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Free Copy of the Sims 2 Contains SecuROM
dotarray (1747900) writes By now, everybody should know that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. Let's apply that to EA, shall we? The publisher is giving away copies of The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection, for free... and not mentioning that it includes the controversial SecuROM anti-piracy software.
Nobody likes SecuROM.
SecuROM racket
Despite how you stack it
Like a beard on a girl
They just want to hack it
Burma Shave
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
At least it's not StarForce.
So, tell me, what do you mean with anti-piracy? Does it help against evil people in boats comandeering unarmed trade ships? So then must be something good.
Or have you meant Digital Restrictions Management?
to a pirated version of this free software? I only ask becuase the pirated version wont have securom and will work better.
who prays for Satan? Who in 18 centuries has had the humanity to pray for the 1 sinner that needed it most? ~Mark Twain
Is there any convention about mentioning anywhere which protection softwares your software is using??
i get it that some people don't like securom, but is it any surprise that even free versions contain it because the probably couldn't be bothered to remove it before making it free?
Given that this is EA we are talking about, I can definitely believe that they'd somehow manage to be paranoid about 'piracy' of a game they are giving away. However, since it's also an older game(pre "Origin" store/client/pox-on-humanity and originally distributed largely on retail disks) and being given away it would be unsurprising if as little effort as possible was put into modifications for the new distribution.
Does anybody know how deeply baked-in SecuROM has to be? Would the developer/publisher have a 'clean' version that is then put through some sort of SecuROM conversion step, or would you have to go further back, and deeper, into the development process to cleanly rip it out?
I'm baffled at why including it would be worth much (especially if the license agreement involves any sort of volume-based payment, which would likely wipe out any minor benefits in audience tracking); but if it is sufficiently difficult to rip out then it would be understandable why EA wouldn't bother doing so(aside from just being evil).
It's free. If you don't like SecuROM, don't install the game. If someone hates SecuROM so much, they probably hate Origin even more, so this seems kind of moot.
The past years have taught that releases by EA are not finished and not reliable. Because they keep selling software to customers, they get away with this, though. The only way to educate this company would be by wallet.
I have no way of knowing what DRM software is on my PC, with the exception of the three I explicitly agreed to (Kindle, audible, and Steam).
I strongly suspect that other apps may have added unwanted crap but how do I find out?
They don't need to re-engineer it out, but it serves no purpose any more. What's the point of having DRM to prevent piracy of something you're giving away for free? Given that Securerom is often a source of technical problems, and that removing it should be trivial for the company that developed the game and still has access to the source and pre-DRM build, there is no good reason for them not to do so - simply as a gesture of goodwill and convenience to their customers.
Other websites: Celebrating the free release of a classic game.
Slashdot: Angry DRM rant.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
Look, you can all argue over SecureROM, but I downloaded my free Sims 2 and I of course, am going to do what everyone else who isn't bitching is doing, Nude patches.
https://www.google.com/#q=sims...
There's a google link to get you all started. First 2 links they want you to pay, screw that.
Be seeing you...
Lets be real here, the only reason they're releasing this for free is because The Sims 4 is coming out in a few months. With EA, there's always another motive.
Someone should write a limerick that highlights all the good game companies EA has killed or corporatized, it wouldn't be hard but it'd sure be lengthy. Oh how I miss the old Maxis.
Well, I'm guessing you don't know the offer they're making. You can get The Sims 2 free if you enter a promotional code (which is only good for one week) when purchasing The Sims 2 in Origin. So the copy of the game is simultaneously available for $X and $0 depending on whether you enter that code. It doesn't make sense to re-engineer it out, when the same copy is being distributed to people using the code and people not using the code and the code will become invalid in August.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
It can be removed but not without quite a bit of hassle. http://www.reclaimyourgame.com...
"I have downloaded hundreds and hundreds of records, why would I care if somebody downloads ours?" Robin Pecknold
In this day and age, I don't really care.
I prefer Steam because, generally, programs don't put more DRM on than the default Steam stuff (which is non-intrusive, as far as I'm concerned).
Origin, I can't stand the poorly-designed program that once downloaded something like 40Gb and took nearly a day to install one game, because every update was applied sequentially and every update updated every file, sometimes 9Gb per update.
But the end-point DRM on the game? You either care what that is and Google it, or you don't. That it's on a "free" game or not, who cares? And Securom is a damn sight better than shite like Games for Windows Live.
I can't say I've ever seen a machine "messed up" by Securom, certainly not one that can't be fixed by removing it (tricky though that may be).
As far as I'm concerned, the average bit of freeware comes with crap worse than Securom bundled nowadays. Hell, have you tried stopping Google Update services being created every time you install Chrome or Google Earth? It's a nightmare that DOES affect things.
Forgot to add that to date there is no known AV that remove it, probably as any AV publisher that did so would face a very costly lawsuit for defamation or similar. I Vaguely recall (and am too lazy tool look it up) AV publishers having faced suits like that in the past for classifying grey area software as malware.
"I have downloaded hundreds and hundreds of records, why would I care if somebody downloads ours?" Robin Pecknold
I hope there is a special place in hell reserved for every EA employee (yes, even the guys in the warehouse)--preferably one where Hannibal Lector runs the place and the rednecks from Deliverance are the guards.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
I have a VMs that runs windows xp and 98. They is specifically for old games that won't work on newer operating systems or have stuff like tages or securom. VMware player supports 3d passthrough so on a modern system those older games play perfectly without any frame drop.
Except that in the cases you cite, etymology supports the American spelling. There was no 'u' in "color" in Latin, and there was no 's' in the Greek root that became English "-ize". Oxford University Press uses "-ize".
I am not interested in that game for free. I am so glad I did not download it. I may be tempted if they offer that CnC collection.
That makes more sense.
It's still pointless though, because you can probably get it on every major torrent site.
Come on! I thought we won the DRM wars a long while ago. Most publishers/developers today aren't realizing that Steam is a great form of DRM that effectively keeps away pirates without punishing the user. You're also likely to sell more copies on Steam, what with it being a largest social gaming platform for the PC.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
People who care about controlling their computers care, as should all computer users care. This is another instance in a long line of great learning opportunities to distinguish between 'free as in price' and 'free as in freedom'—software proprietors get away with malware because how the software works is kept secret from its users. TFA tells us that Electronic Arts didn't tell prospective users SecuROM was a part of the gratis Sims 2 install, probably because EA knew users wouldn't install Sims 2 if they knew it came with SecuROM. Proprietors abuse the trust users have placed in them and it's time to teach users how things actually work, not encourage dismissal that hands users over to the abusers ("who cares").
Digital Citizen
http://www.google.com/search?q...
My Windows XP Pro SP3's Windows Explorer kept crashing because of SecureROM that was from C&C3:KW addon. It took me a while to figure out why.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Remember the Sony rootkit? AV didn't detect that either, and the AV vendors are paid by the customer and not by Sony. Goddam traitors.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Giving copies away.. and still has antipiracy software that registers as malware to AV apps.. Hmm free software bundled with malware? That sounds more like one of those seedy pxrn apps .. I thought this was made illegal years ago.