Also, it is a time bomb. Because, just like DRM, it works for as long as the company supports the authorization server. When they stop running the server, you've got a dead program.

The Ruckus internet music service is somewhat similar to this. You can download as much as you want, but the DRM'd files expire after 30 days. Want to use those with your MP3 player? Good chance it won't work with it because of that. In the off chance that you bought a Zune, they'll charge you an extra $10-20/month for the privilege of copying your songs to it...and they'll also expire after 30 days. FairUse4WM takes care of this little problem rather nicely.

At least EA games is using a rather insecure channel to do this (internet). Shouldn't be long before the hackers figure out a workaround. Nothing a little bit of packet sniffing shouldn't be able to cure.

Makes them feel like criminals? A lot of PC gamers are criminals. This is a product of rampant torrenting. It's a price we PC gamers have to pay in order to offset the issue of illegal downloads.

I remember hearing Crytek say that for every 1 copy of Crysis sold, there were 5 copies illegally downloaded. This is mainly the reason why they've completely abandoned PC exclusives going into the future.

PC gamers need to confront and fix this piracy issue. Complaining and moaning about a possible (yet still admittedly flawed) solution is like welcoming the destruction of PC gaming.

You want PC gaming to stay alive? Take the steps to fight piracy and deal with the consequences. You have nothing to fear but a little inconvenience.

As an avid PC gamer, I have absolutely no problem with this way of protecting PC games. Sure, there's a possibility that the servers might get closed down one day, but this is EA we're talking! It's not going to cost them a lot to keep a couple servers running for this purpose.

So stop bitching people. Stop bitching or come up with a better way to stop piracy.

If the copy protection bothers people so much they should just buy the 360 version . . . or not buy it at all. As a consumer you have the right to not support companies that employ practices you don't approve of.

They are also doing it with Spore for the PC. I hope this is not a trend.

@uberbucket: Why not? So you can torrent games and have nothing to worry about?

If you buy Mass Effect or Spore when they come out, LEGALLY, and you have an internet connection, you have little to nothing to worry about.

Actually I have more of a problem with them using SecuROM than I do with the 10 day activation.

Like all companies who attempt to stop piracy they are taking it out on the legitimate owners of the products.

Knowing this will definitely turn me off from purchasing the game and I own a decent PC and a PS3.

Software companies like EA who were great during the golden era of DOS gaming have turned to a money hungry, toss-the-customer-under-the-bus-and-run mentality.

Then again, the internet gaming community has done little to prove that we're not all 12 year old boys named Jason.

If anything, this type of "phone home" DRM is nothing more than a big sigh of relief for pirates as you will have legit owners hacking the game in order to stop it from phoning home as well. It adds to more people and a greater knowledge base in order to achieve the goal of the common mentality of software ownership which is, if I walk into a best buy and pay $59.99 for a game, I OWN that game and can do whatever I want with it.That is the consumer's mentality towards software. The consumer doesn't want to read an ELUA. It is the same as if the RIAA said that I don't own all of the CD's I purchased in the last 18 years of my life.

No matter how hard the gaming companies, RIAA, and MPAA try to enforce it, if the consumer is shelling out cash and they are saying "you don't actually own that" then the consumer is going to shoot back, "I gave you your money go away now."

@ShirtGuyDom:

Sure you do, you have plenty to worry about. Big Brother is now able to watch you.

Do you want EA watching over all of you habits online? I do not want any company watching what I do online and knowing about what games I do and don't play.

What if I was to load this game on a laptop and take it for a long trip where there was no wifi? What then?

I really wish MAPC is available via Steam.

I'm thinking a week or less after Mass Effect's release, there will be a SecuROM crack, making it a moot point anyway.

Every game I buy, I use no-CD cracks just to save wear and tear on my games and drive. If I choose to get mass Effect, it will be only after SecuROM can be completely disabled. The fact that EA is trying to do this is almost enough for me to pirate their games that use technology like SecuROM. This sort of thing doesn't sit well with me and really shouldn't with anyone.

@Imakeholesinu: Oh come on. Big Brother? Really? Give me a break.

"What if I was to load this game on a laptop and take it for a long trip where there was no wifi? What then?"

Where would you be where there'd be no internet at all (you can take a little ethernet cable with you if need be) where you'd want to spend time playing Mass Effect?

@ShirtGuyDom: Until you decide that you want to play that game again 15 years down the line. It happens. I still pop in CDs of games I bought over a decade ago and play them again from time to time.

The big question is, if you purchased the game legally, will the activation server still be running at the time you decide to "revisit" a game 10-15 years later? From industry track record, the answer is likely to be NO. And unfortunately, at that point, the only loser is the person who legally purchased a license to the game.

Shame, it really is a damned if you do and damned if you don't thing.

I don't understand why PC games don't take something from Steam, all PC games come encrypted, and your CD key is tied to your account, and with that CD key, you can then download the key to unencrypt your game. The CD Key then goes to a server where it is registered to your user name and password, along with all other games made by that company.

If it was just one game tied to that service, I can see it being misused, but many games, like Steam, and you don't want to give your password out because you don't know who out there will change it, and then take ownership of all your games.

I don't know... The moral is that I, like some other people posting, won't buy a copy it until it is cracked to the point where it doesn't call home, and doesn't need the CD in the drive.

@ShirtGuyDom:

Yes, and making it more of a pain in the ass and a generally more unpleasant experience to buy a game than to pirate it is definitely the way to go in tackling that problem.

@azntg: I'd much rather let down a relatively small number of PC gamers 10 years down the line than let down every single PC gamer in a few years when I decide that PCs aren't worth putting games on at all.

Even still, what's stopping EA from getting rid of the online check requirement when they close down the servers? I mean, by that time they will have probably satiated the market with whatever particular game is in question.

@TechnoDestructo: Really? Registering online and having it auto-check is that much a pain in the ass? Please.

I'm a big Bioware fan and once PC version of Mass Effect was announced I made a note to buy it. Even tho they're using this draconian method of authorization, I'll still purchase it because I want to support Bioware. The copy protection is usually done by publisher, in this case EA (die die die).

I'll end up buying it but using the crack once it is released. Having to activate it every 10 days is just plain retarded.

Also, about activation server not always being up is pretty hallow argument. A lot of companies come out with patch that removes all protection a year or so after release.

@ShirtGuyDom:

"Sure, there's a possibility that the servers might get closed down one day, but this is EA we're talking!"

What about the MSN Music store? This is Microsoft we're talking! It's not going to cost them a lot to keep a couple servers running for this purpose.

...

You guys having this backlash against this system are just completely missing the big picture, or rather the bottom line. EA isn't publishing Mass Effect because they want you to play it. They're publishing it because they want you to buy it. And that's totally acceptable and totally normal.

But this whole piracy thing is a giant thorn in their side. To get around it (and to make, you know profit), they have to make the legitimate buyers go through extra steps. If you're not willing to make Mass Effect (or whatever) profitable, then you're not really supporting the people behind it. If you want to have the game be released and easily pirated just so you get an easier experience, then you're incredibly arrogant and self-centered, and completely miss the main purpose of why publishers publish games, and an important purpose of why developers develop games.

@crice: There's a difference between a product worth continued support and a product not worth continued support. I highly doubt Microsoft closed the MSN Music Store because it was financially unsound to run the servers.

I have nothing against game developers/publishers protecting their intellectual property, I really doubt anyone does. I just don't think installing malware and rootkits on the computers of paying customers and the headaches that are caused as a result, is the best idea.

why do companies spend so much time & effort creating a system that's costly, reduces sales & in the end always fails? will someone find a hack for this? of course. it's ea's tiny room of programmers against thousands of crackers all over the world. what do you think?

here's a question - maybe someone who has some programming experience can answer to the feasibility of this: why aren't activation keys randomly generated (not based on one or more algorithms, but truly random population) & then why isn't a list populated that "checks off" the activation keys with appropriate registration information when the game is installed? future attempts to activate with that key would fail b/c it wouldn't be contained in the active key list. & perhaps even require registration of an email/password if a user wants to retain their ability to transfer their license to a different machine.

it seems to me that a system like that would be much less intrusive, would allow users flexibility in their "one use" & would disable many popular piracy attempts.

@uberbucket: Of course it's not the best idea. But it's the most feasible and practical. Would I rather EA hunt down pirates person by person and make sure they can never pirate anything ever again? Yes. Because that would solve the problem without hurting anyone except the pirating bastards that deserve it.

But that simply isn't possible. So you have to find a middle ground. You have to sacrifice a bit of your convenience to ensure that you can get the pleasure out of playing any PC game at all. The people who are backlashing against this plan just aren't willing to sacrifice anything. I say screw that arrogance.

@ShirtGuyDom:

No, I think YOU are missing the point as the consumer and gamer. Why should you, as a gamer, have to jump through hoops to play a game you are WILLING to buy in the first place? WHY should legitimate buyers go through the extra steps to play a game? We paid the money. I don't want a potentially crippling DRM messing up my gameplay experience.

This DRM will just turn away the casual gamers who DON'T have an internet connection. Expect EA to receive a lot of complaints regarding why Bioware PC isn't working.

Case in point, look at Galactic Civilizations II.

[www.boingboing.net]

No DRM at all. You can pirate if you want, but if you want game updates or extra content, you shell out the money for the serial. Simple AND effective. The gamers who support the game will buy it without fear of NOT BEING ABLE TO PLAY THE GAME BECAUSE OF DRM.

they are trying to discourage the RENTAL of games.

Besides this is a STUPID move.

@ShirtGuyDom:

Well see, that's my point. We're not going to be able to play Mass Effect when the authentication servers get shut down for WHATEVER reason.

@ShirtGuyDom: i have no problem with a game company wanting to make money off the sale of games, but they're not selling a game here. they're selling probationary use of a license that's dependent on a third-party service that they neither provide nor pay for (namely, your ISP).

@ShirtGuyDom: Yeah, and the Native Americans didn't have anything to fear from the US Army in the 19th Century as long as they weren't hostile. Oh wait...

@crice: Why? Because if we don't, then there will be less and less new PC games for us to legally buy because more and more developers will give the middle finger to the PC platform as it becomes less and less profitable.

I'm trying to help solve a problem. By accepting these terms for playing a game I legally bought, I am helping to stop piracy. As a gamer and a consumer, I want to ensure that I have something to consume and something to game with.

"This DRM will just turn away the casual gamers who DON'T have an internet connection."

What casual gamer is going to play Mass Effect?

"Case in point, look at Galactic Civilizations II."

Great! A huge step forward (as stated in the article)! All we need to do is wait for this to catch on. Yeah, totally reasonable to expect that to happen overnight.

@crice: thanks for that link...i've been looking for that game for a while now (i found it 6 months ago, wanted to check it out & forgot the name). going to download now!

Either way people will still be able to get away with pirating Mass Effect with activation. There are ways to get around almost everything in the computer world.

For example, I've known people who have an illegal copy of windows running and they use it everyday without any sort of problem. They even download security updates straight from Microsoft using a blinder program.

All BioWare is doing is making it more difficult for pirates, but in the end, a pirate is a pirate, and they want their shit for free so they'll do what it takes to save $50.

IMO, publishers spend all this money trying to combat piracy to NO AVAIL. Games will still get pirated regardless of how complex the anti-piracy systems are. They're fighting the inevitable here. I'm sure once MEPC comes out, the cracked version will pop up within months, if not weeks. Look at Bioshock.

@crice: Yeah, that's a risk. How often do you think that will happen? I don't think EA is going to do this cheaply and set up one server in a basement to handle this.

@mac-phisto: God, mountains out of molehills. Yeah, I'm sure Mass Effect not working due to problems with people's individual ISPs is going to be a noteworthy issue. Or not.

@mechanismatic: Oh Jesus Christ. Don't even try to make this analogous with issues that are so far above video games.

@ShirtGuyDom:

I find it amusing that your mantra for "anti-piracy" is to willfully bend over backwards for the publisher. There is a reason why the thread at the MEPC forum is 50+ pages now. People do NOT like this type of DRM. You, sir, fall into the small population that agree with what EA is doing.

I DID NOT say that everyone and their mother should drop DRM right away a la GCII. I merely demonstrated how a game can still be successful without crippling DRM.

It's a price we PC gamers have to pay in order to offset the issue of illegal downloads.

So the copy of Baldur's Gate I bought 10 years ago should be unplayable now because Interplay went under or because BioWare doesn't feel like supporting it anymore?

Really?

Anyone remember all the crap with Bioshock when it first came out? I was so looking forward to playing that game and the DRM was so fucked-up I couldn't even install it. That was the last game I bought on release day.

Furthermore, it's this type of DRM that will TURN AWAY potential buyers of the game. I wanted to play Bioshock on my PC very badly, but upon reading about the horrific DRM in place, I did not buy it. The same will happen with Mass Effect.

ShirtGuyDom, remember Starforce? Wouldn't you love to have THAT on your PC too?

*sigh*

@ShirtGuyDom or SPA Lapdog:

You clearly don't see the slippery slope this creates. Punishing the buyer is the same lame tactic the **AA crew only alienates the customer base and as history proves, it does very little to curb piracy. As you so mocked another poster about 'Big Brother', your memory seem short to Sony's little rootkit stunt that left a lot of people's machines vulnerable to all kinds of havoc.

Like the **AA dirtbags, I think the prices they command feed the piracy issue. We are voracious consumers, fed by the constant barrage of advertisements and demands for our attention. Those that succumb to the messages and must have that CD/DVD/Game/etc can't possibly keep up with the price points demanded. $18 for a CD, $20 for a DVD, $60 for a game - adds up quickly. And since we're the voracious consumers that we are, our attention spans are exceptionally short, so the cycle feeds itself over and over. What's the average play time in months for a game? For many, it's not very long - sure you may have favorites, but then the next hot thing comes out, and that $60 game is shelved.

Want to slow the hemorrhage of piracy? Lower the price point to where it's not worth the time to pirate. There are plenty of people out there who will see the value in just buying it instead of pirating it, just because it is closer to an impulse buy price that requires little thought. I'm sure they will make their money without issue, but instead of doing it with a focused group, they'll do it in volume. If it's a successful title, the sequels and add-ons will help that revenue stream continue...IN VOLUME. Oh, and the development effort for an add-on is not nearly as intense as the initial game framework, so that could be considered gravy.

Piracy is going to continue no matter what. Why not curb it by setting more reasonable price points?

@crice: Bend over backwards? Having to check my game online is bending over backwards? Come on dude, now you're just pulling stuff right out of your sphincter.

Yeah, I kinda figured I was only in a small population here. That's irrelevant though. I'm just willing to sacrifice more to help combat piracy. When a system comes around that helps to stop piracy that doesn't affect the legal user I'll welcome it with arms more open than anyone else, which is why I liked how GCII works.

Until that day though, I am willing to do a lot to keep PC gaming alive.

@ShirtGuyDom: No, I am not pulling crap out of my ass. For an OFFLINE SINGLE PLAYER GAME, why should I have to worry about my internet connection or the authentication server status. That, my friend, is called jumping through hoops.

I find your crusade to keep PC gaming alive admirable, but misguided.

Seriously, think about what happened with Starforce. That was nasty.

@Moosehawk: & the more difficult they make it to adhere to their licenses, the more people that would have bought the game will turn to piracy.

slightly different, but an example from my life - adobe. i'm goddamn tired of adobe's constant updates that hog my memory & make opening a pdf doc take forever. so i found & downloaded alternatives. they drove me to find something else. so i did.

& this won't be any different. this will turn more buyers into pirates than it will pirates into buyers.

What's interesting is that this is getting enough attention (like the Sony rootkit) that this feature will probably be "disable" by a patch in the far future, whereas we will have the crack the day it comes out.

@Daniels: Yep. Would you rather never be able to play a PC game at all because no developer wanted to waste time developing PC games?

@crice: I'm not saying the method is perfect or even preferred.

@TheSpatulaOfLove: SPA Lapdog? Go fuck yourself. I didn't want to make this ugly or anything, but you can kiss my PC gaming loving ass.

@ShirtGuyDom:

It's sad because I'm gravitating toward console gaming BECAUSE of this DRM mess. It's so much easier to just pop in a disc and play, without having to worry about the phases of the moon or the rising tide.

Didnt you know?

A business's customers are the enemy!

That's how it is these days.

@crice: Yeah, Mass Effect being an exclusively offline game (except for inevitable patches and the fact that you have to actually download the "Bringing Down the Sky" add-on) makes this less likable. But think about it. How many people who are interested in a game like Mass Effect don't have an internet connection? I'm not saying it's necessarily okay to give a big middle finger to those people, but I am saying they do make up quite a small minority.

Perhaps I am a little misguided (I can admit that this method isn't the best, and I have(, but I'm going with what we have here. I love how GCII works. That's a great system. Let that catch on and let be championed.

@crice: So piracy screws PC gaming on multiple levels. It makes the platform less financially sound, and drives gamers away when companies try to implement what they think are the best solutions. Man, this piracy thing really is a serious issue!

10 days is a little too quick. if anything it should at least be 30+ days. But i agree with some other posters...for a game that doesn't require internet, phoning home is pretty stupid. does it have it as a requirement on the packaging? if not then i wouldn't that be grounds for some kind of classaction