DRM and KSP

[xXCoolguy232Xx]

well ive found MANY downloads and i havent bought the game ive got V 0.13.3 and i have found about 2-3 V0.14 downloads on mediafire and thepiratebay.org so i hope this helped some law people that have the right to remove those downloads ( im only 13 years old and i understand the law and video game crackers)

[Serratus]

well ive found MANY downloads and i havent bought the game ive got V 0.13.3 and i have found about 2-3 V0.14 downloads on mediafire and thepiratebay.org

This really calls for that idea someone had - to distribute only patcher, and then use it to DL the entire game. But currently you can use it as many times as you want so someone could just give his/her account info and let anyone DL the game. How about locking accout to MAC?

[Sordid]

This really calls for that idea someone had - to distribute only patcher, and then use it to DL the entire game. But currently you can use it as many times as you want so someone could just give his/her account info and let anyone DL the game. How about locking accout to MAC?

You wouldn\'t even need to do that. The game itself has no DRM and doesn\'t use online verification, so you could just DL the game using the patcher, then pack up the game directory with winzip and upload it somewhere. Other people could then unpack it and it\'d work fine for them.

I\'m starting to think that some kind of light DRM might be a good idea.

[greggles]

DRM only effects legit users. Any drm would just be removed from the pirate community, and would be a waste of time and resources to implement. Even invasive and nasty DRM is knocked right off. (In fact in some cases, the 'non' drm version is superior in stability and performance!). I think sometimes that individuals feel that by making things more restrictive or harder to get, it reduces crime/piracy. People forget that criminals don\'t follow rules, so no amount of rules or restrictions will ever effect them, only the people that follow them in the first place.

Besides, check out Frances big anti-piracy movement. Cut downloads in half last year. Profits of media still dropped. They\'ll probably come up with a new bs excuse to blame poor sales. Lets pass even more laws!

I think the game is fun, and priced well. That\'s all you really need. Oh, and to end up on steam and/or humble bundles. (Probably when the game is closer to a finished state though).

[Duke-49th]

You wouldn\'t even need to do that. The game itself has no DRM and doesn\'t use online verification, so you could just DL the game using the patcher, then pack up the game directory with winzip and upload it somewhere. Other people could then unpack it and it\'d work fine for them.

I\'m starting to think that some kind of light DRM might be a good idea.

But pls really only light DRM. We all know that every security system is useless as soon as some hacker want to crack it. Even if you use a USB-dongle.

but to prevent from find the newest up to date version across the torrents instantly, I suggest a light DRM too. So at least someone needs to have work before releasing a cracked version.(better to say..someone need to crack it, before he can upload it somewhere.)

As long as it is a indie-game...there are not much hacker interested in cracking it...I guess..

[greggles]

The humble bundles don\'t have any DRM whatsoever. Not only do they give you the games free of DRM...but they let you set the price, AND give you steam keys.

I just don\'t think any drm is necessary whatsoever. I imagine the main 'non' purchasers of KSP are just snagging it from somewhere other then the store, to see how the latest changes are working.

Though I don\'t know why they wouldn\'t have spent the minuscule amount of money to buy the game, I\'m sure they have their own reasons. Maybe their cat needs a new monocle this month. Or their computer case needed a new decal. I find sometimes I like to just throw 5 dollars on the ground and yell at it. Tell it that it\'s not worth my time, then leave it there so it can suffer.

[sal_vager]

If you put DRM on it, I\'ll no longer play, and I\'ll regret donating.

I do not and will not support DRM, I crack the disk requirements of all my purchased games, I bypass online activation if possible, and if not possible I simply do without, games are entertainment and I can find other things to do instead of jump through some imposed restrictions forced on me.

People who 'pirate' will still do so no matter what, and most crackers do it for the challenge alone, most 'pirated' games are downloaded on a whim from links from friends and usually never played, they end up lost and forgotten on harddrives, it\'s only the legitimate users who end up disadvantaged.

GOG, Humble bundle and others have shown that DRM free games work, if Squad pulled a Ubisoft, how would that make you feel?

Also, steam is still DRM, no matter what you think, your steam accounts can be shut down and you can lose the lot.

[Capt'n Skunky]

[gmod]Off-Topic split.[/gmod]

Cheers!

Capt\'n Skunky

KSP Community Manager

[Rico88]

The Devs stated it many times that they won\'t use any kind of DRM because it is total useless. Pirates will pirate the game despite of it and only legal users will have a hard time because of it. And I fully agree with this. If you can\'t sleep well knowing that others play with the game for free while you paid for it, you should realise that having a DRM won\'t change that.

[Cepheus]

It\'s a well known fact that drm doesn\'t work. Why do people still insist on it?

[Guest GroundHOG-2010]

It\'s a well known fact that drm doesn\'t work. Why do people still insist on it?

Its a well known fact that most drm doesn\'t work, there is a few (like FADE) that still have yet to be cracked properly, the only problem with them are they arn\'t perfect for the legit players.

[DonLorenzo]

It\'s an emotional thing, and well understandable to want to protect your hard work and income. Problem is it really doesn\'t work too well. That publisher Stardock (or maybe the publisher was IronClad games and stardock the dev) didn\'t have any DRM and scored top 10 sales a couple times. Best example IMO. They too had no DRM but required login for patches/upgrades etc. I think that\'s the correct way forward.

[sal_vager]

The guys behind The Witcher have decided to no longer put DRM on their games, they see it\'s useless.

And if you looked, you\'d see it\'s the DRM\'d versions that turn up on fileshare sites, GOG and other DRM free versions are rarely seen.

I have a horrible suspicion that the big announcement might be KSP moving to steam, meaning KSP will be tied to a steam account that you have no real control over, cannot transfer and it can be shut down without notice or explanation, with no appeal.

It\'s totally unfounded though as HarvesteR has stated in the past that KSP will remain DRM free, but not everyone realizes what steam is.

[Sordid]

AFAIK Steam doesn\'t do aplha-funded games. Desura, on the other hand, does.

[N3X15]

Any DRM Squad\'d add to KSP would be trivial to remove. It\'s not worth the time or expense.

[Corax]

It\'s an emotional thing, and well understandable to want to protect your hard work and income. Problem is it really doesn\'t work too well. That publisher Stardock (or maybe the publisher was IronClad games and stardock the dev) didn\'t have any DRM and scored top 10 sales a couple times. Best example IMO. They too had no DRM but required login for patches/upgrades etc. I think that\'s the correct way forward.

Obviously this isn\'t about protecting the publisher\'s hard work and income, but about protecting some customers\' sense of achievement or entitlement.

When the publisher decides not to do DRM, and people continue to demand DRM, something is fundamentally wrong.

If you have bought KSP, as of course you should, you can rest on the knowledge you have done the right thing.

There will always be people who try to get something for free, and guess what? They will always find a way.

I\'d prefer Squad spend their time on improving the game, rather than implementing some pointless Restrictions Management.

In fact, I think I\'ll just donate another few credits, the game is more than worth it. Especially without Steam or some other shit.

[Sordid]

Steam\'s a bit of a double-edged sword, innit? On the one hand it\'s stupid and invasive, on the other hand any indie game that ends up there gets massive exposure and tons of sales. I wouldn\'t be against KSP on Steam if it also remains available via the KSP Store.

[sal_vager]

Is Desura any good? they seem to be mostly against DRM.

Also rather than steam to drum up sales, would it be worth looking at having KSP as part of the next humble bundle?

One of the things that attracted me to KSP from the beginning was the fact it was DRM free, these days corporate interests seem to be set on taking more and more rights away from gamers, the attitude is you buy from them and you buy brand new, full price only, how dare you install the product more than once and how dare you buy second hand.

I\'m tired of the politics in gaming, I don\'t pirate and I don\'t see why I should have to suffer because other people do, so I\'m careful what I buy these days.

For me at least, DRM puts me off buying a game, no matter how good it is.

[ForumHelper]

I\'d love to see this game on Steam at some point, that\'s the only DRM I like.

[samstarman5]

Steam exposure would be nice, but it wouldn\'t bother me if KSP stayed as it is upon release. Which is still a long way down the road.

Bear in mind that with KSP still in development, anyone who pirates a version is still going to have to go through the same hurdles again to get the next version. To me that just makes the idea all the more stupid when there is a solid demo already available you can get for free that is being updated for free, and the full game in development is cheap in itself. I can see pirating a high-priced game as most of them are overpriced and they are at full release. I don\'t approve of it, but there is a bit more intelligence behind that maneuver.

This thread is a reminder that we should remind our friends online that KSP Demo is free, and that if they whine about the full game being too much, then they should be reminded there are plenty of legitimate and easy ways to find $15(the price of KSP at this time) to pay for it. Putting yourself at risk of both criminal and civil action is not worth pirating a game that isn\'t even finished yet.

[rustymcclintock]

I can tell you with 'hypothetical' experience that pirating games is mega easy...dead-space two for example. top name game, 'hypothetically' had it within 12 hours of its release... It\'s pointless to try and stop it the only thing you can do is appeal to people. I\'m buying KSP not because I can\'t find a pirate copy, but because I choose to contribute to this project...rooting for the underdog. honestly I could never admit if I have a pirate copy or not (perma-banning) S:| ...but lets just say that IF I did maybe 'hypothetically' it was what inspired me to buy it?

[AlternNocturn]

I could have easily done it, but in the end I didn\'t pirate KSP because what kind of scumbag would pirate a $10 (that was the price at the time I bought it) Indie game? I think KSP is doing just fine without invasive DRM. When I learned I had to log in with my store account to update the game, I remember thinking 'wow, that\'s genius, I love these guys.' I think instead of wasting time incorporating DRM that causes the game to run like crap and makes legitimate customers jump through hoops just to install and update the game while at the same time doing nothing to stop people from pirating it, it\'s much more efficient to continue developing the game as it is, have us log in to an authentication system to update the game, and simply shut down links that host a cracked copy of the game. I think that\'s a much better use of the developer\'s time.

[Sordid]

simply shut down links that host a cracked copy of the game

That\'s easier said than done, I\'m afraid.

[DayOne]

Add some amazing multiplayer content that becomes a huge part of the game. Add some very light DRM. Everyone wins!

[Guest GroundHOG-2010]

That\'s easier said than done, I\'m afraid.

Thats at best sordid.

Add some amazing multiplayer content that becomes a huge part of the game. Add some very light DRM. Everyone wins!

Except good young GroundHOG (been against ksp and multiplayer unless its a mod since about 0.11, a lot of people wanting it, takes away from single player...).