Rumor: Dark Souls players punished for playing early

by Griffin McElroy on Sep 21st 2011 3:00PM

According to Japanese gaming blog Esuteru, folks who managed to grab illicit, pre-launch copies of Dark Souls are being punished by developer From Software. The site says that members of the dev team are dropping horrifically overpowered, maximum level Black Phantoms into the environments of players who grabbed their copy of the game through a retailer that broke street date.

We're having a hard time corroborating the story, but it certainly sounds like something which the characteristically cruel From Software would do. In fact, we'd be surprised if those players even picked up on the retribution. They probably assumed their constant, repeated defeat was just par for the course.

Via: Edge
Source: Esuteru

Tags: dark-souls, from-software, japan, microsoft, playstation, project-dark, ps3, xbox

Reader Comments (124)

Awesome! This could've been real funny if they implemented it as a DRM on the PC(if it ever comes out...).

@Trogdorwhore
I was kind of thinking the same thing.. Why are we saddled with annoying DRM schemes where you wind up totally frustrated with the mechanical process of installing and running the game? Why is enforcement handled in the unwieldy and expensive domains of courts of law?

Who was the guy (Righthaven-related) who said infringers should have their hands !@#% cut off? If they want to go all hard line, why not do it? IN GAME? OP black phantoms are almost as scary as lawyers, and they work for free.

@Trogdorwhore

If it were implemented in the PC DRM, it would be reviled because SecuROM or some sort of other terribly-backfiring technology will be used.

@Trogdorwhore

For all the people who thinks that this only happens on the pc, it looks like the consoles are not really as "pirate-free" or difficult to pirate as many thought. Now i wonder how many illegal copies of other games are really available on the console market?? i mean for taking such measures it doesn´t look as "small" as many said.

@sigma8

I'm still pissed that I essentially bought a PC copy of Deus Ex without noticing the print on the back "requires internet connection."

(company proxy blocks all such connections).

@Hunter141072 Uh, what? These aren't pirated games, these are legitimate copies that the stores sold early but shouldn't have. Did you even read the article?

Who even says it's impossible to pirate console games anyway? Aside from whiners that are trying to strawman people they don't like I mean.

@kentuckyfried So you don't have a PC at home and you get paid to play games at work?

@Faceless Troll

Yeah, Im not sure where he got that impression.

@kentuckyfried
It requires a constant connection? Ala Assassin's Creed II or whatever before they patched?

@Faceless Troll

>Uh, what? These aren't pirated games

REALLY?? these AREN´T pirate copies??? ok... let me quote the article:

"folks who managed to grab illicit, pre-launch copies"

illicit......ok, so unless they steal those copies i think the word piracy is the only one to apply here, now the question is... did you REALLY read the article???

@Faceless Troll
ok, let me re-read the article...... and i quote: "folks who managed to grab illicit, pre-launch copies" illicit.... so, unless those copies were stolen from the store i think the word piracy applies perfectly find here..... did you read the article???

@Hunter141072

Wow dude, did you just find a line that would best suit your crappy argument?

"...into the environments of players who grabbed their copy of the game through a retailer that broke street date."

This is about people getting early copies as a result of retailers breaking street dates.

@Hunter141072

Better to keep you mouth shut and look stupid than to open it and remove all doubt. You might want to try getting to the second sentence of an article before claiming that you read it.

"...players who grabbed their copy of the game through a retailer that broke street date."

@LoveYouSomeEric

ok, then just explain me the word "illicit" because to be honest i don´t see any other explanation to use it with real sellers.

@Hunter141072

illicit just means forbidden by law...

Pirating is the illegal copying and redistribution of protected works without the consent of it owner...

Pirating is in the hands of the consumers not the licensed distributors, this is about retailers doing it wrong, not some kid in his mothers basement uploading shizz on The Pirate Bay.

@Hunter141072.

From wikipedia:

In business, a street date is the date a particular product is to be released for sale to the general public.

Typically, retailers receive shipments of stock prior to its street date release, so that the product can be placed on display shelves for store opening that day. Shipments come marked very clearly with a "do not sell before release date" label designating a street date mandated by the distributor. Shipments may sometimes arrive up to three weeks in advance.

Retail outlets can be severely punished by manufacturers for releasing a product even a day before the street date, a process known as "breaking street." If a retailer breaches the contract establishing a street date, the manufacturer may impose fines, may withdraw privileges to distribute future products from that manufacturer, and may file a lawsuit to enforce the contract. However, there is no documentation of a retail chain or store being fined or any action taken against them.

@ArtificeDrake formerly known as

You know what?? you are absolutely right, and i apologize for not seeing it like that, guess i was getting the wrong idea..... but you are right in this case it could be illicit to sell it before release or outside the country, my mistake, no doubt about it.

Yay Ultra-Hard difficulty mode! :D

This might actually be useful ... Maybe I'm getting older but nowadays games barley presents a challenge when it come to difficulty level

@solidsnake8282

seriously? try playing any Halo on legendary. also, CoD2 on veteran might be the hardest game i've ever played.

@maveric101

oh, and if you don't think Halo's legendary is hard enough, try turning all the skulls on.

@solidsnake8282

I just finished a six pack of barley presents.

@maveric101

no he doesn't actually think (or doesn't play games on hard or NG+) that its just something gamers say when they want to look cool and retro, as if they scoff at todays games with their heads held up high as they hug their Milons Secret Castle cartridge.

@maveric101 lol..shooters are NOT hard. the ai in EVERY shooter is terrible and beating them on any difficulty comes to learning how the ai works and "outsmarting" them. no matter how bad your aim is you can beat any fps if you follow that.

@solidsnake8282 Did you play Demon's Souls?

@PR0F3TA Actually I always play games on hard dude .... it's just that modern games keeps making the games more and more easier...constant checkpoints every 5 minutes.. the option to skip action sequences ... and so on .... did you play comix zone or battle toads for instance?

@solidsnake8282 Huh? I didn't think Comic Zone was that hard. Then again I for sure did beat Ninja Gaiden Black and Devil May Cry 3 on hard so maybe I'm an old foggie like you.

Is 34 old foggie territory?

@maveric101 I beat both those. Try Devil May Cry 3 on normal. I couldn't get past the first level and had to play on easy, which was still one of the hardest games I've ever played. Also if you want to go the shooter route, the hardest game I've ever played was Far Cry on "realistic". It's not realistic at all.

@solidsnake8282

i'm sure a good 70% of people here play games on hard, as do i. But to say todays games are easier then previous gen is pretty ignorant. Who hasn't played Battletoads? i think you are confusing issues. Devs didn't make games harder during the NES/SNES era because they wanted to, they were just pretty much made that way. Like Super Mario, you only had 3 lives to beat 8 worlds and dozens of levels, they didn't set out to make it play uber hard, they just chose that type of gameplay because there were simply no "rules" to follow in early game development.

remember when you had to get a item or go through a door just to save a game on the PS1... its just like that, sorta.

@F1shBone

unfortunately, i don't have a ps2. i did beat DMC4 on normal (or "devil hunter," i think). that was challenging, but not too bad. however, the highest difficulty levels sound stupifyingly hard. one "hell and hell" mode, you have about 4 lives to beat a level, but you die in one hit, and enemies have 250% health, and 250% aggression. jeez.

@kougeru

you haven't actually played any of those games, have you?

"no matter how bad your aim is you can beat any fps if you follow that. "

...until you run out of ammo. and when a single Elite takes almost 2 whole DMR mags to kill, that can be a problem.

@solidsnake8282

I'm the opposite. The older I get the harder games get for me since I end up with the and less time to play games and my skills turn to crap

@Zoot Suit Jedi Grammar Hammer En

Mmmm... barley... aaaaaahhh....

@TheScientistofTomorrow
Demon soul's was so unrelenting, but SO much fun. THAT'S the challenge to Demon Soul's wasn't so punishing. Which is hard to explain, because it was. Okay, how about this. It was difficult, but I didn't feel like the game set up this impossible and frustrating game in order for me NOT to win. When I lost, it was because I wasn't smart or quick enough. Not because the computer cheap shotted me.

Now some guy saying FPS on legendary or hard mode... I played CoD World at War on the hardest difficulty (veteran was it?) I have the trophies to prove it. That game is not hard. They cheap shot you. People don't even call it veteran mode, they call it grenade mode because that's all the AI does is spam grenades like no tomorrow. Sure, their aiming is more accurate, but not even close to some of the accuracy I see online playing with those really elite players.

There's a plethora of youtube videos of the charging the reichstag mission on youtube. That mission was completely cheap shot. Demon souls never cheap shots you.

@Kougeru

Could that not be said for every game? In Demon's Souls, it was a matter of getting the traps down and then learning boss patterns; in Megaman games, it was about learning the stages and then boss patterns, and going with that...I mean, games have always relied on the player "outsmarting" the A.I. That doesn't mean it isn't tough to do so on higher difficulties, where you have much less breathing room to figure out what the A.I. is up to--in Halo's Legendary mode, for example, you can literally be killed in three or four direct hits, so you spend most of your time in cover. You don't get a lot of time for ****ing around.

From is badass. I'm just sad that I won't be one of the unlucky few to get slaughtered by the devs :(

So instead of punishing the retailer who sold it early you're going to punish your player audience so they never buy your games again?

Wait.. wut?

@DSight

Yes, cause I'm sure this punishment was executed with a super serious face with lawsuits on their mind and not with a grin on their face as if it were some fun joke.

@DSight

Harder to send max-level black phantoms to local retailers.

An awesome solution to street date chicanery.

@Heisenberg

Doesn't make any sense. If I was giving out money to get a product early from a company, I shouldn't be punished.

I don't care if you think its a joke, its not the way I want to be respected and definitely wouldn't get me to buy one of their games again.

@i77ogical

There are other ways to punish retailers... Although Max Level Black Phantoms would be more entertaining.

@DSight

You're taking this way too personally. At the very least they aren't banning people from xbox live and PSN for it. If people really want to play it, just stay offline, From can't send their goons to disrespect you and dishonor your family name and poop on your ancestors' graves that way.

@DSight Don't you see From is not only punishing the people who are playing early they're making sure they aren't much stronger than all the people starting tomorrow.,

@Heisenberg

FROMSoftware is doing something REALLY cool with this. Punishing the users? Nope. Having fun with the fans who got the game early by giving them a chance to fight the developers at insanely high levels? Yes. I'm jealous of them. Unless of course, you're as blind as a bat and you see it as actual "punishment".

@ovoon

That's what I've been saying -__-
Look at the next page to see my other post too.

@DSight
The people who are playing the game now most likely know that they're playing it before release date. A harmless, funny thing like this isn't punishment, it's just what you'd expect from the developers of Demon's Souls for playing their game early.

@ovoon you're jealous of dying over and over to a mob that cannot be defeated?

@(Unverified)

Yes. Games aren't about winning, it's about experience. To me anyways. Having a developer come and kick my ass for getting the game earlier than I'm supposed to? Sounds like a fun, hilarious experience as I try to play the game while running away from a supra rape machine trying to kill me because he knows that I'm not supposed to be playing the game.

@(Unverified)

I'm a little jealous yeah. I bet these guys are having a blast trying to survive the dev approved griefing.

@DSight
Dont get it twisted, the retailer is probably already identified and getting punished but the players themselves are being punished for trying to get a lead on other players. Likely they'll have to suffer these super enemies until the actual launch date and then they'll be removed.

It's not an excessive punishment, but I don't understand why a game company would do this. Go after the retailers who can control sales dates, not the gamers who want your product so bad they'll put money in your pocket earlier than anticipated.

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Dark Souls

Rumor: Dark Souls players punished for playing early

Reader Comments (124)

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:02PM Trogdorwhore said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:29PM sigma8 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:35PM Frostblade10 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 5:48PM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 6:43PM kentuckyfried said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 7:16PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 7:42PM rartemass said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 7:45PM LEONLEONLEON said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 9:10PM sigma8 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 11:17PM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 11:20PM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 11:33PM Raiki said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 11:40PM LoveYouSomeEric said

Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 2:06AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 2:15AM CleanUndies said

Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 2:38AM ArtificeDrake formerly known as said

Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 10:29AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:04PM Qehb said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:04PM solidsnake8282 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:23PM maveric101 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:26PM maveric101 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:31PM Zoot Suit Jedi Grammar Hammer En said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:32PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:49PM Kougeru said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:57PM TheScientistofTomorrow said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:58PM solidsnake8282 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 4:09PM yomachaser said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 4:10PM F1shBone said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 4:11PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 5:11PM maveric101 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 5:14PM Crayola Q Pants ESQ said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 6:37PM captplut9465 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 11:31PM Bewoulf said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2011 10:22AM TheChezDispenser said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:04PM libregkd said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:09PM DSight said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:15PM Heisenberg said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:16PM i77ogical said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:18PM DSight said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:19PM DSight said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:27PM Heisenberg said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:46PM donatom3 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:51PM ovoon said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 4:13PM Heisenberg said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 4:47PM Zacxx201 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 4:53PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 5:29PM ovoon said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 5:56PM Altairio said

Posted: Sep 27th 2011 6:27PM PN04 said

Posted: Sep 21st 2011 3:09PM vidguy said

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