Idea: Clever Anti-Piracy methods.

[SomeoneWhoLikesTrains]

This is entirely theoretical for the time being, so stop going on about all the DRM stuff.

[Cavscout74]

3 hours ago, kspnerd122 said:

DRM sucks, imagine if for ksp you had to always be online, even though the game is single player, that is one of the worst methods but making people be online to open the game is another one(steam does this, I beat that crappy DRM, moved ksp out of steam folder(not to kill DRM but because of auto updates and the fact I use mods)

I just had that advantage of KSP illustrated a few days ago - steam apparently crashed for a while (~30 minutes that I know of).  I was playing a different game - in offline mode, but I wanted to download some workshop stuff so I exited & switched to Steam to online and it wouldn't recognize my password.  So I did the password change and changed it to what it was already supposed to be, and it still wouldn't take it.  Eventually I realized it was a Steam problem and tried to switch back to offline mode.  Except, the launcher still wanted my password but didn't recognize it.  So I was outta luck for just about anything except KSP until Steam came back online.  

[steve_v]

2 hours ago, SomeoneWhoLikesTrains said:

This is entirely theoretical for the time being, so stop going on about all the DRM stuff.

How then do you propose to have creative anti-piracy measures without a way of detecting said piracy?
Perhaps you intend that everyone would be subjected to craft "immediately exploding" or the rest of the suspiciously bug-like features you suggest? We have those already, they're called bugs.

You posted this in the suggestions & development discussion forum, not the lounge, so one can only assume that it's intended as a potential feature in the game as opposed to just random theorycrafting. Such a feature would require some kind of DRM to implement, so it's pretty pointless to discuss one without the other.

[OutInSpace]

DRM has no tangible benefits other than making low-IQ corporate higherups feel that their product is "secure."

In reality, any DRM is usually cracked wide open within days or weeks of release. No matter how much effort is poured into the DRM, anyone with a hex editor/decompiler and a boatload of patience can tear it down, rip out the DRM, and near-instantly distribute it across the Internet. I have experience in decompilation via Rimworld modding; I could bypass the code that checks for the Steam API with maybe three Harmony patches, and I'm sixteen.

Hardware-based DRM (e.g. Spiradisc) is the only hard to crack option that isn't intrusive, but that isn't exactly an option in the age of all-digital marketplaces.

In the end all it does is hurt legitimate consumers, prevent those with limited budgets from sampling the game, and does nothing in the long run to stop dedicated freeloaders.

[sturmhauke]

Let's assume the DRM works perfectly and is uncrackable (ridiculous I know, but bear with me). A simple "this pirate copy will not run, please buy the game" message will already turn some people off from buying it merely because the DRM exists at all, but that's not even the worst outcome. When your DRM manifests as things that look like bugs (exploding ships and whatnot), most people will just assume they're bugs, and that is far more likely to negatively impact sales. DRM is ultimately self-defeating.

[kspnerd122]

Da, I feel like DRM is just going to enrage the people who bought the game legitimately, not to mention steam which is a huge system of DRM(must be online to launch games), also what about people who move the game out of the steam folder if they are a steam player, would the DRM crash down on them, That would be unfair to those on steam especially because they have auto updates, and many move the modded games out of the steam folder to stop this from occuring. therefore I feel like players should not have to pick if they want mods, or not have to deal with DRM(my modded games do not need internet now) 

[Okhin]

Anti piracy method are like the turnstile in the subway. People who wants to jump them will do it eventually, no matter what the anti piracy method is. And the only people bothered by it are the one who will have paid their tickets and tries to go through those turnstile with their luggage, kids, wheelchair or canes. Or tose who have issues with their tickets (because it happens).

Anti piracy does not slow down piracy. It just makes legitimates users angry. Even if they're creative.

[mikegarrison]

On 8/2/2020 at 5:08 PM, SomeoneWhoLikesTrains said:

Any good game needs anti-piracy measures. However, just putting in an ordinary anti-piracy screen or warning/error message would be boring. I'm thinking of something creative, such as the game seeming to work at first, until you try to launch something and it ends up immediately exploding. Other ideas:Craft will just not work at all, craft will lose all control except for throttle at a random time, overheat temperature would be much lower, craft would not spawn but kerbals would spawn in a secret location with an anti-piracy message, etc.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

Probably the most amusing anti-piracy tactic in any game is the one for Game Dev Tycoon. They deliberately released a "cracked" version of their game on filesharing sites. But in the supposedly cracked version, as you start selling your product your sales numbers drop, and you start bleeding money BECAUSE YOUR GAME IS BEING PIRATED.

LOL, the penalty for pirating their game is to lose *your* game because *you* get pirated.

Edited August 8, 2020 by mikegarrison

[Kerbart]

I use a pirated version of Adobe CS6 at home. Well, a pirated version of the DRM DLL, that is. Why, Kerbart? Didn’t you pay for it? Well, yes I did, and it’s giving me non-stop problems with claiming that I didn’t, especially with Adobe Acrobat Pro; it would silently go into trial mode and then stop working after ninety days. Now, if it simply would ask for my username to check, I’d probably be fine with that, although I’d still be very annoyed. But it simply doesn’t start anymore, without any message.

Imagine something similar would happen with KSP. As a paid customer, I am suddenly confronted with exploding ships, ever changing orbital paramaters every time I open a saved game and other “punishing teases.” Would I assume that’d because the DRM failed? Or would I assume it’s bad software? How would I know?

And if I did pirate the game, would those teases make me think it was due to piracy? Or would it reinforce me into thinking “good that I didn’t spend money on this #### software?”

I agree with others that DRM will do very little to stop piracy and mostly hurts paying customers. The best course of action is what Squad did — foster a community, and continuously develop the game so therefore a reason to promote buying the game (and buying the DLC).

Speaking of DLC, my main reason for buying it is to support continued development for the game, not its perceived (lack of) value. Anyone complaining that “there are mods for those parts” (aside from the “mod vs stock” discussion) seems to forget that element — we depend on the DLC to pay for those “free” updates. That’s why I would never pirate them.

[steve_v]

1 hour ago, mikegarrison said:

LOL, the penalty for pirating their game falling for such a transparent trap is to lose *your* game because *you* get pirated didn't check to see if it was a real scene release.

FTFY.

 

1 hour ago, Kerbart said:

And if I did pirate the game, would those teases make me think it was due to piracy? Or would it reinforce me into thinking “good that I didn’t spend money on this #### software?”

Option 2 of course. Wait, that was a trick question, right?

Any "clever" anti-piracy "punishment" that looks like a bug will be assumed to be a bug, and while there might be some satisfaction for the easily amused when it gets reported as such, the vast majority of people (especially those who pirated the game) don't report bugs - they just go play something else.

Anyone who does realise what's going on simply becomes a better pirate - they look at who uploaded the dodgy release and learn who to avoid.
The cracking scene is very particular about quality, moreso than some game publishers. By including "anti-piracy" bugs in your game, you are helping them to release a superior product.

Edited August 8, 2020 by steve_v

[OutInSpace]

3 hours ago, Kerbart said:

I use a pirated version of Adobe CS6 at home.... <snip>

I had the same thing happen to me with an education (?) license I got on the cheap through my Dad's old Uni job, so pirated Photoshop CS6 it is. (You can't even officially download CS6 anymore: see here. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen...)

That and I refuse to support the abomination that is Adobe's subscription software model. I am not paying 21 bucks a month to rent a program that'll hold your work hostage if you stop paying up.

[Vanamonde]

Well guys, since they've already said KSP and KSP2 will not have DRM, this discussion is moot. Furthermore, it's straying toward methods and approval of something which is, after all, a crime. Time to move on to other subjects.