Some guy in the future will say 'I never asked for this' if the problem of DRM isn't solved.
If you don't know what it is, the official definition is 'Protecting intellectual property
to prevent it from being freely distributed'.
In other words, it's to stop people from stealing it.
Though I prefer thinking of it as 'stuff that annoys people who buy the product, but tends
to be taken out of the illegal versions so pirates actually get a better experience.'
DRM, in its most basic form, is flawed.
Why would we want a company to ruin the games that we play with protection?
It's patronising to the extreme.
'Thank you for buying our product, now put up with this to stuff that pirates don't have
to tolerate!'
Probably the most basic and amusing form of protection would be to ask people nicely not
to copy their stuff... but as if anybody's naive enough to do that.
Apart from Microsoft.
And EVERY MOVIE EVER.
The most frustrating thing?
People who pirate these things don't have to put up with it.
I'm not stupid enough to think that by removing DRM completely will solve the problem.
It won't.
Some people may buy it in good faith since the legal version isn't MUTILATED by stupid
systems, but people will no doubt steal it regardless.
Sims 3, for example.
I've been screwed over in the past by stupid protection systems.
My legitimate copy of Sony Vegas stopped working because I had 'installed it too many times'.
Well, sorry if I want to reformat every couple of weeks!
I'm sure that pirates don't get accused of piracy by the programs that they're using.
I still hate how Windows installations track your hardware changes.
I've had a history of RAM-dunking and I'll go berserk if my watery antics get my account
banned.
The jump from physical to downloadable content has certainly scared publishers who have perhaps
over-compensated with stupid protection systems.
I mean, you're now trying to get people to download games for money, when there's a site
that lets you do it for free just next door!
I guess that you could also chase after the people who pirate games, setting an example
by fining people thousands and saying how it's just as bad as stealing something from
a shop.
It's not the same.
You're copying something rather than stealing the original and are more likely to have the
company after you than the police... which is probably far more dangerous since those
corporations have more power than the government if that guy from the future is to be believed.
It's not right, but please don't use stupid arguments to make it sound wrong.
Use clever ones instead.
On the other hand, I hate people who justify piracy for equally stupid reasons.
Let me just give one huge argument against piracy which should cover all bases:
There's no such thing as a bad product, only a bad price.
If it really isn't worth buying to you then why aren't you going out and spending money
on the things that ARE worth buying, instead of wasting your time watching things you don't
consider worthwhile?
You rely on others doing the right thing to sustain the developers of the media that you
enjoy so instead of insulting and ridiculing those who do pay for things you should be
THANKFUL to them.
If you really want to pirate things, just say that you're pirating it rather than giving
some half-hearted justification.
But at the end of the day there's nothing I can say that can get you to change your
mind because you can get it for free and don't care.
But please, kill yourself.
Anyway, where was I?
Ah, downloadable media!
Well, there are 2 ways that it can go.
The first is to use EXTREME DRM methods that disable CD writing devices, spy on you constantly
and destroy your computer with difficult-to-remove spyware.
Of course, this can all be disabled in illegal versions of the program so the only people
it really punishes are the good guys in life and those who are too computer-illiterate
to torrent stuff.
The second method is to make the DRM something you actually want.
Something that adds to the gaming experience.
MADNESS!
You might cry.Look on your PC.
I bet you've already got it there, staring you dead in your face.
Ahh, I'll just say it- STEAM.
Yup, it's something that's constantly in operation when you're playing the games.
It protects the game but in a new and exciting way- by REWARDING people who have bought the
game.
It adds achievements.
It throws in awesome multiplayer elements that pirates tend to be locked out from.
It's such a perfect system that people will actively go out of their way to get their
games on Steam than in any other way.
It's a brilliant solution to the problem!
If you want the game you have to download it through Steam.
Get an illegal version then it will be out-dated and cut off from the rest of the world.
But it's going to go even further via game-streaming.
At the moment your games are stored on your system.
But once they're streamed from a server somewhere, the only way of playing it will be to access
those servers and to pay for the privilege, since you're no longer given anything more
than what is essentially an interactive movie of the game that you've bought.
This will open up new and annoying opportunities, like renting games, if not from the developers
themselves than from third parties who buy several copies of the game and then let others
use them.
The whole thing's going to get super messy and I only wish I had the expertise to cash
in on it.
So what happens when the whole system goes down in a fiery apocalyptic scenario sometime
in the not-too-distant future?
Well, I'm sure they've already sussed that out and have plans to let us, the customers,
keep our games in case of such an event.
Ha, yeah, right.
The fight against DRM has begun.
Spore, a potentially successful game, was rightly STRANGLED AT BIRTH partly because
of its DRM systems.
(and partly because it wasn't that fun to play... but that didn't stop The Sims Expansion
packs from doing so well!)
More recently, the Xbox One did a 180 on their always-online DRM policies following public
outcry.
Wow, our moans and groans actually did something!
Other games, once they reach a certain age, get a patch to remove the DRM.
Operation Flashpoint no longer requires a disc, The Witcher 2 has been patched to remove
security features.
Now if GTA 5 can be launched for PC without the user having to log into 3 DIFFERENT PROGRAMS
BEFORE PLAYING THE GAME then I'll be happy.
I like the new movie system where they give you several different copies of the video.
Personally I can't be bothered to waddle across the room and insert a new disc into the player,
I'd much rather double-click on a file in a folder and flick through movies to the good
bits, irritating everybody else who's watching.
In conclusion, I think that the worst is over.
Maybe I'm being naive but it looks as though consumers have hailed Steam as their DRM-system
of choice thanks to the flexibility it offers and developers will have to be stubborn, wrong
and STUPID to take a backwards step in the ever increasingly hated world of DRM.
Maybe that guy in the future will have to change his quote after all.
And cut.