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Valve Takes the Offensive on Warez Users?
Drull writes "It's claimed by a poster on filefront.com that Valve might have released a "Warez" version of Half-Life 2 to monitor and ban those who attempt to use it. This is the news from some guy with a filefront account, so take it with a grain of salt.
What alternate reality do you live in? I've seen more complaints about Steam and Valve in the past week than ever before. Valve has pissed off plenty of people lately.
Hey, I too hate the RIAA and the MPAA for their jack-booted techniques, but I wouldn't exactly point to Valve as the gold standard.
It took two hours to get HL2 actually up and ready to play on tuesday, even though the installer actually put the bits onto the disk from the CD in under 15 minutes. And now, to actually play the game, in single player mode, it still takes several minutes from the time I click on the icon to start the game before I can even choose to load a saved game -- this time is spent starting Steam, then verifying that my copy is legit.
And then, even when I'm not playing, Steam pops up and sends messages to my screen. So far, they've been related to HL2 and Steam, but how long will it be before Valve is advertising their new game? Or somebody else's new game, available through Steam? Or how about some new energy drink to drink while playing their game?
Don't pretend that everybody likes Steam. It seems clever enough, but really what it is is an advertising, piracy prevention and sales portal. And if you want HL2, to actually *buy* HL2 rather than pirate it, it's forced on you.
IF Valve is, indeed, running such an experiment, it's pretty unlikely that Gabe Newell (or anyone at Valve) would immediately fess up to it to some unknown joker on the Internet - WHILE they're trying to catch people.
:)
:)
However, this is a pretty neat idea - since Valve knows that people are going to pirate the game, the proactive step of CONTROLLING the version that gets pirated by modding it so that they can track it anthen releasing it BEFORE anyone else can do the same pretty much ensures that they'll get the personal info (name, credit card #, address, etc.) of lots of pirates, and then they can choose what to do with that info.
The first option that comes to mind is emotionally satisfying to but a horrible business plan - they COULD use that personal info to PERMANENTLY BAN that person from using Steam/HL2, ever. Although that might make Gabe & crew feel good for a few minutes... they just potentially lost ($50 x #_of_pirates).
The second option, which is BOTH emotionally satisfying AND a good business plan, BUT is ALSO only quasi-moral and barely legal, is to use that personal info to contact the pirates directly and extort^H^H^H^H^H^H encourage them to buy a legal copy immediately, otherwise Valve will turn their info over to the authorities for prosecution. This not only "sticks it to the pirates" but also generates additional revenue (($50 x #_of_pirates) - ($50 x #_of_stupid_pirates)). Heck, if they went the extortion^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H encouragement route, why not "encourage" them to buy the $90 package instead?
The third, and most likely option, would be to turn all of that personal info over to the authorities and make a huge example out of all of them, thus instilling the Fear of Valve into all pirates everywhere, which would hopefully reduce the number of pirates and create a Utopian society for all.
All that said, though, I doubt there's any truth to the story, since, again, it kind of defeats the purpose of having a sting-operation if you TELL EVERYONE you're running a sting!
there's nothing illegal about banning users from your private system for what ever reason that you choose as long as you stop billing them. Also, it is probably written into the TOS that the users of this software must not modify it.
Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know. ~Lao Tzu
"Monitoring warezed HL2 files on torrent networks" is not the same thing as "Valve populated torrent networks with warezed HL2 files."
There's no real point to cracking it if you have a legal version. You'd risk running some hacker's code on your machine just to save -maybe- 10 or 15 seconds when you loaded up a game? That's foolish. So far most crack authors have been very good about being minimalist and unintrusive, but someday, with some crack, they're going to fuck you.
/., but when a company like Valve goes out of their way to offer something in exchange for the authentication hassle - they deserve a fair shake.
And when it happens, what then? You'll have less than zero recourse. "Yes, I want to sue this guy because the illegal program he wrote to crack the protection on this software nuked my email."
I hate software licensing as much as anyone on
My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
And in a month, none of those people who complained will care one bit.
Honestly, the brouhaha over Steam and validation on day 1 is ridiculous. Yes, if you bought the game on Tuesday you likely had problems for a few hours trying to validate. Yeah, that's a pisser. However, once you did get it validated you were able to play without any sort of online interaction (unless you were playing online, of course).
These same server problems affect every MMORPG on day 1. They affect every popular game that has online content (e.g., every Blizzard game). Its the nature of the beast. Sure, its a bitch, but a half day of inconvenience for 5 years of gameplay is something most people will overlook. Anyone who was faintly familiar with how HL2 validation was going to be done, especially the geeks at slashdot, should have known that day 1 was going to be validation hell. I knew it, and I'm waiting a few extra days before I buy the game, simply because I don't want that hassle.
These same server problems affect every MMORPG on day 1. They affect every popular game that has online content (e.g., every Blizzard game).
The difference, of course, being that in those cases you only have to validate games that are online.
I'm waiting a few extra days before I buy the game, simply because I don't want that hassle.
And you don't think that this is an unnecessary hassle? Why should you have to wait a few days (or any amount of time at all excluding the few minutes of installation) to play a $50 game offline?
Rob
The only people who have problems with steam are people with crummy net connections and people who try to use it when traffic is very high. If you use steam on a day that isn't close to a big release day, and your bandwith isn't poop it works just fine.
Awesome. So, your "offline" experience should now be goverened by your online experience, according to you.
So what's next, you think that linux should load slower if you have a slow 'net connection, or windows should crash more if you have cheap internet?
Please, what you're saying is that only people "elite" enough in society to be lucky enough to have a top-grade internet connection deserve to enjoy things like this game.
Get real.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
At least Microsoft provided the option of activating the product over the phone.
And on the same note, why should Valve go through 5 years of cost and trouble to design the best game ever made (my own opinion after playing it) only to have it widely stolen and pirated?
I'd much rather have Valve protect their creation via technology than in the courts.
Compare Valve's approach to that of the RIAA / MPAA. I'll take Valve's any day of the week.
Lose Weight and Feel Great with Isagenix
On some machines quite capable of running HL2, the steam part takes an extra four minutes or so, simply because Steam sucks and/or the servers are overloaded. Why should consumers have to wait for steam to play a game they paid for? We're being treated like criminals - nice reward for giving Valve and Vivendi our money, eh?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
It's the difference between an operating system and a game. Few people rely heavily upon the ability to play a game (and if you do, you've got more problems than just game activation). Inability to re-install an OS on the other hand can be a major problem. If you're stuck somwhere without a phone or 'net access and you need to install XP, you're up shit crick.
Both Microsoft and Valve can decide when to stop authorizing their software (and likely will at some point). Of course the consequences of no longer being able to install an OS are a LOT bigger than not being able to play a 10 year old game. You also have to admit that Microsoft has a much spottier reputation with taking unfair advantage of their monopoly power. Valve doesn't have that reputation, so people are more willing to trust them.
AccountKiller
Buying over steam had many advantages
I wonder how long it would have taken me to download over Steam on my 26k dialup.
If you want to play hl2 online in two years all you need to do is double click the game. You deleted the game ? NO PROBLEM. Steam downloads it for you. You are not up to date ? NO PROBLEM. steam updates you. You don't have the map / mod / whatever ? NO PROBLEM.
Oops! Valve went out of business and now the validation servers are gone. BIG PROBLEM! Now the only way to play even single player is to download an illegal crack.
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
"And you don't think that this is an unnecessary hassle? Why should you have to wait a few days (or any amount of time at all excluding the few minutes of installation) to play a $50 game offline?"
Then DON'T BUY THE FUCKING GAME. Why do people complain about stuff they know they're going to hate, then hand the makers $50 anyhow?
Yeah, and every time I watch a DVD movie, I have to confirm with the MPAA that I own the rights to view the movie... ...oh, wait, I don't. Your analogy falls apart there.
STOP MISUSING APOSTROPHES, YOU MORONS!!!
[The original product called] DivX was sunk because people didn't want the machine calling home when they wanted to watch something. How is this any different? Free hint: It isn't.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
There's plenty a point to cracking. I hate CDs. I hate having to put them in the drive to play. I hate it when the game won't play even if it's in the drive. I hate having to carry them around with me when I travel. What if I scratch it? What if I lose it? What if it decays? What if my dog eats it? What if my child tosses it out the window? What if my cd rom drive breaks? What if I don't have a cd rom drive? What about when the next big thing comes along and we ALL don't have cd rom drives? Maybe I won't be playing the game then but maybe I will.
Many of the above scenarios have occured already. More than once. Thank you thank you thank you gamecopyworld.com.
I have no reason to distrust crackers. What reason do you have?
Indeed...Valve is not the gold standard.
But the geek side of me has to acknowledge that the idea of downloading premium game content over the net versus having to walk/drive to the store is a great advance, and while it may havebeen inevitable, its good to see it actually working today (albeit with some growing pains in the first few hours/days/weeks).
This is exaclty the business model I'd like to see pursued with software, music and movies. It puts the money into the hands of the developers, rather than the publishers, and has the potential to eventually lower prices, if competition is good.
I'd like to see $40 premium games on release day, rather than the push for $55-$60 pricetags, along with knowing that even though I pay $15-$20 less, more money is actually going to the guys who wrote the software.
That would be the The Right Thing.
The likelihood of Acclaim going out of business is what?
The likelihood of Argonaut going out of business is what?
The likelihood of Virgin/Vivendi/Fox being sold to another company is what?
The problem is that 99.99% of the complaints are not in the form of constructive criticism. It's a barely cohesive mumbo jumbo with a lot of "ur" "2" "gay" "faget" and other bullshit. In the off chance the user has refrained from profanity AND put to use their 10th grade writing skills to use, they still manage to fail to offer any sort of constructive criticism. Constructive criticism requires two things; pointing out the flaws and offering possible solutions. Without the later, the entire concept of "constructive criticism" is moot (in this situation); it's not like Valve has a whole SLEW of better ideas just sitting there waiting for us to bitch enough before they implement them. Because that obviously makes sense. [/sarcasm]
Yes, people don't like to have to validate their game. I'm sure there are some people out there who also don't want to have to install the game before playing it, either. And probably even a few who don't even want to have to be forced to play the game; it should just play itself!
I realize those are unfair comparisons, but the bottom line is, Steam is the best thing Valve could have done, both for themselves, and, yes, the consumers. Now the patches are delivered right to my computer. I don't even have to bother looking for them. Could Valve have invested in a wee bit more bandwidth and a few more servers, at least for the launch and the Christmas season? Definitely! But it's not nearly as bad as everyone is making it out to be. People, seriously; get a goddam grip. I wasn't thrilled when I had to wait 12 hours for the last 18% of my preload to finish (on a connection that usually gets about 300k/s), but that doesn't mean that Steam, the validation system, or Valve are the anti-Christ. Relax a bit, have a cookie, and go for a walk while you wait.
Besides, it's not as bad as waiting for a Gentoo installation to be finished.
*still waiting for Gnome to finish emerging*
in 1995 people would have called you crazy if you said that Origin would not exist in 2000.
"And on the same note, why should Valve go through 5 years of cost and trouble to design the best game ever made (my own opinion after playing it) only to have it widely stolen and pirated?"
A.) Because it won't "only" be stolen. They'll be successful regardless. The 'legitimate customer' market is actually very large.
B.) Do you really think this won't be cracked, therefore completely thrwarting their 'protection'? Legit customers get bit, pirates don't care.
C.) You don't see the similarity between this and what certain music companies did to protect their CDs, thus rendering them unplayable? That wasn't acceptable, either.
"I'd much rather have Valve protect their creation via technology than in the courts."
I'd much rather buy products that satisfy me instead of turning piracy into a more attractive alternative.
"Derp de derp."
I don't really see the wait as a big problem. Sure, I can imagine it's frustrating, but like you say, go do something else while you wait.
The real problem is the lack of future proofing. I can slap in HL1 today, fire it up and be playing without any hassles. Same for Quake, and other games of that era.
But what about HL2? Will I still be able to play that in 5 or 10 years time? Or will the authentication servers no longer be there?
No, it won't stop me buying the game (pay-day is a week away yet), but it is a concern. Nothing lasts forever, but this potentially unecessarily shortens the life of something that could last a lot longer.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
If you even considered paying for it in the first place, there's a darn fine chance you're not a pirate. If you did, then you're one of MANY folks who will support it (or bought an ATI XT card.)
As for single player, of course it will be cracked. Probably already has been, and that's just common with software. I'm not terribly thrilled with having to validate online before playing, but you're gonna be downloading patches, mods, etc. to avoid the starting bugs anyhow, so what does one more wait get ya?
I came to realize long ago that the best way to avoid mass pirating is to provide a reasonable cost. I think if a lot of these companies realized that 12-14 yr olds don't generally have $50-60 to blow, they'd sell a lot more games. $30 is very reasonable, especially in this economy, and they'd cut the pirating down to a very small percentage. More money up front means more pirating, and it's been that way for MANY years. Pirates will not pay, all others provide cash/credit.
-What have you contributed lately?
Um, except that most of the time these cracks are written by members of huge piracy/cracking groups that have their huge reputation on the line and will only release the best product to maintain their reputation...
... No, you dumbass. You'll get viruses/trojans on your computer when you search for "half life 2 crack" on fucking Kazaa and start downloading and running every result that comes up.
They see releasing high quality cracks/warez as a matter of pride and wouldn't do something so "immoral" for any reason, unless the whole purpose of their group to begin with was to gain respect and popularity and then screw over everyone who trusts them.
The only people who make those malicious cracks are small groups that are founded upon the members' harmful intent, or individuals with the same intent.
Anyone who runs cracks made by these small groups/individuals obviously deserves whatever they get as a result of trusting unreputed and unknown obscure software crackers.
So many times I've gone to crack a program for a friend or whatever, and they start whining about shit like "You're going to get a virus on my computer!"
These groups have a HUGE reputation on the line, they're not gunna fuck around with that. They receive hosting on servers with huge disk space and high bandwidth *as a favor* from users who support the groups. They don't want to piss off the users that support them.
"A) So as long as Ford sells enough cars to "be successful", they shouldn't make attempts to keep cars from being stolen off their lots or from their factories?"
Uh huh. Because software copying is EXACTLY like removal of physical property. But as long as we're going down incongruous metaphor lane, let's make take this to an even stupider level: Would it be okay for you if Ford protected their cars by causing you to have to call them and seek permission to open the door? What good does that do if somebody can still force their way in?
If you're shaking your head, fine, don't bother hitting reply on that. The metaphor was stupid to begin with. I never said it was okay for people to steal, nor was I rationalizing it. What I was saying was that it wasn't worth hurting the customer over.
"B) Of course it will be cracked. Almost everything gets cracked. But for online gaming, what percentage of those playing the original Half-Life multiplayer were doing so on pirated software? 0%. Authentication works."
Right. Ask Blizzard about BnetD and then tell me again how succesful authentication is. If Half-Life 2's authentication is bad enough (not saying it is, as I'm not afraid to admit I really have no idea.) they could get around the authentication problem by developing their own server for it. It's difficult, not all that practical, but not impossible. (There's a big question mark over my head as to whether anybody can host their own game or if it's STRICTLY being done by Valve. If you're getting the sense that I don't know much about this game, your intuition would be correct.) If you can host your own game, authentication seriously loses its effectiveness in the hands of pirates. If the servers are 100% Valve owned, then I'm willing to concede this point to practicality.
C.) Nothing about this makes it unplayable.
Yet. Most of us have a tale to tell about losing an important element of a game, like the ID#, and having to buy another copy to play it again. History's against you here.
"Derp de derp."