14 DAY TRIAL // I have recently bought a game that requires activation in order to be played and I was all enthusiastic about it. I strongly believe this is the best way the publishers and developers can protect their property against software piracy without harming their customers. There are many benefits to this. First of all, you may back-up some copies of your original CD, thus protecting it from physical harm. Secondly, you won't be prompted to insert the original disk in your optical drive every time you play the game. Lastly, but not the least, you do not have to bother about black-listings and you surely don't have to cross your fingers whenever you un-install a Star Force protected game hoping that, this way, your DVD drive drivers will be spared.
Although software activation has been around for some time on the IT market, game publishers showed little interest in it. I have always wondered why. I even had an aggressive polemic on this matter with one of my colleagues. While he considered the use of security applications to be the right thing to do by the software distribution companies, I disapproved on the grounds that it is not fair to make honest customers suffer because of some jerks who don't give squat about others' work and sleepless nights. Preemptive measures are by far, more appropriate than treating the whole world as a den of thieves. Unfortunately, this is the consequence of poor education and a matching system of moral values on both sides. Publishers care for nothing but their pockets whilst game thugs, covering themselves under the hypocritical pretext that they only wish to grant free access to information, thus encouraging honesty and trading, spread copies of the game on industrial scale. When did entertainment become "information"? Otherwise, why do game demos and people like me exist? If not for others to know with Swiss precision what is a game all about, what for? And why aren't novels (for example) illegally copied and distributed? Literature is a form of information. Games are not. And, while readers of all categories simply refuse to possess illegal copies of their beloved titles, gamers do not.
I consider myself a victim of these peoples' selfishness and stupidity. Without game piracy and publishers' obtuse market strategy, I would have been a happier person while my game collection could have rivaled my private library. Unfortunately, the rate remains 5: 1 (books/games).
I'll cut to the chase. So, I have installed the game, I've rubbed my hands with anxiousness and? surprise! I entered my personal data and I clicked on the send button only to receive the following: "Due to the number of requests on our servers, we are not able to process yours for the moment. Try again later." Of course, my form doesn't have a save option and, in order to try again, I must re-enter all my personal information. I have tried three times and nothing. Activation by phone is restricted for the U.K.
What should one do in this kind of situation? Should he return the product? Should he shoot it several times, hang it by a tree and run it over with a Buick? No! The option is Warez! I bought the darn thing. Admiring its shiny cover won't settle down my new-born fury. It is a crazy world we are living in. How can one feel accomplished with his original game collection if it doesn't include a single title that works properly: one needs an activation that isn't actually supported (why would a publisher invest anything in its costumers' comfort? It would be such a loss of cash?), the other has a black list that requires you to fully uninstall your OS in order to work, and the ones left have a knack for deleting your IDE devices drivers.
My mail to the distribution company brought me to another dead-end. Sad and pissed, I have asked a friend to provide me with a cracked version of that game (they always work). I waited so long to get the chance to play it. It would have been a shame not to.
I had to break principles I vowed to protect at all costs in order to play a stupid game. It hurts. However, I have learned an important lesson: it's not worth it playing by the rules in a world that hasn't any. Game industry is a flourishing ground for company-costumer mockery. You meet all kinds here: unfinished games (Heroes IV), crappy multi-language support (Gothic II: Night of The Raven), games that do not run if you have black listed program installations (Barbarian Invasion), games that may alter your operating system's functionality, games with so many bugs/tech. problems that cannot be finished (Temple of Elemental Evil, Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines, Stronghold), and games so well protected that they cannot be played at all (Earth 2160). It is like a world where the books you buy refuse to open, have missing pages or tons of misspellings. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Even if I do not compare game industry with the other ones (have you ever seen how much passion and effort do a handful of mechanics invest in their car projects? Have you ever seen the birth of a Ford Shelby? It is flawless in every way!), I see no point in asking anyone stop using illegal copies of computer games. Incredibly few game studios or publishers care about their fans and customers. Therefore, why should common gamers - like me - give a damn about their work if they do not give a damn about anything but themselves? I may compare this state of things with politics - elections days to be more exact. You give your vote/your hard earned money only to the one who deserves it. And maybe (maybe!), he will make a sequel for you as a form of respect.
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