CD Protection - what ended up happening?

[vmxa1]

Funny thing about this greed business is that nearly all of the software houses go belly up. How many are around fron 10 years ago or even 5 years.

[Sarxis]

Originally posted by vmxa1
Funny thing about this greed business is that nearly all of the software houses go belly up. How many are around fron 10 years ago or even 5 years.

That is because they create one or a few innovative products, then proceed to lose their minds... kinda like Firaxis.

[vmxa1]

Yes they often are not god business people. It is not the dev house that are greedy, if any one is it the publishers.

[sabrewolf]

exactly!

game programmers are paid a lot less than other software developers. and only the very best games sell well enough to earn a lot of money.

it's a very hard business.
afaik programmers for video game consoles (PS2, XBOX, SDC, etc.) have an even tougher job.

[FNBrown]

I live on a dirt road.

Because I live on a dirt road, far removed from Civilization, I have no broadband access. No DSL. No cable. Just crappy 56k dial-up that only manages to connect at 26k (on a good day).

I will NOT be playing Civ3: PTW via the internet.

However, my wife enjoys playing, and we would like to play head-to-head via LAN.

I should NOT have to buy a separate copy of the game to do this. I've already bought the stupid game twice (Civ3 and then the PTW expansion).

In addition to the myriad of other bugs in the game, Firaxis should post a patch that allows for LAN play with only one copy of the CD present on the network.

[vmxa1]

Yup you have bought both and as soon as anyone you wish to play with does the same you are good to go. Anyway why does your choice of where to live have anything to do with it, unless you did not choose to live there.

[woody]

Originally posted by vmxa1
Yup you have bought both and as soon as anyone you wish to play with does the same you are good to go.

Games like Command & Conquer included 2 CDs, so you could play with a friend head-to-head without buying 2 copies of the game. That was a good idea. Perhaps PtW should go something similar, since people who bought it essentially have been ripped-off by having to pay for Civ3 twice.

Then again, Firaxis can't even get multiplayer to work properly, so they shouldn't have to care about how many copies someone needs to buy to play it. They can't play it anyway!

Anyway why does your choice of where to live have anything to do with it, unless you did not choose to live there.

Because 90% of the country still doesn't have broadband access.

[FNBrown]

If I go out and buy a board game like "Monopoly," I can play with as many friends/family members as I want, and I don't have to purchase additional copies of the game.

It wouldn't be that difficult to code the multiplayer version of the game so that local games on a non-routed LAN would require only one PC with the CD in it.

I remember playing Age of Empires on the LAN, and only one PC needed the CD. PTW should be the same way.

[SpencerH]

I think the biggest question with copy protection has been the change from CIV3 (safedisk) to PtW (secUrom). CIV3 worked for most people or they have got work-arounds by now. Unfortunately, PtW is more buggy (at least for me and a some others who have posted here).

FNB -check your PM's

[vmxa1]

Originally posted by FNBrown
If I go out and buy a board game like "Monopoly," I can play with as many friends/family members as I want, and I don't have to purchase additional copies of the game.

It wouldn't be that difficult to code the multiplayer version of the game so that local games on a non-routed LAN would require only one PC with the CD in it.

I remember playing Age of Empires on the LAN, and only one PC needed the CD. PTW should be the same way.

If I have a bus I can have many people ride with me, if I have a moped I can't, what does any of it have to do with software? I missed the analogy.
Several games have done things that made it easy to MP, that is there choice. I bought Stars and it came with two disk so you could play with friends, but they did not have to do that.
If you rent a car you are not allowed to let others drive it unless you pay for the right to do so.

[CrONoS]

Edited by Ming...

Yes, what you posted is illegal. I won't argue the moral values with you.

Again... Apolyton does not condone the illegal use of gaming software or allow discussion that would help other people use it illegally...

[WarpStorm]

Originally posted by FNBrown
It wouldn't be that difficult to code the multiplayer version of the game so that local games on a non-routed LAN would require only one PC with the CD in it.

It isn't a matter of difficulty. Infogrames told Firaxis what type of copy protection they required and Firaxis had to comply.

[Wittlich]

Careful cronos ... I think you might just get "Mingified" for your last post...

[battists]

Well, I should have known better than to start this firestorm. It *is* an interesting argument, that's for sure. Perhaps a better analogy would music CDs. If I buy a music CD, I can make copies for use in other CD players in my household. I can even listen to them with my family. And it's my understanding that the music industry is OK with that, as long as I don't "redistribute" those copies.

I suppose it's semantics, whether my wife using it is "redistribution" or not.

At any rate, my question in the first place wasn't so much about what is morally or legally right. I just wanted to find out the Firaxis/Infogrames party line, so I could follow that. Baa baa.

Oh, and incidentally, don't believe for a second that software piracy is the primary cause of the folding of software houses. Just like the dot-coms. Ya gotta have a solid business case before going into business, and they knew about piracy before they even started...

[Wittlich]

So the question still remains battists ... have you performed your LAN game with 1 CD? It should work. Any luck?