Starforce Petition!

[Dieselbrad]

Originally Posted by wildwing

ggr
i dont get
why to boycot games with sf?
i have 3 games what i bought and they was with sf3
that is scct/corsars 3(russian) and cmr05..
this games works fine,no sf errors or smth
...
looks like u want to boycot games with sf3 cuz U leech this CLONEs from ftp/torrrents ect..and u cant get this game to works ( i mean u cant run or smth so u cant play...)
sorry for my bad english

The Name of the site is Game COPY World! Not Pirate World! I bought my games as I'm sure most in the thread have. Don't Assume we are pirates because we have the right to make a backup up of something we spend 50 dollars on! I can copy my music to my Ipod from my CD-ROM Disc, Why should I not be able to backup my Game-Disc incase of incident!

When I install a game, I want only the GAME on my machine. When I listen to a sony Music CD, I want only the MUSIC on my machine.
This Copy Protection thing in general is absurd:

Developers Spend Money on Protections that will be cracked or are intrusive on the consumer then pass the savings on to you in the form of a 50-60 dollar price tag.

PIRATES DO NOT PAY FOR SOFTWARE! STARFORCE & THE REST ARE ALIENATING THE PEOPLE TO WHO DO BUY THE SOFTWARE.

IS THIS THE WAY TO DO GOOD BUSINESS?

Microsoft just announced that they will recognize Sony's DRM RootKit as Malware in the latest version of Microsoft AntiSpyware. These are the steps needed to show that the cost of DRM is more than the Gain. You have to speak DOLLAR SIGNS or they don't understand!

BOYCOTT STARFORCE MEANS THE COST > THE GAIN

Sorry Developers some of your products are damn good.
Some of your CEO's are NOT!

I'm pissed off now.. Going to play Some Battlefiled 2 From my ORIGINAL DISC!

[DABhand]

Again unless stated in the TOS or EULA, you can make a backup (1 of) if stated. If not you can not make a backup.

Doesnt matter the country your in either. The contents are copyrighted and is owned by the developer/publisher.


Also, I think the other guy was saying that about most people who download the games not everyone here. Its true though most of the SF moaners are people who used to download their images and play away now its getting difficult for them and now they cant.

What a shame, Not!

[Grumpy]

There have been some very valid comment mentioned here recently. Has definately been a very interesting read indeed.

@Dieselbrad

Going to play Some Battlefiled 2 From my ORIGINAL DISC!

You can use a mini image for BF2, and it still works online. My BF2 mini image stays permanently mounted! And the BF2 mini image also works for Special Forces. I use my own mini image but I believe the 'bleh' one on GCW works fine for others.

[Dieselbrad]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

There have been some very valid comment mentioned here recently. Has definately been a very interesting read indeed.

@Dieselbrad

You can use a mini image for BF2, and it still works online. My BF2 mini image stays permanently mounted! And the BF2 mini image also works for Special Forces. I use my own mini image but I believe the 'bleh' one on GCW works fine for others.

Thanks, I also use a mini image I made. I was just pointing out that I actually owned the game. I did not know that you could use the BF2 disc for Spec forces until recently though. Neat!

[DBS40]

I am not going to purchase or use any games that use this protection. I sold off a new copy of SC CT today on ebay and will stick to this. Any dev or publisher that uses this protection I will not do business with. I have an expensive game pc and will not risk it.

It's bad enough for gamers.

Now people are finding this intrusive software on other types of discs. This could be even more of a problem. Professional people that depend on their dics and cd drives to operate properly are at risk; maybe you as a gamer are too; as in doctors, civil engineers, and maybe even airline pilots - okay, that's stretching it, but you get the idea.

[nerva]

here we go m8s - Rootkit in Alcohol and Deamon tools
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/200...t-digital.html
Does any body want to start boycotting Alcohol or DT? No?
Oh.. sorry, this not the right place for it...

[rlsuth]

ahahahahahahaha Much as I've tried to avoid all games with Starforce on them, I bought some games from GoGamer and got a free present: Trackmania.

Oh well, at least I didn't pay for it, and since it's not my type of game, I'm not going to install it anyway.

[Pigdog Ratsnake]

Originally Posted by nerva

here we go m8s - Rootkit in Alcohol and Deamon tools
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/200...t-digital.html
Does any body want to start boycotting Alcohol or DT? No?
Oh.. sorry, this not the right place for it...

Very funny. Except they are not rootkits because:

1. The installation of the hidden driver files and registry alterations is not a secret. The files are for the operation of the software, not a hidden function unknown to the user. The registry alterations do nothing but hide the files from involuntarily installed malware like Starforce which A120 and DTools protect against.
2. They are easily uninstalled via the control panel. No traces are left behind.
3. The drivers are not spyware, they cannot secretly phone home or update, nor do they interfere with the operation of your PC.

[DaRipper]

Originally Posted by Dieselbrad

Don't Assume we are pirates because we have the right to make a backup up of something we spend 50 dollars on! I can copy my music to my Ipod from my CD-ROM Disc, Why should I not be able to backup my Game-Disc incase of incident!

Good point! I'd rather keep the originals in their cases and use copies. When the copy dies, I break the disc into pieces and make another one... At least the originals will still be here, and the cost would be very much lower!!

This Copy Protection thing in general is absurd:

Developers Spend Money on Protections that will be cracked or are intrusive on the consumer then pass the savings on to you in the form of a 50-60 dollar price tag.

PIRATES DO NOT PAY FOR SOFTWARE! STARFORCE & THE REST ARE ALIENATING THE PEOPLE TO WHO DO BUY THE SOFTWARE.

IS THIS THE WAY TO DO GOOD BUSINESS?

Annoying Copy Protection + High Price Tag = less consumers.

They should review their equations!! Maybe the developers are trying to frighten pirates, but they are frightening potential buyers for sure! How many gamers who were faithful to some publisher are now willing to actually STOP buying games from them if they continue using StarForce as copy protection? And when faithful followers stop supporting their favorite publishers, how will they sell to new customers? A great deal of new gamers get info from elders, so if elders tell you a game's not worth the pain, you are less inclined to buy it!


PS:I managed to finish POP3 in 2 days and to clear the side effects of SF, I had to reformat my baby. Lucky I had 2 HDD, so I didn't lose data. So much time lost because of one game, I'm definitely staying away from SF from now on.

[Pandaman]

To those who accuse people against StarForce as being whining pirates:

1) StarForce can be easily circumvented - just look it up on Google, it's like three easy steps.

2) StarForce has been known to damage CD/DVD drives on certain versions of WinXP and/or firmwares.

3) StarForce leaves a gaping security hole in your system by granting system level privileges to everything running on your computer.

4) Games with StarForce do not tell you that it is being installed, nor does it remove it the game is uninstalled.

So companies that use StarForce are endangering your CD/DVD drive and security for a worthless anti-piracy program that can only be removed by a tool offered by its creators - meaning if you didn't know you had StarForce installed, you wouldn't know to remove it.

If you still think StarForce is a good idea, you're either a troll or a blithering idiot.

[Oblivion]

STupid StarForce! Wait till the makes get a taste of this eh!

[Drifternz]

I to am joining the boycot of Starforce protected games.
After installing Worms Mayhem, I had endless trouble with writing cds. It wasn't even as if I was trying to write cd images or copy cds. I was having trouble writing data cds!
After removing the starforce drivers, my writer once again could write cds with no trouble, so there is no doubt that the starforce drivers were the problem.
Also I had trouble installing some other heavly protected games like Sacred.
(which by the way is a bought original).
Again once the starforce drivers was removed, I could install the other games with no trouble.
When I fork out NZ$100 for a game, I expect it not to wreck havioc on my system or interfere with or damage my hardware.
Is my expectations to high?

[Azeroth]

Originally Posted by nerva

here we go m8s - Rootkit in Alcohol and Deamon tools
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/200...t-digital.html
Does any body want to start boycotting Alcohol or DT? No?
Oh.. sorry, this not the right place for it...

Ah, how very convenient this quote is for SF developers... but wait, YOU ARE one of the developers, right? At least you're one of the official SF Forum Moderators, so spare us your venom
Besides, there is a world of a difference between the intrusive way SF behaves on a user's PC without his consent and the way DT4 or Alcohol behave. AND so far, I haven't seen anyone complaining about DT or Alcohol affecting their normal OS operation like SF does.

Besides, my workstation has both Ultra SCSI Hard Drives and CD Drives (Real ones) and when I bought X3-Reunion, no indication on the box coud be found stating that the game would be unplayable with those. It took me 3 weeks of pingpong between Egosoft and SF support to realize that there was nothing to do about it. Most incredibly, 90% of both companies' efforts were directed towards finding out wether or not I had purchased the game

In addition to that, I bought an external USB 2.0 IDE DVD/RW to be able to play the game. Guess what... the game wouldn't run from that drive either.
I returned the game to the store two days ago

Needless to say, I'm done with SF protected games (at least while SF modus operandi remains like it currently is)

[Oblivion]

Originally Posted by Drifternz

When I fork out NZ$100 for a game, I expect it not to wreck havioc on my system or interfere with or damage my hardware.
Is my expectations to high?

NO!!!!! Youre expectations arre by no means too high. People buy games to play them, not have the protection of the $90AU game infecting and even stuffing up their system! LAWSUIT!LAWSUIT!LAWSUIT!LAWSUIT!LAWSUIT!
WHen it comes to cracking SF, Star Force Clean Removes the drivers, but the moment you start up the game again, it reinstalls them again! Imbloodypossible! Hehehe.