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DRM Shuts Down PC Version of Gears of War

Posted by Soulskill on from the you-know-what-really-grinds-my-gears dept.

carlmenezes writes "It seems that the DRM on the PC version of Gears of War came with a built-in shut-off date; the digital certificate for the game was only good until January 28, 2009. Now, the game fails to work unless you adjust your system's clock. What is Epic's response? 'We're working on it.'"

28 of 598 comments (clear)

  1. Frist Post! ...expires by bar-agent · · Score: 5, Funny

    This Frist Post is only available through Jan 29, at which point the certificate expires and the Frist Prost will no longer appear first in the comments.

    --
    i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
    1. Re:Frist Post! ...expires by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Who said software should be free? You are lumping unrelated issues together for some reason.

      Rather, this piracy issue is not the customers problem, so the customer should not ever have to deal with it or be inconvenienced by it. It is the problem of the content owners. Piracy is the cost of doing business, so accept it and quit screwing with paying customers or pick another industry. In no situation is it acceptable for the content owners to screw with something I paid for after the fact.

      If DRM measures ever inconvenience paying customers at all, it is an absolute fail. It doesn't matter if the number of problem cases is small, they have a responsibility to ensure that the people who PAID them aren't affected by their irrational and ridiculous restrictions, and if i AM affected in any way, you owe me a refund.

      And to make it even more insulting, the DRM doesn't actually stop piracy of any kind, so it is all for nothing. The end result is that these companies are saying their interests are more important than the customers.

    2. Re:Frist Post! ...expires by Archimagus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      One of the best ways we as consumers can help fight DRM is to buy games from companies like Stardock. All of there resent releases have NO DRM. Galactic Civilizations and Sins of a Solar Empire are their big titles. Don't pirate these games. Stardock is trying to prove a point, that you don't need DRM to sell games. They believe that if you make games that people want to play, provide excellent customer service, and don't encumber them with DRM that they will sell more games, and it seems to be working. These games have no DRM at all (unless you consider typing in your product key to be intrusive DRM). There is no SecuRom, no install limits, not even a CD check. Also, they freely in the EULA give you the right to install the game on multiple computers as long as you own them and are the primary user. Most EULA's state that you are only allowed to install to one machine. Cheers.

    3. Re:Frist Post! ...expires by neomunk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, that's right, lets blame PIRATES for GoW not working. The poor production companies are just protecting themselves by purposefully selling a broken product (if you claim that GoW isn't broken, you forgot to read the title, summary or article) in order to... to what? To make sure that people who don't know how to find a crack (or cracked version) aren't copying the game? A simple CD check could do that. You say it's to keep the honest, honest, but it does not keeping them honest at all, it either teaches them that only cracked games work properly, or you just straight up lose a customer. I personally think the lesson being taught is that honesty is punished, and not worth the effort.

      I'm not entirely sure how you can fight against piracy by making sure only pirated copies work as they are supposed to (in the consumer eye). Blaming pirates for game company failures isn't going to win over any supporters. "Your game would work, but we had to cripple it because of pirates" is so weak of an excuse as to be transparently stupid to all but the least mentally capable gamers (and I'm talking REALLY unable to comprehend causality).

      Automakers would not put an anti-theft device in a vehicle if said device caused your engine to stop at random times (like when driving) and be unable to be restarted until the auto company did something secret inside the engine compartment. They would not sell it if there were certain driver/automobile combinations that simply did not work (i.e. if the car just plain won't start if the an "incompatible" owner tries to drive it). Furthermore, if they DID install such a foolish device you would hear very few people blaming carjackers for the utter foolishness of the automakers. No one would believe it, and nor should they. It is the very same here.

    4. Re:Frist Post! ...expires by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Funny

      More proof that DRM is EXCELLENT

      Who wants to take bets on who fixes the Gears of War problem first, Electronic Arts or REL0ADED?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:Frist Post! ...expires by Cowmonaut · · Score: 5, Interesting

      No one really likes DRM however there is little effort on the Anti-DRM Camp to come up with a solution that fixes the companies problem, of illegal piracy, or sharing a copy with your friends.

      Game companies already had a solution for the "problem" of people sharing a copy they own. Blizzard's "Spwaned Copies" were freaking amazing. Honestly though, how is sharing a copy of a game you own a problem? You lend people books don't you? Or movies? What about movie/video game rental stores like Blockbuster or Hollywood Video? In short, explain how its a problem or there isn't one.

      Also, why do the people that are against DRM get saddled with finding a "solution" to piracy? Every single DRM scheme has been an failure and damaging to the consumer to the point that some people feel morally obliged not to buy the games anymore from those companies. Better still, these DRM schemes do nothing but encourage you to pirate the game since the pirated version doesn't have the DRM!

      DRM is not working. This is very fucking obvious. Until they figure out something else to try, they should go back to only having the CD-KEY (which doesn't stop people from pirating in any way whatsoever, but makes it easier in multiplayer games to ban disruptive players. EA already is under a Class Action lawsuit due to the DRM in Spore before it moved to Steam. How many more game companies are going to have to be attacked legally by their own fans to get them to stop ripping us off?

      Oh and before you bitch I have a link to Steam in with the failures, remember that the Steam DRM does get cracked on occasion. They just patch and ban accounts. Will not stop players from doing it for single player or LAN games (and it takes no real effort) but as a DRM system it still fails at its task. On the plus side at least its largely bearable.

    6. Re:Frist Post! ...expires by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Informative

      I thought how strange, being as how a couple of them didn't even have a multiplayer mode. I thought, well maybe that's just for some kind of updating scheme or something, but I sure wasn't going to risk $50 to find out. So I ended up buying a USB drive, taking it to a place with high speed public internet, and just torrenting a few cracked games instead.

      I can't play my restored Steam backups because I cannot update Steam on my modem connection (it is not smart enough to resume downloads. Steam is shit) and so I have learned that Steam is not my friend. They told me I could make backups and play them without having to get them blessed. They lied. Fuck Valve, fuck Steam, and fuck Half-Life n. Anyone want to buy my fat-jewelcase HL2 disc and code?

      Any user who plans to play these games into the future does their self a great disservice if they buy anything which requires a connection at any time, whether it's just for the install or every time.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    7. Re:Frist Post! ...expires by Sancho · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And that's why analogies fail on Slashdot--everyone tears them apart not for the reasons that they are similar, but for the reasons they are different.

      The point is that for some reason, we let software companies get away with remotely disabling the products that they sell to us. We'd never put up with that from other industries. It doesn't matter that software can be perfectly copied--that's not a justification for the behavior.

    8. Re:Frist Post! ...expires by Lulfas · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My copy works just fine, I wonder why? Oh, right, I got it from Piratebay. Torrented downloads: They just work.

  2. HAHAHAHAHA by BikeHelmet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    See, the catch22 with DRM is, it's fine until it interferes with your gaming - and then it's gone too far.

    Most DRM seems "fine" until the day you realize it has crossed the line. :P

    And lately it seems just about all DRM is like that.

    1. Re:HAHAHAHAHA by PaganRitual · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'll get flamebaited for this but I had the exact same experience with Steam. It seemed like a great idea, but then I lost internet for a week, and Steam started up, told me it couldn't find an internet connection and click this button to start in Offline mode, at which point it told me that it couldn't start Offline mode because it couldn't connect to the server.

      I've since started purchasing disc copies of the games I've already had the misfortune of getting from Steam when I can find them cheap and I don't bother with seeing anything else that is available.

      It always amazes me that Steam is heralded as the future of PC gaming at the same time as everyone bitching about DRM, which Steam is just the same as the rest, it's just that Steam is blatant about it's constant need to authenticate, except of course when you put it in Offline mode and you get a period of unobtrusive gaming. Until next time it decides you're a pirate and needs to authenticate everything.

    2. Re:HAHAHAHAHA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why wouldn't he just pirate the games?

    3. Re:HAHAHAHAHA by iNaya · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Seeing as you already paid for the games, wouldn't it be within your rights to pay a friend to download a pirated version of the games you already own for you?

      --
      The Unicode standard is over 20 years old. Why does Slashdot not support it?
    4. Re:HAHAHAHAHA by jimicus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      At the risk of being modified flamebait, the DRM has already won.

      You've bought the product once on Steam, found it doesn't work and rather than contacting the publisher to say "Either it works or I don't buy any more", you've gone out to buy it on DVD instead.

      The free market theory doesn't work very well when the customer's reaction to being screwed over is to go back and ask for more.

    5. Re:HAHAHAHAHA by jlarocco · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The free market theory doesn't work very well when the customer's reaction to being screwed over is to go back and ask for more.

      That's just FUD.

      "Free market theory" is that buying and selling takes places voluntarily between two rational parties, both of whom agree to the terms of the deal. If he thinks he's getting shafted, but keeps buying the games anyway, then it's nobody's fault but his own. If he doesn't think the game is worth buying a second time, then he simply shouldn't buy it. The fact that he does buy it is not the fault of the video game companies, and it's not a problem with the free market.

      --
      Maybe not
    6. Re:HAHAHAHAHA by Crumplecorn · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For anything which doesn't require the Internet to function, Internet connectivity is an unreasonable expectation.

    7. Re:HAHAHAHAHA by langelgjm · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Free market theory" is that buying and selling takes places voluntarily between two rational parties, both of whom agree to the terms of the deal.

      The problem is that when you introduce DRM, "the terms of the deal" aren't always obvious or disclosed.

      --
      "Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
    8. Re:HAHAHAHAHA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      You can make a backup of ClientRegistry.blob in the Steam folder to restore Offline use of Steam:

      1. Log in to Stream, making sure that "store account details on this computer" is active
      2. Exit Steam. Do not log out, just exit
      3. Make a copy of the ClientRegistry.blob file in the Steam folder
      4. Start Steam without an Internet connection, it should ask you if you'd like offline mode
      5. If Steam decides that it doesn't want to start in offline mode anymore, copy the ClientRegistry.blob file that you have backed up back into the Steam folder

      Sort of a pain, but once it's working it's not so bad. I agree that nobody should have to do this to play the games that they bought.

    9. Re:HAHAHAHAHA by Guysmiley777 · · Score: 5, Funny

      In the United States you pick a cell phone plan based on which sized iron girder you want rammed up your ass repeatedly. There's no good option, only "less rusty" vs. "less jagged".

      --
      Coding with assembly is like playing with Legos. Coding an application in assembly is like building a car with Legos.
  3. What needs to happen... by GrpA · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What needs to happen is for everyone with a copy of this to take the disk back as faulty. Most consumer laws support this action.

    My son's version of Oblivion (I think it was Oblivion) failed to install after he upgraded his PC five times and they refused to give him another code...

    So we took it back to EB and demanded a refund (faulty product) which we were entitled to do. If you can't play a game, it's not of merchantable quality.

    Looks like we'll be visiting them once more with a copy of GOW for a full refund :(

    Perhaps if everyone did this, we'd see DRM take on a more practical appearance like a USB dongle - or even the entire game on a USB dongle - and without time limits or requiring web authentication.

    GrpA

    --
    Enjoy science fiction? "Turing Evolved" - AI, Mecha, Androids and rail-gun battles. What more could you want?
    1. Re:What needs to happen... by jsse · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps if everyone did this, we'd see DRM take on a more practical appearance like a USB dongle - or even the entire game on a USB dongle - and without time limits or requiring web authentication.

      This approach is too customer-friendly for them to consider. The mission of DRM is more than destroying piracy, it means to destroying second-hand game market and cross-boundary water-goods trade as well.

      The era of customer-oriented marketing strategy has long gone. Nowaday, all customers are treated as criminals and pirates. Face it man. ARRRR!

  4. DRM really only hurts the honest consumer (again) by jonaskoelker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is more evidence that DRM hurts the honest consumer.

    As we all know, the pirates wait for the DRM-free... "collectors edition" release on The Pirate Bay.

    Why do people continue doing it? Did they start when the economy was in a healthy growth period and then think "more DRM, more economic growth for us, it must obviously be causal".

    (now there's a good application of "correlation is not causation" for you)

  5. Re:Idiotic Design by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A proper DRM system...

    I stopped reading at this point, my oxymoron detector kicked in pretty quickly.

  6. The fix is what?? by teslar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Now, the game fails to work unless you adjust your system's clock

    Now not only is the game broken due to a broken DRM implementation, but even the logic behind the DRM is broken since it at least this part can be circumvented by adjusting the system clock (!!). What was the point of even bothering with this then?

    Although, actually, wouldn't this now make changing your system time an offence under the DCMA?

    I never thought I'd post those two words together in one sentence, but yeah.... epic fail.

  7. Epic's in a bit of hot-water by boogerme0 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    DRM does it again. Does this mean consumers who've been affected by this can sue? After all, Epic did technically violate an inherent contract in the buying and selling of video games: consumers give money to a company in order to play the video game (permanently). Since the consumers essentially do not have their game anymore, they paid for nothing more than a rental. It's akin to selling your car, then taking it back a few weeks later and pocketing the money you stole, er, made. At least they should be giving a full refund to the affected consumers.

  8. Re:Idiotic Design by Pysslingen · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now featuring our new, and secure, observatory dongle! For unlimited an unobtrusive access to your games, simply connect the dongle to your USB port and put it outside your window. (Clouds and volcanic ash may interfere with your experience, for which we are not responsible.)

  9. My Reponse by Karem+Lore · · Score: 5, Informative
    Epic's repsonse may be "Working on it"

    My response is http://gamecopyworld.com/

    --
    When all is said and done, nothing changes...
  10. How can the theory hold if the axioms are invalid? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > "Free market theory" is that buying and selling takes places voluntarily between two rational parties, both of whom agree to the terms of the deal. If he thinks he's getting shafted, but keeps buying the games anyway, then it's nobody's fault but his own.

    I've highlighted the part of free market theory which has failed to help you out. Knowingly allowing people to screw you out of more money is decidedly NOT "rational" from an economic standpoint. In fact, it is very directly in conflict with the behavior economists expect from a rational person, so much so that it cannot be reconciled with it.

    Yes, the situation is all his fault. But it proves that these transactions violate the presumptions (and therefore, will not follow the predictions) of free market theory. Given that it violates the axioms you've put forth, it would be quite unreasonable to expect free market theory to hold.