The logistics of converting everyone on the old DRM to something new would be very hard and confusing for quite awhile. So I don't think that will happen any time soon (again, if there was another system that even fit our needs).

[Redwolf]

Allright. At least it's good news that new hardware doesn't just nuke an installation without asking so that you can just wait until you revert the hardware change (if that was the intent).

I don't think that buying it from another company is a good excuse for what is clear misbehavior such as invalidation on plugging in a USB headset. That vendor can't be serious about that? Likewise changing RAM amount is a pretty common activity that people do without changing all hardware.

[TheBlackHand]

Got my game working. Turns out I was entering the license key that I purchased for CMAK, not for CMBB. Duh! The CMBB key worked just fine. I do appreciate the response though because it got me to take a second look, which helped me fix the problem.