Why does it have to be a bad thing?
on
TV Piracy is Next
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· Score: 1
Why not release the shows on the net?
I would pay if the price was good for a show providing..
1: I could download it and watch it as many times as I like (like VCR). 2: I don't have to jump through DRM hoops to watch it. 3: The price is right. 4: NO ADVERTS. Or the ability to skip over those adverts.
I rarely watch TV now, but then I rarely download anything as well (don't have the bandwidth for it all the time).
However releasing the TV programs can be benificial. For example I bought the FireFly box set based on watching one downloaded version.
Nothing new, all products these days have updates.
> online cheat-protection security,
That it currently doesn't have. There are already a number of wall hackers playing in CS:S.
> basically HL2's multiplayer client, etc.
Nothing new here either.
> And more.
There is no "More". The only other things I can think of are Advertisments (not wanted) and the DRM which is so horribly restrictive it is making it easier to go out and warez/hack the game then to try and install a boxed version.
> virtual rights
Which is another intresting thing as well. If Steam do find a cheat on your machine, your account is disabled. This means all the games you bought using that account will no longer work.
Fine for removing cheaters, but what if your a wronged party? (eg. A trojan which triggers this lock out). Steam solution is to open another account and purchase the games.
If it is so strong why after only a couple of days of the retail release is it possible to download the Warez copy along with a NoCD hack and a hack to bypass Steam?
>In fact, i bet you could give your friends HL2, so that they can only play it offline.
Which would be a stupid thing to do. Apart from your friend changing your password and you never having any way of getting back the account it would also cause problems if your friend installed a warez'ed version of a steam product or put in an illegal key.
Not to mention if it is possible to buy software through it without having to re-enter your credit card your friend can rack up a nice bill.
But if you trust your friend with a credit card it is probably not an issue.
Then either (a) you haven't tried it or (b) it changes from country to country.
I have the boxed version. It took ages to install and download. It also doesn't work in offline mode. I know numerous others with the exact same problem.
I can check numerous forums and see even more posts with the same problem. Clearly we are all liars I suppose?
Sorry but that is not true. A lot of places still do not have broadband. Where I live broadband only became available last year. I go 5 miles down the road and no one there can have broadband.
>Get the boxed version and you don't need to worry about d/ling the game.
Wrong again. The boxed version downloads a huge chunk while it is unlocking. It took quite some time for me even on broadband. From what I have heard from modem users 10 hours or more.
You also have people who have seperate gaming machines which are kept off the net for a reason.
Comments like "buy a modem" are a cop out IMHO.
A better suggestion would be to download the hack to play offline, but isn't that what Steam was created to stop?
You clearly haven't tried the box version. It still requires you to do a massive download which takes... wait you guessed it over 10 hours to download on a 56k modem.
Well considering it took me close to a day with broadband I might add to actually install and play the boxed version I can understand their pain.
Then when I disconnected the machine from the network and had offline set up as instructed it no longer worked. Then connecting it again required that I reboot the machine before Steam would even work again.
I see numerous posts with the exact same problem. It is certainly a clear indicator that there is a problem.
" log in with your account and just DL any game you have purchased already."
Which means what if you are using a 56k modem? You get to play the game in a few days time?
Or how about if you live in Iceland where consumers are charged for every MB they download outside of Iceland. Valve set up a server in iceland for the locals but then didn't bother to update it.
As for offline play, if you bought the boxed game then yes you do have to be online to play single player.
> If steam is ported to linux, perhaps more vendors will consider making cross platform games.
After spending a couple of days to get HL2 working (mostly steam working) I can tell you now that I won't be buying any games that require steam to play. Cross platform or not.
I was about to say the same thing. It will be amazing if they get it to work considering Windows users are going crazy using it. Just looking at the Steam forums it is full up of people moaning.
" If by hard to use, you mean click a button and play, then I don't know what you would consider easy."
Try...
1. Insert DVD. Machine won't read it. Insert a few times, even killing the autostart.
2. Reboot the machine with nothing enabled. Works.
3. Install takes forever (fast machine).
4. Run Steam, enter in key and steam says HL2 is not installed yet I have installed it.
5. Reinstall HL2 again. Steam picks it up and I enter my key.
6. Wait 15 minutes while it is downloading (at this stage I've spent well over an hour).
7. Go to play and it tells me my key isn't validated yet. About half an hour later it finally lets me play.
8. Try to play the following morning and it tells me I am not connected to the internet. Says "Do you want to play offline?". I click yes and it says I can't, try again later!
9. Connect to internet and try to play and it says the same.
10. Reboot the machine and then connect to the internet and then run and the game finally works.
Order 39 allows foreign companies to own 100% of Iraq assets outside of natural resources, take 100% of the profits they made in Iraq out of the country without having to reinvest any of that money and they are not taxed on it.
It is clearly laid out in Section 7 (page 4) of Order 39.
They can also lock in these terms for 40 years (Section 8 page 5).
Please show me where in the US you have the exact same laws? Or any othe country for that matter.
Interpretation? It is written in plain English. I will spare you the cut and paste as I am sure you are capable of reading it.
Oh and I don't read Democratic Underground (whatever that is).
While everyone is going on about the oil everyone is ignoring Order 39 which is theft. I am sure you have read it? The US would never implement such a law in its country, so why does it feel the need to do it in Iraq?
"Yes. If I did it in volume etc. etc. profit, etc."
Actually he would only have to sell one.
"A limit is already imposed on the character creator... there is a finite set of options."
Finite being in the 1000's if not more possible variations of super heroes. It is one of the games top selling points IMHO. You could spend an hour just in the designer before playing the game.
The reason it is related to a pen is that in order to make a clone super hero look the same as an existing one requires a certain skill to create it in much the same way as drawing it does.
The reason the Hulk is getting air time is because it requires no skill to create it. You just pick the heavy body and pick colors and thats it.
It is a moot point as COH actively remove any characters (and sometimes players) they catch doing this, not to mention they have copyrighted names already blocked.
Wasn't there a system in hitchhikers that meant you didn't require a password?
Why I hated "Robin of Sherlock" on Spectrum
on
Profanity Adventures
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· Score: 0, Redundant
By the same makers of "The Boggit" and "Bored of the Rings".
Basically if you put in a swear word the computer did a reboot. What was annoying was it took 5 minutes to load the game.
Ok so it is teaching you a lesson on swearing.
The problem was these games were built using a program called "The Quill". Excellent program for its time but it only reconised the first four characters of a word.
So for some unknown reason it had "Wind" as an expletive (possibly for "Pass Wind"). However in one part of the story you are standing outside a house with a window. Typing "Look through window" caused the game to reboot. It took me sometime to realise that the reboot was intentional.
"Nobody in Iraq would want to be controlled by a foreign country and have thier food supplies dependent on seeds from that country. Read the story dudes."
I suggest you read more then the story. Iraqi people don't have a choice in the matter. A lot of the laws being implemented are working out great for Corporations outside of Iraq but is tantamount to straight out looting.
>THEY will call the REAL 911!
This is typical of most large corporations. They don't want the staff calling the cops without security involved. It helps cut down on lawsuits, etc.
Look at Order 39. It basically allows non-iraq companies to remove 100% profit from Iraq without it being taxed and they are not required to reinvest in Iraq. Add to that they can own Iraq resources (not just oil) totally out right.
This sort of stuff is what creating insurgents and probably more terrorists.
Slashdot Mirror
Why not release the shows on the net?
I would pay if the price was good for a show providing..
1: I could download it and watch it as many times as I like (like VCR).
2: I don't have to jump through DRM hoops to watch it.
3: The price is right.
4: NO ADVERTS. Or the ability to skip over those adverts.
I rarely watch TV now, but then I rarely download anything as well (don't have the bandwidth for it all the time).
However releasing the TV programs can be benificial. For example I bought the FireFly box set based on watching one downloaded version.
I was a big watchman fan ages ago. I even have the limited edition Hardback (mine isn't for sale).
At the time everyone was for Arnie to play Dr Manhatten. TBH I can't see this movie being as good as the book.
> incremental worldwide updates,
Nothing new, all products these days have updates.
> online cheat-protection security,
That it currently doesn't have. There are already a number of wall hackers playing in CS:S.
> basically HL2's multiplayer client, etc.
Nothing new here either.
> And more.
There is no "More". The only other things I can think of are Advertisments (not wanted) and the DRM which is so horribly restrictive it is making it easier to go out and warez/hack the game then to try and install a boxed version.
> virtual rights
Which is another intresting thing as well. If Steam do find a cheat on your machine, your account is disabled. This means all the games you bought using that account will no longer work.
Fine for removing cheaters, but what if your a wronged party? (eg. A trojan which triggers this lock out). Steam solution is to open another account and purchase the games.
>strong anti-piracy protection,
If it is so strong why after only a couple of days of the retail release is it possible to download the Warez copy along with a NoCD hack and a hack to bypass Steam?
>In fact, i bet you could give your friends HL2, so that they can only play it offline.
Which would be a stupid thing to do. Apart from your friend changing your password and you never having any way of getting back the account it would also cause problems if your friend installed a warez'ed version of a steam product or put in an illegal key.
Not to mention if it is possible to buy software through it without having to re-enter your credit card your friend can rack up a nice bill.
But if you trust your friend with a credit card it is probably not an issue.
I eventually got the game working as I said. The game is worth the money but I didn't pay to have Steam.
Considering Steam is supposed to be for online purchasing it seems a bit pointless having to install it for offline play.
On the other hand if I had purchased it via Steam it would be impossible to return. Something you can't say about a store (least not where I live).
Then either (a) you haven't tried it or (b) it changes from country to country.
I have the boxed version. It took ages to install and download. It also doesn't work in offline mode. I know numerous others with the exact same problem.
I can check numerous forums and see even more posts with the same problem. Clearly we are all liars I suppose?
Read other posts. Boxed version requires downloading from Steam. You can't just play "straight away".
>there's pretty good odds you have broadband.
Sorry but that is not true. A lot of places still do not have broadband. Where I live broadband only became available last year. I go 5 miles down the road and no one there can have broadband.
>Get the boxed version and you don't need to worry about d/ling the game.
Wrong again. The boxed version downloads a huge chunk while it is unlocking. It took quite some time for me even on broadband. From what I have heard from modem users 10 hours or more.
You also have people who have seperate gaming machines which are kept off the net for a reason.
Comments like "buy a modem" are a cop out IMHO.
A better suggestion would be to download the hack to play offline, but isn't that what Steam was created to stop?
You clearly haven't tried the box version. It still requires you to do a massive download which takes... wait you guessed it over 10 hours to download on a 56k modem.
Well considering it took me close to a day with broadband I might add to actually install and play the boxed version I can understand their pain.
Then when I disconnected the machine from the network and had offline set up as instructed it no longer worked. Then connecting it again required that I reboot the machine before Steam would even work again.
I see numerous posts with the exact same problem. It is certainly a clear indicator that there is a problem.
" log in with your account and just DL any game you have purchased already."
Which means what if you are using a 56k modem? You get to play the game in a few days time?
Or how about if you live in Iceland where consumers are charged for every MB they download outside of Iceland. Valve set up a server in iceland for the locals but then didn't bother to update it.
As for offline play, if you bought the boxed game then yes you do have to be online to play single player.
> If steam is ported to linux, perhaps more vendors will consider making cross platform games.
After spending a couple of days to get HL2 working (mostly steam working) I can tell you now that I won't be buying any games that require steam to play. Cross platform or not.
I was about to say the same thing. It will be amazing if they get it to work considering Windows users are going crazy using it. Just looking at the Steam forums it is full up of people moaning.
The patent seems to only be applying itself to BASIC. So more then likely not.
" If by hard to use, you mean click a button and play, then I don't know what you would consider easy."
Try...
1. Insert DVD. Machine won't read it. Insert a few times, even killing the autostart.
2. Reboot the machine with nothing enabled. Works.
3. Install takes forever (fast machine).
4. Run Steam, enter in key and steam says HL2 is not installed yet I have installed it.
5. Reinstall HL2 again. Steam picks it up and I enter my key.
6. Wait 15 minutes while it is downloading (at this stage I've spent well over an hour).
7. Go to play and it tells me my key isn't validated yet. About half an hour later it finally lets me play.
8. Try to play the following morning and it tells me I am not connected to the internet. Says "Do you want to play offline?". I click yes and it says I can't, try again later!
9. Connect to internet and try to play and it says the same.
10. Reboot the machine and then connect to the internet and then run and the game finally works.
Sorry but Steam is a pile of crap.
Yes I have read all the Orders after I read about it in Harpers. It's called research. You can read them here...
h tm l#Orders
http://www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/index.
Order 39 allows foreign companies to own 100% of Iraq assets outside of natural resources, take 100% of the profits they made in Iraq out of the country without having to reinvest any of that money and they are not taxed on it.
It is clearly laid out in Section 7 (page 4) of Order 39.
They can also lock in these terms for 40 years (Section 8 page 5).
Please show me where in the US you have the exact same laws? Or any othe country for that matter.
Interpretation? It is written in plain English. I will spare you the cut and paste as I am sure you are capable of reading it.
Oh and I don't read Democratic Underground (whatever that is).
While everyone is going on about the oil everyone is ignoring Order 39 which is theft. I am sure you have read it? The US would never implement such a law in its country, so why does it feel the need to do it in Iraq?
"Yes. If I did it in volume etc. etc. profit, etc."
... there is a finite set of options."
Actually he would only have to sell one.
"A limit is already imposed on the character creator
Finite being in the 1000's if not more possible variations of super heroes. It is one of the games top selling points IMHO. You could spend an hour just in the designer before playing the game.
The reason it is related to a pen is that in order to make a clone super hero look the same as an existing one requires a certain skill to create it in much the same way as drawing it does.
The reason the Hulk is getting air time is because it requires no skill to create it. You just pick the heavy body and pick colors and thats it.
It is a moot point as COH actively remove any characters (and sometimes players) they catch doing this, not to mention they have copyrighted names already blocked.
Daniel Jackson: Thank Heavens the knowledge of the ancients allowed you to rebuild that stargate and get us back safely.
Jack O'Neill: Don't thank me, thank the Moon's gravitational pull!
Wasn't there a system in hitchhikers that meant you didn't require a password?
By the same makers of "The Boggit" and "Bored of the Rings".
Basically if you put in a swear word the computer did a reboot. What was annoying was it took 5 minutes to load the game.
Ok so it is teaching you a lesson on swearing.
The problem was these games were built using a program called "The Quill". Excellent program for its time but it only reconised the first four characters of a word.
So for some unknown reason it had "Wind" as an expletive (possibly for "Pass Wind"). However in one part of the story you are standing outside a house with a window. Typing "Look through window" caused the game to reboot. It took me sometime to realise that the reboot was intentional.
"Nobody in Iraq would want to be controlled by a foreign country and have thier food supplies dependent on seeds from that country. Read the story dudes."
I suggest you read more then the story. Iraqi people don't have a choice in the matter. A lot of the laws being implemented are working out great for Corporations outside of Iraq but is tantamount to straight out looting.
Read Bremers Orders put in place.
>THEY will call the REAL 911! This is typical of most large corporations. They don't want the staff calling the cops without security involved. It helps cut down on lawsuits, etc.
Look at Order 39. It basically allows non-iraq companies to remove 100% profit from Iraq without it being taxed and they are not required to reinvest in Iraq. Add to that they can own Iraq resources (not just oil) totally out right.
This sort of stuff is what creating insurgents and probably more terrorists.
Try calling your stick man "The Incredible Hulk" and selling it.