What's your take on Securom?
Nione:
For those of you who missed it somehow, this is a link to a "Bill of Rights" for gamers released by Stardock, an independent game publisher and distributor.
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/08/29/stardock-releases-gamer039s-bill-rights-pax
That site also has a lot of other recent news about EA and Spore and the T2 failed acquisition.
I've bought Stardock distributed games before and for what they are, they are very good. They appeal more to the gamer with a limited budget, limited time, or more interested in casual gaming. Stardock's president has the idea that people who pirate games aren't going to buy them no matter what you do, so you should target your games to the broadest audience that is likely to buy, and cultivate customer loyalty by not treating your paying customers with suspicion. Bravo! Finally! His company is surely not making as much money as EA, but they also aren't getting trashed all over Amazon by ex-customers.
Kudos, a Positech game available over at Stardock or on the Kudos site is sort of a simplified version of the Sims, by the way. It has nowhere near the complexity, but it's very satisfying on that sort of casual game level. I bought it from Stardock to reward them for their bill of gamer rights and don't regret it. It came with no copyright protection, you don't need to be online to play it, and it doesn't even phone home for free the updates unless you want it to. I don't normally play casual games, but the whole experience with both companies is so refreshing compared to what I am used to getting from game companies, I think I will try their other games, too. Kudos is very easily moddable, intentionally. It may be too simple for some of you, though. If you start feeling withdrawals and temptation over one of the newer Sims2 expansions or packs, it might ease your cravings a little bit until sanity returns.
http://www.stardock.com
http://www.positech.co.uk/kudos/index_variant_video.html
Both of those companies give modders :love4:
I will always love the Sims, but I am not going to knowingly buy anything with Securom on it because my Dell computer came with at least 3 programs it blacklists. Oooh, I must be a pirate because I paid an arm and a leg for an XPS system and don't want to wreck my hardware. Dell customers should be aware that if you have anything preinstalled on your system called Nero, Roxio, or Amapi, or you have an IDE CD/DVD device or even a digital camera or printer which came with your system, you may be at risk of permanent, irreparable hardware damage from Securom. Some users have had DVD drives replaced by Dell but Dell knows about the Securom problem, and it's no guarantee you will be able to get a replacement if even after ridding yourself of Securom(with difficult) your DVDs still do not work or you can't back up your professional work or school work to disks. One Dell customer said she got a replacement because she had inadvertantly bought software which contained Securom as part of a bundle with her computer. Would she have gotten one otherwise? It's hard to know. It's not Dell's fault or the customer's when a customer is subjected to a stealth program/possible rootkit. Forgive me if I doubt Sony's word after their previous history.
Sony's belief is you don't have the right to use Process Explorer to see what's running on your own computer because that apparently somehow violates their involuntary terms of service that you aren't allowed to try to figure out how their software works. Chances are, you never agreed to any terms of service with them and their software invisibly invaded your computer, which is actually illegal in some other places where current EA games are sold. I am not sure where they get their righteousness. If I caught a guy disabling my TV in my living room because I "might potentially" be planning to steal from a friend of his, and then he told me I had no right to check his pockets, he might be legally correct depending on where it took place because he is a person and accorded certain legal rights, but using Process Explorer on your own system for the intended uses is no crime anywhere that I know about. It's basically a troubleshooting tool. Here's what it does. Ask yourself if Sony has the right to forbid you to use it, and if there is any justifiable reason a person running it should be considered a likely pirate.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
EA, dump the Securom or you will not only lose my purchases of any Sims2 software which has it, but also my purchase of the entire Sims3 line, which I absolutely would have collected. Not that you apparently care there are thousands like me. SafeDisk made games tricky to install but it didn't cost me more hassles than one reboot into safe mode. And Sony? I've been boycotting them for years now. This hubris and mistreatment is nothing new for them.
End of :rant:
~Angel~:
I play mine on two computers, on my fiances comp, I aint had problems with Securom. On mine, I dont know if it is caused by this or just the fact my computers getting too old. I try not to think about the fact it is on my computer, and just enjoy the games. I think its wrong to put something like this into a game and scare people out of wanting to buy the new expansions, but I wanted to get them, so I did. So far so good, although I probably just cursed myself now lol.
shortgal:
I have not gone past pets. I don't have that good of a computer but even if I did I am undeceided. What about the fixes they use to get rid of secure rom at E.A or do you have to go thru the whole "no cracked cd mess?? I would be very confused.
MaryH:
At the sites that Tenshii noted (and that are in my sig), you will find the removal instructions for SecuRom.
They're not easy, but then again, you're getting rid of a very invasive and destructive piece of malware that likes to settle deeply into your computer.
Do not use the instructions at EA. They're useless.
Our instructions, by the way, were developed with the help of JM Pescado, the god of the mods.
(even Squinge will agree with that statement.)
If JMP approved them, they work.
Tenshii~Akari:
The EA "fixes" only sent people around in circles. Once you removed SecuRom with the tool, you wouldn't be able to play your game the normal way without re-installing it on your computer... thus the "illegal" methods many have had to take in order to play the games they bought. :?
And I'm personally happy to see that Stardock and Positech are part of the (rare) companies that still care about their consumer-base's computers. :clap: Hard to find some these days that are too worried about pirating and loosing profits rather than the fans. ;)
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