Bioshock2 get ready for Insane copy protection

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Mortuus

[H]ard|Gawd
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uhhh read this..

- Initial installation requires one-time internet connection; Ability to save game, earn achievements, receive title updates and online play requires log-in to Games for Windows LIVE; software installations required including Microsoft Visual C++2008 Runtime Libraries, Games for Windows LIVE client, Games for Windows LIVE Client Patch, Sony DADC SecuROM, Microsoft DirectX.

Steam buyers will have to be logged in to Valve's service, wait for BioShock 2 to unlock, undergo SecuRom activation (and install limits too, most likely), then log in to Games For Windows Live once the game has loaded, and then use it exclusively for multiplayer. With all multiplayer GFWL setups being less than great to date, I have to say that my pessimism for BioShock 2's multiplayer mode has just gone up a notch.

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/52531/BioShock-2-DRM-System-Requirements-Revealed#comments

i wonder how many will have issues with this on launch ??
 
Wow as a consumer I'm so tempted to jump through all those hoops...when it's just as easy to get a free copy that has NONE of those problems.

Anyway I'm still not over being angry at the release date differences on steam for the UK, we had to wait like 2-3 days to unlock and play a game on steam I'd pre-orderd and pre-loaded, sitting there waiting to play when people in the US had completed it already.
 
this will just cause more people to pirate the game so they dont have to do any of this...when will dev learn :rolleyes:
 
Am I the only person who really thought Bioshock was just an OK game? I bought it, played thru it, but didn't really enjoy it, as a matter of fact I thought it got tedious about midway thru. I think that the Vita chambers really screwed up the game dynamic.
 
Bohica69 said:
Am I the only person who really thought Bioshock was just an OK game? I bought it, played thru it, but didn't really enjoy it, as a matter of fact I thought it got tedious about midway thru. I think that the Vita chambers really screwed up the game dynamic.
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Bioshock scared me and I had to quit playing. Scary games freak me out.
 
DeathCloud said:
this will just cause more people to pirate the game so they dont have to do any of this...when will dev learn :rolleyes:
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Or they could just, you know...not buy it. But I forgot that most of the pirates are adolescents who never planned on buying it in the first place and just needed a rationalization.

Don't like it, don't buy it. Seems really simple to me...
 
Bohica69 said:
Am I the only person who really thought Bioshock was just an OK game? I bought it, played thru it, but didn't really enjoy it, as a matter of fact I thought it got tedious about midway thru. I think that the Vita chambers really screwed up the game dynamic.
Click to expand...

You're not the only one. I gave it a lot of hard thought about the DRM before I broke-down and bought the game anyway. I was so annoyed with the game about an hour in because the consolized interface was clunky. I also found it incredibly annoying that enemies respawned constantly, so I couldn't backtrack.

I was already not excited about Bioshock 2, but this makes the decision not to buy easy.
 
z3r0- said:
What's the issue? Is logging into GFWL THAT bad?
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Im taking it that u have to be logged in to save game.. thats just ridicilous.. says nothing that u can save offline once the game is activated.. but yeah it is a big deal, google gta4 and all the problems people had with all the extra programs required and if something went bad the game refused to run etc..
 
I never had high expectations for the MP portion of the game. If the SP portion is on par with the original, it will still be an OK purchase for SP. If this was primarily a MP game I would pass on it.

It's a bargain bin buy then use no dvd fix for me on this one. Or maybe a year from now when they ditch most of the extra DRM and have it on sale for $5, I'll buy it on steam.

GFWL is not the devil, but, it sucks for MP, and is a useless waste for any game on steam.
 
Don't you already have to do this with several Steam games? More bitching about problems that most people will never see.
 
Bioshock was just above a mediocre game. I'll pass on its squeal until it drops to the $5-10 range on Steam. I don't want to jump through all those hoops to play an ok game.
 
SF4 on PC used GFWL for multiplayer, I had no problems. Activations is not too much of a hassle, this won't be going anywhere anytime soon. I'll enjoy the stuff for what they are.

@heatlesssun - I agree, its usually the vocal minority for these types of things. I have yet to have any problems with software that has "DRM".
 
if its good, I will buy it, if not I wont play it or pirate it.
 
For those the think having to be logged into GFWL to save is a big deal, you do know that you can create an off-line account and still be able to save without being connected to the internet. I don't agree with the activation limits, but what they're doing isn't that much different than most new PC games. As for this particular game, I agree with the others that have said the first seemed way overrated. I stopped playing after the first half-hour, and never had the urge to try again. I don't expect them to deviate from the formula of the first, so I'm not even thinking about this one. Mass Effect 2 and Bad Company 2 will have the lion's share of my attention for the next few months anyway.
 
I think EA tried this with Spore, but they ended up compromising and not locking it down so much. What is terrible is users without and internet connection can't install it then, or am I wrong?
 
I wonder why people STILL complain about copy protections...you've never heard of those magical .exe or what? Just use them with your original copy?
 
IsaacMM said:
I wonder why people STILL complain about copy protections...you've never heard of those magical .exe or what? Just use them with your original copy?
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I think that the point is:

It doesn't fucking work devs. Give it up?
 
z3r0- said:
What's the issue? Is logging into GFWL THAT bad?
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It's bad if Bioshock 2 would take the route that GTA IV did with their saved games, in that you can't use it for offline play without editing it first in a hex editor, OR if you had the misfortune of say re-installing the OS, re-installing the game, then trying to use previous saves and the server has no record of it, or won't recognize your back up saves because GFWL assigned a new save ID for your account.

But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Fallout 3's implemetation of GFWL with respect to save data is alright, DLCs are another matter though.
 
thetruth said:
I think that the point is:

It doesn't fucking work devs. Give it up?
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If they havent given up on cd copyright protection yet they are far far from giving up on game protection. If anything, sales numbers are still really high with copyright protection. The people that buy games still buy them and the people that steal them still steal them. If I had a lot less disposable income I might steal a lot more games myself, as it stands I really dont even enjoy playing a game I dont buy. I think I just feel vested when I fork over the cash.
 
They've tried these same methods before and they just end up getting cracked on the first day. Give it a rest. GTA4 was a pain to play because of all the stupid hoops you had to jump just to launch the game.
 
IsaacMM said:
I wonder why people STILL complain about copy protections...you've never heard of those magical .exe or what? Just use them with your original copy?
Click to expand...

If I'm buying a game legit, fair and square, I shouldn't have to be tinkering in the registry, downloading questionable .exe files, and generally screwing all the hell around with it, just to play it.

I refuse to buy any games with these kinds of draconian schemes. I'm not saying to pirate it. I just don't buy it, period. There's plenty of other games that don't do this kind of crap.
 
this blows, this is the one game i woulda played between now and when I take my CCNA exam, I honestly thought it'd be the perfect game to play through at a slow pace while I studied, now I won't have but TF2 and CS Source or maybe Dragon Age to play, but then again maybe not, studying is more important :(

all these hoops are an insult to the customer

pirates get the better experience

i don't see how anyone with a brain CANNOT condone piracy in situations like this? While I went there and said that, I won't be pirating the game though since I probably won't have time to play it anyway, I'll just wait till the end of year steam sale, bioshock was what $5 on Steam for the past 2 new years day steam sales?
 
eurin said:
I saw this on steam forums.

2k Responds to DRM
http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/sho...96&postcount=1

Hey guys,

As many of you are aware, yesterday Steam's pre-purchase program began and the specs for BioShock 2 were posted along with that announcement.

These specs were taken from the retail packaging of BioShock 2. And since bullet points on the back of the box don't always explain the full story, here is a little more detail about what that means.

BioShock 2 is using a standard Games for Windows Live activation system, much like other games you have played in the past. That doesn't mean you always have to be online to play or save the game - you can create an offline profile for the Single Player portion of the game (you just won't earn achievements and you can't play Multiplayer, of course.)

We are using SecuROM only as a disc check method for the retail copy of BioShock 2. That is it's only use.

I am now checking the final plans for BioShock 2's specifications for Steam - and I'll get you a more complete answer by the end of the week. I have also been compiling a feature that will help answer a host of questions about BioShock 2 on the PC, including a podcast and screenshots of the PC version, and that should be out within a few days as well.

I'm sorry for the confusion, and I hope to clear it up entirely for you soon.

-Elizabeth


Update
Games for Windows Live has an activation key and some restrictions for your online profile, which is standard. I'm sure I don't know all the reasons we went with GFWL, but it works very well with our Multiplayer component.

Steam beat me to the punch a couple days early with their program. I have a full feature with Q&A, podcast, screenshots that will explain all the ins and outs of the PC version. It's just not completely polished yet, but I'll have it to you soon.

Update
Games for Windows Live is what controls the activation and the online and offline profiles. Not SecuROM. That is only a disc check, and nothing more.

Update
Yes. I talk to the GFWL guys and that's the case. If you have *no* profile you won't be able to save, but if you have an offline profile you can play and save. You won't get achievements and the like - but without online access, that doesn't matter as much.

Update
I'm exactly the right place to voice your concerns, so don't worry about that.

And yes, you will have to go online at least once when you install the game, regardless of whether or not you ever play Multiplayer.

As an aside, the Single Player part of this game is huge, and awesome, but so is Multiplayer. I know it might not be everyone's thing, but a lot of love and work and thought went into that part of BioShock 2.

Update
I'm checking on Steam, and I'll let you guys know by the end of the week what's the full deal with the digital version.

Update

I want to clear this up: SecuROM for the retail version is ONLY a disc check, and there are NO limits for it. As for GFWL, there are 15 activations that can be reset if you reach the cap. There is no 5 activation limit anywhere with this game - in any version whatsoever.
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Elizabeth PR rep has answers for all your questions about BioShock 2 on the PC.There is no need to PIRATE this game.:D
 
So, the most you have to do is just do a disc check and one online activation? That's not too bad.

Would have looked better (thus earn more favor with the gamers) if they did the disc check without SecuROM.
 
Bohica69 said:
Am I the only person who really thought Bioshock was just an OK game? I bought it, played thru it, but didn't really enjoy it, as a matter of fact I thought it got tedious about midway thru. I think that the Vita chambers really screwed up the game dynamic.
Click to expand...

I agree. bioshock had a cool story to it, graphics were good and overall was a cool idea BUT for some reason i could not keep focus while playing.
 
It took a year of patches for GFWL to work for me in Fallout 3. I hope to have to spend less than a year to await any possible GFWL bugs to be fixed in this game. Dirt 2 didn't even have any issues at all except the Steam interface doesn't work inside it.
 
Problems like this are why the consoles are given more importance over PC now. I want my PC to have funtastic games, but its less of a hassle and easier to use a 360 where you just slap the disk in.
 
z3r0- said:
What's the issue? Is logging into GFWL THAT bad?
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Ask the people who have had their saved games lost by GFWL. It happened a lot with Gears of War.

Trusting MS with any data is asking for it to be lost. Look at all those Sidekick users. MS apparently doesn't believe in having backups.

You also can't trust MS to even keep their servers running. Remember Microsoft Gaming Zone? Or how about their music servers for their music store before Zune?
 
refraxion said:
@heatlesssun - I agree, its usually the vocal minority for these types of things. I have yet to have any problems with software that has "DRM".
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I've had a few although it has been a while. First was starforce which fucked up my notebook. It got installed when I loaded splinter cell on it. Software fucked it up to the point I couldn't burn cds from the system. Thought the optical drive was messing up. Ended up formatting the system and reloading it to get rid of the shit as there wasn't a way to uninstall it without using a questionable removal tool from a hacking group. I had looked into what it would all take and said fuck it and reloaded.

Second was with steam when it first came out. I had a bunch of issues getting into clan matches in css because steams servers were too busy to check the key on the game I played for the right to play on the servers I was paying for. With all of the issues with steam when it first came out I haven't bought a game over it since. I could go into some other examples.

DRM has caused me to for the most part stop gaming on the pc. I still game on consoles where the DRM hasn't caused me as many issues.

I will say even the cd checks are an issue as I don't leave an optical drive in my notebook. Have a second battery in its place. This is at leasy my 4th notebook that has allowed me to do this(2 g3 powerbooks and 2 dells).

GreenMonkey said:
If I'm buying a game legit, fair and square, I shouldn't have to be tinkering in the registry, downloading questionable .exe files, and generally screwing all the hell around with it, just to play it.

I refuse to buy any games with these kinds of draconian schemes. I'm not saying to pirate it. I just don't buy it, period. There's plenty of other games that don't do this kind of crap.
Click to expand...

This is what I've done.
 
Meh seems like a lot of trouble to PLAY A GAME. It's going to get to the point of compiling the game just to play it. lol

I'm going the console route on this game.
 
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