BioWare drops 10-day validation from Mass Effect PC
by Jason Dobson 
{ May 10th 2008 at 9:25AM }
Instead of employing the previously revealed DRM madness, Watamaniuk explained that Mass Effect will include just a one time online authentication, allowing players to play the game once validated without the disc in the drive at all. That said, if any new content is downloaded, the game will again have to bite the disc to make sure it's real. The caveat to all of this, however, is that each Mass Effect purchase will only be able to be installed a maximum of three times, news that has again incited us to pick up our torches and pitchforks and join the mob outside.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
DMessenger @ May 10th 2008 9:38AM
A maximum of 3 times is absolutely ridiculous, if I've bought a game I should be allowed to install as many times as I want. I like formatting my pc often to keep it clear of crap and this leaves me screwed.
Lord Bowser @ May 10th 2008 9:53AM
Buy a Mac.
PeterF @ May 10th 2008 9:54AM
@Lord Bowser
yeah such a great idea lets play PC only games on MACS!
Lord Bowser @ May 10th 2008 9:57AM
Bootcamp.
LaughingTarget @ May 10th 2008 10:01AM
Macs are worse monopolies than anything in the PC environment can ever be. Let's not go down that path. Remember the latest Mac vs PC ad - Mac works because everything in it is supplied by the same company.
Lord Bowser @ May 10th 2008 10:20AM
The reason there is a Mac "monopoly" is because their products are simply superior.
doba @ May 10th 2008 10:23AM
@Lord Bowser
That then solves nothing
Emophia @ May 10th 2008 10:27AM
Hahahahaha, oh man... Mac... Hahahaha, man that's a good one... I haven't laughed so hard in a while, thanks.
Big Ed @ May 10th 2008 11:08AM
A mac user on joystiq is the loneliest person in the world.
Ignatius @ May 10th 2008 11:19AM
The only question left now... is it possible to downvote to zero hearts?
TomCo @ May 10th 2008 11:37AM
Who knows, we'll have fun trying though.
Taco_Hell @ May 10th 2008 11:54AM
You know Bowser, all of this time I thought you were a lunatic with a superiority complex who has a strange obsession with Uwe Boll. But now I know your just another Mac user.
JakubK666 (Ninja Defence Force) @ May 10th 2008 12:05PM
The only thing worse than those "dumb PC users" are Mac Elitists.
Lord Bowser @ May 10th 2008 12:07PM
Hey, leave Uwe Boll out of this. He's not here to defend himself. Attack me all you want, I'm a big boy, but leave Humble Uwe alone. He doesn't deserve the abuse. He truly is a great man, nay, the greatest man.
Haggard @ May 10th 2008 12:19PM
'superior products'?
The operating system perhaps.. and even then you have to pretend you have windows in order to play games.
Macs suck because you exorbitant amounts of money for a system which generally has lower specs than a PC of half the price. Added to that the fact your trendy hunk of junk has no customisation potential (and can only be repaired by specialists).
Mrblonde @ May 10th 2008 12:24PM
Macs are more for work oriented stuff. PC's are for that and gaming, but macs are better for work stuff.
Sunny @ May 10th 2008 12:31PM
You don't buy the game. You buy a license to install and play it.
Poisoned Al @ May 10th 2008 12:34PM
What's worse the console fanboys? Apple fanboys! Seriously, fuck off to Starbucks with you Macbook Air and don't come back!
Tiptup300 @ May 10th 2008 3:06PM
WHY DON'T YOU ALL JUST LEAVE HER ALONE, *AHH huh* *crys*
Liquidmark @ May 10th 2008 3:37PM
@Poisoned Al
Actually, butthurt PC fanboys are the worst of all.
Of course Macs aren't gaming machines compared to uber-gaming-rig-Xtreme, but they are more capable than the average garbage PC gamers call themselves playing on. I mean, seriously, there are people out there trying to play Crysis on crappy P4's.
Personally, I think playing on personal computers BLOWS CHUNKS no matter WHAT your platform is. PC or MAC, they are both crappy gaming systems.
Dedicated system is superior.
PS. Sunny is right. When you buy a game, you only own a license to play it. Don't like that?
Tough
Grant @ May 10th 2008 3:53PM
agreed,
DRM schemes like this fuck over legitimate customers all the time.
i did a fresh re-install recently to only discover that the license to use my netflix instant was tethered to my previous installation and i went over my limit of computers i can install the software on per year.
If you're going to included limiting DRMS like this, you should at least allow for customers to deactivate an installation as well, such as itunes does.
Gehodra @ May 10th 2008 5:36PM
@Bowser
I voted you up man. All of your posts. Twice.
rv @ May 10th 2008 7:23PM
Isnt it obvious by now Lord Bowser wants to be ranked down? Don't take him seriously
bigsim @ May 10th 2008 7:48PM
@ LaughingTarget -
In fairness, neither OS X nor any of the iWork suite require any of the bullshit validate online stuff that a whole stack of MS software does - install it and it's done.
t_m @ May 11th 2008 1:22AM
Its three SIMULTANEOUS installs on DIFFERENT pcs.
reinstalling repeatedly on the same hardware should count as one install... even after reformatting. Reinstalling after most hardware upgrades should still count as one install. AFAIK its the same as Bioshock, so uninstalling should free up install slots.
Seriously, how many people were planning on playing it on four pcs at the same time, and aren't just moaning for the sake of it?
(i seem to remember everyone getting very self righteous and upset when people criticise video games without knowing what they are talking about....)
ill trooper @ May 11th 2008 3:02AM
What a bunch of arrogant Windows clowns. You are what you accuse Mac people of. Enjoy it.
Lord Bowser @ May 11th 2008 9:21AM
Gehodra, I voted you up too.
Zachary Hinchliffe @ May 11th 2008 12:28PM
Bowser guy. Please. You're making us Mac users look bad. Go die in a hole.
EMOruffino @ May 11th 2008 1:43PM
@Lord Bowser, if you got a mac and bootcamp then you would still be able to install it only 3 times.... Don't worry tho, proably a week after it comes out, you can fake validate it. ;)
Mr.Q @ May 10th 2008 9:39AM
Stupid idea
Hashbrown Hunter @ May 10th 2008 10:02AM
Ahh, the voice of reason. It's rare to hear these days.
Neebs @ May 10th 2008 9:42AM
Well, that's even worse. At first I was like: "I'll be buying Mass Effect PC again!" and then I was like "Fuck that, I'll pirate it when they inevitably crack it to pieces."
Jeff @ May 10th 2008 12:03PM
Figman:
You're one of the twats that is ruining grammar for the rest of us. I hope you're proud.
Gehodra @ May 10th 2008 5:39PM
@Jeff
How long did you spend proofreading your two sentences before posting?
Lord Bowser @ May 10th 2008 9:57AM
PC gamers dug their own grave through piracy and this schemes like this will be the inevitable consequence. Though EA backed down, for now, I fully support their actions. These draconian measures are the only way to lockout you PC pirates.
In all honesty, you PC gamers deserve whatever you get.
Hashbrown Hunter @ May 10th 2008 10:11AM
Tell that to the millions of people using Steam.
Durinthal @ May 10th 2008 10:11AM
It's only hurting the honest buyers. The pirates are going to find a way around it no matter what the security is.
Emophia @ May 10th 2008 10:29AM
How is this locking pirates out? Bioshock had the same securitie measures.Guess what? It was cracked in a week and I pirated it easy.
Figman @ May 10th 2008 11:22AM
Well your one of the twats that ruins pc gaming for the rest of us. I hope your proud.
PeterF @ May 10th 2008 11:44AM
poor mac owner is sad he cant play pc games?
Hashbrown Hunter @ May 10th 2008 11:51AM
Hey, who down-voted me? I know I had 3 hearts!
What, are there Steam-hates on Joystiq?
Hashbrown Hunter @ May 10th 2008 11:51AM
Hey, who down-voted me? I know I had 3 hearts!
What, are there Steam-haters on Joystiq?
Emophia @ May 10th 2008 11:56AM
Figman;No, I only pirate games that are either really old, have ridiculous protection measures that ruin the game (Bioshock) or are ridiculously hard to find.The only recent exception being Crysis, because I couldn't justify buying it when it didn't run that great.I still legitimatly buy tons of PC games, so stop your blaming.
PointyThings @ May 10th 2008 12:17PM
Have you read the new PC Gamer? Of course not, you're a Mac nazi (Hey, I like Macs too but I'm writing this on a gaming rig). There's an editorial about piracy, and it basically says that the only way piracy is going to stop is companies creating an image that is so respectable that people won't want to pirate from them, like Valve. Pirates pirate, it's what they do, and no one and nothing can stop them. After the cracks come, the SecuROM system exists only to fuck paying customers in the ass, and actually make it more likely for people to pirate it who normally wouldn't.
UltimateQ @ May 10th 2008 2:37PM
First of all. Somebody will DEFINETELY crack it. Second just don't buy the game at all. I shell out $50 or $60 for a game, and can only install it 3x? Thats bogus.
Abscissa @ May 10th 2008 3:40PM
"What, are there Steam-haters on Joystiq?"
Yes. And for good reason.
Liquidmark @ May 10th 2008 3:37PM
"the only way piracy is going to stop is companies creating an image that is so respectable that people won't want to pirate from them, like Valve"
LOL
Wow, I just shot mountain dew out of my nose...
I've never heard a pirate say that he won't pirate something because a company has a good image.
That's like a car thief not stealing a car because it belongs to a doctor. They wouldn't give a damn about that.
Don't know if you know this, but Valve's stuff is DRMed just like anything else, kid.
Only way to kill piracy is to lock down the hardware to a point that it would be too much of a hassle to pirate the stuff.
Look at the Sega Saturn. Sure, you can pirate the disks, but getting them to run on a actual Saturn without a modchip is HARD. Saturn emulators are JUST coming out in the last couple years.
PointyThings @ May 11th 2008 4:28AM
Where in my post did you say Valve is never pirated? All you can so is REDUCE it, which they've totally done. If everyone pirated Steam games it wouldn't make nearly the amount of money it does. Bullshit pirates still pirate everything, if you like a company you'll be inclined to give them money, especially if you don't have to wade through bullshit like the SecuROM.
Have you heard of Jonathan Coulton? No, because if you have, you'd know what I'm talking about. That guy puts all his music on the internet, states clearly that it can be pirated, and asks you to give him money for it. He's come off as such a cool guy that people want to give him money, and he actually makes a living off of it.
mattclarkie @ May 11th 2008 10:20AM
That is the issue. People pirating causes these issues, but the measures to stop said pirating often force even more people to pirate merely because they can't legally install. As a result the DRM gets even worse.
It is a vicious cycle, and because it is often based on the unique motherboard ID, once you have 3 motherboards either on 3 computers or on the same machine there is never a way to get a new install unless the support line give you a way to activate. This happened to me trying to install office after getting PC number 4, but luckily MS do give you a code to get around the issue.
DiRT @ May 10th 2008 10:13AM
OH NOEZ! 3 SECONDZ OF MYZ LIFE WASTED EVERY 10 DAYZ WHILE IT CHECKZ A SERVER! THIZ IZ A OUTRAGE!