Legal no-CD patches

[Spiffor]

The makers of X2-The Threat have just released a patch that removes CD protection. It's now possible for any owner of the game to launch the game without needing the CD, not needing an "external" program

I have noticed several small gaming companies prefer not to use CD protection altogether. Restricted Area doesn't ask you to have the DVD in your drive, and paradox games (at least EU2 v1.08 and Vicky) don't require the CD either.

I hope this trend will grow further. For two reasons:
1. It is very easy to find illegal no-CD fixes for mainstream games, because there are some excellent distribution channels. Any experienced pirate will have its games running in no time, regardless of protection. Maybe the gamemakers will realize this one day, and will stop wasting their money on useless security "protections".

2. As time goes by, the hard drives are becoming huge, and people accumulate large collections of games simultaneously installed on the hard drive. I think it's the first time that one can simultaneously have hundreds of commerical games on the harddrive since the appearance of the CD-ROM.
Now, I imagine I'm not the only one who hates searching in the CD collection whenever I whimsically want to play some game. The no-CD patches are very convenient in this regard, and are growing increasingly so

[Jamski]

Also the simple pleasure of not having to swop CDs to change games is a joy. I have nearly all my games NO-CDed just for this reason. Oh, and I hate the whirr of the CD drive. Oh, and games boot a lot faster.

I don't know why the gaming companies bother. CD protection hacking is like a routine job these days. NO-CD hacks come out on day of release.

-Jam

[GeoModder]

Or even before.

[Skanky Burns]

Harddrives were invented so that users could install multiple games on the one drive rather than having to swap between disks. This is pre-286 era. We have actually regressed.

3. Hackers tend to release superior products. Copy protection uses up resources - in some cases preventing users from playing a legal copy due to performance factors while a copy-protection-free version will give a much faster performance.

[vovan]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
We have actually regressed.

Indeed. There used to be plenty of games that didn't make you put the CD in the drive after you installed the game... Fallout, CtP1, Caesar 3, to name a few great ones.

[asleepathewheel]

Except for those games which required passwords derived from the manual. :grrr: F those games.

[Senethro]

Smac didn't need CD, SMAX does :/

[DrSpike]

I'm all for no-cd patches, legal or otherwise.

[Jon Miller]

there are people who don't buy games any longer

but there were always people like that (my dad I don't beleive ever beleived in buing games..)

(we would get shareware games for 3 bucks if he was feeling generous (and didn't want to spend the effort to download them))

I currently buy multiple games a month (close to 1 a week)

Jon Miller

[Solver]

Legal No-CD patches are good. Otherwise, CD checks are just yet another reason why pirated products are often superior - no CD changing hassle, faster boot. Alright, I can understand games that use data from CDs, but 95% games only use the CD to boot up.

[Kataphraktoi]

why use no cd cracks etc,when you can just use cd replication tools like clone cd+daemon,then its just copy cd+throw it away

[Skanky Burns]

Because it takes up at least twice as much space.
That said, for a large number of games I play currently, it is through that method.

[Kuciwalker]

Daemon Tools made my C: drive look funny in Windows Explorer

[paramir]

Originally posted by Cataphract887
why use no cd cracks etc,when you can just use cd replication tools like clone cd+daemon,then its just copy cd+throw it away

Never throw CDs away, I learnt that the hard way

[ravagon]

I always find that, with a few exceptions, I'm much more likely to play something that doesn't require me to put the cd in the drive than I am something that does.

This even if the cd is right there on the desk in front of me ...