Games with rootkit DRM

[CrasH]

As I said in the blog, I'm not sure if we should or should not support games that incorporate rootkits or things like SecuROM. Pirates always find a way to bypass the DRM while legitimate, paying customers have to deal with crapware and rootkits on their systems.

Additionally, what about games like GTA IV that require Games For Windows Live and Rockstar Social Club accounts just to play single player? Additionally, GTA IV in particular has over 240 negative reviews on Amazon.com, many of which include an inability to play the game regardless of meeting or exceeding recommended system requirements. Some games really are just a total debacle. Should we support them for the sake of completion? Should we not support them and let the voices of all those involved with this project be heard by the developers not to do shit like this again?

Should we not support the game, but include a MsgBox explaining that it isn't supported and will not be supported? Or would a list on the website be enough?

Discuss among yourselves.

[CrasH]

Let me follow up with the thought behind my own votes.

As far as installing root kits or other invasive DRM that may compromise system stability or security, especially when the user doesn't know about the level of invasiveness or system instability that may be caused, is obvious; I don't support them in protest of the DRM that is that invasive. However, I am aware that this may very well preclude a number of new releases.

Here's the thing. I have no issue with DRM . . . when it's done well. There is no need to show contempt for gamers, for the people who provide producers' income, with such demanding, invasive DRM. I am of the school of thought that anti-piracy measures, be it on DVDs, CDs, games, etc., hurt only those who purchase the media legally. Those who will bypass the security will find a way to do so. Those who are pirates will find a way to get a hold of the cracks and key-gens, and the like. Those who buy the game legally must put up with system instability and insecurity by way of some root kit while also being forced into signing up for and signing into two separate accounts (GTA IV) just to play the game on a system that may be too unstable to play it because of what the DRM does. It's no better than a trojan horse type virus where there's shitty code that makes the PC unstable plus spys on your every move (you have to log in to play some of these games) concealed in the package of a multi-million dollar game.

As far as DVDs go, those who buy the disc or rent it legally have to sit through all the anti-piracy warnings before getting to watch the movie. Pirates tend to strip those warnings from the movie and release just the movie.

Now, as for shitty ports, like GTA IV that won't play well on even the beefiest systems (243 reviews on Amazon claim this), that are buggy, that lock up and crash, these poor quality $60 titles are unacceptable excuses for a game. GTA III played well for me, as did Vice City. What the hell happened with GTA IV Rockstar?

So, to support these games would be to support their producers. The possibility of this project going big and increasing the number of PC gamers means there would be more sales potentially of certain titles as we added support for them. I don't want gamers to feel screwed over on a title because we had support for it.

So here's the deal. For the sake of completeness, we should support every title we can. But to actually support all 25,600 US titles as of March 6, 2012 is a feat unlikely to be achieved. However, we can and will support as many as we reasonably can. And I'd like to think we'll support new games as they are released. The problem is they could be shitty, unstable, bug-ridden, sorry excuses for a game and/or they could be filled with DRM malware, root kits, and the like. So I leave it to you. Even if it's a game I want, if I read that many negative reviews, I likely won't buy it for myself. And if I don't buy it, I'm not scripting it. If you want to buy it, script it, and play it, be my guest. I'll add support for these games as the scripts come in from you. But I will not be scripting them myself. Just adding the code others script to the project as a whole.

Vote with your wallets. Show game developers, especially cross platform game developers, that they can't rush something out the door for PC and expect people to buy it and be oh so grateful for the privilege of doing so. If it's a shit game or slammed with malware DRM, I encourage you to pass. Perhaps we'll all pass and the game won't have support added for it. Perhaps game developers will take notice and see that a project like this one is deliberately avoiding its product. Perhaps as a whole, our voices will be heard.