scottie Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Pure out of personal interest. But what causes you to reinstall a format and install the OS every couple of months? I also use Ubuntu linux and already find it quite a hassle to update to new version of the system every 6 months, let alone wipe all my data clean and to put all the settings the way I like it. Just curious . its a fair question When running xp pro 64 bit i was finding clearing it down every few months help performance , it was a gaming machine , nothing else on it apart from the latest few games and i did everything i could to keep the performance to the optimum (have other machines for storage, media sharing , net usage , work etc ). A more recent upgrade took it from to win 7 ultimate , then installed an SSD drive and had to install OS again, retrograde to windows 7 pro recently to resolve a gaming issue , then back to ultimate. One of the benefits of being a developer , you get a lot of free software to play with (i.e machine is organised in such a way to create minimum problems running an OS reinstall). I'm not saying its up to battlefront to support this type of user ... more important for them and us that they protect their IP and i agree , all im saying is i end up being this type of "install OS a few time a year" user and simply wanted to understand the implication of the new DRM app on me. Cheers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hetzer21 Posted April 15, 2011 Author Share Posted April 15, 2011 Thanks for all the input chaps, it's put my mind at ease. The DRM is integral to the game's code, not a seperate 3rd-party component. That fact by itself is good enough for me, along with the assurance re coasters. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destraex1 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I saw a good DRM scheme the other day. Brady Games water marks .pdf ebooks you but with your name on every page. Apart from that their is nothing stopping you reading it and transfering it to any devices you like. Non-invasive and bleeding obvious if your not the owner. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Thanks Hetzer21. Destraex1, yes but if your name is John Smith (oder Johan Schmidt), that's not a big disincentive Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
born2lose Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I saw a good DRM scheme the other day. Brady Games water marks .pdf ebooks you but with your name on every page. Apart from that their is nothing stopping you reading it and transfering it to any devices you like. Non-invasive and bleeding obvious if your not the owner. Yea but it doesnt prevent you from giving it to someone else, or someone else just copying it, as the only way someone in law enforcement would know you shouldnt have it is if they knew your name and knew that you had copied the document without permission The idea behind DRM is to prevent the theft of copyright from start. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I saw a good DRM scheme the other day. Brady Games water marks .pdf ebooks you but with your name on every page. Apart from that their is nothing stopping you reading it and transfering it to any devices you like. Non-invasive and bleeding obvious if your not the owner. Not a good scheme if you ask me. Imagine someone stealing that PDF from you and distributing all over the place, and you getting the blame for it. Oops. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
13 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 ...or if you used a {GASP} fake name. I totally just stole this ebook from Ima Douche. ...it's French. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
user38 Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 its a fair question A more recent upgrade took it from to win 7 ultimate , then installed an SSD drive and had to install OS again, retrograde to windows 7 pro recently to resolve a gaming issue , then back to ultimate. I was thinking of upgrading from Window 7 Ultimate to Windows 7 Pro myself (so I could use the "virtual XP feature"). Why did you downgrade from Windows 7 Pro: did you have an issue with how it ran as opposed to Widows 7 Ultimate? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottie Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 I was thinking of upgrading from Window 7 Ultimate to Windows 7 Pro myself (so I could use the "virtual XP feature"). Why did you downgrade from Windows 7 Pro: did you have an issue with how it ran as opposed to Widows 7 Ultimate? I was trying to troubleshoot an issue with an Nvidia 8800 GT , tried everything , many articles suggested it was a specific Win7 ultimate 64bit issue (generic driver stop message IIRC , resorted to basic driver). So I tired Win7 pro and got same issue. Turned out to be the graphics card failure , purchased a Radeon 6950 and all was well again ... wanted to be sure i tried everything before throwing £300 an new card and psu. Tend to organise my gaming machine in such a way that its not a big issue to start from scratch ... just makes life easier for me if I get the new game and need to try everything to desperately get it working or run it optimally 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveyJJ Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 This has to be one of the simplest, clearest, most rational developer explanations about DRM I've read in a long time. Bravo, Steve, for taking the time. As others have said, Google and Microsoft gather VAST amounts of information off your computer, whether you like it or not. And unlike us, they actually use that information for purposes that are not directly related to the functionality of your software. So when I hear someone giving me a sob story about being "spied on" or "inconvenienced" by our little wargaming stuff, I say cancel your Internet access and live in an information cave. Because honestly, that's really the only way to protect yourself. Don't want to do that? Well, welcome to the real world where life isn't a bed of roses "Fingerprints" have been in use for a couple decades now. What happens is when you activate the game logs a few pieces of information that helps determine your computer from a billion others. The information itself is utterly useless to us and is also not used by the DRM company except for it's sole intended purpose... to check against each time the game is run. If the game runs and the "fingerprint" doesn't match the system that it was activated on, you will have to activate again. At this point you use up a license. We don't want to be terribly specific about WHAT things we track because that's like a bank posting the make and model of vault, alarm systems, and cameras that are used to protect the depositor's money. Anyhoo, if the fingerprint checks out then the game runs. Now, is any information being beamed to the mother ship? Is a tinfoil hat needed? No and no, unless you really want to look rather silly Quick double check... the DRM works offline and doesn't require an Internet connection. Now, if the DRM just assumed you were OK if it couldn't contact the mother ship, then that would be a pretty easy way to get around the DRM, wouldn't it? So OBVIOUSLY the DRM is self contained and it checks internal to your computer and doesn't go external unless you need to activate. Lastly, where the heck is this DRM anyway? Is it some virus secretly installed on your computer by our installer? No. It is inside the CM:BN EXE. So unless you think Combat Mission itself is a virus and intent on causing harm, then you're all set. Remember, we aren't idiots. We know bad DRM drives away customers. So why on Earth would we spend so much time and money on a DRM that would piss off so many people that we'd go out of business simply because of boycotts by otherwise reasonable people? In the past 12 years have we struck anybody here as being particularly braindead and oblivious to our customers? I mean, we couldn't possibly have read every one of the several million posts on this Forum, but it's probably a safe bet we've at least read more than the ones in this particular thread. Bottom line here... cut us some slack. And if you don't want to, fine. Go away and try again later. We'll still be here, unless our turn towards evil suddenly becomes evident. Dang it... there I go, revealing our true intentions. Blast what the lack of sleep does to the judgement portion of the brain! Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatoichi Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 This has to be one of the simplest, clearest, most rational developer explanations about DRM I've read in a long time. Bravo, Steve, for taking the time. Agreed - and the funny thing is, I pretty much took all of this for granted before anything was written about the new DRM in the original thread. Maybe I'm naive to trust Battlefront to look after their product without compromising my system in some dastardly way? Either way, this really was an excellent description of the issue and the new solution - thanks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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