I took about 5 courses of it from 96-98 because everyone was afraid of the big bad 2000 bug. I couldn't stand it anymore and left to find a college that let me choose me language of preference. I think I'd kill myself if I had to do that for a living.. even at $120/hour.
Maybe we need to look up the definition of DRM again: "DRM is a restriction on the use or copying of files, imposed by the copyright owner."
"Digital rights management (DRM) refers to the control and protection of digital intellectual property (content), including documents, images, video and audio. DRM limits what a user can do with that content even when in possession of it."
"Digital rights managementâ"overall term for security approaches used to prevent unauthorized access to digital media."
"DRM refers to the administration of rights in a digital environment. DRM solutions may use technologies to protect files from unauthorised use, as well as manage the financial transaction processing, while ensuring that rights holders are compensated for the use of their intellectual property."
That's my experience with the exact same sequence of events you just describe. Care to explain it? (And yes, the same thing happened when I copied the game to my XP tablet)
It doesn't matter if they guy wrote out the ten commandments. He's trying to make money and will say anything to get it. Just because he says DRM shouldn't be restrictive doesn't mean he's not using it.
The sig.bin is automatically generated on install so it appears to you as if there is no DRM, but it's there.
Rename that sig.bin file in the Sins folder and tell me it doesn't have DRM when it asks you to activate. It's a hardware key tied to the device you installed it on.
Does Sins have a sig.bin file like GalCiv? I'm 99.999% sure it does....if so, it has DRM. That file is a hardware ID that will de-activate the software if any significant hardware changes, or you copy the files to another machine without running the install to "activate" the program again. You cannot play it if you alter this signature file in any way. Try renaming it and see how fast it asks you to activate it. That is the definition of DRM by every standard. The only difference is that they hide it from you and tell you it's not there.
Anti DRM unless you want patches (and maybe addons...) and you can overlook the DRM they include with Stardock Central and Impulse... Other than that, sure. They are TOTALLY anti-DRM./sarcasm
You laugh, but some of the most fun I've had this year was getting together with two of my friends for some late weekend dice rolling through a cardboard dungeon full of giant molded creatures.
Most guilds, IMHO, suffer from "High School Syndrome." You join up, get ranked according to personal feelings, or get "forced" into cliques because you don't play enough or do special favors for people. You are berated for not logging in enough (by some) and are kicked for not logging into some forum regularly or don't want to comply by some arbitrary rules. I'm also under the belief that guilds are killing MMOs be artificially segregating the communities and making player comfortable by allowing them to slough off grouping with other players because they have their elitist/normal/comfortable group.
Personally, I play games for the mechanics and the environment. I love MMOs that are huge worlds with complex/diverse classes. MMOs that offer economies that you don't have in single player games, dungeon crawls and adventure of never knowing what's around the next corner. Today's MMOs have lost a lot of that for me. Most of the dungeons/regions/worlds are cookie cutter, bland, and uninspired. Most of the time, the games are built around the guilds that want everyone to be able to drop what they are doing and fly across the world in 5 minutes. That sucks some of the adventure out... don't you think?
As far as mechanics are concerned, let me build up my character from the same core everyone else starts with using skills and requirements like Oblivion and Dungeon Keeper did... but with more complexity. I want to start off as a normal fair Dark Elf and pick up two handed swords, medium armor and fireball skills. I don't want to follow the preset tree and preset quests from zero to max level just to have to join a guild and raid or PVP. I want the progression from zero to max to be interesting, not required.
Unless you want patches like you claim. Then you have to verify your copy using the files located in the folder called validate.exe and sig.bin.
Look if you don't trust me. Also, try changing one character in the sig.bin or renaming it and see how far you get to play. Sig.bin is a hardware identifier key that is tied to your system. If you change certain things in your computer, it will force you to activate it again. DRM.
But it took an outside race to pull the polar bears out of his little world. Hopefully we make it out there on our own instead of in an interstellar zoo.
I wish I could get people to understand my hypothesis about black holes this way. Your analogy was actually pretty good. There's tons of speculation and formulas based on Earth-bound principles and everyone seems to latch on to them like they are "written in stone" and therefore apply to everything in space (gravity/magnetism/speed of light/etc.)
DRM by all definitions is copy protection. It stand for Digital Rights Management. They are managing your rights to that digital media. They manage how you have to activate it (CD or online validation) and if you can run it or not. By linking it to hardware, if you ever change something in your machine, you have to ask: "Pretty please can I run this software I already purchased."
CD keys could be DRM, but you have the ability to install and control that method. I may even argue that it's not really DRM because you have a physical hard copy (as in non-digital) of the key that is out of the hands of the publisher. How and here you use it is your prerogative. Online validation you have no control over unless you hack the game. It requires you to validate with the company and if a later times comes that the company is no longer there... you are out of luck. It's about semantics and Stardock is trying to redefine DRM to something it isn't.
Web definitions of DRM (Note the use of "copying of files" and "protect files from unauthorized use" as it is used in my examples)
Stardock has real integrity to date... pushing Sins and Gal Civ and The Witcher: Enhanced Edition (through impulse) instead of DRM laden titles.
Except for the fact that Impulse/Stardock Central is DRM...
I will explain it again, and post a link to the image if you don't trust me. I cannot freely move my Gal Civ2 Files from one PC to another without having to re-install or activate. It will come up with a message about the SID not matching the hardware when I delete the sig.bin and/or move the files to my Wine box: Wine: http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/5128/screenshotgalacticcivilex5.png Windows Activation Screen: http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/8435/stardockactivationeo1.png...and yes, for the record, it does work with just the files in the install directory. A certain... workaround... to this problem proves this but I won't go into details here.
Don't get me wrong, I completely agree. I kind of went about it the wrong way. I'm sure Shakespeare would make much more sense if I viewed it through whatever standard dictionary was out at the time.
I hope you never complain about someone butchering the English language, because you are basically saying that it's fine to ignore the rules as long as everyone else does the same.
Or, you have violated 235 of their (laws|patents) and they intend on receiving (taxes|royalties) for it from the (citizens|users) in order to properly fund their (job|development).
Wonder how long it would take to create a Battlenet emulator with auto-validation and a virtual local interface with IPs for Battlenet (for those pesky hard coded IPs if it has that, otherwise a simple DNS redirect would work)...
Slashdot Mirror
I wonder if there is a country that actually follows the Constitution... if there is, I want in.
I can download a song off iTunes without ever entering a license key for the song as well. Does that mean it doesn't have DRM?
I'm only upset by the people touting that it doesn't have DRM when it clearly does. I only wish to educate those people.
I took about 5 courses of it from 96-98 because everyone was afraid of the big bad 2000 bug. I couldn't stand it anymore and left to find a college that let me choose me language of preference. I think I'd kill myself if I had to do that for a living.. even at $120/hour.
You forgot your PIC statements!
(Forgive Godwin's law here for a second but...)
Would you forgive Hitler if he suddenly started giving everybody money?
Being a philanthropist doesn't suddenly make you a good person.
My friend always calls it "Open Sores" ... I can't argue with him about it now. :(
Here are two more screen caps that I just took. Maybe you can tell me why this isn't DRM?
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/9635/galcivactivatefailnq9.png
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/4140/galcivactivateke2.png
Maybe we need to look up the definition of DRM again:
"DRM is a restriction on the use or copying of files, imposed by the copyright owner."
"Digital rights management (DRM) refers to the control and protection of digital intellectual property (content), including documents, images, video and audio. DRM limits what a user can do with that content even when in possession of it."
"Digital rights managementâ"overall term for security approaches used to prevent unauthorized access to digital media."
"DRM refers to the administration of rights in a digital environment. DRM solutions may use technologies to protect files from unauthorised use, as well as manage the financial transaction processing, while ensuring that rights holders are compensated for the use of their intellectual property."
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/5128/screenshotgalacticcivilex5.png
That's my experience with the exact same sequence of events you just describe. Care to explain it? (And yes, the same thing happened when I copied the game to my XP tablet)
It doesn't matter if they guy wrote out the ten commandments. He's trying to make money and will say anything to get it. Just because he says DRM shouldn't be restrictive doesn't mean he's not using it.
The sig.bin is automatically generated on install so it appears to you as if there is no DRM, but it's there.
That's funny because I did the exact same thing and got this message:
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/5128/screenshotgalacticcivilex5.png
Yes, that's on my Wine box, but it also happened when I moved Gal Civ to my XP Tablet from my XP gaming box.
So, one of us is lying, one of us is lucky, or you have a different GalCiv than I do.
Rename that sig.bin file in the Sins folder and tell me it doesn't have DRM when it asks you to activate. It's a hardware key tied to the device you installed it on.
Does Sins have a sig.bin file like GalCiv? I'm 99.999% sure it does....if so, it has DRM. That file is a hardware ID that will de-activate the software if any significant hardware changes, or you copy the files to another machine without running the install to "activate" the program again. You cannot play it if you alter this signature file in any way. Try renaming it and see how fast it asks you to activate it. That is the definition of DRM by every standard. The only difference is that they hide it from you and tell you it's not there.
Anti DRM unless you want patches (and maybe addons...) and you can overlook the DRM they include with Stardock Central and Impulse... Other than that, sure. They are TOTALLY anti-DRM. /sarcasm
You laugh, but some of the most fun I've had this year was getting together with two of my friends for some late weekend dice rolling through a cardboard dungeon full of giant molded creatures.
Most guilds, IMHO, suffer from "High School Syndrome." You join up, get ranked according to personal feelings, or get "forced" into cliques because you don't play enough or do special favors for people. You are berated for not logging in enough (by some) and are kicked for not logging into some forum regularly or don't want to comply by some arbitrary rules. I'm also under the belief that guilds are killing MMOs be artificially segregating the communities and making player comfortable by allowing them to slough off grouping with other players because they have their elitist/normal/comfortable group.
Personally, I play games for the mechanics and the environment. I love MMOs that are huge worlds with complex/diverse classes. MMOs that offer economies that you don't have in single player games, dungeon crawls and adventure of never knowing what's around the next corner. Today's MMOs have lost a lot of that for me. Most of the dungeons/regions/worlds are cookie cutter, bland, and uninspired. Most of the time, the games are built around the guilds that want everyone to be able to drop what they are doing and fly across the world in 5 minutes. That sucks some of the adventure out... don't you think?
As far as mechanics are concerned, let me build up my character from the same core everyone else starts with using skills and requirements like Oblivion and Dungeon Keeper did... but with more complexity. I want to start off as a normal fair Dark Elf and pick up two handed swords, medium armor and fireball skills. I don't want to follow the preset tree and preset quests from zero to max level just to have to join a guild and raid or PVP. I want the progression from zero to max to be interesting, not required.
"Complete lack of any DRM nonsense"
Unless you want patches like you claim. Then you have to verify your copy using the files located in the folder called validate.exe and sig.bin.
Look if you don't trust me. Also, try changing one character in the sig.bin or renaming it and see how far you get to play. Sig.bin is a hardware identifier key that is tied to your system. If you change certain things in your computer, it will force you to activate it again. DRM.
It is NOT (and I repeat, NOT) totally DRM free.
But it took an outside race to pull the polar bears out of his little world. Hopefully we make it out there on our own instead of in an interstellar zoo.
I wish I could get people to understand my hypothesis about black holes this way. Your analogy was actually pretty good. There's tons of speculation and formulas based on Earth-bound principles and everyone seems to latch on to them like they are "written in stone" and therefore apply to everything in space (gravity/magnetism/speed of light/etc.)
DRM by all definitions is copy protection. It stand for Digital Rights Management. They are managing your rights to that digital media. They manage how you have to activate it (CD or online validation) and if you can run it or not. By linking it to hardware, if you ever change something in your machine, you have to ask: "Pretty please can I run this software I already purchased."
CD keys could be DRM, but you have the ability to install and control that method. I may even argue that it's not really DRM because you have a physical hard copy (as in non-digital) of the key that is out of the hands of the publisher. How and here you use it is your prerogative. Online validation you have no control over unless you hack the game. It requires you to validate with the company and if a later times comes that the company is no longer there... you are out of luck. It's about semantics and Stardock is trying to redefine DRM to something it isn't.
Web definitions of DRM (Note the use of "copying of files" and "protect files from unauthorized use" as it is used in my examples)
Stardock has real integrity to date ... pushing Sins and Gal Civ and The Witcher: Enhanced Edition (through impulse) instead of DRM laden titles.
Except for the fact that Impulse/Stardock Central is DRM...
I will explain it again, and post a link to the image if you don't trust me. I cannot freely move my Gal Civ2 Files from one PC to another without having to re-install or activate. It will come up with a message about the SID not matching the hardware when I delete the sig.bin and/or move the files to my Wine box: ...and yes, for the record, it does work with just the files in the install directory. A certain... workaround... to this problem proves this but I won't go into details here.
Wine: http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/5128/screenshotgalacticcivilex5.png
Windows Activation Screen: http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/8435/stardockactivationeo1.png
Don't get me wrong, I completely agree. I kind of went about it the wrong way. I'm sure Shakespeare would make much more sense if I viewed it through whatever standard dictionary was out at the time.
I hope you never complain about someone butchering the English language, because you are basically saying that it's fine to ignore the rules as long as everyone else does the same.
Or, you have violated 235 of their (laws|patents) and they intend on receiving (taxes|royalties) for it from the (citizens|users) in order to properly fund their (job|development).
Wonder how long it would take to create a Battlenet emulator with auto-validation and a virtual local interface with IPs for Battlenet (for those pesky hard coded IPs if it has that, otherwise a simple DNS redirect would work)...
At some point, folks, the world is going to move on to new technology whether or not it is secure or you like it.
I think you just described the Amish. (sort of)