I'm going to kick off my first post in these forums with bad news, you guys might of already seen this, but I want to hear y'all's thoughts. Recently in an interview with Computer and Videogames, Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens talked about a new plan to combat piracy with this great idea, " sell unfinished games" . He then talks about " to offer the consumer multiple micro-payments to buy elements of the full experience.". Now from what happened with DLC, this probably won't stop piracy at all. From what I see, this will do any number of things, such as: People pirating the game, people not buying the game and maybe even people leaving to go play on a console. All this does is inconvenience the people that actually buy the game.
 
What do you guys think of this? Will this be a trend in future PC games or do you think it will be dropped because of negative feedback.
The full article can be found here: 
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=255861

 Didn't they already do this with Operation Flashpoint 2? That game was in no way a finished product when it was released.

It's BS plain and simple the gaming company's out there are getting more and more greedy its a shame really PC gamers has taken so much crap in the last 4 years and its getting worst although i don't think Codemasters method will work its a good thing for me i don't give a damn about there games.

I have it on good authority that dlc is as pirated as anything else, so none of this makes sense.

Won't be buying any of their games then.

"  Didn't they already do this with Operation Flashpoint 2? That game was in no way a finished product when it was released. "

"  Didn't they already do this with Operation Flashpoint 2? That game was in no way a finished product when it was released. "

Then again, who buys anything Codemasters other than dirt?

He's just saying what a lot of other publishers are thinking or discussing internally. Hell we've been seeing forms of this for years. It is indeed bullshit, but at least he's saying it out loud.

So when does the rest of Fuel come out?

Releasing a shitty, half-finished game could turn potential buyers into pirates.

Wasn't there a statistic somewhere that said only ~25% of gamers buy DLC? Well the other 75% that buy their games will be mighty pissed off. 

I don't PC game anyways. And if this ever happened on consoles, I would stop playing those games from them.

Lol worst idea i've ever heard. I bought alot of games from this company, that's what they show me for the support I have given them and many others like me? I usually don't buy DLC content.

Well, the way that I pictured the idea was like this: 
 
1) Sell the game incomplete. Literally missing levels, characters, stages, weapons, or whatever. 
2) Have a mandatory download (for free, at least, in my idea) to complete the game. Like a glorified patch that completes the game. But you need a valid registration and key to download. 
 
*Most effective method I've thought up so far? Sell the game without the first area or stage. Mandatory download let's you actually start the game. 
 
But, of course, people will still find a way to pirate the download, and hack them together anyway.

" @No0b0rAmA: In all honesty, I don't care what happens to PC games. However, I can say that if we look back over time we can see that if a lot of people buy the game and pay for the rest of the game as this individual suggests, the market will be giving Codemasters a mandate to sell games like this and the trend will continue and perpetuate. Look at Modern Warfare 2 with dedicated servers -- Modern Warfare 2 sold despite this, and this now proves to Activision that having dedicated servers is not an essential bullet point for their Call of Duty franchise.   Similarly, the fact that games sell at $60 prove to publishers that the $60 price point is fine. If nobody bought games at $60 and everybody only bought games at $40, then publishers would have to dial down their prices. In that way the market does decide. (This is all theoretical.) "

This thread already exists, and the guy is talking about optional additional content - like Warden's Keep in Dragon Age for example.  It's like... releasing the game as a platform that you can easily attach more content to (and then charge for).  I don't think by "unfinished" he means "it won't work" - he means it isn't the full available experience.
 
To be honest, I think that Rule #1 with gaming is that most people just don't want it to be a hassle or confusing.  If avoiding hassle means missing out on a game entirely, then - as far as the mainstream market is concerned -so be it.  This is ultimately why I think 'solutions' like making people enter codes for online, or splitting games up into a bunch of optional content etc. will backfire.  People just want to pick up a game and have it work start to finish with as little effort on their part as possible - which is not an unreasonable expectation for something that a lot of people just do to relax in their spare time.

So on PC they will only release portions of the game? well couldnt they just pirate all the portions..  anyways they better not do this to consoles but i could see people copying this move (activision)

Can't think of anything codemasters makes that i care about. So they could give away there games and I'd not look twice it's a name i relate with the words "poor" and "mediocre".

this seriously has to be one of the worst ideas that i have heard in a long time. if anything imo, this would encourage people to pirate more.  
 
terrible, terrible idea. 

repost 
 
http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion/30/fighting-piracy-by-shipping-unfinished-games/431689/

Combat piracy by screwing over legit consumers while pirates feel almost nothing idea #9001.

" @Jimbo: 
The guy isn't talking about dlc, he's talking about parts of the main game being out for sale in the future, not just armor or guns, he means whole areas and campagins that normally should come with the original game to be sold at a later date.
"

" Then again, who buys anything Codemasters other than dirt? "

So making DLC mandatory just another way to gouge actual paying customers.  When are these morons going to realize that their "anti-piracy" efforts only hurt people who actually buy the product rather than the pirates.  So you buy the game, and have to pay extra to actually play it?  You just turned little "David" into a pirate when he spends all his birthday money on one of Codemasters shitty games only to get it home and realize that he needs to spend another $30 or whatever to actually play it.  

DLC is for suckers.

" @No0b0rAmA said:

" Then again, who buys anything Codemasters other than dirt? "

who buys dirt? "

So what's changing?

To those saying "Oh PC? I don't care" : Do you not realize all the things that become standard on consoles run their trials on PC first?

That sounds like a very silly idea.

Boy does that not make any sense. It seems like they are trying to inconvenience legitimate players way more than they are trying to actually combat piracy.

That's a shitty perspective on a business. I understand where he's coming from - DLC and the concept of episodes do give the illusion that games are shipped unfinished. However, he's going about it the wrong fucking way. If I buy a product, it better be complete, and if I want to buy DLC, that's my prerogative. He should instead take a hint from Rocksteady and flood the torrents with a fundamentally broken game, which will push the pirates who REALLY want the experience will buy the game.