Actually, I dont even know what persuaded me more - the free updates or ability to download the game. I hate to wait for weeks on end for my game when I can download a "shady" copy right away. So I'm saying being able to DL the game legaly is also a very important factor.

Actually, I dont even know what persuaded me more - the free updates or ability to download the game.

Impulse buyer here ... dang that ability to download the game

Well actually what tipped it was the support for laptops ... woo hoo!!

I bought Galactic Civ 2 simply because of its lack of all the 'copy protection' bullpucky that gaming companies like to lather on their games. It's just a convenient bonus that the game itself is pretty fun.

I'll say this- I can't think of any better solution. I wish your policies would become the standard, but it won't happen- Joe Gamer doesn't know enough to get upset with DRM. However, you have gotten a LOT of good publicity with your stances so far- which is helping your sales. your DRM policy probably has made Stardock in the six figure dollar range.

Gotta add my voice to the "saw it available for download and decided to buy there and then" crowd.

Firstly, I have to say that since Entrepreneur I've been a fan of Stardock games. But I was pleasantly surprised the CD WAS NOT required to play. I'm able to play on my desktop and my laptop. good no ya Stardock, best wishes for all your future releases.

I am totally disappointed in GC II because I can't play it due to your decision NOT to have copy protection. I bought my copy at the Yokosuka, Japan Navy Exchange over a week ago, but when I opened it there was no serial number inside to be found anywhere. Not on the back of the jewel case, not on either one of the disks and not in the instruction manual. I've contacted customer service and they told me to establish a Stardock account ( I did) and type in a specific word from the game manual (I did), but still no registration code after 4 days now.

So, I can't return this software to the store I bought it from as I've opened it. I can't play it because I don't have a registration code. I want to either be able to play this game or return it to Stardock or whomever for a refund. It obviously hasn't been registered. Who do I do either?

#82
That is strange, version 1.0 doesn't require a serial Id to be played.

I couldn't agree more. I hate having to use the CD to play games and to that end I tend to get the No CD patches that are available so I can then keep my valuable and hard worked for software safe,
I also Like your attitude to your customers. almost every other company treats it's customers with such suspicion they put me right off. Some of these copy protections are so severe they actually damage system stability and are even fatal to the operating system if removed.

This attitude really annoys me. Just because they insist on a licence agreement doesn't give them the right to mess with my systems so severely and to that end I refuse to buy software with certain copy protection. I would rather go without rather than let these arrogant people abuse their power in the way they do.

So certain copy protection loses them sales at least one. Mine. I am definately not alone.(If you do some research you will find which protections I mean)

And with companies and software like yours, who needs them.

Keep up the good work and thank you for treating me with respect and trust.

I am totally disappointed in GC II because I can't play it due to your decision NOT to have copy protection.

No CD neededDOH.

And how is this the fault of the non existent copy protection anyway. I completely fail to see a connection.

And how is this the fault of the non existent copy protection anyway. I completely fail to see a connection.

If you read his post, you will that that his copy doesn't have a serial ID. But that shouldn't be a problem for version 1.0

I am a bit confused on the Copy Protection scheme for GalCiv II. I purchased a copy at retail (newegg) and it arrived just fine. CD had a serial number sticker on it. I loaded the game from the CD, entered the serial number and started it up. Started up just fine. I downloaded the 1.11 patch and the now available pre-purchase files. I ran both of those executables and now the system needs to “phone home” for authorization. Huh??

I have sent two authorization emails (one 2 days ago, one today) and have not yet received a response. I am using a different email than my Stardock account which may be the problem. I may send another one using that email address. I generally use a single email address for all public forums, and another for purchased items. This greatly reduces the spam on email accounts I tend to rely on. However this may raise a red flag from your security system, or it may not. I have no clue.

Personally I would prefer a copy-protected CD vs phone-home. For two reasons. If I need to re-install a system/game when I do not have internet access (say at a cabin in the mountains) then I would be unable to play the game if it needs to phone home. Also when the company ceases to exist, the game is now useless as it can never be played again. I have many games from 15-20 years ago from companies that were big at the time, but no longer exist. Also companies may change and decide not to support “older” games since it doesn’t make them money but costs them money to maintain (eg. Provide phone home service). In either case the game becomes unplayable. From my opinion this is only a good option for short sighted consumers (which there is apparently a pile of, not related to GalCiv 2, but in general). At least a copy protected CD could still be played.

Yeah, TheBlip has a good point there. I mean, I still play my original copy of the original X-Com once in a while (although it runs a little too fast). What will happen to this game farther down the road?

unless the torrent site and ownership is shacked up in... say... Sweden, hmph. Different culture, different views I guess. (I'm deliberately sitting the fence out on this particular controversial, heavily politicized issue.)

Assuming it's the Pirate Bay you are talking about,,I'll explain it quickly.

Let's say a guy walks up to a shady schmuck:

Guy: I need some wheels...cheap.

Schmuck: talk to Jones over there if you don't mind them being "hot",,else you need to find Ford around the block.

Guy: Stolen,,lost... as long as it's cheap! You know someone selling some weed btw?

Schmuck: Sure,,See that guy over there? Just tell Jamaica that I sent you.
Now,,I have some nice deals on porn here,,wanna have a look?

Guy: Nah... you gonna charge me anything for this chat?

Schmuck: Not even a dime. These chickflick stuff pays the bills.
Of course you can drop a coin in the mug if you want to,,but that's your choise.


In Sweden (and I think in the USA as well,,albeit I might be wrong),,the Guy is committing a crime buying illegal stuff,,and both Jones and Jamaica are criminals.
Schmuck haven't done anything illegal per se though. He has his porn ads keeping him aflot (as well as donations),,but he doesn't participate in nor directly benefit from the illegal activities.

Torrents work the same way as Schmuck.
They doesn't contain anything but a direction of where the real "action" is going on.
Hence running a torrent server isn't illegal by Swedish law.
(former minister of justice Tomas Bodström is currently under investigation suspected for direct involvment in the crackdown on TPB)

Personally, I think Starforce needs to give Stardock a little compensation. Or more than a little. How about a lot. I also will refuse to buy any game copyprotected by Starforce software.

Well,,I'd say StarDock benefited far more from this than StarForce lol

Joe Gamer doesn't know enough to get upset with DRM.

Well,,it was the game Lego StarWars that finally broke the camel's back for my mom.
Before that,,she was vigorous in making sure no illegal copies was in her computer.
Here's what happend:
First the game had some problems I couldn't solve for her on the phone,,so I went over and found out that to run the game,,I had to uninstall not just daemontools but Nero and a few other things as well.
Well,,finally it was in place,,even though it had to be allowed to run in Admin mode which is counter productive to my efforts to keep my young brothers in check.

Of course,,the disc got a deep scratch in it and became unreadable.
My mother called Eidos and asked for a replacement.
After that call,,she never even bothered to read another license text again.
"Just crack the damn game for me!"

In short,,the person answering the call claimed her to be irresponcible for not making a backup in the first place,,then wanted to get a good 30% of the cost for the initial purchase to send a replacement disk.


When it comes to StarDock's "copy protection",,it's not that hard to come by the updates through...other sources.
That's how I got into the whole deal here,,DL first GalCiv and found it to be a decent game...not great,,but decent.
Then I got hold of an update through the same channel,,and hey!
Second update relly made the game stand out,,so it wasn't just bugfixes like one have come to expect with other games.
StarDock actually tried to *improve* the game all along.

What can I say?
I own GalCiv,,Altarian Prophecy,,GalCiv2 and have preordered DA

Hmm... for me, the copyright-protection issue is very simple. There is *no* 100% means of protecting software. Look at the most expensive pieces of software (available for everyone): Vista, Leopard, etc. all have been cracked.

I would like to add one category to the "1-5 list of people who would or would not buy software": the students which can't afford to buy stuff right now, but can afford the 2-3 hours of googling to find the crack for something (maybe anything). As they graduate, they get jobs, have less time for googling but more money. They will remember (I *do* remember) who the "nice guys" and who the "bad guys" were.

I was a "pirate" for some time, but now ~40$ is much cheaper for me than a few hours spent to find and apply the crack. I think the conclusion is obvious

I know my conclusion. I saw a review of galactic civilizations 2, and I thought it was pretty cool. Then I saw it had no copy protection, I bought it... and Sins of a Solar Empire just because it looked sweet and I immediately liked Stardock. I still can't buy Bioshock because I don't have the money, but I feel I made the right choice, plus I won't feel nearly as many compunctions about pirating a game that doesn't trust me not to, probably because I'm contrary. But still, despite all the swill that Digital Restrictions Management advocates spew, sometimes being able to actually own something and do what you want with it is a major selling point. Plus, if you want a perfect example of stupidity in DRM taken overboard, look at Vista. It's got more DRM than the US government thinks is neccessary for Top Secret info, and now Dell talks about offering XP like an upgrade... because it is.