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First off, I buy all my games.
I like to run them off the HDD, saves switching CDs and makes them run faster as well. I bought Madden 2005 but can not play it at all -- with or without the cd in the drive -- because it detects Alcohol 120% on my system. I have to choose one to uninstall, and this infuriates me. Is there any workaround so that I can play a game I paid for?
Incidentally, sent off an email to EA Sports:
I was eagerly awaiting Madden 2005 after hearing great things about it on the consoles. In fact, this was the first game I ever prebooked. I picked it up, took it home, installed it, and than (per my usual procedure) proceeded to make an image file of the play disc. You see, my CD-ROM is quite noisy and I prefer the increased speed that running solely off of a hard drive brings me.
Imagine my surprise when I was told I could not run the game. In fact, the game gave me a notification that said, in essence, I could have Madden installed, or I could have my disk image program installed, but not both.
Now, I understand and fully support cd checks. Most piracy comes about from "Joe Average Gamer", who thinks a game is fun and wants to give a copy to his friend. They install it on the friend's computer, and play it, but they both can not play at once due to the cd check. That is fine, it reduces piracy significantly while not affecting those who buy the game legitimately and have the know-how to create images of the discs or otherwise bypass the copy protection.
Let me reiterate: I purchased this game, as I do with all games. Gamers can be broadly generalized in 3 categories:
1) Joe Average Gamer. Has no idea how copy protection works or how to bypass it and is easily defeated by simple cd checks. Has no idea about alternate means of acquiring games. Net result is he purchases every game he plays.
2) l33t dudes. They don't buy games. As no copy-protection is perfect, every game gets cracked within days, and they are playing Madden 2005 right now.
3) Do the right thing'ers. People who know all about bit torrent, eMule, and newsgroups, but purchase the games at retail. They generally have optimized gaming systems and want things to run a certain way, so they do utilize the above networks for things like cd cracks, or make images of the discs, but this is just to enhance the enjoyment of a game they have already paid for.
Now, by enforcing your new copy protection, which of the three groups above is most affected? Certainly not the pirates -- go to www.s******a.org right now and check how many torrents of Madden 2005 are available. The first group, while they probably *would* engage in piracy if they could, are defeated by Safedisc so nothing further is necessary. The only people affected by the no-emulator policy are the third group, LEGITIMATE PAYING CUSTOMERS. You are pissing off customers with absolutely zero upside as far as reducing piracy.
It is sad and unacceptable that in order for me to play a game I paid for, I either have to uninstall other software I paid for, or download a pirated version of the game. Unacceptable.
So, there are two ways you can resolve the situation favorably:
1) Email to me a utility that will allow me to remove the no-emulation policy on the game
2) Present to me a method where I can return my game for a full refund, as stores that sell software have a policy against returns.
Note that I will never, ever purchase another EA Sports game while this form of copy protection is included.
If the person reading this does not have the authority or ability to comply with either of the two suggested means of resolution above, please forward this to the appropriate person.
Current mood = pissed off
I like to run them off the HDD, saves switching CDs and makes them run faster as well. I bought Madden 2005 but can not play it at all -- with or without the cd in the drive -- because it detects Alcohol 120% on my system. I have to choose one to uninstall, and this infuriates me. Is there any workaround so that I can play a game I paid for?
Incidentally, sent off an email to EA Sports:
I was eagerly awaiting Madden 2005 after hearing great things about it on the consoles. In fact, this was the first game I ever prebooked. I picked it up, took it home, installed it, and than (per my usual procedure) proceeded to make an image file of the play disc. You see, my CD-ROM is quite noisy and I prefer the increased speed that running solely off of a hard drive brings me.
Imagine my surprise when I was told I could not run the game. In fact, the game gave me a notification that said, in essence, I could have Madden installed, or I could have my disk image program installed, but not both.
Now, I understand and fully support cd checks. Most piracy comes about from "Joe Average Gamer", who thinks a game is fun and wants to give a copy to his friend. They install it on the friend's computer, and play it, but they both can not play at once due to the cd check. That is fine, it reduces piracy significantly while not affecting those who buy the game legitimately and have the know-how to create images of the discs or otherwise bypass the copy protection.
Let me reiterate: I purchased this game, as I do with all games. Gamers can be broadly generalized in 3 categories:
1) Joe Average Gamer. Has no idea how copy protection works or how to bypass it and is easily defeated by simple cd checks. Has no idea about alternate means of acquiring games. Net result is he purchases every game he plays.
2) l33t dudes. They don't buy games. As no copy-protection is perfect, every game gets cracked within days, and they are playing Madden 2005 right now.
3) Do the right thing'ers. People who know all about bit torrent, eMule, and newsgroups, but purchase the games at retail. They generally have optimized gaming systems and want things to run a certain way, so they do utilize the above networks for things like cd cracks, or make images of the discs, but this is just to enhance the enjoyment of a game they have already paid for.
Now, by enforcing your new copy protection, which of the three groups above is most affected? Certainly not the pirates -- go to www.s******a.org right now and check how many torrents of Madden 2005 are available. The first group, while they probably *would* engage in piracy if they could, are defeated by Safedisc so nothing further is necessary. The only people affected by the no-emulator policy are the third group, LEGITIMATE PAYING CUSTOMERS. You are pissing off customers with absolutely zero upside as far as reducing piracy.
It is sad and unacceptable that in order for me to play a game I paid for, I either have to uninstall other software I paid for, or download a pirated version of the game. Unacceptable.
So, there are two ways you can resolve the situation favorably:
1) Email to me a utility that will allow me to remove the no-emulation policy on the game
2) Present to me a method where I can return my game for a full refund, as stores that sell software have a policy against returns.
Note that I will never, ever purchase another EA Sports game while this form of copy protection is included.
If the person reading this does not have the authority or ability to comply with either of the two suggested means of resolution above, please forward this to the appropriate person.
Current mood = pissed off
