Please no DRM for Elite: Dangerous

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Folks,

After watching what EA is going through with its always internet connected game SimCity. Can we agree that any plan like this would be foolish for Elite: Dangerous? Beside "always internet connected" in order to play is a form of DRM. All this does is upset the very customers who paid for the game.

My understanding is there will be a single player mode that is not always internet connected. Is this still the plan?
 
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Hi fikuserectus,

We've already announced that single player will be playable offline and that the game will be DRM free. Of course online multiplayer will not be playable offline though, because...you know...online. ;)
 
Hi fikuserectus,

We've already announced that single player will be playable offline and that the game will be DRM free. Of course online multiplayer will not be playable offline though, because...you know...online. ;)

ah, but will the offline version be playable if your online? :p

my question is will the online mode have a free trial period or a kindle style 'lend a login' feature so that us fanatics can get our friends hooked and on the way to the shops before they know what hit them :cool:
 
my question is will the online mode have a free trial period or a kindle style 'lend a login' feature so that us fanatics can get our friends hooked and on the way to the shops before they know what hit them :cool:
That's a nice idea.

We know from the KS comments that new players will start in the newbie areas - perhaps FD could release a demo that only has the code for the newbie areas and players are locked to that region with a limited time duration (like 7 days or something). If they like the game they can purchase it, download the missing code, and resume their commander.
 
Having to log into a server will be the DRM. Or if the game ends up on Steam, then Steam itself is a form of DRM. Many games claim to be DRM free, but if you have to log into Steam, then there it is.
I'm really hoping I won't have to register my game on Steam. Hopefully we can just log straight into the game (and any online servers)..
 
Safe to say EA have made a proper pigs ear of this one.....

They're just copying Blizzard requiring everyone to log onto Battlenet to play Diablo 3, a single player game. This is becoming a very disturbing trend with the big publishers. All they are doing is shooting themselves in the foot. Thank heavens for crowd funding; we can cut out the greedy middlemen. The indie studios aren't likely to cut their own throats by insisting on "always on".
One thing is certain: I will NOT be buying any games that force me to be online. I didn't get D3 for this reason, and definitely will be staying away from Sim City too.. :mad:
 
100% agree Capn Tucker
There is hope for Diablo 3, i heard rumors that the coming PS3 version can be played offline and even allows co op multiplayer on one machine.
 
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If it becomes Steam *exclusive*, then I'm out. Seen far too many of the games I play take this route. If they had online activation and full customer rights, I'd use it (but I actually prefer discs though, with disc based copy protection that is eliminated after some time). But Steam is a glorified rental system - and most don't realize that until somebody messes with them; stolen account or gifts from stolen credit cards and they can kiss goodbye to everything they ever bought. There is a minimum number of days before complaints to get looked at, and any day without gaming for me would be catastrophically bad (yeah, seriously).

Would you buy a car if it had a clause that it would be rendered inoperable if driven above the speed limit or used in a robbery? Add in that the car could have been reported stolen, but that doesn't matter - when you get it back there is still this automatic delay before they even look into the case. Read Steams damned EULA - which isn't legally binding (country specific), but that doesn't matter because they can - and will - and have - the powers to enforce them to maximum effect, which is devastating to some (I know, very few) users.

No way, no stinking way in hell I'll succumb to this fraud. Steam supported? No problem, as they have still a bit of happy customers rentals. Exclusitivity (?) is where it goes severely bad.

Why not GOG? DRM free, which haven't stopped anything from being pirated yet anyways - even quickly in most cases. And they're not controlling you for life after purchase. If you've been bad (say hacked account, cheating, whatever), I'm sure they can cancel your account, but they won't cause the games you already payed for to cease working.

I just don't want to feel controlled, in any way. Not by Steam, Google, Microsoft, or anyone else. I was born into a free society, let me die in one as well. Please!

Consoles killed complex games.
Script kiddies killed online games.
Now Steam are killing PC games.
World is just sad :(

Edit: Of course I expect an online check of my user when I connect to MP games, but I'm actually more into this because of the complex SP aspect of the game.
 
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Folks,

After watching what EA is going through with its always internet connected game SimCity. Can we agree that any plan like this would be foolish for Elite: Dangerous? Beside "always internet connected" in order to play is a form of DRM. All this does is upset the very customers who paid for the game.

My understanding is there will be a single player mode that is not always internet connected. Is this still the plan?

You're safe. This was answered veeeeeeeeery early on especially for offline people like me. :)
 
They're just copying Blizzard requiring everyone to log onto Battlenet to play Diablo 3, a single player game. This is becoming a very disturbing trend with the big publishers. All they are doing is shooting themselves in the foot. Thank heavens for crowd funding; we can cut out the greedy middlemen. The indie studios aren't likely to cut their own throats by insisting on "always on".
One thing is certain: I will NOT be buying any games that force me to be online. I didn't get D3 for this reason, and definitely will be staying away from Sim City too.. :mad:

and THAT is the only message that will make them rethink. Voting with your wallet because without that, there are no consequences. :)
 
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Wow Karl, you can borrow my Grumpy Old Man Mode tags if you want.

I see where you're coming from and I agree with some of it. But this issue was put to bed really early in the peace, we're safe from the dangers of DRM and online distribution services (I hope).
 
Maybe there needs to be a 'buy update' patch with no questions asked, but that would be drm to the hilt so there is no way that can be used without registering.


this is my thinking.. not specifically with games.
someone knowledgeable about where and from whom to get software gets the program, plays it, likes it, wants more.
the 'register your copy' thing may work, if its subtle and doesnt read 'now that you've pirated the program, would you like it for real?'.. though that doesn't seem so bad.

if you can buy any specific update pack in the vacuum, you will be an 'owner' with diminished ranking so far as that goes, perhaps, but maybe real enough to use online.

its like this: buy new, required DVD in the drive, etc.
hacked, free floating, moveable among all of your systems if you know how to (many will)

registered = thargoids . though that is so specific a hack may locate it, so it needs a real subtle spreading among the code to hide that one, etc.

know your opponent..
and above all, realize it will be hacked (you Don't think so, please, within a week)
make it worth it to register.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94524-Arkham-Asylum-Pirates-Get-a-Gimpy-Batman

this is a bit wordy
"
Apparently, one of said developers is Rocksteady Studios, creators of critical darling Batman: Arkham Asylum. Pirates who have illegally acquired the PC version of the game will find themselves playing the game with a Batman who has apparently forgotten how to use his moves, notably the glide-jump. In an amusing little thread on the Eidos forums, one pirate came to innocently report a bug, claiming that instead of gliding when the appropriate input was given, the Dark Knight would instead just spread his wings and fall to his death in poison gas.
"

No, this isn't angry birds. but like batman, where the pirate code only flys like a fly, something can be put in to keep the store from being lost.
 
Wow Karl, you can borrow my Grumpy Old Man Mode tags if you want.

I see where you're coming from and I agree with some of it. But this issue was put to bed really early in the peace, we're safe from the dangers of DRM and online distribution services (I hope).

Ok, good to know. Must have missed that. And no, I don't need to borrow, I have my own :)

registered = thargoids . though that is so specific a hack may locate it, so it needs a real subtle spreading among the code to hide that one, etc.

Crack detected (more deeply than in the obvious spots): Player gets about 10 times as much harassment from Thargoids, only 1/10 of the revenue, and all attempts to "board to claim" (X3 style) ship will fail. :) One thing cracker groups like to do is "get there first", where being able to start the game is sufficient to release it. Something similar to Arma's FADE copy protection. IT could even prove to be less of a problem during SP, forcing the users into a dull life of pure SP (although myself I'm SP only/mostly by choice).
 
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