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Half-Life 2 'Interview' - False Activation Claims?

Posted by simoniker on from the have-people-nothing-better-to-do? dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to a mini-interview with Valve's Gabe Newell at Nerdsahoy.com, Half-Life 2 will use a form of online product activation to prevent more than one install per copy." Newell also allegedly comments on distribution, saying "...our marketing will mostly lean towards [Valve's online 'content delivery system'] Steam as the method of acquiring the game." Update: 09/02 14:34 GMT by S : Unfortunately, many signs point towards this being a fake, fabricated interview.

91 comments

  1. Well.... by M3wThr33 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Despite what he says, I'm still going to need to get a new graphics card(From a GeForce 2 GTS), and I heard something of a special ATI bundle.

    I'm an ATI guy, I got the GF2 for free, before that I had a Rage 128.

    1. Re:Well.... by Komarosu · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Yup after seein it at ECTS i got the same idea, new GFX time and probably new Proc too :(

      --

      "What do you mean you have no ice? Do you expect me to drink this coffee hot?" - Random Customer, Clerks
  2. That will obviously help reduce piracy by Soul-Burn666 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "it uses a system much like Windows XP"

    Newsflash: 20 days before the official release date of WinXP, a no-activation version was already installed in millions of PC worldwide.

    Maybe they could decrease the number of online gamers, even that was proven impossible. A huge percentage of online HL gamers use a pirated copy and a CDKey "they got from a friend".

    --
    ^_^
    1. Re:That will obviously help reduce piracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A huge percentage of online HL gamers use a pirated copy and a CDKey "they got from a friend".

      Yep, popular guys like me have hundreds of friends that are kind enough to let me install a small piece of software on their machine that gives me access to their cdkey, among other things. What would I do without all my friends? :)

    2. Re:That will obviously help reduce piracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I doubt that Half Life 2 will have a corporate version ;)

    3. Re:That will obviously help reduce piracy by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 1

      "Newsflash: 20 days before the official release date of WinXP, a no-activation version was already installed in millions of PC worldwide."

      Yeah, it was the corporate edition that was installed. Somehow I doubt IBM's going to buy 1,000 copies of Half Life for the employees to use.

    4. Re:That will obviously help reduce piracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's more, MS knows what key everyone used as well.
      If you try to upgrade to SP1 with one of those keys it will scream and bitch at you for using an illegal copy.

    5. Re:That will obviously help reduce piracy by Greventls · · Score: 1

      Why doesn't Microsoft or in this case, Valve, release the product with an amazingly large number of security holes. The people will pirate it, but be unable to update it. So they will be using the software, but it will make there system amazingly vulnerable to everything.

    6. Re:That will obviously help reduce piracy by reeve · · Score: 1

      Microsoft does, only the updates don't fix it :) (Sorry, that was just too good of a set up)

      --
      Reeve the cat
    7. Re:That will obviously help reduce piracy by robson · · Score: 1

      I doubt that Half Life 2 will have a corporate version ;)

      Sure they will. Half-Life 2 Enterprise Edition, or HL2EE. It's just a high-res real-time scene of the G-Man saying, "Get back to work, you!"

  3. And we've seen how effective that is... by Ceyan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why do companies continue to insist on spending more and more resources on copy protection?

    A) It's been proven ineffective, everything from the first disc-copy protection format to activation has been proven to be worthless. About the only thing left to try is hardware DRM, but even that's not fool-proof (X-Box).

    B) If anyone is willing to go through the effort to search, or learn, how to copy games they'll find a way to do it. Those that don't bother with passing copy protection either don't buy the game or will be turned aside by anything beyond a key code.

    1. Re:And we've seen how effective that is... by xenocide2 · · Score: 1

      Well its worked pretty damn well so far with WON. If you wanted to play online you needed to authenticate with the WON server. So its really just more of the same, though perhaps less lenient this time around.

      --
      I Browse at +4 Flamebait

      Open Source Sysadmin

    2. Re:And we've seen how effective that is... by KDan · · Score: 1

      What I find annoying is that it might interfere with the fact that the machine which I play from might change fairly often. I thought they'd got it all working well with the WON thing - meant you had to have bought a legit copy at some point, and meant I bought two copies of HL1 overall. But having to activate the product, wtf???

      Daniel

      --
      Carpe Diem
    3. Re:And we've seen how effective that is... by rmohr02 · · Score: 1

      Tribes 2 hasn't been cracked as far as I know--you use your CD key to get a username online, and nothing prevents you from making multiple installations.

    4. Re:And we've seen how effective that is... by Ceyan · · Score: 1

      However, you're forgetting that online services are another matter altogether. And even that isn't fool-proof (with one exception, there are a few games that keep a database of all currently available codes and every new user registers against that database, so that prevents anyone from using a keygen to generate a random value that fits in with the programs algorithims).

    5. Re:And we've seen how effective that is... by Ceyan · · Score: 1

      A) It's an online matter, so that makes a huge difference, I'm refering to only solo play.

      B) Tribes 2 is cracked, I know because I have a cracked copy I obtained a few weeks ago when my brother destroyed my original since I wouldn't ever give up playing to let him play. (It didn't occur to me until afterwards that I could use my old information (hey, I was extremely pissed and not thinking straight), but after I realized that I stopped using my illegal information, so for all I know it may have been tracked down over time)

      C) You can still easily use cracked copies in LAN parties.

    6. Re:And we've seen how effective that is... by Kleedrac2 · · Score: 1

      Ahh yes ... but Windows Activation checks your "Hardware Profile" against what activated. I doubt that Valve cares what hardware you're running. If anything it'll be checking IP/range against what IP you're on. I can see the activation hiccoughing when you switch ISP's ... not hardware.

      Kleedrac

      --
      Sure we wang, can.
    7. Re:And we've seen how effective that is... by Jellybob · · Score: 1

      Damn did that piss me off - I had to buy two copies of the game because my first one was second hand and the key had already been used.

      It wasn't too bad though, since it did mean we had two copies floating around at LAN parties... you have to put in a valid disk at every level change, and no one thought to bring along a machine with a CD burner.

    8. Re:And we've seen how effective that is... by IM6100 · · Score: 1

      You only had to purchase one copy. Your mistake was purchasing the first one second hand.

      --
      A Good Intro to NetBS
    9. Re:And we've seen how effective that is... by rmohr02 · · Score: 1
      A) It's an online matter, so that makes a huge difference, I'm refering to only solo play.
      I guess the way to avoid those problems is to have a nearly non-existant first person mode. I prefer well done multiplayer and single-player, but I realize nobody pirates Tribes 2 for the single-player missions.
      B) Tribes 2 is cracked, I know because I have a cracked copy I obtained a few weeks ago when my brother destroyed my original since I wouldn't ever give up playing to let him play. (It didn't occur to me until afterwards that I could use my old information (hey, I was extremely pissed and not thinking straight), but after I realized that I stopped using my illegal information, so for all I know it may have been tracked down over time)
      Well, I looked once just to see if there were cracked copies and couldn't find any. Then again, I wasn't really motivated to find a cracked copy.
      C) You can still easily use cracked copies in LAN parties.
      Hell, just install the same disc on every PC at the LAN party.
    10. Re:And we've seen how effective that is... by billcopc · · Score: 1

      Xbox isn't hardware DRM, it's in the bios, which is just software. The modchips out there are just bios overrides, you can do the same with those "007 save game" exploits that simply reflash the bios with a cracked version. And even hardware DRM will be defeatable unless someone builds it right into the core, because if it's in a separate chip, someone somewhere will manufacture a pirate chip to replace it and defeat the protection.

      Copy protection doesn't stop piracy, it just slows it down a few milliseconds. Anybody with the dedication will find a way around it. Heck, Safedisc and Securom were originally uncopyable, so people started buying burners that were specifically able to reproduce the bad sectors. The consumers' buying power eventually forced all manufacturers to make their burners 'strong enough' to make working copies of games. And there will always be no-cd patches for the rest. Heck, look at Alcohol 120% software - whatever it can't copy, it emulates. There is no end to this, because ultimately the crackers are smarter and more dedicated than the ones making the protection. You have to 'ship' a protection scheme, which means at some point it has to be declared 'done enough' and sold, whereas the cracker has all the time in the world to finish his task. The only person he needs to satisfy is himself.

      --
      -Billco, Fnarg.com
    11. Re:And we've seen how effective that is... by KDan · · Score: 1

      As you do when you play from various locations, eg on your beefy company laptop! - or if you have LAN parties in the office and at home, where you're always using your own copy yourself but product activation would prevent you from using it on both computers (non-simultaneously).

      Daniel

      --
      Carpe Diem
  4. Mail in card?? by evilhayama · · Score: 2, Interesting

    God, that's going to be annoying if you don't have internet access for some reason. Buying a game only to not be able to play it until you post off a card and get a response would be crazy, especially for overseas customers.

    I hope it's like Windows XP where you get 30 days to activate your HL2. If that's what happens there might be nothing stopping me from installing an illegal copy, playing it for 30 days then reinstalling/giving up.

    1. Re:Mail in card?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't imagine why they would give you a 30 day activation period since most people would have finished the game long before then, unlike WinXP which can never be finished (unfortunatly).

      I will be very upset if this product activation crap is true since I fall into the category of an overseas customer without a modem on my PC (I do my surfing on another machine, bandwith sucks so never bothered with on-line games). Mailing in a card and waiting 3 weeks for a frikkin' code to activate the game....I'll get a cracked version instead. If they have a toll free number I can ring to get my code then maybe......

    2. Re:Mail in card?? by erasmus_ · · Score: 1

      I can't imagine why they would give you a 30 day activation period since most people would have finished the game long before then, unlike WinXP which can never be finished (unfortunatly).

      Umm, perhaps it's because people are still playing CounterStrike 5 years after Half-Life has been released, which required the full retail copy of HL until it was released as a standalone product commercially? Or any other popular HL mods. The single-player portion might be over for most in less than 30 days, but that doesn't meant anything for multiplayer. Not to mention, if it's as good as it looks, I'll probably be playing it through multiple times.

      --
      Please subscribe to see the more insightful version of th
  5. eh? by toddhunter · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm sure I misunderstand but
    it allows one copy of HL2 per machine
    Does that mean I can't install 2 copies on my own machine? Well fair enough.
    I bought the neverwinter nights expansion recently, unfortunately the CD was a bit flaky so it would barely install properly. After about 4 hours of work on the net, I managed to make a backup of the CD that I could trust would work in 6 months time.
    I don't mind product activation 'provided' you can backup the CD without digging around for special tools, and there is a nice system in place whereby if you re-install/upgrade your PC it can be re-activated.
    And it would also be nice if these measures start to work if they dropped the prices back down to the levels before they raised them to combat piracy. Can't see that happening though

  6. Sell your stock now by Kris_J · · Score: 4, Insightful
    If there's anything that is a better indicator of declining profits than investment in product activation and/or DRM, I haven't met it yet. They're also a good indicator that:
    • The current management don't have a clue about the business, and
    • There are no innovative people left in the company.
    Obviously a really large business is not a coheasive blob and some sections may still be doing a good job, but it does tend to indicate that the person with the reigns doesn't have a clue where they're going.
    1. Re:Sell your stock now by Komarosu · · Score: 1

      I seen em at ECTS, and when they started saying "we experimented with this" every minute or so you can see there are some good techie twiddlers there still :)

      --

      "What do you mean you have no ice? Do you expect me to drink this coffee hot?" - Random Customer, Clerks
    2. Re:Sell your stock now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seeing how Valve is privately owned, it's going to be rather difficult to dump their stock.

  7. ha! by Sparr0 · · Score: 1

    the biggest problem with a system like this are what happens when you want to reinstall the game? or buy a new PC?

    1. Re:ha! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the biggest problem with a system like this are what happens when you want to reinstall the game?

      I dunno, it creates a hash based on your computer configuration and verifies that you are installing it on the same basic machine, and if so, it proceeds as normal?

      or buy a new PC?

      You call them up and explain the situation. You give them the code printed on the manual. They give you a code back and you install the game.

      Big whoop. They aren't trying to stop joe blow from installing it on two machines in his house. They are trying to slow down the people that (a) give it to ALL their friends and family members to install for free and/or (b) upload it to the net for all freeloaders to install for free.

      It works. Ask Microsoft. I've used XP, no problems with activation.

  8. Fuck you, Valve. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    At least, that was my first reaction. If I can't install this game on my home home computer, then install from the same CD on my computer at work to play LAN games at lunchtime with my co-workers who are also going to be buying a copy - the effective cost of the game just doubled and I'm not going to bother with it at all.

    And this is from someone who bought the original Half-Life TWICE. I got it once when it first came out, then again when it was available in the giant bundle with both expansion packs as I'd since loaned the CD to a friend who'd moved away. If me buying your game twice isn't customer loyalty, I'm not sure what is. If you're going to turn around and screw me by forcing me to buy two copies of your product - adios. I'm not buying another one of your games ever again.

    If the activation would allow me to install it in two places, so long as I only ran it in one place at a time (and even if it required me to be connected to the internet - I'm used to that for massively multiplayer games) that would be acceptable to me. So long as there were an uninstall feature that would let me move one activated copy to another computer if/when I upgrade my machine.

    But product activation in HalfLife 2 would be such a monumentally horrible idea that I question the source - especially as I've never heard of that site before.

    1. Re:Fuck you, Valve. by Komarosu · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Good point, i liked the fact in HL1 they had WON IDs for online play but for LAN these were scrapped (as obviously you can't validate them) but this was excellent for these office LAN bashes :)

      Now we maybe have to suffer with no HL2 LAN play, i could see this could cause a problem at LAN parties where a net connection is extremly hard to get (say like a LAN party in a Pub meeting room).

      --

      "What do you mean you have no ice? Do you expect me to drink this coffee hot?" - Random Customer, Clerks
    2. Re:Fuck you, Valve. by Zathrus · · Score: 2, Informative

      If the activation would allow me to install it in two places, so long as I only ran it in one place at a time (and even if it required me to be connected to the internet - I'm used to that for massively multiplayer games) that would be acceptable to me.

      IIRC, that's allowed. Now this is all based on the reading of one thread on the HL2 forums, but in there Gabe Newell states that you can play from a friend's house using your CD key, even without them having bought the game. Better yet, your key bindings and other settings will follow you (although I'd hope they leave the hardware specific stuff up to each install for obvious reasons).

      Oh... and upon reading that thread, the latest information from Gabe is that the interview is a fake.

      I'd still recommend reading through that thread if you haven't before. Yes it's long. It's also responses from HL2 developers only (and the mods keep it cleaned up too).

    3. Re:Fuck you, Valve. by silentbobdp · · Score: 1

      Not only is the interview fake, but you won't even need to take the CD with you to work - if you're logged in to Steam, it knows you have the rights to the game and will let you have it.

      --
      --Moo.
  9. I dunno if I should be happy or sad... by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 1

    I don't know a lot about how the system here works, but I do know that I lost my key to Q3. WTF couldn't they print it on the CD instead of on the jewel case? Ugh. If this system means that I won't need to keep an easily losable number around, I guess its okay. If not, well then I won't be buying it.

    I mean, if they're going to use a system like this, why not just include a dongle?

    1. Re:I dunno if I should be happy or sad... by couch_potato · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The first thing I do when I buy a game with a CD-Key is take out my trusty Sharpie pen and write the key on the CD.

      You need a license to have a dog, but any fool can have a child!

    2. Re:I dunno if I should be happy or sad... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know a lot of people who have dogs. None of them have licenses for said dogs.

    3. Re:I dunno if I should be happy or sad... by WWWWolf · · Score: 1

      I had one CD once that had the key on the CD label. (Student version of JBuilder.)

      Ran installer. "Okay, now your product key, please?" Ummmmm.... wondering where the heck it is supposed to be, then (after exiting, unmounting the CD and ejecting it) noticing it's on the CD.

      If I remember correctly, then I had to do it again because it had a strange font that made distincting between l and 1 hard, or some other silliness like that.

      Having the key on CD may make it harder to lose, but also quite hard to see.

  10. Wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I find it amazing they think that they can get away with this, and due to how popular HL2 is going to be I unfortunately bet they will.

    Even worse, it looks like they are going to really start to push their streaming software scheme. I for one do not like the idea that you do not have a copy of the program, if you do it is heavily restricted, you do not have a back up of said program, you do not really own the program, and they could take it away for what ever reason they want.

    While I do think they should be able to protect their work, I really think product activation is the wrong way of going about it. I wonder what the gaming community that actually purchases their software are going to feel about this, and if they will accept this.

    I really hope this gets enough of a public back lash that they end up not implementing this. While I don't have the machine to run it, and will not for quite some time, I was considering getting it. Now with this news I am not so sure I want to buy it and support product activation.

    If they do this and I actully want to play it, I will try to register it by mail. I hope it is like a cd key, it does not expire, doesn't try to sneak online to spy on me, or does some other annoying and pain in the ass type stuff.

  11. HAHAHAHAHA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Guess what happens when their "STEAM" content delivery system suddenly has HalfLife 2 available.

    CRUNCH. No more Steam Content servers.

    They say they have 1.8Gbps bandwidth, but a mere 3345 people used 1.3Gbps when the RedHat ISOs were released on BitTorrent. Centralised content distribution like Steam is simply not going to be able to handle the load for the size of files they're going to be throwing around.

    Without some decentralised P2P file downloading action it's about as bright an idea as their "Powerplay" initiative (and look how that turned out).

  12. So... by Fweeky · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... pirates get to wait an extra couple of hours for a crack, and paying users get yet another annoying "protection" to get in their way. Yet again, those who aren't paying are getting a *better* product (no faffing about keeping the CD in the drive, no mandatory registration) than those who are. That's great! No, really...

    Are they at least going to offset the annoyance factor by forgoing the CD checks? I have 300GB of disk space - I don't want to have to screw about hunting for a disk I can't copy properly which should be in storage somewhere safe.

    Screw Steam too; post it to Usenet and P2P, and give me a way of buying a cheap license which factors in the fact that I didn't cost anything to distribute the game to. It's going to appear there anyway; it might as well do so legitimately.

    1. Re:So... by Locky · · Score: 1

      Coudldn't agree more, in the end, its only the paying customers losing the time, effort, and if Windows XP Activation is anything to go by, a whole lot patience.

      I cannot imagine going through an activation every time I buy a new game, This will detract more from sales than any piracy statistic.

  13. I think it's working well. by Inoshiro · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "About the only thing left to try is hardware DRM, but even that's not fool-proof (X-Box)."

    Xbox Live! service + XBox hardware = no mods, no cheaters. There's the odd bugged game that can be used in various evil ways, but the actual combination of a locked-hardware set and a locked-network is fairly strong.

    Sure, you could possibly crack it, but it's so improbable as to be impossible.

    --
    --
    Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
    1. Re:I think it's working well. by Golias · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Actually, the more popular mod chip designs have a toggle switch on them so you can switch them to look "unmodded" to the X-Box Live server, and use all the hacks when in stand-alone mode.

      Now that Live has been up for a while, it's probably just a matter of time before X-Box hackers learn what Live is looking for to confirm it's legit, and come up with a mod chip that spoofs that.

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

    2. Re:I think it's working well. by Ceyan · · Score: 1

      Golias mentioned one point, allow me to mention another. A third-party has been developing a completely SEPERATE service similar to X-Box Live, I believe it's called XBoxConnect (although don't quote me on that).

    3. Re:I think it's working well. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean XBConnect? That's for "tunneling", i.e. tricking the XBox into connecting to another XBox across the internet, but making it think it's just over a LAN.

    4. Re:I think it's working well. by billcopc · · Score: 1

      The xbox hackers know what's being validated, they just haven't figured out how to masquerade it as valid data. It's checking the bios, and what do we change on a modded xbox to run custom apps and copies ? the bios of course. So it is secure until we find a way to execute one bios, but present another to the Xbox Live test (or completely override the test itself - perhaps by intercepting accesses to the bios memory-mapped area). It's tricky but just like the PSX stealth mods that 'hide' after their job is done, something similar will probably be done on Xbox.

      There is no 100% unbreakable copy protection.

      --
      -Billco, Fnarg.com
  14. Oh really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It seems they don't want my money.
    Valve added to blacklist.

    1. Re:Oh really? by Zomboy · · Score: 1

      This is Valve.
      This is Valve's popularity.
      Fall popularity fall! *THUNK*

  15. Another Award Winning PR Move by Sierra by swdunlop · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sierra seems like they are trying to beat out Activision and Electronic Arts for pissing on its customers, lately. First, the public relations debacle that culminated here, with one of Sierra's PR reps calling his customer base miniscule and sophomoric, and now an adoption of a licensing scheme which, like every scheme before it, won't hinder pirates but will annoy legitimate users to no end.

    I was on the fence about buying Half Life 2, since I really enjoyed the mods for HL1 more than Sierra's game, but I don't think Sierra will be getting a piece of my entertainment budget for a while. It's a shame, because I really like Relic's games.

    --
    Weapons of Mass Analysis
  16. Anyone else figure... by Drakin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That the source is kinda dodgy? As one AC mentioned, it's not a site anybody's really heard about, and it was submitted anonymously. Combine this with the way it reads. While Mr. Newell often made amusing responces to questions, they tend to at least have more humour than what was found in this interview. Not to mention the way the questions were posed. 8/27/03 Interview with Mr Newell for comparison

    1. Re:Anyone else figure... by goraknotsteve · · Score: 1

      I was just thinking that myself Drakin. Are we that desperate for information on HL2 that we will dissect any tiny bit of info from what could easily be a fake interview. How many more conclusions can we jump to from this article?

      We need some solid proof on the points raised and not these Chinese Whispers

      --
      How much do you like toast?
    2. Re:Anyone else figure... by neglige · · Score: 1

      That the source is kinda dodgy?

      It sure smells funny :) Anyway, the release date is said to be September 30th, but, frankly, information is really sparse if that date is realistic. I mean, there aren't even system requirements mentioned at Sierras website, nor a picture of the box...

      If there was a poll about whether this article is fake or not, I'd vote "fake".

      --
      My cats ate my karma. They also wrote this comment.
    3. Re:Anyone else figure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree. Their main page seems to "conveniently" have no news..

      and their WHOIS on their domain name?
      Registrant:
      Doctor Comedy
      123 Brick Road
      Winnipeg, Manitoba A1C 2B3
      Canada

      Registered through: GoDaddy.com
      Domain Name: NERDSAHOY.COM
      Created on: 24-May-02
      Expires on: 24-May-04
      Last Updated on: 24-May-03

      Administrative Contact:
      Comedy, Doctor dsayer@shaw.ca
      123 Brick Road
      Winnipeg, Manitoba A1C 2B3
      Canada
      (123) 456-7890 Fax --
      Technical Contact:
      Comedy, Doctor dsayer@shaw.ca
      123 Brick Road
      Winnipeg, Manitoba A1C 2B3
      Canada
      (123) 456-7890 Fax --

      Domain servers in listed order:
      NS0.WASABIDNS.COM
      NS1.WASABIDNS.COM

    4. Re:Anyone else figure... by simoniker · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Thanks for everyone cluing me in as to the possible suspect nature of the interview. The headline's been changed here and at GameTab, and the article's been updated. Honestly, don't people have anything better to do with their time than make up interviews, and then anonymously submit them here? Grr.

    5. Re:Anyone else figure... by Gogo+Dodo · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, the damage is probably already done. Months from now when HL2 is released, somebody will probably pop up with "I'm not going to buy that because it has Product Activation. I read it on /."

  17. for the want of a felt-tip pen by DrSkwid · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you stick it on the Jewel Case you can use a more brutal machine to stick it on than if it was the sensitive CD.

    Plus you can get the jewel cases made ahead of having the CDs pressed.

    But I agree, this is annoying move from Valve.
    Like all copy protectin, the only people it will annoy is legitimate customers.

    "No CD Present" - "Yes there is, it's on the shelf in the box"

    5 minutes and a trip to
    http://www.gamecopyworld.com
    later

    "ahh, no-cd bliss"

    --
    There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
    1. Re:for the want of a felt-tip pen by BrookHarty · · Score: 1

      NO CD cracks are perfectly legal, and makes games load quicker. You still have to own the game to play online (or a legit authcode), so it is NOT PIRACY!

      NOCD Cracks are a godsend for lan parties, why would I want to take all my CD's, when there are 15 different games up, fuck swapping discs. Bad enough you pay 50 bux for a game or 200 bux for an OS to be treated like a criminal.

      Its tough being a consumer.

  18. How disappointing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I won't pretend I'm not going to buy Half Life 2 because of this, but it's very disappointing that such awkward measures are going to be forced on legitimate purchasers.

    • If I'm a legitimate purchaser, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to install a piece of software on, say, my laptop and my PC. I can only use one at a time;
    • I also don't see why I shouldn't be able to sell my copy on if I decide to; Valve have been paid for it, after all;
    • What if I upgrade or replace my PC?
    • What if I lose my reference number, or when, in the future, Valve goes down or stops running the servers to support the game (even if that's 10 years away)? I won't be able to make use of the game.

    If I buy a piece of software, it's mine to do with as I like, as long as I'm not spreading unlicensed copies of the software. Why are developers and publishers so intent on reducing their software's value, convenience and accessibility to legitimate purchasers, given that pirates will have it cracked in no time anyway?

    True, I for one will still buy it, and I suppose that's all that matters to Valve & co, but I'll be looking for the no-registration crack right away. This casts an unpleasant shadow across the release of what looks to be an otherwise fantastic experience.

  19. Wha??? by The-Bus · · Score: 1

    Now I admit I browse at 2, so someone may have mentioned this. But with Half-Life (the original first version), you also needed a valid product code to download patches and play online. From what I remember, there was no way to get around this, and while Half-Life was released illegally you still couldn't play online.

    If they give you 30 days with this, how is it any different?

    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

    1. Re:Wha??? by ymgve · · Score: 1

      You don't need a valid code to download patches, but for playing the game online, yes.

    2. Re:Wha??? by Kleedrac2 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Small error there. You need a valid CDKey to use the Sierra Update to download patches. Anyone can go to http://www.planethalflife.com/ and download patches and mods to their hearts content.

      Kleedrac

      --
      Sure we wang, can.
  20. hmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was planning to buy it, but now I feel like pirating...

  21. Purchase doubtful now by Dunkirk · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was really looking forward to HL2. I had the date marked on my calendar and everything. However, with this news, I doubt I'll buy it at all. I've avoided buying Windows XP because of the whole issue, and continue to run Windows 2000 to play games. To me, the "upgrade" wasn't worth letting someone else tell me that I was "allowed" to run it, even after I've already paid for it because of a hardware change. What if I lose my internet connection after the change? I'm stuck until I make a call? I'm sorry. That's just ridiculous -- to me -- that I would have to fool with that, again, after I've paid for it, free and clear. Unfortunately, I've just tried this new "Steam" product, and I thought, "Hey, this will be great! All these games for free! It will even be perfect for LAN parties because we'll finally be able to play Counter-Strike even though not everyone has bought it." Then I realize that for one thing, there are ads every time you launch a game. Not big ones, but ads. "Fine," I thought, "this is a free product. I get what I pay for." On top of this, the other thing that bugs me is that it's "phoning home" every time I launch a game. Again, it's free, and I guess that's part of the deal, but if we don't have an internet connection at the next LAN party (and sometimes we don't), then we can't play Counter-Strike for free. The bottom line is that I like to install my games both at work and at home, so I can play on my own time at lunch, and occasionally after work. I take my saved games back and forth while I beat a new game to death. If Valve tells me that I can't do that without paying for two copies, that's their perogative, of course, but it's also my perogative to not buy it. It seems ridiculous to me that I can't treat a video game like a book, and take it "where I want to go today." Product activation "like Microsoft" indeed. It looks like Valve will inherit my Microsoft buying habits, and I don't buy anything from Microsoft any more.

    --
    Acts 17:28, "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being."
  22. Copy protection and Wine by wowbagger · · Score: 1

    One of the things that sucks about this sort of thing is how it affects those of us who use Wine to run the program. Case in point: I own HL1 and BlueShift. HL1 installs quite happily under Wine, and runs. BlueShift installs but won't run - in order to run it under Wine you have to use a cracked version. So once again you have a legitimate user being forced to use a cracked game in order to play that which they own.

    One of the questions WRT HL2 I have is "Will I be able to play it under Linux?" - either via a native version or under Wine. This news makes me think the answer is a big "NO!". Considering that Valve has committed to a Linux server version, it is hard for me to accept that there will be enough demand for a server that runs under Linux, but not for a client that runs under Linux.

    --
    www.eFax.com are spammers
    1. Re:Copy protection and Wine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you look at the system requirements on the box for Half-Life: Blue Shift, they clearly state that you need Windows.

    2. Re:Copy protection and Wine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Silly user, linux is for servers.

  23. Product Activation.. by Lord_Rion · · Score: 1

    I'm really sorry to see Valve go to this model. I was really looking forward to playing HL2. However, now I highly doubt I'll buy it. :(

    --
    --Hired Net Grunt
  24. This is fake by entrager · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I seriously doubt this article is authentic, as someone else pointed out. I'm surprised no one else has posted the whois info yet.

    Domain Name: NERDSAHOY.COM
    Registrar: GO DADDY SOFTWARE, INC.
    Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
    Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com
    Name Server: NS0.WASABIDNS.COM
    Name Server: NS1.WASABIDNS.COM
    Status: ACTIVE
    Updated Date: 24-may-2003
    Creation Date: 24-may-2002
    Expiration Date: 24-may-2004

    Notice the creation date. The main page of Nerdsahoy.com claims it's been up since 1999. Netcraft has no history on the site, nor does the Wayback machine.

    nerdsahoy.com claims that all of it's previous news was accidentally deleted... a likely story indeed.

    1. Re:This is fake by Lurch+Kimded · · Score: 1

      I agree, if this is not a fake then I am a "small thin blonde swedish wilderness cookie girl who ha syet to meet her quota!" ... which I'm not, so it must be a fake, I hope and I pray its not, I REEEEALLLY hope its a fake.

      --

      How can you say that civilisation's do not advance... in every war we invent new ways to kill you.

    2. Re:This is fake by AllUsernamesAreGone · · Score: 1

      planethalflife think it's fake as well, and there isn't the firestorm I'd expect there to be if this was for real over at futuremark. Basically I think someone is playing silly buggers.

      On the other hand, Steam will have the ability to read and write to your half-life 2 directory - it'll be able to upgrade your game or install mods, cf interview here. Which is nearly as potentially troublesome..

    3. Re:This is fake by entrager · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Which is nearly as potentially troublesome..
      I'm not concerned about that feature. Steam is an option, it can be turned off. But even so, I trust Valve not to do anything that I don't want. Valve has always done right by me, and I don't expect that to change.
  25. distributed servers? by CAPSLOCK2000 · · Score: 1

    How many people will be able to play at once in a single multiplayer game?

    No comment.

    You have been tight lipped about multiplayer from the start... is there anything you can tell us? C'mon!

    Prepare to taste the future.


    Is he hinting at distributed servers or what. One of the cools things about the original HL was that level loading was done seamless, allowing people to move back and forward through the game. Extrapolating this to game servers brings us to players roaming from server to server, without them realizing so.
    1. Re:distributed servers? by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 1

      From the Halflife2.net forum linked somewhere else in this thread (posted by McFace):

      Distributed computing is harder than hyperthreading but it has the potential to increase performance by a huge amount (8X on our tools) as opposed to hyperthreading (30%). All of our tools are going to a distributed approach.

      So the taxonomy looks like this:

      - general algorithmic optimization (general good thing to do)
      - DX9 optimization (big gains, long term direction)
      - 64-bits (not that hard, solves memory problem as well as performance gains)
      - hyperthreading (hard initial cost, on-going code maintainence cost, limited unpredictable performance gains, benefits in multiprocessor environments as well)
      - distributed computing (hardest to do, biggest potential gains, great for tools, may be great for servers, not sure how it works with clients)

      It doesn't look like they're quite ready to look at distributed servers in terms of players moving from server to server, but there are hints that it may be possible, or at least something they've looked at. The memory problems mentioned under 64-bit computing has more to do with the tools than either the client or server.

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
  26. Interesting... by Lurch+Kimded · · Score: 1

    Just did a wee (translation - little) bit of digging on Google and found the following cached page. (I searched for Nerdahoy)

    It also appears that these are the gentlemen who made the sites, Lamespy and Crappynews. Which I have never heard of but do sound very parody orientated.

    --

    How can you say that civilisation's do not advance... in every war we invent new ways to kill you.

  27. For fucks sake!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I'm posting this anonymously cause I'm pretty sure it'd get modded to flamebait otherwise. I can't fucking stand the fact that you assholes are using such a pitiful excuse as a copy protection scheme as the reason you're gonna pirate a game. If you want to pirate and don't want to give Valve money for product don't. But don't try to excuse it by saying "I don't like their copy protection, they are gay, so I won't buy it." That's lame.

    1. Re:For fucks sake!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I won't buy it, and I won't play it.
      Valve cooperation? ENOSUCH.
      Any problems with that? Thank you.

  28. FAKE! by braedan51 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This inverview is an obvious fake. Has ANYONE ever heard of Nerdsahoy.com, come on! The site is extremely sparse and if you go to the main page you get some BS about how their news archive was deleted, so to ONLY article on this site is a FAKE HL2 interview. LAME. This never shoulda made it to /. A little common sense goes a long way.

  29. Product Activation? No way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I switch computers on an average of twice a year. I refuse to be inconvenienced with having to follow whatever hoops are involved to move software that is activation based between machines.

    I'll wait for a crack.

  30. Its a fake.... Please update the discription! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See here.

    I suggest that games.slashdot changes the description, game sites like gametab.com are displaying this "According to a mini-interview with Valve's Gabe Newell at Nerdsahoy.com, Half-Life 2 will use a form of online product activation to prevent more than one install per copy. By Gabe Newell's own admission, it uses a system much like Windows XP..." I suggest addding "FAKE mini-interview..." and hopefully it will be changed.

    So, I wonder what kind of legal action Value will take. This site just crys troll, going to the main page shows noting but this fake interview.

  31. Not likely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Valve have never previously mentioned product activation in any of the genuine interviews.

    Seems most games these days tend to work with a CD key which appears valid for offline gaming but have slightly better controls to check authenticity when playing online. It's widely known that Steam will be used for HL2 multiplayer, this seems to allow one CD Key per account, but from what we've seen so far there are no controls on where you install the game. We've yet to see anything mentioning Steam being required for offline play (unless HL2 is purchased via Steam).

    What seems to be more worrying are rumours that HL2 multiplayer will be Pay 2 Play which have appeared on a few HL2 sites. If this does happen, Valve could give HL2 away for free and charge us to play all the currently mod's that are so popular with Half-Life

  32. And thus.. by Inoshiro · · Score: 1

    A matter of time before MS changes its check, or adds new ones.

    Don't underestimate the motivation that money can bring to a company. Especially when they'll only be getting my money while I know that there are no modded Mechs on Mech Assault that are indestructable.

    --
    --
    Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
  33. Confirmed fake. by wire2k · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://nerdsahoy.com/articles/view.php?articleID=1 66

  34. Product Activation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's nothing wrong with Product Activation, as long as it only makes using the product a pain in the ass for PIRATES and not the users that paid for it.

    For all the bellyaching over XP product activation, I have had ZERO problems with it. The one thing it did was force my friends and family to buy XP instead of just borrowing it from me, so I guess it worked pretty well for semi-honest folks, which is the majority of people out there.

    If I spent months or years working on a piece of software for sale, I don't think I'd have a problem using a tool to promote people paying for it.

    So please... have a nice, warm cup of STFU.

    1. Re:Product Activation by Kris_J · · Score: 1
      There's nothing wrong with Product Activation, as long as it only makes using the product a pain in the ass for PIRATES and not the users that paid for it.
      There's nothing wrong with chewing on a mouthfull of bees as long as they don't sting you.

      Lets say you don't have an Internet connection. Do you really think that you should spend 45 minutes on hold every time you (re)install Windows XP? Or lets say you have a laptop with a docking station. Do you really want to find out that Windows thinks your PC has changed enough to require re-activation when you're trying to prepare an important presentation on the flight over?

      Windows has enough real problems, why add unnecessary ones? If I spent months or years working on a piece of software for sale, I think I'd have a problem using a tool that treats my customers like criminals.

      Dick.

    2. Re:Product Activation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i'd say the number of xp users without an internet connection is as close to zero as makes no difference
      and that in a year of service my xp "restore" cd has gone untouched.
      re-activation is generally triggered only by frequent changes in core components such as the mother board and primary hard drive. that's mjor surgery for a laptop. to put it charitably, users don't touch these things much

  35. Agh by luekj · · Score: 1
    I am so confused now!

    This bloody fake article has tainted my mind! It was just casual enough to make me think it could be real and just chums of Gabe. How could I be so nieve?

    I'll never trust an interview link again, gah. I think I'll need a chain to restrain my giddy mouth from saying "but they're going to have incentives to go with the online purchase, really!!".

    I think I need a life....

    --
    Many Thanks,

    Luke

  36. OMG by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    The domain names registered to John Carmack, those Doom3 boys are really getting low now!

    J/K :P

  37. Why unfortunately? by Snaller · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately, many signs point towards this being a fake, fabricated interview.

    Why unfortunately? If it requires product activation there is no way in hell I'd ever buy HalfLife 2. And i'd like to, so i hope it is a fake interview.

    --
    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating