@TotalEklypse said:

@MordeaniisChaos said:

Your right, if they are going to react to piracy by being assholes, let's give them a good reason to do it! Fuck off asshole, you are the reason that DRM is getting so stupid. If you DON'T pirate, you will help them see that PC people can be trusted, and won't steal their content. Yes, they often do stupid shit, but they have to protect their stuff one way or another, and the more drastic the issue, the more drastic the solution.

You do realize it is on consoles pretty heavily right? DRM is "getting so stupid", because greedy asshole companies. Period.  More often than not the DRM gets in the way of the people who bought the game. Yet it takes some people a day or so to crack the newest DRM which makes it useless.  I guess it is ok though, that Ubisoft lied to the customers, knowing full well that many of us stated flat out we wouldn't buy it if it had the DRM they are known to fuck us over with.  It makes me laugh now much they cry about pirates and when they get hacked.. THEY ARE ALWAYS THE VICTIM RIGHT?.. Then they go ahead and fuck the paying guys.   They have zero sympathy from me. Plain and simple, fuck Ubisoft.  

And this was exactly my point.  No one has the right to steal, sure, but at the same time, I don't care if Ubi gets pirated anymore because they assume everyone's a pirate anyway.  If a company acts like its customers are all thieves, then they will be.

@ryanwho: Make this 6,667 your unwavering negativity always brings a smile to my face so whenever or if you get to this one know that you may be an asshole but your a hell of a smart asshole.

@ArbitraryWater said:

Keeping the Law > Breaking the Law. Guess what? At the end of the day, you aren't entitled to anything in regards to Digital Rights Management. Is Ubisoft's DRM intrusive and entirely unnecessary? Absolutely. But video games are a luxury product, and if you can't have your $15 game because you don't like the way it's packaged, fine. Just don't think that justifies you stealing it. Vote with your dollar and also get really angry at Ubisoft. Eventually they'll learn the error of their ways... or they'll somehow make an even more intrusive DRM because so many dang kids pirated their game creating a cycle of negative feedback.

I agree 100% with what Arbitrary's said here. Theft is theft, no matter how you want to justify it. No one needs a fucking video game, so at the end of the day, you're just giving yourself a pat on the back for doing something completely and totally reprehensible to satisfy an urge to... what? Play a game?

@ryanwho said:

Did a quick TPB search, found an offline patch.
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/6617241/From.Dust.Offline.Fix-SKIDROW You could buy the game then apply patches like this, that tend to pop up with any game that has DRM. So that's an option. But I guess then you wouldn't be sending a message to "the man".

That's still illegal, isn't it?

Publisher's can't punish pirates, they can only apply horrible restrictions which anger customers and hurt the sales and public perception of their product. It would be better for everyone involved if the big publishers simply didn't release games on PC if they aren't focused on online multiplayer. Did Ubi really need to make themselves look like villains just to shift a few extra units of a shoddy XBLA port?

It's still a shame that we've come to misapply the word "piracy" to things like this. However one comes down on the subject, piracy is the manufacture and selling of commercial goods that you don't have the right to, for financial gain. Counterfeiting Adobe Photoshop discs and boxes and selling them in questionable outlets or on the street, for example.

Anyway, the unfortunate situation with games is that you are paying a lot of money for something you can't be sure is any good until you've already paid for it and used it. If you buy a shitty toaster, you can return it. If you buy a shitty car, you can get it serviced or return it. If you buy a shitty book, you can maybe at least sell it used. Videogames? Well, you could pay $65 for an eight hour experience that turns out to completely suck (or even been completely broken) and that's just tough shit for you, because you already forked over your money. It's different than other forms of media or entertainment, in that while you may pay $5 or $10 to see a movie that you regret or buy a book that you regret or an album - you're not paying $60 plus tax for those items. That's quite an investment for something that so often bites you in the ass. And, on top of it, they're working against you every step of the way now to prevent your ability to resell that piece of shit so you can recover some of your wasted cash.

I have no idea what the solution is. I suppose the only real workable solution is a type of "honor system" and you just have to accept that most people will do the right thing most of the time. Developers still need financial benefit and consumers need respect and value. Sometimes that works out. Too often, it doesn't.

Developers and publishers need to listen to complaints like this one. Complaints from people who aren't copying games by default, but are buying them by default. When you have a paying customer saying that they feel completely shafted and that they wish they had "pirated" your game, you have a big fucking issue on your hands. They're not saying that they want to play your game for free. They're saying that your game (or support or what have you) is so fucking miserable that they wish they had not paid their hard earned and precious cash to learn the hard way that your game sucks and they don't want to play it. When you give me a piece of shit that I paid for and I have no way to be compensate for this, it's just as much you stealing from me as it is when some kid downloads a copy of your game without paying for it, because he doesn't have enough income to buy it.

There are, of course, a lot of ignorant mouth-breathing knee-jerk reactions to the idea of copyright infringement in acquiring games. It's not that the view point against it is wrong, but that you can just tell the brainless responses coming a mile away. They're a lot like the guys who respond to any article about Geo Hotz with "HE'S A HACKER THAT FUCKER SHOULD HANG FOR RUINING MY CODBLOPS!", because they can't string together an opinion of their own. It makes for discussions about copyright (as fucking much of a joke as it is in this country) hopeless.

Fuck stores that charge .99 per bagel, and then have the nerve to charge you for butter. Just steal that shit up, motherfucker.

Use of no-cd cracks or other types of methods that circumvent DRM are legal under certain circumstances, at least according to the official DMCA exemptions:

(4) Video games accessible on personal computers and protected by technological protection measures that control access to lawfully obtained works, when circumvention is accomplished solely for the purpose of good faith testing for, investigating, or correcting security flaws or vulnerabilities, if:

1. The information derived from the security testing is used primarily to promote the security of the owner or operator of a computer, computer system, or computer network; and
2. The information derived from the security testing is used or maintained in a manner that does not facilitate copyright infringement or a violation of applicable law.

"Investigating" seems like a pretty broad term and implies that the use of a DRM crack for a game you've purchased is basically legal at least according to this exemption.

@spazmaster666 said:

Use of no-cd cracks or other types of methods that circumvent DRM are legal under certain circumstances, at least according to the official DMCA exemptions:

(4) Video games accessible on personal computers and protected by technological protection measures that control access to lawfully obtained works, when circumvention is accomplished solely for the purpose of good faith testing for, investigating, or correcting security flaws or vulnerabilities, if:

1. The information derived from the security testing is used primarily to promote the security of the owner or operator of a computer, computer system, or computer network; and
2. The information derived from the security testing is used or maintained in a manner that does not facilitate copyright infringement or a violation of applicable law.

"Investigating" seems like a pretty broad term and implies that the use of a DRM crack for a game you've purchased is basically legal at least according to this exemption.

cool, finally some real information.  Thanks.  As far as copyright infringement goes (piracy is a bad term for it) ... well I consider copyrights that last over 15 years as THEFT.  Theft by pumping cash into congress to pervert the original intent of copyright.  Theft from the public domain and the pursuit of art and culture.  you get 15 years to make your money then as far as I'm concerned all the game assets, code, and binaries are public domain.  Open season.  You don't get to release Zelda every 5 years forever.  That is not the intent of the copyright protections.  I whole heartily and with a clear conscience endorse torrent of all games made prior to 1996.

If you don't want to support bad practices don't buy a game. You don't have to play it, and if you do, you have to pay money for it. Them's the rules.

Punish Ubisoft by stealing from the developer!

...wait, what?

I stopped reading where he said piracy is theft.

Whole lotta hypocritical motherfuckers commenting up in this piece. We all know you "YOU SHOULD NEVER PIRATE IT IS THEFT" people have pirated games, and probably more than most. People who don't feel guilty about a thing don't get defensive about that thing's existence. Y'all are like all those "GAYS SHOULD BURN IN HELL" Republicans who then start fucking dudes in airport bathrooms.

I view the way the gaming industry deals with piracy as the worst thing they could possibly do. When you start assuming guilt until proven Innocent it's not a far way away before you simply just start condemning everyone.  Punishing Innocent people for the actions of others they have nothing to do with is total bullshit and if it was a government doing it everyone in the world would be up in arms.  But sense it's a few companies trying to milk you for every dime they can everyone sides with them odd double standard.  
 
What ever happened to the customer is always right? What ever happened to buying something and having it in fact be yours ? How have we reached the point where you can pay 50 dollars for a product  while being told you're buying it and having it not be yours to do with as you please is normal?  When did the rights of the companies start to supersede the rights of the consumer? I personally think most of this stuff happened when we declared corporations are people too and should have the same rights as individuals . 
 
 

i feel bad for da guy that spent months makin da textures who didn get to choose the drm and den doesnt get money cause you took a sale from him cuz ur makin a stand or somethn. poor guy :(

@CallofSpartansofWar1337 said:

i feel bad for da guy that spent months makin da textures who didn get to choose the drm and den doesnt get money cause you took a sale from him cuz ur makin a stand or somethn. poor guy :(

If you're feeling bad for the employee, don't blame the fileshare user, blame the company that forced the shitty policies 
 
If you see a man dragging another man behind him as a slave, and you see another person protest the slavery by staying away (rather than approaching the slave and giving him a drink), do you blame the person who didn't help, or the slaver ?

It's a shame in Ubisoft's example you have tons of designers and artists who want to provide the best experience possible but it is only overwritten and marred by the decisions of a few in the Paris headquarters.

You can rest assured that employees, just like the consumer, are getting pissed about this.

It's naive to think that a company with thousands of employees are all for the idiotic DRM that in the end, destroys all the hard work they put in for years. Studios like Ubisoft montreal are completely against it.

We'll see if something happens internally or not.

Why are you trying to justify piracy? It is still stealing. 
 
It doesn't matter that the developers/publishers are assholes. That doesn't make stealing right. 
 
This isn't Robin Hood or something. You don't fight a company by stealing their stuff.

You can't justify piracy. I understand the frustration, but if you really want to send a message don't play the game and state it is because the DRM. That type of reaction is probably the most damning thing you can do to a video game publisher. Word of mouth cripples.

It's funny that so many people feel that way. I'm with the sentiment completely, I really am, but if I've been sent a cease and desist letter for downloading a game I didn't even download, I'm sure I'd get more than that for actually doing so. 
 
My solution is just not to buy it and not to play it. Sticking to moral principles sometimes means missing out on something, but I'd rather keep my morals. 
 
Though I'm *somewhat* of a hypocrite. I do emulate older games, and run some last-gen games in PC emulators, which is still technically I guess sorta kinda not allowed possibly?

If you were an asshole, and I came in and stole your shit, would that be fair?

I think you meant : piracy supporting asshole :p
 
But seriously, they only use this kind of DRM because people pirate games in the first place. How is pirating the game in response to the DRM going to solve anything.

Buy it, and then download the pirated version. That's the best way to get around this issue. I'm not looking to buy anything Ubi til Far Cry 3 though, don't like anything they're publishing, so that feels good - I don't really want to support them. Wouldn't be surprised if Far Cry 3 was released with always on DRM, half assed mouselook, 30 FPS, no resolution/graphics settings and it looks as shit as on console. For no reason other then that they seem to hate PC gaming. Honestly, they can get the fuck out of it if they're not going to bother.

I suggest you just don't buy their shit. EA is making an effort with BF3, so you can't exactly compare that.

true man. it kind of bad to pirate but it works out if there is horrible DRM.

@CallofSpartansofWar1337: Sort of amazingly, you have one of the most obnoxious usernames I've ever seen and yet you are still the only person in the entire thread to make the point I came here to make, so congratulations. Punishing the people who made From Dust because the people who bought the rights to distribute lied to you is uncouth. Piracy is wrong. Not playing the game > supporting assholes > piracy. Followed.

@ArbitraryWater:

@Sparky_Buzzsaw: You guys are in the right as well, and are making the point I came to while I was reading the rest of the topic.

Piracy haters are more annoying than pirates themselves.

people shouldn't equate piracy with theft. when you pirate a game, the publisher isn't missing one of a limited quantity of games, so you didn't really "steal" anything; you bootlegged it. 
 
that said, if you buy a game, nobody's going to stop you from cracking your own copy. problem solved.

@warxsnake said:

This is the fucking dumbest argument ever. You are still not entitled to the game whether or not you think the DRM is harsh. Nothing will change the fact that you are a thief, plain and simple, as you put it. You sound like one of those birdbrains who try to legitimize the london/england riots and looting.

You want to make a difference? Don't buy the fucking game.

The riots are much more of a complex problem than videogame piracy: They mean something, specifically dissatisfaction from a marginalized group of people, poor people.

Piracy is simple: It means people don't think they are getting their money's worth in an environment of high demand.

@G3RHRT said:

@warxsnake said:

This is the fucking dumbest argument ever. You are still not entitled to the game whether or not you think the DRM is harsh. Nothing will change the fact that you are a thief, plain and simple, as you put it. You sound like one of those birdbrains who try to legitimize the london/england riots and looting.

You want to make a difference? Don't buy the fucking game.

The riots are much more of a complex problem than videogame piracy: They mean something, specifically dissatisfaction from a marginalized group of people, poor people.

Piracy is simple: It means people don't think they are getting their money's worth in an environment of high demand.

I'll let this guy sum it up for you

Wait, why can't you just pay for the legitimate version and then pirate it? Isn't that a good solution?

I distinctly enjoyed the above video.
 
It's already been said, but  voting with your wallet is the greatest power a consumer can have. Use it.

You're pathetic.

You know if a company is doing things that bothers you, just boycott the company.

I don't care if you want to pirate a game. But don't make bullshit excuses as to why you're doing it. Just say, "I can't afford to play this game because I'm poor, so I'm stealing it." And admit you're a fucking thief. As long as you cop to it, then by all means, pirate away.

From Dust on PC has much worse issues than shitty DRM. The DRM can be bypassed with a crack, the other issues require a patch.

@Video_Game_King said:

A.) You're not allowed to swear in titles.
B.) Defending pirates won't do you many favors in regards to A.
C.) Given that I don't play a ton of modern games (Half Life 2: Episode One is reminding me of why that's the case), I'm pretty detached from all this. But here's some music for your crusade.

you're mad because he put "assholes" in the title...wow, you should just...go

BTW Yuko,i agree with you, not that I pirate games (I actually don't) but still, Fuck 'em

I killed someone because I didn't like them or what they stood for.
 
Justified.

Wait, why can't you just pay for the legitimate version and then pirate it? Isn't that a good solution?

I don't care if you want to pirate a game. But don't make bullshit excuses as to why you're doing it. Just say, "I can't afford to play this game because I'm poor, so I'm stealing it." And admit you're a fucking thief. As long as you cop to it, then by all means, pirate away.

You know if a company is doing things that bothers you, just boycott the company.

@KingWilly: It's pretty accurate, actually.

Just throwing this out there: I'm sure that half of the people who replied to this thread while pointing the finger at the OP are hypocrites.

@Anwar: why is everyone afraid of cursing, it was well suited for what he was trying to say anyway...everyone needs to lighten up

@Video_Game_King said:

A.) You're not allowed to swear in titles.
B.) Defending pirates won't do you many favors in regards to A.
C.) Given that I don't play a ton of modern games (Half Life 2: Episode One is reminding me of why that's the case), I'm pretty detached from all this. But here's some music for your crusade.

you're mad because he put "assholes" in the title...wow, you should just...go

BTW Yuko,i agree with you, not that I pirate games (I actually don't) but still, Fuck 'em

• Yuko's a she. I think. I can't be sure if she's being honest or if she's really serious about role-playing as the protagonist of the Valis series.
• Where did I indicate that I was angry? That's kind of a calm statement of fact.
• Seriously, you're not allowed to swear in titles. (THAT IS NOT AN ANGRY STATEMENT.) It's in the forum rules. (THAT IS AN ANGRY STATEMENT.)
  

@ryanwho said:

A more elegant solution is to not play the game. But if you need to frame stealing shit cus your poor as some kind of crusade against tyranny, more power to you shithead.

Came here to say the same thing. If you want to pirate be my guest, but don't pretend for a second it's because you feel you're entitled to because of some form of DRM or another. If you're actually bothered by certain kinds of DRM, contact the publisher or developer. Call attention to unfair DRM practices by tipping off news sites - hell, From Dust has caused a big enough controversy that'll make Ubi think twice before baiting and switching like that again. But, you know, all that is probably too much to expect from someone who just wants to get free shit and be lazy.

Whole lotta hypocritical motherfuckers commenting up in this piece. We all know you "YOU SHOULD NEVER PIRATE IT IS THEFT" people have pirated games, and probably more than most. People who don't feel guilty about a thing don't get defensive about that thing's existence. Y'all are like all those "GAYS SHOULD BURN IN HELL" Republicans who then start fucking dudes in airport bathrooms.

What do you mean by " turning your purchase into an extended purchase"?