Half-Life 2 copy protection question!!!

[Gray Fox]

Well i just bought Doom 3 and it has a really screwed up security program(StarForce,you can see an interview with the makers of it here:
http://www.firingsquad.com/features/starforce_interview/)To get the full story you offcourxe are going to have to read the comment, cause a couple of things are just bs

The copy protection wants me to to uninstall programs like alchocol 120 and shit.(I know, you're probably thinkin that I deserve it for buying Doom3). But my question is will HL2 have something same like that, that pretty much installs itsef secretly and screwes my computer.
I mean sure I can read it in the license greement, but the only way i can see that agreement is if I buy the geme first and have no chance to return it to get my money back(well at least thats how it here in Holland works). (and Doom3 kosts 59,- euro's thats 60 or 70 dollars, so HL2 will probably kost the same, as you see we have to pay for the ordinary version as much as you Americans for the collectors edition)
So does anybody have info on this, you can redirect me to another tread and/or article somewehere on the net, or give me onfo on a way to send a message to valve, so that they would actuallty look at it and not trow it with the rest of millions of fanmail. And finally what would you people think of a security system like that coming with HL2. Do you think Valve should at least put the EULA on the net so we have a chance to read it before we have bought it.

 

[JimmehH]

HL2 will have Steam as the copy protection. It wont prevent you from having any other progams installed on your computer. You wont even need to have the CD/DVD in the drive to play. A bit like UT2004. I wish more companies were like that. I hate swapping CDs.

 

[lans]

Knowing valve's track record - I can assure HL2 will be on torrent sites weeks before release. So much for copy protection.

 

[Gray Fox]

Cool thnx, Man if valve does this I will really be happy and it will give an real inpulse to buy it legally.
Another reason for this tread was that I bought the game doom3 legally but the first time I played it was on my friends computer who had downloaded it the day it was realeased in the U.S. , and not here in Holland, so A: the protection does not work cause it was cracked the day it came out and B: They laught at me because their cracked versions didn't ask them to uninstall alchocol 120 and mine did, and personally I think I should be the one laughing at them, because I have the original. Man if valve thus this they are going to rock.

But stll one question remains, do you people think Valve should put the EULA on the net, and so unlike other companies have enough recpect to let us read it before we put a bought game in the CDplayer, and do you think all game companys should be obligated to do this, cause I didn't find about starforce untill a read the EULA for doom 3 carefully.

 

[JimmehH]

I think having an online EULA is a good idea. It's getting so that you can't read the EULA until you open the box and by opening the box you're agreeing to it. It's like signing a contract without reading it.

 

[Para]

EULA is useless in most countries (and it's actually illegal in Finland) so I don't think that EULA is a good idea.

 

[Tropico]

EULA is useless in most countries (and it's actually illegal in Finland) so I don't think that EULA is a good idea.

Show me

 

[Varsity]

Knowing valve's track record - I can assure HL2 will be on torrent sites weeks before release. So much for copy protection.

It will, but you won't be able to play it.

 

[JimmehH]

EULA is useless in most countries (and it's actually illegal in Finland) so I don't think that EULA is a good idea.

There's gonna be an EULA in some form or another. It's standard. It'd be nice to read it before you agreed to it though.

 

[Letters]

People read those? :O

 

[Ikerous]

I dont think i've read a sinlge EULA in my life and i've isntalled plenty of programs.. I didn't think anyone read em :-/ Im kinda surprised to hear people actually do.

Living in the netherlands would so be a fair tradeoff for paying more on video games considering how much you save on pot. Weed costs way too much in america. And what fun is a video game like hl if you dont play it stoned?

 

[kelerain]

I installed CZ from disk before moving to steam. It wouldn't run because I had a copy of Daemon Tools running, which I use to virtually swap CDs for huge games like Diablo II where using my real CDs is a pain in the ass.

I upgraded daemon tools to thwart the blacklist and it was ok. Steam however, seams not to care, as it us using that for authentication. Perhaps halflife 2 will be the same, where the non-steam single player install cares, and the Steam loaded version doesn't.

Either way, I can undertsand where they are comming from, but I feel it is not the best way to treat consumers. The virtual CD programs will all update to circumvent it, and the legitemate users will be inconvienneced by it. But thats life.

 

[Jimlad]

Knowing valve's track record - I can assure HL2 will be on torrent sites weeks before release. So much for copy protection.

What? Did you even read his post?

 

[pixartist]

lol in germany you can give your game back just saying "well, it runs not on my pc...." in most cases

 

[Shat_kat]

That's what my dumbass bosses at gamestation make us do, if someone says it doesnt work on their pc we have to give them a refund (within warranty etc) but it completely destroys the theory of steam, someone buys hl2, registers the key and returns the game. Yes, someone can send a letter to valve saying that the key their trying to use if they bought that returned copy, but who wants to wait 3 - 4 weeks for a reply.

 

[redrain85]

Doom 3 didn't use Starforce. It used the latest version of Safedisc.

Safedisc is bad enough now (wants you to uninstall programs like Alcohol and Daemon Tools before you run the game), but Starforce is indeed some nasty shit . . . few publishers have used it, because it just totally screws up your computer half the time.

Usually, whichever copy protection scheme the publisher favors, is the one it continues to use for new releases as well. So check to see what copy protection recent Vivendi games used, and I bet HL2 will use it as well. I'd think Vivendi and Valve would be smart enough not to use something as nasty as Starforce, though.

Either that, or Steam will be the only form of "copy protection". Steam encrypts the files, and requires you to use a CD-key to play online. If you try to hack or cheat, your account will most likely end up banned from Steam. So Valve has a pretty good thing going, already. They may not bother with CD copy protection at all.

 

[segobi]

lol in germany you can give your game back just saying "well, it runs not on my pc...." in most cases

"runs not?" ... try "doesn't run"...lol

 

[Robinhood_01]

Question: Can the people who download HL2 from steam, burn the files onto CD so that when it comes time to reformat/buy a new HD/or the computer dies, we can just put the files back on the computer and steam will just update it to the latest version? Or will there be some hidden verification file that will force me to redownload the entire game?
or should i be emailing Valve about this?

 

[NeoGlyphix]

Well i just bought Doom 3 and it has a really screwed up security program(StarForce,you can see an interview with the makers of it here

Wrong. Doom 3's protection was SafeDisc 3.2.

Edit: Uhoh, someone beat me to it

 

[joepjens]

I live in holland and i can return everything in 24 hours.

And where I buy my games there 50euro (55$ I think). And the SE of ut2k4 cost 60euro (66$ i think). you go to the wrong store.

 

[Link]

Question: Can the people who download HL2 from steam, burn the files onto CD so that when it comes time to reformat/buy a new HD/or the computer dies, we can just put the files back on the computer and steam will just update it to the latest version? Or will there be some hidden verification file that will force me to redownload the entire game?
or should i be emailing Valve about this?

Yes you can.

 

[Venmoch]

Ugh don't get me started on the whole DOOM3 authentication system.

The only way I could get DOOM3 to work is by A.) Messing with system settings (Big No-No) or B.) Cracking it (Which I did).

 

[Gray Fox]

Hey Joepjens

could you please tell me what the name is of the store where you buy you're games, I live in Rotterdam, its a big city so we probably have it there, I buy them most of the times from Media Market, V&D, and e-plaze(although not anymore on e-plaza cause they are really a bunch of kut klootzakken, cuase they know that ubisoft has published wrongle burned copies of BG&E wich can not be installed, and yet still continue to sell the game,and unlike other stores won't even want to return you're mony even to people who show them an letter from ubisoft instructin them to, and ubisoft are not m uch better, cause after 2 years since the game was realeased, they still don't want to solve it.( sorry I know this is about HL@, but I needed to get that out of my system, and I apologize for confusing starforce and safedisc.
P.S I haven't come across astore yet that gives refunds the way you discribe, but I would like to know one.

 

[Black-Falcon]

Thats interesting, I have Alcohol 120 installed on my computer and it had images running. Never asked me to un-install anything. And if any game uses StarForce, I will never touch it. That is the most nasty, retarded, smacktard piece of code, that causes more problems than it fixes...

 

[RogueShadow]

I use daemon tools and I didn't get any messages about it when I installed Doom3?
If only the world were perfect, they wouldn't need copy protection.