PC fans forcing DRM into extinction Comments by Robert Purchese

Tomo, i suspect what he might mean is that 99.9% of those who pirate the game and play it WONT go out and buy it, because they are lazy losers who dont think they should. I dont think these cheapo's who want everything for free will make the effort to go and buy something, yes there might be a few, but I suspect the number would be very low indeed.

I do, and know a few people who do. I'm sure we're in the minority, but more than 0.01%. I don't have the money to buy everything in the world that interests me. If there are a few new CDs or PSP/DS games I'm curious about, I'll download them, and within half an hour have either deleted them or ordered the full version. I used to do this legally, but since Game/HMV/Virgin et al started getting arsey about returning stuff on the grounds that it's shit, it seems a sensible way of ensuring nobody loses out. If I download something and don't buy it, I won't keep playing it, and I would've bought it if it wasn't shit.

Also, as a side note, I bought FM2009 and couldn't play it on my PC due to the DRM fucking up (a few people had this problem). I returned it for a refund and downloaded a pirated copy. The only game I've played an illegal copy of for more than half an hour, and I make no apologies for it, I did try and play it legally but they brought it upon themselves.

my $0.02:

* I didn't buy Bioshock because of the DRM.

* I've never pirated any games.

* the copy of BF42 bought new from Amazon didn't launch. It took me a day or two to find a no-CD crack, then a patch to mask the crack and there was another step I can't remember now. I think it was because I had Daemon installed. I'd not used Daemon; I like to play around with software occasionally. It may sound obvious now, but it wasn't the first time.

* I feel I'm treated better by Steam, and am happy to buy through them. It's annoying if their prices are higher then a non-Steam version. (I really hope that isn't a signal to Steam to prevent discs being sold at a lower price.)

* I've got an objection to being treated like an idiot / criminal. It's even worse if it involves surrending some control of my PC.

* The DRM system is something I check along with CPU & graphics requirements. I'd like to see this given more prominence by reviewers and in system requirements.

* Software developers and publishers have a right to make money from (good) products.

There's something stupid and unfair (yeah, I know most of us aren't kids any more) that the people who co-operate and provide revenue are treated worse than the free-riders / thieves. I can see that it's a problem reconciling all the issues but I'm not going to accept all the burden; that's not a threat to pirate stuff, it's an observation that products I would have bought I'm now not.