Computer games and DRM
One consumer's view
When I get computer games, I don't mind ambling down to the local
games shop and exchange cash for physical media and (ideally) some
instruction manuals. I have done this both for PC games and for
console games. As someone who dabbles in the world of "do games" (two
more-or-less finished pen&paper RPGs, one almost-finished, a few
playable games), I think it's right and proper to pay for this sort of
thing. However, in the last few years, I have been hesitant to buy PC
games (as of yet, I haven't felt the same about console games, though
the trends towards Internet-connected consoles with permanent storage
worries me). Why? Let me try to explain.
My gaming box setup
My gaming box runs Windows XP. I know I am not well-versed enough in
the innards of XP to secure it properly. Nonetheless, I want to be
able to browse the web from the box. How to deal with that problem?
First, install some sort of anti-virus program. Second, make sure that
the windows box doesn't have unrestricted network access. It lives in
a private-range network. There is no NAT between that network and the
world, but there is a set of application proxies, so (for example)
HTTP and HTTPS can be tunnelled through. SMTP is explicitly not allowed
through. There is also no SOCKS proxy.
Consequences for modern PC gaming
This, of course, has consequences. I can't readily buy any game
that requires network activation, because I cannot guarantee that I
will be able to activate it. I am, as far as I can tell, unable to buy
anything that relies on Steam. I can't participate in on-line gaming
(not a big loss, as far as I am concerned, but I suspect others might
find it restrictive).
I can, however, download demos from the web. I can even buy some
downloadable games. I know this, because I have done so and it does
indeed seem to work.
However, in this day and age, it seems that the big publishers are
having a push towards both DRM schemes and activation. This means that
they're alienating potential customers, while (as far as I can tell)
not harming those who are intent on illegally copying their
games. Slow down, maybe. That gives the studios a slightly longer
window before illegal copies are available. How long? I don't know,
but I have seen figures indicating that it takes on the order of a
single-digit number of days before a new DRM scheme is cracked. I
suspect that's why they're moving towards on-line activation.
As indicated above, for purposes of "game to publisher" communication,
my gaming machine can be considered to be off-line. Anything that
requires initial, or worse regular, verification with a central server
will be unusable to me.
Consequences for game buying
In light of the fact that games tend not to present what DRM schemes,
activation policies and the like they will be enforcing on the box, I
am now at a stage where buying PC games is a crap-shoot. What I buy may
be playable as intended, it may be crippled or it may not play at
all. In the light of game prices, I have reluctantly come to the
solution that I shall simply have to forego buying games, it's too
expensive a gamble. It's bad enough that I've paid for games that I
can't play on my current machine (it's designed to the specs of ca
1998, a machine with multiple GB of free RAM confuses it and it
refuses to start with a "Out of RAM" fault; naturally I cannot get an
update from the publisher, I did email them and ask if there was
anything they could do), I refuse to pay for games that definitely
wouldn't, from the start.
This is one of Ingvar's essays