System Requirements and Activation

[ADM]

Sounds good Thanks for that Royal.

[Lynchie]

Originally Posted by Laser Eyes

I've read the whole thread Joe, as I"m sure you have. A lot of people ARE worrying about it. I am just one of many. It can't be as trivial as you think if it has caused so much concern.

It's unwarrented concern. People rile each other up to a point of hysteria and then it quickly gets forgotten. It happened with HL2 as well, Didn't stop it to be one of the most sold games ever.

[pcgamer23708]

Will you change the way you buy and use Prey after the issue of
Product Activation was raised?

(This is to all that want to buy Prey PC version in a Retail
Boxed CD-ROM/DVD-ROM package.
It doesn't apply neither to the console version or the PC
version via online delivery)

Fortunately we all know that Prey PC Retail Boxed version
will not have any kind of Product Activation, this is great
news so the issue is closed for now... but not for the future

I don't believe the issue was raised deliberately or planed
but I do see it as a warning... a fair warning by HH and by
3DRealms.
Again not a deliberate warning but we PC Gamers should see
it like that.
So the issue now is in our side.
How should we deal with this "warning".
Should we deal with Prey like we did with other PC Games or
should we deal with Prey in a "special" way.
For me clearly we should deal in a "special" way, and this
is precisely cause of the Product Activation issue.

For me the signal is clear... Prey seams to be a fantastic
game, and fantastic games should have very good sales and
deserving profits.
If Prey doesn't have good sales but we see lots playing Prey
then it was cause of Piracy and that means only one thing...
we PC Gamers didn't protect Prey from piracy, so probably
next time devs like HH or 3DRealms will think about other
measures to be used in the future to protect their work.
Measures that we will not like and that are not "friendly"
to us.

There is no other way around...
Prey is a great game and deserves good sales.
HH and 3DRealms need those sales to continue in business.
Now if we all do not give then good sales we failed, and
if we failed then we cannot blame ourselves for being
punished like the punishment of dealing with Product
Activation.

Yes I do feel Product Activation is a punishment cause I
obviously don't like it...
In a matter of fact I do hate Product Activation.
And I do not want to deal with it now or in the future.
And that is precisely why I'm writing this and why I'm so
worried about Prey sales and profits.
If I was a religious person I guess I would prey so Prey
would have fabulous sales (no its not a joke)
If I was a billionaire I guess I would buy 1 million units
of Prey to help they have fabulous sales.
But I'm neither of that... I'm just a simple PC Gamer like
so many around the world, but I do believe we all together
can make a difference and make Prey have great sales and
great profits for HH and 3DRealms.
I do believe that can happen if we work together.

The future is not yet set and I do believe we PC Gamers
will have a big part in what will be that future...
Ours actions will condition the future...
No PC Gamer wants a future with Product Activation, and we
can all work together to prevent that from happening.

We have a responsibility
The responsibility of protecting Prey profits and fighting
against any kind of piracy in Prey so we can show HH and
3DRealms we can be trusted and no need for abusive copy
protection measures have to be used to give devs like HH
or 3DRealms the deserving sales and profits from their own
games and hard work.

I'm not defending Piracy can completely disappear.
Neither I'm defending the responsibility is only ours but
only that Prey fans should work hard in protecting sales
and profits cause this way they are helping themselves.

And what do I think is a the best way to protect Prey sales
and profits?
For me its this 4 points:
. Buy Prey NEW factory sealed and not in the used 2nd hand
market.
. Use your own NEW Prey unit you bought only for yourself
and do not lend to others including friends cause this is
what some call casual copying that takes sales and profits
. Do not use in any way Prey full version in P2P networks
but rather only patches, free mods and the demo.
. After finishing do not sell your own unit you bought in
the used 2nd hand market but rather keep it to yourself so
you can replay in the future, cause every time a used unit
is sold a sale is lost.

If every Prey fan does this I do believe profits and sales
will be protected.
And this is so important to this group cause in this group
we have the "cream" of the Prey fans... the most loyal and
the most devoted Prey fans and the ones that can influence
the youngest.
It is incredible to see how older friends can influence in
a positive way the youngest, and that is why I think it can
be a huge difference veteran Prey fans influencing youngest
to properly protect Prey sales and profits.

I truly believe if we protect Prey sales and profits we no
longer have to worry about Product Activation in the near
future namely in future games like DNF.
Would you like to see DNF with Product Activation?
I bet the majority wouldn't so now it is the time to prevent
it... prevent it by making Prey a huge sales and financial
success for HH and 3DRealms.

The issue is not ending piracy cause that will always be
impossible... but what is possible is following the 4 steps
I wrote that deal with protecting Prey sales and specially
cutting the "casual copying" the copying between friends
that does really damage sales.

I hope nobody sees this as me trying to tell others what to
do... its not that... I'm simply saying please think twice
about what you do with Prey...
We have 2 weeks until Prey full version is released so we
should all think about this...

[AWE300]

Activation ONCE is not a problem. Let me activate the game, give me a code I can enter to not have to activate again. Not like, for example, earth 2160. Where you have to acitvate after every reinstall but can only activate 3 times before you have to call their awful phone line activation system :P

[Laser Eyes]

I have a feeling that we did not hear the full truth from 3DRealms about the whole online authentication issue. The suspicion I have at the moment is that the online authentication was 3DR's secret plan to eliminate the resale market. I believe they planned on permanently linking the copy of Prey to the person who first authenticated it by means of a password/serial number/email address or computer hardware recognition similar to Windows so that the game can only be authenticated on that one computer and no other computer ever.

It is no secret that 3DR would like to eliminate the resale of PC games. They see it as eating into new sales. Of course that is only half the picture. What 3DR do not appreciate is that (1) many people can not afford to buy games at full price and (2) the money received for a used copy of a game is often used to buy another new game. The fact is that the money gained from selling Prey might be used to buy DNF, which might not have been bought otherwise.

Speaking for myself I will treat Prey no differently than any other game. I usually keep my games and only sell one if I didn't like it or it was crap or there is no chance I will want to play it again. I still have about 85% of the games I have bought. If Prey is a decent game then I will keep it and never sell it because I always like to go back and play old games again. However I certainly feel that I should be able to sell my copy of Prey if I wanted to. Ford can't stop me selling their cars, IBM can't stop me selling their computers, film studios aren't trying to stop me selling DVDs of their films so why should 3DRealms be able to stop me selling their game? After all there is still only one person playing one licenced copy of the game.

I don't use illegal copies of games but I don't see what I can do about this problem. There have to be ways to prevent illegal copying without impacting upon legitimate purchasers. Game publishers just take the easy way out by adopting whatever cheap and nasty method of copy protection is most convenient to them. There must be better ways of doing it that haven't been found. But I agree that the customer can't be trusted. The state of morality in the world is so low that people will play an illegal copy if it is easy for them to do so.

I hate online authentication with a passion. It makes me a slave to 3DRealms or whoever happens to control the online authentication facility. I have paid them good money for a licence to play their game indefinitely. But I need their ongoing support to use that licence. I will be permitted to play the game for so long as 3DR allow it. They have the power to withdraw the online authentication facility at any time and make my licence worthless. One time authentication is not enough for me. I regularly reformat my hard drive (full delete) and reinstall Windows in order to keep my system operating at optimal efficiency. I and many others would need the ability to authenticate the game long after the game is released. I gave very serious consideration to not buying Prey when the announcement was made.

When this issue was discussed on the forums there was a glaring silence from 3DR about what happens if they go out of business. The response was basically "Trust Us". My response: Show me a company that can be trusted and I will show you a flying pig. Even if 3DR have the best of intentions it doesn't change the fact that they may go out of business and the online authentication facility may terminate through no fault of theirs. Game companies go out of business all the time, even ones that at one time were financially strong. In the end they wouldn't even face up to the question. Not good enough.

Fortunately for us gamers I don't think 3DR foresaw all the problems in setting up the authentication system and they were unable to do it. But we will most definitely see online authentication in DNF. And I wouldn't be surprised if it is implemented in such a way that the copy of DNF will be permanently linked to the computer on which it was first authenticated.

[hell-angel]

Originally Posted by AWE300

Activation ONCE is not a problem. Let me activate the game, give me a code I can enter to not have to activate again. Not like, for example, earth 2160. Where you have to acitvate after every reinstall but can only activate 3 times before you have to call their awful phone line activation system :P

There is a crack for that floating around the internet. (which you should only use if you own version of course)

[The Doctor]

I have no problems with an activation system during install only that requires me no more than the press of a button and waiting a couple of seconds for the result.
Just as long as there isn't a max number of activations, and it doesn't bitch about changes to the hardware / complains when you got a new computer.

More and more people will have internet in the future, so if activation is done this way, people will have no need to patch their game with a no-activation crack.

[marty56]

I rather have activation once then copy-protection and or keeping the disc in the drive when you play.

[AWE300]

Originally Posted by hell-angel

There is a crack for that floating around the internet. (which you should only use if you own version of course)

I know.. But I don't want to have to resort to such shady methods to play a game I bought! It annoys me.
Also, what I would like to see is the necessity to keep the CD/DVD in the drive go. If you already activated the game, you shouldn't need the CD/DVD for authentification purposes

[neildittmar]

To answer the question about treating Prey differently than other games, my answer is a very conditional "it depends." It depends on whether HumanHead/3DRealms forces me to treat the game differently. It is solely dependent on what their final implementation of product activation / copy protection is. If at the end of the day, they decide to integrate a proprietary product like Steam into their software, then I may reconsider purchasing games from them that I might otherwise have bought. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I will then pirate the game instead. I may make a conscientious choice as a consumer to not buy the product.

A primary concern I have with this "new" approach to anti-piracy is that each developer/publisher may have their own widget for game authentication, causing lots of additional software to be installed on a system in order to simply play games. I like to keep my computers clean and tidy and I can't help but think that this goal will be more difficult to accomplish if/when I'm forced to run a number of product activation / copy protection mechanisms on my machines.

Ease of use and potential obtrusiveness to the user is also a primary concern of mine where product activiation programs are concerned. When I purchased and installed Half-life 2, that was my first experience with the Steam system from Valve. I found the whole process extremely step-laden, overly complex, and time consuming. I had no interest in playing Half-life 2 (or any Valve games) online. Therefore, my first complaint was why I was being forced to install what is essentially an online component to run the game in single-player mode? Sure, I could set Steam to save my login credentials to work in offline mode (and I did). However, there was a point in time where offline mode broke for me after a Steam update. It took approximately a month for Valve to sort it out with a subsequent update. Depending on the specific circumstances, this "outage" could have very well prevented me from playing a game I had legally licensed for nearly a month.

The semi-mandatory automatic updates are another matter entirely. For me personally, if I disable automatic updates on Half-life 2, the option becomes re-enabled automatically after a few Steam connects without notifying me. This wouldn't be so bad if I was prompted to install an update if one existed. However, Steam immediately begins installing it's updates for Half-life 2 on successful logon. If I happen to cancel the update and attempt to start the game, Steam gives me a helpful message indicating to the effect that my product must be fully updated in order to play. What if I have a dial-up connection and the updates are going to take many hours to download that I simply don't have to spare? My legally licensed game is effectively useless until I set aside that block of time to update my game.

A better approach to product activation / authentication may be what id Software has implemented for Doom 3 and Quake IV. That is, if your computer is connected to the Internet, the game attempts to match your entered CD Key with a Master server. If the key is validated successfully, the game runs as normal with no user intervention. If it does not, the user is prompted to enter a valid key. If this prompt is cancelled, the game is closed. A potential way around this is to disconnect the systems internet connection and run the game. If this is done, the game will not be able to find the Master server and will default to a type of offline mode. The single-player portion of the game is still accessible, however the online portion is not (for obvious reasons). I find id's approach much less instrusive and significantly less time consuming than the validation processes companies like Valve and EA are championing.

In conclusion, the notion was raised in the original post that it is our responsibility as PC gamers to protect Prey from piracy. I wholeheartedly disagree. My personal responsibility with Human Head / 3DRealms (or any other game developer / publisher for that matter) begins and ends with me purchasing a license for the software and adhering to the terms and conditions laid out in the end user license agreement (EULA) that is included with the game. It is solely the developers/publishers responsibilty to protect their products from unauthorized use. Therefore, the burden of devising a system that protects their products and integrates seamlessly is on them.

[ZuljinRaynor]

I'm expecting a bunch of people who post on Prey's Gamespot forum to pirate the game.

Nothing changes. I was going to get it no matter what... I got HL2 and Sin: E and all use Steam... not a problem.

[Damien_Azreal]

Online activation was removed from PREY a while ago. So isn't this a mute subject?

[Laser Eyes]

Damien, pcgamer23708 started a new thread with his post above and it was incorporated into this thread.

neildittmar, I've been playing Doom 3 and Quake IV for ages and I never knew the game was trying to access the internet every time I started them. That kind of system you described that id used may be just what the doctor ordered. Let people play the single player part of the game without internet connection but disable the game if an illegal copy is detected.

[neildittmar]

Originally Posted by Damien_Azreal

Online activation was removed from PREY a while ago. So isn't this a mute subject?

I'm not sure about it being a mute subject, but if online activation is not included (and remains so) in Prey, then the topic may very well be moot

Originally Posted by Laser Eyes

That kind of system you described that id used may be just what the doctor ordered. Let people play the single player part of the game without internet connection but disable the game if an illegal copy is detected.

That system seems to work for first person shooters, as most of their active lifetimes are spent in the multiplayer scene. I believe Galactic Civilizations 2 (not an FPS) uses a system whereby the CD key is identified in some clever way to permit the user to install patches, updates, etc. An amalgamation of this tech and what id is using might be enough to further combat piracy without being overbearing or complex.

[Damien_Azreal]

Yeah I meant moot, once again my dyslexia kicks my ass.

Laser Eyes, I know the threads were combined. I made that post before they were merged together.

[pcgamer23708]

I'm disappointed 3DRealms moved my new thread to this one.
I guess its their forum and their rules and they only want a
single thread about Product Activation.
The same rule hasn't been applied to other topics but again
its their forum nothing to argue about...

But even so my post wasn't really about Product Activation
but more about what do to now AFTER we have discussed it and
we know that Prey fortunately will not have it.
Sincerely I do not see the point in discussing more Product
Activation in Prey.
And the issue is not "I don't mind Product Activation" but
rather do you or not want Product Activation in future Retail
Boxed PC Games, and its not about one or two games but all
of them... the hundreds released each year.
So either you want or you don't want.
If you want Product Activation then please ignore what I will
write next.
If like me you don't want Product Activation then please think
about what I will write next.

If the use of Product Activation makes Retail Boxed PC Games
sales higher, then it is obvious devs and publishers will
think about using it.
So if you do not want Product Activation in Retail Boxed PC
Games the only way to prevent it from being used is make
Prey that has no Product Activation be a huge sales success
so HH/3DRealms forget about using Product Activation.
And each one of us can contribute to make Prey a sales success
Like I said before by:
. Buying Prey NEW factory sealed
. Not lending or sharing your own unit to friends
. Not using P2P for the full version
. Not re-selling your own unit of Prey after you finish it.
. Don't use the 2nd hand market for Prey in any way.
Is this so difficult to do?
It is so simple.
And what is the motivation to do it?
Secure a future of Retail Boxed PC Games without Product
Activation!
Isn't this enough motivation for you?

If we all do this I do believe Prey will be a big financial
success and we then can prove to HH/3DRealms they do not need
to use Product Activation now or in the future.

The future is not yet set and we can influence our own destiny

Yes I still believe DNF can be released without any Product
Activation like Prey will if we make Prey a huge sales success
So lets do it!

Enough of words and writing... next thing I'll do about Prey
is some Action! the Action of buying Prey NEW factory sealed!

[neildittmar]

Originally Posted by pcgamer23708

And the issue is not "I don't mind Product Activation" but rather do you or not want Product Activation in future Retail Boxed PC Games, and its not about one or two games but all of them... the hundreds released each year.

I see. I think most of the points I made in my original post still stand though. I personally don't care if every game release has some sort of product activation or even product validation everytime you play. What I do care about is how the system is implemented (complexity), does it require specifically installed software in order to operate, and the amount of overhead and intrusiveness to the end user. In short, a system like Steam for every developers/publishers games is too much for each of my concerns. A passive system like what Doom 3 and Quake IV utilize is much more acceptable.

Originally Posted by pcgamer23708

If the use of Product Activation makes Retail Boxed PC Games sales higher, then it is obvious devs and publishers will think about using it. So if you do not want Product Activation in Retail Boxed PC Games the only way to prevent it from being used is make Prey that has no Product Activation be a huge sales success so HH/3DRealms forget about using Product Activation.

Many games released before Prey have been met with huge commercial success despite whether or not product activation / validation was included. That said, the anti-piracy measures leveled by software developers and publishers stem from profit/loss analysts estimates on what could've been as opposed to what actually is. The fact is, there are no hard and fast numbers concerning how much money a developer/publisher lost due to piracy simply because of the nature the beast and it's largely untrackable statistics. In most cases whenever software piracy "losses" are discussed, they are expressed in percentages based on actual sales and popularity of the game. That is, to say that an arbitrary game lost X amount of dollars in revenue to software piracy has many points of contention. Let's say that analysts estimate a particular game losing 20% in revenue directly due to software piracy. So what's a better case for software anti-piracy measures... a game that grosses 8 million USD when it could've made 10 million, or a game that grosses 80 million dollars when it could've made 100 million. From a certain perspective, one could effectively argue that the more commerically successful a game is, the greater the necessity for software anti-piracy (activation / validation) measures.

Originally Posted by pcgamer23708

And each one of us can contribute to make Prey a sales success
Like I said before by:
. Buying Prey NEW factory sealed
. Not lending or sharing your own unit to friends
. Not using P2P for the full version
. Not re-selling your own unit of Prey after you finish it.
. Don't use the 2nd hand market for Prey in any way.
Is this so difficult to do?
It is so simple.
And what is the motivation to do it?
Secure a future of Retail Boxed PC Games without Product Activation!
Isn't this enough motivation for you?

Way to rally the troops there :-) While your suggestions are both commendable and sound to a degree, I don't think they take into consideration the bigger picture. For starters, individuals who pirate Prey (or any other game for that matter) are going to do so regardless of what anybody tells them. At the core of software piracy is the question "why pay for something I can get for free by other means?" This notion is nondescriminatory, transcending both ethnicity and economy. The answer obviously involves a certain level of morality and more generally, a desire to do the right thing. However, until you can teach these principles to someone who is a willing and interactive participant, you'll never change that individuals mind. Since I believe this goal to be impossible considering the state of the world we live in, you will never convince software pirates en masse to abandon their practices. Therefore, a system that prevents software piracy must be put in place if the goal is to combat the practice.

My other point has to do with the second-hand (or used) games market cited. Although the retail games industry as a whole has wanted to dismiss it as a viable revenue stream for years, even big corporations like Best Buy in the United States are finding that there is much money to be made in the second-hand games market. Simply stated, the markups are unbelievable. After cost, shipping, tax, and other associated fees, a video game retailer may only make a profit amount in the single digits for each new game sold. With used games, the markups are typically 100% or more. For example, buy a game from a consumer for $5 USD, resell it for $14.99, instant 200% markup. Do this a few thousand times a year and you start to get the idea. Even if it was possible to get gamers to stop buying and selling used games, it's ommission from the retail software industry would be significant enough for game stores to consider ways to replace this revenue. Perhaps this could be accomplished by increasing the prices of new release games.

Game developers and publishers are at a crossroads now when it comes to implementing software anti-piracy measures. While systems like Steam have been successful in combating piracy, at what cost to the consumer is this achieved? More automated systems like StarForce have been utilized to some success, but that particular systems bad reputation (and even worse PR) has ostracized it from further contention, at least in it's present form. I've come to the realization that software anti-piracy measures are going to be put in place whether gamers like it or not. While we can't influence the if, I think we've already started influencing the how. As gamers, this is where we have participation and say. As general consumers, our wallets will influnce which roads the gaming industry continues down next.

[pcgamer23708]

Originally Posted by neildittmar

A passive system like what Doom 3 and Quake IV utilize is much more acceptable.

I still don't understand why bring up DOOM 3 and Quake 4 when we talk
about Product Activation, when neither of them have it.
Personally when I run either DOOM 3 or Quake 4 I never saw what some
describe as a message before starting each game about authenticating
something... probably due to not having internet in the PC I play
games but even with the description I got which if I'm not wrong is
something like, only if you play Quake 4 multiplayer in the internet
before each game it tries to see if you are using a legal or illegal
serial number, I still can't call this Product Activation.
Either single-player or LAN are not affected and even internet MP
will not be affected if that authentication can't reach the server.

For me DOOM 3 and Quake 4 clearly and with no doubt DO NOT have any
kind of Product Activation so I really would rather not mention them
when we discuss this.

If Prey will be sold just like DOOM 3 and Quake 4 then it is totally
MARVELOUS and I simply can't ask or dream for more.

As for Steam... I gave up discussing Steam half a year ago... there
is simply no point in discussing it.
You either give money for a Retail Boxed game with Steam and you are
supporting it and it doesn't matter what you say cause what matters
is you gave money to Valve, or you're like me that simply doesn't
give money in any way or form to a Retail Boxed games with Steam.

I'm so tired of seeing so many saying bad things about Steam but at
the end of the day they still give money to Valve, so what is the
point is doing it?
What is the point in criticizing and complaining about Steam if
the same customers that complain continues giving money to Valve?
What is the point if:
. You still give money to Valve.
. Valve will not change no matter what customers say or complain.

Originally Posted by neildittmar

even big corporations like Best Buy in the United States are finding that there is much money to be made in the second-hand games market.

We are PC Gamers not retailers... obviously 2nd hand games are very
profitable for Retailers but are damaging for devs and publishers so
will we blame them for wanting to use Product Activation to fight
against the lose of revenue due to the 2nd hand market?
Retailers don't give a damn about Product Activation... its us the
customers that will be damaged by it, and for me it is much better
to buy more expensive NEW than to buy less expensive in 2nd hand
and be forced to deal with Product Activation.
Like I said if we do not want Product Activation we should cut the
2nd hand market for PC Games cause if not, devs and publishers will
feel they need Product Activation to protect their own profits.
The formula is simple and PC Gamers should know about it:
. If you BUY NEW, which is more expensive you are securing a future
with NO Product Activation
. If you decide to BUY USED, which is less expensive then you will
have to face the CONSEQUENCES namely having PC Games with Product
Activation in the future.
What I ask is, at least when a PC Gamer decides to buy used in the
2nd hand market he knows exactly what the consequences will be from
his own actions, and those consequences are Product Activation.

Originally Posted by neildittmar

For starters, individuals who pirate Prey (or any other game for that matter) are going to do so regardless of what anybody tells them.

I wasn't talking to PIRATES.
I know very well there is no point in talking to them.
All my messages I posted in this forum were to proper Prey FANs
those that BUY PC Games and will BUY Prey.
And like I said if these Prey FANs protect and support the game
like following the examples I gave I do believe it can make a
very big difference... that is my opinion.
It is totally not realistic to try and think we can ever make any
Software piracy-free.
Piracy will always exist and Pirates will always exist but for
those I is a total waste of time talking to them...
But for example a PC Gamer that BUYS Prey and then lends it to
2 or 3 friends he's not a Pirate but he is taking sales away from
Prey and he is damaging profits... now if he realizes this and
realizes the consequences can be the use of Product Activation
in the future, then he might change his way and next time not
lend or share his own units of any PC Game he owns with friends
so he can secure a future without Product Activation.
That was my main target with my messages...
Targeting "casual copying", copying between friends which takes
sales and revenue from PC Games.

Who does Product Activation target?
Does it target Pirates? Obviously not.
Product Activation will not stop Pirates cause Pirates will find
cracks like they always have.
Didn't they cracked Steam? Do Pirates that get pirated Steam
games need any kind of Product Activation? Obviously not.
It is the buying customer that will have to deal with Product
Activation not the Pirate.
Do you think Pirates mind Steam?
No Pirate minds Steam cause for Pirates all games are the same
they get they cracked ready to be played.
Pirates always get cracked versions of Steam games with no need
to do any Product Activation.
It is the customer that BUYS PC Games that has to deal with
Steam and with Product Activation.
And the same will happen to any other Product Activation system.
It will be the PAYING customer, the PC Gamer that BUYS games
that will have to deal with Product Activation and will be the
one damaged.

And last but not least there is a issue that few talk about
which is the fact that only PC Gamers are being targeted with
Product Activation.
Half-Life 2 console version has no Product Activation but the
PC version has.
Prey console version would never had Product Activation but
the PC version was planned to have.
PC Gamers have to deal with Product Activation, but console
players don't.
This is clearly something that is penalizing PC Gamers against
all other players from gaming systems.
And then whenever I ask, "please don't use Product Activation"
there has to be some wise guy that replies "switch to consoles"
I've been a PC Gamer for over a decade and its not now that I
will be forced to change and the reason being Product Activation

Basically I will do everything in my very limited power to stop
Product Activation from being used in PC Games cause I have no
other option...
Accepting and using Product Activation is not an option for me.
Switching to consoles is not an option for me.
Give up Retail and use online delivery is not an option for me
at least for now (I don't know about the future)
So I can only do one thing which is try my best to secure a
future of Retail Boxed PC Games with no Product Activation.

[scheper]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Galactic Civilizations II. That game had no copy protection at all, to prove that it is possible to make a good game and profit from it without DRM.

The only game I pirated in the last couple of years was HL2, and specifically because the pirated version was better than the official version.

[Laser Eyes]

Someone has mentioned Galactic Civilizations II. See post #275.

[m4dmax]

Originally Posted by scheper

The only game I pirated in the last couple of years was HL2, and specifically because the pirated version was better than the official version.

lol what? how is a pirated one better than official?

btw.. from prey.com then the "support" tab...

System Requirements

Minimum

CPU Speed: Intel Pentium 4 2.0Ghz / AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor
RAM: 512MB system RAM
Video Card: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 64MB video card with latest manufacturer drivers (see supported chipsets below)
Drive: 8X CD-ROM (standard edition), DVD-ROM (Limited Collector?s Edition)
Hard Drive: 2.2GB of uncompressed free hard drive space
Sound Card: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 16-bit sound card
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP with latest service pack installed
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (included on disc)

Recommended

CPU Speed: Intel Pentium 4 2.5Ghz / AMD Athlon XP 2500+ processor
RAM: 1GB system RAM
Video Card: ATI Radeon X800 series or higher video card with latest manufacturer drivers
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi series sound card
Internet: Broadband internet connection or LAN required for multiplayer


Supported Video Card Chipsets

ATI:
ATI Radeon 9600 series, ATI Radeon 9700 series, ATI Radeon 9800 series, ATI Radeon X300 series, ATI Radeon X550 series, ATI Radeon X600 series, ATI Radeon X700 series, ATI Radeon X800 series, ATI Radeon X1300 series, ATI Radeon X1600 series, ATI Radeon X1800 series, ATI Radeon X1900 series, or better with latest manufacturer drivers. NVIDIA:
NVIDIA GeForce3/Ti series, NVIDIA GeForce4/Ti, NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 5900 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6200 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 7300 series, NVIDIA GeForce 7600 series, NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 7900 series, or better with latest manufacturer drivers.

PREY takes full advantage of the Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ sound card. PREY supports OpenAL hardware acceleration, EAX® ADVANCED HD™ 5.0 features of 4 reverberation effects at once, and uses Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XRAM feature to load audio samples on the cards with 64 megs of RAM. For more information on the benefits of having one of the Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series, you can go to: http://soundblaster.com.

didnt see anyone else post it yet, i just skimmed through the 10 pages though

[Ron]

Originally Posted by m4dmax

lol what? how is a pirated one better than official?

From what I read on the matter it ran without steam and alot smoother and even a few bugs that were in the legit copy were not in the pirated one. To be honest, If I ever got my hands on a pirated copy of HL2 and Episode 1 I would use them simply because I purchased the total HL2 package on preorder and I was fooled (like many other people) into what they claimed the Offline mode was at the time and it sure wasent what they had listed on there website. So, With HL2 (and the other games it came with) and HL2 episode one I have already bought them so I see no reason with a retail disc's why anyone should be forced into online activation system as it not only looses alot of sales but it also limits main retail sales as alot of people in todays day and age still don't have the internet but have a modern day computer. I know that sounds odd but I've serviced far too many PC's that just dont have broadband. I can only imagine trying to play an online activation systems like steam while on dial up even with there offline mode (still not really and offline mode).

[scheper]

lol what? how is a pirated one better than official?

I know it sounds illogical, but:

As Ron said, the pirated version was smoother and more stable. Steam had to decrypt the game continuously when you played, which caused long load times, occassional crashes and even ingame slowdowns.

The pirated version was completely decrypted and steamless. It started up faster, level loadtimes were shorter, it ran smoother and crashed less.