Yeah, I definitely stressed about PC gaming less back then. I mean I didn't spend hours freaking out trying to get every mod for EasyTutu working perfectly, I just clicked the Baldur's Gate shortcut and created my first character, blissfully unaware of resolutions, graphics settings, mods, or anything but the game.

Though I think last year or so I've started to get that "giddy" feeling of immersion back from video gaming, all thanks to this place I might add.

I actually really appreciated it when the CD was just something you could rip to a disk image like a .iso file (or, concurrently, when games gave you a full install option so that you didn't need the CD in the first place). Sure, a lot of people didn't do it because drives weren't big enough to support them (and games companies never told you it was okay to do it anyway), but it was good to know that you could do it if you wanted to.

Ubisoft's DRM is the exception, though, since it's the only relatively widespread DRM that relies on a persistent internet connection. and that's pretty obvious to notice when your connection is down...

other DRM like SecuROM, Tages or SolidShield are indeed hardly noticeable. any complaints about drivers installed and running in the background are purely philosophical in this day and age. unless something's truly wrong on the programming level (as was the case with ArmA 2 early on and The Witcher 2) you'll never even know it's there.

tl;dr: PC gaming wasn't always the way it is today. sometimes it sucked.

Tages is goddamn insidious, isn't that the one which actually installs a set of drivers or something on your computer without your knowledge?

as do SecuROM, SolidShield, StarForce, etc. how else are these hardware-based forms of DRM supposed to work?

the point is that the software is harmless, and unless your computer has 10 year old hardware, you will never notice they are running in the background. StarForce has a horrible reputation because its old version caused hardware malfunctions. apparently that's no longer the case and SF now works like SecuROM.

Tages etc. are a problem only when limited install tokens are part of the deal. but even that problem is more of a theoretical one as install tokens are usually reset after a month or you can request additional ones, gain used ones back by deauthorizing your machine, etc. i've never run into a situation in which i could no longer install a protected game, and i've re-installed many of my DRM-protected games plenty of times.

but that's just why i prefer Steam: it's not hardware-bound, there are not install or activation limit, no system drivers, etc.

I LOVED those wheels. They are my favorite form of DRM. I thought of making something similar to remember all of my passwords. You could have a master wheel that has different letters that pop up for different websites. That way, you'd have a crazy variety of passwords, but all easy to remember (until you lost your magic wheel).

Thanks for brining back those memories.

Also, kudos on the bickering. This has been a fun read so far. I'm going back for some more. :D

I did not know this, I guess I never thought how DRM works, but the fact that it's "harmless" is completely irrelevant. You can have a bunch of useless processes that are running in the background on a computer, they might not do anything, they might not even slow down your CPU even a millionth, but they are still there.

Those DRM drivers feel like some kind of nasty virus, it makes you feel dirty you might have it in your computer. Makes me feel like running CCleaner right now.

so you just proved the point that the DRM is not noticeable. ;)

why do you say that? it makes a great difference if a driver or process is harmful or not. any Windows installation is full of services and processes you'll never need and you can't get rid of. but they're harmless. so why does it matter?

i see what you mean, but it's really a non-issue. it's official software, produced by well-known companies, licensed by publishers, included in game installations.

besides, you always have the option to remove those drivers if you no longer need them on your PC. but as long as you need them, i don't see a practical problem with them. it's not like you're even going to notice them, as you have admitted yourself. and it's not like they're harmful, either.

With so many people becoming aware of DRM and many expecting or demanding DRM-free games and, on top of that, the consoles probably moving into ultra-DRM territory, I think it leaves a market wide open to a company to take advantage of it all.

Can you imagine a console where you didn't have to get up and swap discs? That you could be on or off the Internet at your leisure? That you could rent a game and play it on your hard drive if you wanted to, but it was still illegal? But it was your choice to break the law or not. And the company would urge you that games like this would only keep being DRM-free if most folks obeyed the law. Sort of like GOG.

Getting publishers might be rough. But I still think so many people would enjoy that console over an always-on-DRM disc-swapping crap that it would just sweep everyone to their console.

Just some ideas, anyway.

Boo on DRM! :D

What is copy protection if not DRM? Digital? Yup. All computer games are digital. I've never heard of any analog computer. Rights? Yup. Refers to copyright, you can't copy this because you don't have the right. The code belongs to us and we don't want you passing it along to others. Management? Well, that was the point, to manage where you could play the game. Only where you had the disc, disk, or manual. Sounds like DRM to me.

You can have DRM-free content but copy protection. Look at watermarks on MP3 music purchases or just basic serial keys on games. DRM refers to a subset of copy protection. You're just being pedantic with the words in DRM.

I agree with Tallin, but I've heard arguments on both sides. Every official definition in any dictionary I've ever looked at says any copy protection of digital content. And that's what Tallin is saying.

I see that a lot of people want DRM to be something automated and sometimes more-or-less invisible. But I don't think those qualities fit the definition.

Those definitions would be wrong. It's Digital Restrictions Management or sometimes Digital Rights Management.

A watermark doesn't do that, but it does make it convenient to track down people that are infringing on your rights.

PC gaming is easier now than it has ever been. Or thereabouts.
Some games are annoying and require you to log in to some bloody EA system, but overall it's a po cacke.

Heck, they even setup the settings according to your system specs, some download patches just like that!

Early CD:s were a godsend, before them it was 2 hours swapping the next and next install floppy. And then the game didn't work because of stuff. And there was no web to see what went wrong.

We've been treated to years of limited progress, 5 yrs old system is not absolutely obsolete.

It used to be hell! No wonder PS1 and 2 took over, just insert the CD and start playing.

It used to be that you had codes you had to hunt in the manual, code wheels, code maps, that kind of stuff. I have a piece of software for the Commodore 64 that came with a black on red manual, so you won't be able to photocopy it (or read it).

Be happy that current DRM isn't as annoying.