There seems to be some strong (maybe even heated) discussions happening through these forums regarding the Starforce protection.
Which brings me to start this thread. I would hope that only a simple comment is needed here:
"Yes, I am boycotting Starforce games". That is really all that needs to be said! There is no point in congesting this thread with arguments, its not what I would like to see happen here! There is no need to say anything else! If people are serious then leave a short message here.
I would also hope that if this thread gains enough support then it could maybe become a future 'Sticky'? After a few weeks or months we will know if this is worth persueing.
Its not that I am supporting Warez or Piracy, I just dont agree with Software being installed onto my system without my approval!
Come on all, place your support post here. If you dont agree with what I am saying then simply do not post here! A post here is a post counted.
Thankyou for your post/vote.
P.S: I truly hope Empire doesnt mind this sort of petition?
Ok, a big thankyou to Morglum from
cdsteam who has been kind enough to let me use his
Starforce Protected Games List. Now it was originally a Spanish only list! So some of these games will need to be checked. The Games with '
???????' next to them are the ones I am not sure of the correct English title? So feel free to let me know of the correct title or any other Starforce games which are not on the list? I will edit the list to keep it up to date. (Some of the games may only be Spanish games as well, I havent checked them all yet.)
Starforce Protected Games
- 7 Sins [3.4.71.19]
- Afrika Korps VS Desert Rats [v3.3.31.21]
- Blitzkrieg - Rolling Thunder [v3.4.50.1]
- Codename: Panzers - Phase One (3 CDs) [v3.3.37.2]
- Colin McRae Rally 2005 (DVD) [v3.4.49.1]
- Cossacks II - Napoleonic Wars (2 CDs) [v3.4.65.11]
- Counter Terrorist SF - Fire for Effect (DVD) [v3.4.71.19]
- Cycling Manager 3
- Cycling Manager 4 [v3.3.36.1]
- D Day (2 CDs) [v3.4.41.1]
- Dead to Rights (3 CDs) [v3.3.37.26]
- Etherlords 2 (2 CDs) [v3.3.31.21]
- Fair Strike (2 CDs) [v3.3.33.3]
- Fire Department
- Gangland [v3.3.36.1]
- GTR FIA GT Racing game (2 CDs) [v3.4.70.2]
- Juana De Arco [v3.3.36.1]
???????????????
- Kill Switch (2 CDs) [v3.3.33.8]
- Korea - Forgotten Conflict [v3.3.27.36]
- League Manager 2005[v3.4.50.1]
???????????????????????
- Obscure (1 DVD) [v3.3.36.1]
- Pac Man World 2 [v3.3.30.11]
- Pax Romana [v3.3.30.11]
??????????????
- Real Madrid Club Soccer (DVD) [v3.4.50.1] ?
??????????????
- Scrapland (2 CDs) [v3.4.50.1]
- Shade - Wrath of Angels [v3.4.53.0]
- Silent Hunter III [v3.4.71.19]
- Singles [v3.3.33.6]
- Soldiers - Heroes of WWII [v3.3.36.1]
- Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory [v3.4.71.19]
- Street Racing Syndicate
- The Black Mirror (2 CDs) [v3.3.27.36]
- The Entente [v3.3.37.26]
???????????????????
- The Fall - Last days of Gaia (2 CDs) [v3.4.63.3]
- The Kreed [v3.3.27.36]
- The Suffering (2 CDs) [v3.3.37.2]
- Toca Race Driver 2 (1 DVD) [v3.3.35.2]
- Trackmania
- UFO Aftermath ( 2 CDs) [v3.3.27.31]
- Victoria – Empire Under the Sun [v3.3.30.5]
?????????????????
- Virtual Skipper 3
- WWII Frontline Command [v3.3.0.26]
Here you can read an article about Starforce. It is an interview with Abbie Sommer of StarForce.
She discusses many aspects of the Starforce Protection, what it is, what it does and why it is needed.
Here is just a small portion of that interview:
Question: There's an uproar among segments of the game community that StarForce is installed without user approval. Is this a potential legal concern for your company?
Answer: There is no legal concern because before a user loads a game, he or she has agreed to accept the conditions of the end-user licensing agreement, typically known as a EULA. These are also known as click and go, or click and accept agreements. When you accept, you are saying I will load this game or application at my own risk, and have read and understood the terms. Or there will be a disclaimer that protects the publisher from damages of any kind due to their products’ use. Our product is licensed to our customers, and becomes part of their product, so the user by accepting the terms, is giving approval.
Now here Abbie states "When you accept, you are saying I will load this game or application at my own risk, and have read and understood the terms."
Tell me please people, how many of you, after reading the EULA, actually understood, from those terms, that an intrusive protection was going to be installed onto your system? Do you think her statement only implies to 'The Game' itself? I believe the EULA should tell us about the protection being installed!
If in fact there was nothing to worry about why is this statement included?
"Or there will be a disclaimer that protects the publisher from damages of any kind due to their products’ use"
The word 'Products' should really only say 'Game'! After all that is all we have been made aware of installing, as thats all it says earlier!
To be fair to the gamer this is how I believe that part or the EULA should be written:
"I will load this game
and the Protection application at my own risk, and have read and understood the terms."
I still believe it is only a matter of time before this issue finds its way into a court of Law! The wording of documents like the EULA must be written in a way so as not to decieve the consumer! We must be given the opportunity to be 'fully' aware as to what we are actually installing!
Grumpy