| twesterm said: Loaning implies that you're going to get the game back. Think of it this way-- I loan my buddy Gears because he wants to try it out. Since he is now in possession of it for some amount of time I cannot play it. I'll have to wait until he's done with it. That is what loaning is. If I were to magically duplicate my copy of Gears and give one to him then that would be against the rules because then we both are using the same game. There is also nothing wrong with giving a person a game, but you actually have to give it to them. You can't install it and then give it to someone so that you both are in possession of it. You can ask why but that's just the way things work. You can also say it isn't fair that you would have to use all three installs in order to let a buddy try a game but that's life. Blame the jerks that made piracy so bad in the first place. |
Most PC games require the install disc to be in the disc tray in order to boot up.
Whether that install is on one or more computers makes no difference: it will only run on one computer at a time; the one with the disc.
It's the exact same thing as disc media for a console.
Making copies of that installer disc/key for the purpose of running on multiple systems is clearly illegal.
So the difference between legal use and illegal use is simply having an installed file on a system that is not currently using the game due to the lack of a start up disc.
No need to ask why: I understand as well as anyone else.
But limited installs are to prevent even the legal transfer of games; they clearly aren't targeted at cracked copies in any way shape or form.
If it's that big of an issue to so many people, I don't know why they don't just buy an extra "game" HDD that stores nothing but game installs. Need to reformat your OS HDD? Re-install your OS? No problem. Game installs are untouched.
