Tribes3 -- no cd check please

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FSB-SPY said:
During installation make it well known that the CD is required to play the game. But have the message be made in a distinct way, not just another quick menu I'll hit [Next] on just to install/finish install.

As for used keys which were returned... would it be possible to link the algorithm for the keys to the UPC code of the box? So when they re-scan it back into their computers (when you return the game) it could store the code and key in one? Then all they would really have to do is send out the UPC code to Sierra at which point they simply terminate it on their end. But I hope this solution doesn't make another problem, the last thing we need are a bunch of guys going to the store and copying down the UPC codes to get legit CD-keys. :p
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UPC codes are only unique to a product. Every box will have the exact same UPC on it.

Someone on TW has to work at a store that sells video games. What do you do when someone brings back a copy of a game and wants a refund or an exchange?
 
Doh! Then have another UPC-type of barcode stamped into the box, one that conventional scanners can still read?

And I can tell you what my store does... puts it back on the shelf. Otherwise it's a wasted 50 dollars out of their pockets. No remorse, no regret -- if a customer comes back and says the CD-key's in use, they will just exchange it for another copy.
 
how often do people do returns like that, and how often do you get subsequent returns due to a cd key being in use.

Is there no way for you to return the item to the distributor and get a refund from them?
 
FSB-SPY said:
Doh! Then have another UPC-type of barcode stamped into the box, one that conventional scanners can still read?

And I can tell you what my store does... puts it back on the shelf. Otherwise it's a wasted 50 dollars out of their pockets. No remorse, no regret -- if a customer comes back and says the CD-key's in use, they will just exchange it for another copy.
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Why do you accept opened software?
 
I don't work there... it's what 'my' store does.

They either exchange it, or give you a giftcard for the value of the software. It used to be (~2 years ago) where you could return it with a full refund; no questions asked.
 
Here is my new plan, but there are some things that I do not know which might need to be tweeked.

I'm not sure exactly how much store markups are...I have never worked in any sort of retail, so I am going to assume (or guess) thats its somewhere between 30-50%.

Distribute T3 to the stores at a very low cost with the stipulation that their markup be a certain ammount or around a set dollar value. This enables us to buy T3 at a low price from the store (20-35 bucks). On the box print in big red letters that there will be a activation fee of set dollar ammount (20-35 bucks). To play you must register your CD/Account.

While this wont stop burning and returning, it will no longer cause Sierra to lose money on returns. The only place Sierra would lose money on this is on unbought copies, but again I'm not sure if you all buy those back from the stores or what happens to those.

The only problem I can see with any method of protection is the returning and then reselling of the same disk, which is going to happen no matter what you do. Maybe something could be done where if the cdkey is already in use it reports that cd key automatically and then allows the NEW owner of the cd to create an account. In this case you still get money from the register fee and the only people who are screwed are the stores...but this is their fault for accepting opened goods back at the store. As to what to do when a cdkey is reported as being used multiple times...this I do not know.
 
jsut said:
If they are going to buy, crack and return, or buy, burn and return, then the cd check is going to be ineffective from stopping those people from doing what they are going to do. The ONLY way that i can see to stop people from being able to do that is to somehow get the cdkeys which were associated with those returned items, invalidating them, and the accounts which were made using them.

Is this somehow inaccurate?
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Thanks for repeating my post again. ;)
 
FSB-SPY said:
As for used keys which were returned... would it be possible to link the algorithm for the keys to the UPC code of the box? So when they re-scan it back into their computers (when you return the game) it could store the code and key in one? Then all they would really have to do is send out the UPC code to Sierra at which point they simply terminate it on their end. But I hope this solution doesn't make another problem, the last thing we need are a bunch of guys going to the store and copying down the UPC codes to get legit CD-keys. :p
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The UPC code would have to be the same for every game. They can't make individual UPC codes for each box, if that's what you're suggesting. Once again, it still requires publisher/retailer communication, it's the only thing that will work, and it doesn't have to be as involved as this.
 
Gonstone said:
Here is my new plan, but there are some things that I do not know which might need to be tweeked.

[snip]
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There's a glaring hole in that idea. People will buy the game from a store, get the CD key over the net, and return it, like you said. But in this case, there'd be absolutely NO WAY to know if it was returned, but the burn and return person gets to save 30 bucks or so.

I suppose there could still be a CD key, then you use that to access the site to buy the game key, to actually play. But that still brings us back to square one.

There is no foolproof answer to piracy. There is always a weak link somewhere that will allow people to get away with it. Even if you have a retailer/distributor connection, smaller stores will still resell. The only thing I could see is keeping track of which set of cd keys go to what store, then punish them if a duplicate cd key comes up. Maybe a warning or something, I don't know. It will probably hurt both businesses though if the retailer is punished.
 
Ixiterra said:
The UPC code would have to be the same for every game. They can't make individual UPC codes for each box, if that's what you're suggesting. Once again, it still requires publisher/retailer communication, it's the only thing that will work, and it doesn't have to be as involved as this.
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Thanks for repeating my post again. ;)

(now we're even :))
 
Ixiterra said:
There's a glaring hole in that idea. People will buy the game from a store, get the CD key over the net, and return it, like you said. But in this case, there'd be absolutely NO WAY to know if it was returned, but the burn and return person gets to save 30 bucks or so.

I suppose there could still be a CD key, then you use that to access the site to buy the game key, to actually play. But that still brings us back to square one.

There is no foolproof answer to piracy. There is always a weak link somewhere that will allow people to get away with it. Even if you have a retailer/distributor connection, smaller stores will still resell. The only thing I could see is keeping track of which set of cd keys go to what store, then punish them if a duplicate cd key comes up. Maybe a warning or something, I don't know. It will probably hurt both businesses though if the retailer is punished.
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I'm thinking more along the lines of enbedded cdkey with each copy, but you have to pay to activate it (much like a pay to play game, except you only pay once). Sierra would still make the same ammount of money, and this would actually protect their profit, since their money would not come from cd sales, but from cd activation. It is even possible, according to how they wanted to handle multiple usages of the same cdkey, that they would make more money this way: Person A buys game, pays for activation, burns game and returns it. Person B buys same disk, activates it, Sierra has now made money twice off the same cd, and at this point they can decide on how to fuck over Person A (they already have his money and he is a fuck nugget).
 
just make a CD self destruct 1 hour after they are bought so that they cant return them after installing them. this would have a cd key that would also self destruct, and if the same cd key is being used twice by a different person (have retinal eye scanners on the cd keys) then they will make the computer self destruct, filling the perpetrators faces with shrapnel from their moniter.
 
Tribalwar Persona 1 - "I'll just crack it!"

Tribalwar Persona 2 - "I'll just crack it!"

Tribalwar Persona 3 - "I'll just crack it!"

Tribalwar Persona 4 - "I'll just crack it!"

-----------------

I bet that makes Thrax, Menzo, and Marweas just love you guys all the more.

Anyways, I see your point. Keep th CD Check, but make it a lot less frequent. Once every 3 or 4 maps.
 
KtM said:
Those who want to get T3 for free will find a way.
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Wrong. Sufficiently skilled or knowlegable people who want to get a game for free will find a way. The averaege 14 year old who wants a copy of his buddy's game can't defeat copy protection, and doesn't know where to get a no-cd hack.

The simple fact is that much of what people are saying here is wrong. Telling me that SecuROM + a CD check doesn't work is pointless, because we know that it does work. We have stats that show that it does work. In the case of T2 there was a direct and obvious result from adding the CD check soon after the game released.

More to the point, it may not stop you from copying the game, but it will stop 99% of the people out there who may casually copy a game for a friend if there is no copy protection (it's not perfect, but it is significant). Remember that TW is made of significantly more savvy computer users than the average population.
 
This thread has gotten out of hand. There will be copy protection. Drop it. If you want to aruge the pros and cons of such protections, do it elsewhere.
 
LouCypher said:
If the CD check was such a good idea, why was it removed in the last patch? My guess is because it's a stupid idea in the first place.
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Because 2 years after initial release I didn't figure that you'd be running out to return your CD any time soon, so I pulled the check because it's usefulness was finished. If you'd like, I could put it back in...
 
jsut said:
I think that the nail was hit on the head in that in order to full address this problem there is going to need to be work done between the distributor and the retailer, because in the end, the consumer is going to get around that CD check one way or another.
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OK. As long as you don't mind paying $75 per copy in order to cover the extra cost of creating this new phone center you've just created.
 
Inspin said:
i wanna see a reply to the "only checking for CD-key on a patch download" idea...that sounds good to me
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You're in college. You buy and return a copy. Your roomate buys a copy. You patch using your roomate's copy. You are now going to hell.
 
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