Random Gaming Thoughts

[Sarge]

Oh, man, StarForce. Ugh. And SecuROM. Those were terrible. One of them, if memory serves, tended to nuke CDROM drives because it'd put them in PIO mode and wear them out. Not good when your DRM actively destroys your system...

[Exhuminator]

I remember all the wailing and gnashing of teeth when it was required for Half-Life 2 (myself included!).

Yep, circa 2005. That was the first and last time I bought a Steam required game.

I went to the store and bought Half-Life 2 roundabout release day. Got home, put the game in my PC. And bam, STEAM up in yo face, just to install. Okay, well, I'll deal with this then. Let's play now. Nope. Steam says: "Oh, your gaming rig isn't online? Guess what sucker, you're not playing this game. Yes, we sold you a game offline you can only play online."

From there my hatred for Steam only grew stronger.

[Jmustang1968]

Oh, man, StarForce. Ugh. And SecuROM. Those were terrible. One of them, if memory serves, tended to nuke CDROM drives because it'd put them in PIO mode and wear them out. Not good when your DRM actively destroys your system...

You can also thank Steam for helping to remove that stuff. Steam gives publishers the piece of mind to release PC games that are tougher to hack.

Gog has some cool games, but most are or were abandonware or old DOS games that were easy(easier) to obtain free already.

[Sarge]

Oh, yeah, I hated that it basically gave you the CDs, but required the online portion for decryption. Not cool. Once you got it installed, it was alright, though. Of course, it's gotten a bit better since those days, but physical releases (what few there are) usually use Steam for their DRM. Which, of course, is a fair bit better than the olden days. For example, Skyrim's physical version uses Steam as the DRM.

Of course, if necessary, I'm sure I could get the cracks for that particular game if necessary.

[Exhuminator]

Gog has some cool games, but most are or were abandonware or old DOS games that were easy(easier) to obtain free already.

That only used to be true. You might want to have a look at GOG's current catalog and constant stream of new releases that are actually new games.

Also, every Steam game that's decent is available pre-cracked on torrent sites btw. Steam's DRM isn't any better than Starforce or SecuROM insofar as actual security is concerned.

[Gunstar Green]

Oh, man, StarForce. Ugh. And SecuROM. Those were terrible. One of them, if memory serves, tended to nuke CDROM drives because it'd put them in PIO mode and wear them out. Not good when your DRM actively destroys your system...

You can also thank Steam for helping to remove that stuff. Steam gives publishers the piece of mind to release PC games that are tougher to hack.

Gog has some cool games, but most are or were abandonware or old DOS games that were easy(easier) to obtain free already.

That was essentially my point. That Steam is a superior DRM to earlier digital DRM solutions.

Your GOG argument though... the thing is, those games were not abandonware despite being available on shady abandonware sites. It's like saying the virtual console is pointless because you could just download them from rom sites, or that buying any game is a waste of money when you can just pirate them. (GOG also offers a largely idiot proof method of getting these games up and running on modern systems).

And GOG is no longer mainly about old DOS games so your view is outdated. Their business focuses mostly around current DRM free indie (and even a few major) releases these days.

Ultimately it's a good thing that there's competition that offers different solutions. If Steam had more of a monopoly than they already do I'd be afraid of what crap they might pull.

[Sarge]

Also, every Steam game that's decent is available pre-cracked on torrent sites btw. Steam's DRM isn't any better than Starforce or SecuROM insofar as actual security is concerned.

I will agree that this is true. But at the same time, it discourages more casual users from just sharing their games willy-nilly with friends. I do think the DRM-free route is the way to go, but I also understand the rationale of developers. They're not going to stop the hardcore for sure.

(That being said, I hate trolling around for that kind of stuff. The Internet was lousy with viruses then, and it ain't any better now.)

Regarding GOG, they do release new games! Which is awesome! Of course, they're mostly indie games, and short on AAA releases, and even some indies haven't jumped on the DRM-free train yet. I'm still holding out for a GOG/physical release of Axiom Verge, though.

[Gunstar Green]

Although pirates are starting to admit they're feeling the pressure. Denuvo has made cracking new games absurdly difficult.

It now takes months for a game to get cracked, preserving the initial sales window. After that it doesn't matter so much how well the DRM works.

[Ack]

Guys, the best DRM ever implemented was in Croteam's Serious Sam 3: the game spawns a super fast and invincible enemy at the start that follows you through the game. If you manage to survive it and make it halfway, the game then forces you to look at the sky and constantly spin your camera so you can no longer aim or see where you are going. Classic.

Eh, I use both Steam and GOG Galaxy. Steam's communication features are nice, and I use their voice chat quite often when playing games with friends. GOG has talked about implementing this later, but it isn't there yet. I have some issues with both too: Galaxy is incredible bare bones(I have to use additional software to play certain games in multiplayer for instance), and Steam has steadily implemented features that I don't care about, like the trading card system. Steam also doesn't do any QA on achievements, so if you're into that, there are some bullshit or broken ones in the mix. Galaxy hasn't had those fully implemented yet, but their system might not prove much better.

I will say that the reason I started looking into GOG back in 2009 was because I wanted to play older stuff that just didn't seem to run right on Steam. When playing legacy games(and I play a lot of legacy games), I prefer GOG. When playing new releases(particularly the AAA stuff for multiplayer with friends), I prefer Steam.

[Gunstar Green]

Guys, the best DRM ever implemented was in Croteam's Serious Sam 3: the game spawns a super fast and invincible enemy at the start that follows you through the game. If you manage to survive it and make it halfway, the game then forces you to look at the sky and constantly spin your camera so you can no longer aim or see where you are going. Classic.

I love those fun little in-game DRM tricks. I can't think of another off of the top of my head but I know there are more.