Download version DRM free?

[Slawkenbergius]

The thing with piracy and security is that you need just enough to keep honest people honest. It's like using a padlock on your shed. Anyone who wanted to break in could use a pair of bolt-cutters and break your security in about 2 seconds, but it requires effort. That's enough to keep most people on the right side of the law. You don't want fifteen padlocks and a barbed-wire fence around your shed, because it becomes a real nuisance to get your barbecue out.

The same goes with games piracy. I expect you'll have to do something to install the game, like log-in with your account for the initial install, or enter a serial key. That should stop casual piracy. Determined pirates will get around it fairly quickly though. Always-online DRM makes it difficult for some people to play the game, so bad idea.

 

[Oss133]

The thing with piracy and security is that you need just enough to keep honest people honest. It's like using a padlock on your shed. Anyone who wanted to break in could use a pair of bolt-cutters and break your security in about 2 seconds, but it requires effort. That's enough to keep most people on the right side of the law. You don't want fifteen padlocks and a barbed-wire fence around your shed, because it becomes a real nuisance to get your barbecue out.

The same goes with games piracy. I expect you'll have to do something to install the game, like log-in with your account for the initial install, or enter a serial key. That should stop casual piracy. Determined pirates will get around it fairly quickly though. Always-online DRM makes it difficult for some people to play the game, so bad idea.

Unable to rep your shed analogy, Sir! But I endorse it!

 

[DarkWalker]

I don't think there will be DRM. Directly from the Kickstarter page:

Will the game be DRM-free?

Yes, the game code will not include DRM (Digital Rights Management), but there will be server authentication when you connect for multiplayer and/or updates and to synchronise with the server.

In other words, I believe it won't ask for a connection to install or to play offline, but not having a connection will result in no updates and, perhaps, a static universe.

 

[SpaceVoyager]

In other words, I believe it won't ask for a connection to install or to play offline, but not having a connection will result in no updates and, perhaps, a static universe.

And no updates all too often means an unplayable game... Nowadays patches seem to equal DRM more and more. Naturally, this may not be the case with Elite, this is just the state of the industry right now.

 

[DarkWalker]

And no updates all too often means an unplayable game... Nowadays patches seem to equal DRM more and more. Naturally, this may not be the case with Elite, this is just the state of the industry right now.

It might be possible to manually log into the Frontier site and download the patches to apply to an offline machine (I believe Egosoft do this with the X series), or else to update the game on a machine with internet connection and clone it to an offline one (most MMOs I play allow the install to be cloned). No way to tell, though, without some dev stepping in and telling us what is Frontier's intent.

 

[Hamerstein]

And no updates all too often means an unplayable game... Nowadays patches seem to equal DRM more and more. Naturally, this may not be the case with Elite, this is just the state of the industry right now.

That's an interesting point.

I can't remember the last game that was released and never needed a patch. Perhaps ED will be the first but it does suggest you'd need an internet connection at some point just to update for bug fixes.

I'd be surprised if ED didn't have some form of online validation, even if you could then play without an internet connection.

 

[Bromley86]

Agreed, but I'm still trying to figure out how they'll prevent us from having 2 copies (assuming we want them) if we've ordered a physical KS tier. They clearly thought they could when the wrote the KS tier blurbs.

@OP. In your specific situation, you'd be well advised to not pledge. Wait for the retail version so you can determine if online activation is required.

 

[DarkWalker]

That's an interesting point.

I can't remember the last game that was released and never needed a patch. Perhaps ED will be the first but it does suggest you'd need an internet connection at some point just to update for bug fixes.

I'd be surprised if ED didn't have some form of online validation, even if you could then play without an internet connection.

I doubt it will have online validation for offline play because not having DRM was a sale point during the Kickstarter.

Besides, sincerely, any DRM less invasive than online-only play backed by having part of the game code running only on the publisher's servers is, at most, a speed bump for piracy. One that usually costs dearly for the publisher to put in place, and often makes the whole experience worse for paying customers.

On top of that, there are a few studies that point to piracy having almost no effect on overall game sales; most people that pirate the game simply would never purchase it anyway. Instead, by having some players "try" the game for free before purchasing, it lowers sales for bad games with big advertisement budgets, and conversely increases sales of actually good games with little publicity.

It won't affect me; I've pledged enough for the game and plan to only play online anyway. But I do believe it would be better for the game to not waste money on DRM that will be quickly broken anyway. Besides, while I don't condone piracy, I do believe that having pirate versions of the game circulating around might have a net positive effect in the number of people purchasing the game, given that ED is likely to be a great game with a comparatively small marketing budget.

 

[Babaluma]

Agreed, but I'm still trying to figure out how they'll prevent us from having 2 copies (assuming we want them) if we've ordered a physical KS tier. They clearly thought they could when the wrote the KS tier blurbs.

@OP. In your specific situation, you'd be well advised to not pledge. Wait for the retail version so you can determine if online activation is required.

thanks for all the info and suggestions, i think this is what i'm gonna do, wait till it goes retail and ask the question again then.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

thanks for all the info and suggestions, i think this is what i'm gonna do, wait till it goes retail and ask the question again then.

Last news is you won't need online activation if you will play offline. No DRM here.

 

[Styggron]

I am also a strong proponent for Single Player offline, open the box put in the disk and never having to connect unless we want an update or of course play multiplayer or singleplayer *online*. Hopefully there are multiple "lives" so one can experiment.