Lame NoCD Cracks !

[Grumpy]

The only people who could possibly find a LameNoCD crack useful are people who don't own/have the original game CD, you know who you are!

Now I've been saying this all along for a few months now!

If those people had the original they could quite easily make their own Mini Images as you can only make them from the originals! Cant be made from a copy!

[Luciel]

Make ur research and ull find out there is no "propper" no-cd as its starforce.

[k1rr3d]

stfu k1rr3d?

stfu ???

Make ur research and ull find out there is no "propper" no-cd as its starforce.

What's so special about Starforce that no-one can crack it properly ? and if it can't be cracked properly, does this mean all games will start using it ?

By using starforce the publishers/developers are actually only hurting their customers, i.e. people who have the original disks and find using the mini-image crack to be more cumbersome than using the original disk. The main group of people that they are actually trying to stop, i.e. those without the original disks, will simply just use the mini-image, Starforce 0 crackers/hackers 1. Also, hurting ones customers doesn't show good business sense...

I wonder if anyone has done any research on copy protection, does copy protection actually lead to increased sales ? and is the amount of money spent of copy protection more than or less than the amount of money generated from increased sales ?

In an ideal world there wouldn't be a need for copy protection and we would also all have Alienware PC's ...and the girl you met in the chat would also be female and hot

L8er

K!rr3D

[omni555]

EXCELLENT points! I am sitting here right now looking at a collection of ORIGINAL BOXED games that would make EB, Babbages, Circuit City, and a bunch of others all drool collectively with envy!!! I would estimate that I have in this room RIGHT NOW approximately $20,000.00 worth (cost at time of purchase) of computer games... Hot D@MN!!! I didn't even REALIZE that it was so much until I did a quick calculation for this post!!! It's about 650 games at an average cost of $30 to $40 each... ...Maybe I should have my head examined and get rid of em all and go buy a decent car!!!

Anyway, I digress... My point is that I do NOT purchase a game UNTIL there is a no-cd crack published for it! I recently purchased Sacred (a game I LONGED to have on my PC) after a crack was published for the most recent update.

And a game that I waited with MUCH anticipation for I have NOT yet purchased, and WILL NOT until such time as there is some form of ACCEPTABLE crack published for it - that game is HalfLife 2. I TOTALLY detest what Valve has done regarding the implementation of Steam in the installation and playing of that game.

IMHO, excessive obsession with copy protection can ONLY hurt PC game sales. As has been pointed out, no matter WHAT CP is devised, there will be someone out there to come up with a crack or work-around for it. And as is the case of these Mini image cracks, the only people who will be HURT by the CP will be those HONEST customers out there who, like myself, simply do not WISH to take the time to hunt up cd's whenever we want to play a game, or who simply want to make a safe backup of their game.

Oh, DON'T get me started on how the manufacturers will "replace" lost or defective cd's!!! THAT goes into the same file as most warranties on small purchases, like watches, etc. You spend almost as much (sometimes MORE!) on shipping and handling to get your "replacement cd" as if you just went out and BOUGHT a new copy of the game!!! And even THEN you have to wait weeks or even months to GET it!!!

No, I am sticking by my guns here! I simply REFUSE to purchase a game over which I do not have the control that I WANT, and that means that I will be able to play the game without having to hunt for the cd, and I will be able to make a back-up copy for myself.

Again, those people who are (supposedly) being targeted by all this copy protection will ALWAYS be able to clone/dupe/copy games at will and give them to their "friends".

So, I will continue to visit sites like GCW to get no-cd cracks, use Virtual Drive and other software, etc to play my games THE WAY I WANT. I am just saddened that when I go to the store to BUY a game that the price is artificially inflated because of the lameheads out there who PIRATE the games, get them and play/distribute them without paying ANYTHING for them. The money spent on copy protection by the game publishers is TOTALLY a waste, since it is what inflates the costs AND discourages many people from BUYING the game.

One other thing about the inflated prices... I have heard a number of people talk about pirating games SIMPLY BECAUSE of the often outrageous prices. If the cost could come DOWN a LITTLE (maybe by eliminating the expense of copy protecting the games???) I know at LEAST a dozen MORE people who would become PAYING CUSTOMERS and actually BUY games rather than go through the hassle of pirating them!

I do not CONDONE their actions, but in today's climate I can at least UNDERSTAND it.

[RK]

u're whining cos u have to put the disk in every time?? is it the same for dvd's?? videos?? u dont buy em cos u'd have to put the disk/tape in every time u wanted to watch it??

yes, some ppl have had problems with starforce, but most of those probs have now been sorted afaik, but I havent had a single prob using a starforce protected game on any of my pc's!!

tbh I think its good they copy protect the games!! just take a look at TRD2 - cant say I've seen an image anywhere for it, and its been out about a year now!!

[synchro_w]

Originally Posted by RK

u're whining cos u have to put the disk in every time?? is it the same for dvd's?? videos?? u dont buy em cos u'd have to put the disk/tape in every time u wanted to watch it??

yes, some ppl have had problems with starforce, but most of those probs have now been sorted afaik, but I havent had a single prob using a starforce protected game on any of my pc's!!

tbh I think its good they copy protect the games!! just take a look at TRD2 - cant say I've seen an image anywhere for it, and its been out about a year now!!

i can't believe u r saying this.

firstly, my pc is incredibly noisy. when i say noisy i mean, don't bother buying a good set of speakers for your pc cos the background noise is so bad. thus, i keep my pc box under the desk well hidden so that the noise is, at the very least, reduced. thus, it is damn awkward for me to swap cds/dvds when wanting to play a game.

but that's not my main point.

secondly, 'some ppl have problems with starforce'??? are u joking? 'gangland' - when i click on the desktop shortcut - takes from 4-10 minutes 'checking' the cd. and even after this time it does not check it successfully and i have to start again. once it took 3 attempts for me to get gangland running. overall, 18 minutes to start a game. u think that is a small problem?
and not only gangland. chaos theory gives me the same problem. i usually play a game to completion. gangland and CT i have not bothered. would you? starforce protected games force me to wait this amount of time just to PLAY a game. this is most definitely wrong. if it puts a gamer off playing then it is NOT GOOD FOR GAMERS.

thirdly, i don't understand why you are championing this kinda protection? does it make you feel superior to have paid for your game? do you think , 'i am a better person than those non paying gamers? they are scum. i am better than them. i am just better'. it doesn't make any sense that you should have this personal view. how do you benefit? it proly just means you have more money than ppl who don't buy them. so you are superior cos you have more money?
if i have friends who play a torrented version of a game i don't think to myself, 'they are scum.. i will never speak to them again. i thought they were ok ppl'.
i buy games cos i can. it doesn't make me feel superior to do that. i just do.

ok, i undertsand what could happen to the pc games industry if it turned out the 'way of the amiga' but why would u or anybody else have such an avid dislike of non paying gamers? i have played torrented games, decided i liked them then bought them. would u prefer it if non paying gamers were banned from enjoying games altogether? then you could feel superior to them totally.
the reason i dl'd a game? a recent example would be ufo:aftershock. i bought that game, and am now having a nightmare running it. so, i am returning it even tho i like the game. why? cos of stareforce protection. i refuse to pay money for a game i have to wait 20 minutes to play. without a nodvd crack starforce protected games are not worth bothering with. by the time the game starts i have lost interest.

so, in conclusion, i will prolly be forced to download a game to play it because the copy protection stops me from doing so.
and this is a good thing?
<actually, i'll prolly wait till i can afford to buy a better dvd drive but still...>

ps, sorry for this post's length.
<EDIT: a better and more easy way to enforce would be a serial key that has to be confirmed online.. like BF1942. i have never known of anybody using an illegal copy of BF1942 online.. if the key is illegal then u just don't play -obv for online gaming only>
das

[Asimov]

@ omni555

I honestly believe that no one would want a burnt copy of a game over the real thing. It is for this reason that I believe that if games were within a more realistic price range, many, many more people would fork out their hard earned cash for the games.

So if there is any way to bring down the cost of the games, I believe the publishers overall sales will inflate and thus make more money in the long run.

But I'm sure this debate has been around for a long time. This saddens me because this tells me their is no solution in sight.

As a side note, does anyone know what percentage of profit the publishers of get?

[Luciel]

@RK

Couldnt agree more.

@Asimov

Thats alredy happening at least in UK, you just have to look at the prices at play.com non famous new games 18 quid (in shops 35) famous games 25-29 (in shops 35-40)

[Morglum007]

@asimov:

Pyro studios ( Commandos saga) earns about €3-5 for any of their games copy sold. Considering an original copy costs about €30-40 and publisher/shop earns at 50%, make ur own calculations.

TIP: I almost ONLY buy games from €18 to 5. I will not pay nothing more than this for a game.

I think it is abussive.

[cyclops[0]]

Originally Posted by omni555

EXCELLENT points! I am sitting here right now looking at a collection of ORIGINAL BOXED games that would make EB, Babbages, Circuit City, and a bunch of others all drool collectively with envy!!! I would estimate that I have in this room RIGHT NOW approximately $20,000.00 worth (cost at time of purchase) of computer games... Hot D@MN!!! I didn't even REALIZE that it was so much until I did a quick calculation for this post!!! It's about 650 games at an average cost of $30 to $40 each... ...Maybe I should have my head examined and get rid of em all and go buy a decent car!!!

Anyway, I digress... My point is that I do NOT purchase a game UNTIL there is a no-cd crack published for it! I recently purchased Sacred (a game I LONGED to have on my PC) after a crack was published for the most recent update.

And a game that I waited with MUCH anticipation for I have NOT yet purchased, and WILL NOT until such time as there is some form of ACCEPTABLE crack published for it - that game is HalfLife 2. I TOTALLY detest what Valve has done regarding the implementation of Steam in the installation and playing of that game.

IMHO, excessive obsession with copy protection can ONLY hurt PC game sales. As has been pointed out, no matter WHAT CP is devised, there will be someone out there to come up with a crack or work-around for it. And as is the case of these Mini image cracks, the only people who will be HURT by the CP will be those HONEST customers out there who, like myself, simply do not WISH to take the time to hunt up cd's whenever we want to play a game, or who simply want to make a safe backup of their game.

Oh, DON'T get me started on how the manufacturers will "replace" lost or defective cd's!!! THAT goes into the same file as most warranties on small purchases, like watches, etc. You spend almost as much (sometimes MORE!) on shipping and handling to get your "replacement cd" as if you just went out and BOUGHT a new copy of the game!!! And even THEN you have to wait weeks or even months to GET it!!!

No, I am sticking by my guns here! I simply REFUSE to purchase a game over which I do not have the control that I WANT, and that means that I will be able to play the game without having to hunt for the cd, and I will be able to make a back-up copy for myself.

Again, those people who are (supposedly) being targeted by all this copy protection will ALWAYS be able to clone/dupe/copy games at will and give them to their "friends".

So, I will continue to visit sites like GCW to get no-cd cracks, use Virtual Drive and other software, etc to play my games THE WAY I WANT. I am just saddened that when I go to the store to BUY a game that the price is artificially inflated because of the lameheads out there who PIRATE the games, get them and play/distribute them without paying ANYTHING for them. The money spent on copy protection by the game publishers is TOTALLY a waste, since it is what inflates the costs AND discourages many people from BUYING the game.

One other thing about the inflated prices... I have heard a number of people talk about pirating games SIMPLY BECAUSE of the often outrageous prices. If the cost could come DOWN a LITTLE (maybe by eliminating the expense of copy protecting the games???) I know at LEAST a dozen MORE people who would become PAYING CUSTOMERS and actually BUY games rather than go through the hassle of pirating them!

I do not CONDONE their actions, but in today's climate I can at least UNDERSTAND it.

I thought I was bad!

[DABhand]

Originally Posted by omni555

One other thing about the inflated prices... I have heard a number of people talk about pirating games SIMPLY BECAUSE of the often outrageous prices. If the cost could come DOWN a LITTLE (maybe by eliminating the expense of copy protecting the games???) I know at LEAST a dozen MORE people who would become PAYING CUSTOMERS and actually BUY games rather than go through the hassle of pirating them!

I do not CONDONE their actions, but in today's climate I can at least UNDERSTAND it.

Unfortunately not true because...

1. People are greedy bastards and wont buy nothing even if it was cheap

2. Price excuse has been around since 8bit computers, its just an excuse to hide the fact that most wont admit they are stealing.

[Joe Forster/STA]

And game publishers are stealing from you (who playes the game) and the game manufacturer (who creates the game) because they charge money for doing pretty much nothing useful. See the same problem with pressed audio CD's; it's not as black and white as you'd think...

[DABhand]

Its up to them what they want to charge, like I will charge what I like if I fix someones PC. Thats how it is.

Again the price excuse, still doesnt mean you have to steal it yes? If you disagree with a price then dont buy it.

At the end of the day, people are gonna steal even if it is affordable.


And for the people who are going to come in and say Prices blah de blah, remember why the prices are so high.

Its like the old conundrum, "What came first the chicken or the egg?" as in this case "What came first high prices or piracy?"