Those users will eventually be left out, or will have to game on consoles or something more convenient. This isn't going to happen overnight obviously.

This whole DRM issue just seems to be where the PC gaming industry is moving as a whole since their bottom lines are effected much more than the console industry by piracy. Piracy has often been quoted as a reason for PC developers to start pushing towards consoles as a platform for their games. They look at the expansion of that market, they see how well the software is selling, and suddenly it looks like a viable solution.

But piracy is a 100% legitimate problem, to which no one has figured out a 100% acceptable solution.

The best solution so far has been direct to drive distribution services, slow network speeds or not. Growth in this sector says it's working.

By tying games to individual user accounts, it bypasses having an easily distributed piece of software that can be cracked and uploaded, eliminates the cost of production and shipping, and most importantly to software developers, it's a growing form of distribution that ultimately yields more returns per unit sold than hard media, while simultaneously eliminating the logistics of estimating how much to produce and distribute to each local market.

Again, hard media isn't going away any time soon, but I definitely see it becoming obsolete as a form of game distribution for the PC gaming platform first.

What about people sharing account information? What's stopping me from giving my friend my Steam account info and having him play the games as long as he wants, and even buy more games. Sure we can't play at the same time, but one of us is still getting the game for free. I realize that this would solve large scale pirating, but that may also mean that the pirates start off going small scale, just by sharing passwords. If every gamer shares his info with a friend then the game sales are effectively cut in half. If they share it with 2 friends then there will be more "pirated" games than legit ones.

Truth is data is just 1's and 0's and your computer can't distinguish where those 1's and 0's have been at all or where they are coming from. Unless companies bundle a webcam and you are required to have it on while you play, or fingerprint/iris identification for the game to be played, I don't think piracy will be resolved.

It's easy to blame piracy when your game is crappy or more of the same.

Ok, that applies to Crysis, but there are legit games which get pirated. Granted the really good games get pirated even more so but you don't see their developers bitching about it mostly because they sold so many legit copies as well that it simply does not matter.

Would you give your buddy the keys to your Porsche? Go wherever, do whatever, don't care if you bring it back with an empty tank as long you don't wreck it or do anything illegal with it?

While that's very charitable of you, I'd have a hard time giving anyone open access to a user account who wasn't close family or a close friend. They can fool around on my PC when I'm not using it, but there's no benefit in having your account accessible on other people's PCs.

Can't access your individual library because said buddy has been logged on to your account on his computer playing TF2 for the past 8 hours? Thanks bud, but in the future, use your own account. "Shared accounts" only work if you're living in the same house/apartment, and even then, it still belongs to the individual who set up the account when said rooommate/buddy moves.

And from the other end (the shared user), where's the sense in adding games to someone else's individual account using your credit card info unless it's as a gift/favor? None.

Most game buddies need their own accounts anyway since you're presumably playing online games with them at the same time, even if it's in the same house. Even most married gaming couples do this.

This dRm is unnacceptable. The main problem is : you don´t know were you stand. The 3 ACTIVATIONS thing is not well explained. I mean, I read an article from ea(look at the amzon discussion thread) saying that almost any change in the hardware can consume an activation. The problem is not that you can´t install and unnistall. The problem is that even if you never touch that unnistalll button, when you upgrade your pc, it will eat an activation. You can´tell your internet account either, when you sell the game. Oh and you ´ll sell very cheap, because of the 3 activations thing.
The Securom installing itself in my computer is another issue. We probably already have it without knowing. That´s wrong already, they should inform us.
But the big issue is, while the Securom versions are the same, they do different things. How they manage to control it? Do they have access to my computer? If they do, why didn´t they ask permission? This is so wrong, I can even imagine how anyone can defend it...

And to extend on this, what happens in four or five years when they're no longer manning the phones to authenticate you?  What happens if their division gets shut down?

Maybe you don't play your old games Twesterm, but hell, a couple years ago I fired up Wizardry VII, Crusaders of the Dark Savant, a game I had last played in 1993.  Last year I played through Planescape Torment again, a game from 1999.  Over the years I've installed Half Life 1 at least 12 different occasions.  I also reinstall Windows on my laptop and desktop every 6-10 months.

I am firmly against SecureROM and limited installs, and unless the game is exceptional and I can't live without it, will refuse to purchase such games.  When I bought Tribes Vengeance a few years back, the protection was so strong I couldn't install my own retail copy.  Exchanged it at Gamestop, couldn't install the new copy either (lot of people had that problem.  Probably one of the reasons the game flopped so hard).  Eventually I was forced to download the entire set of CD's to install, at the actual recommendation of a CRM over the phone :|

It's not fair that game pirates get the superior version of a game.  Every time I'm forced to buy a game with this shit I feel like a real sucker.  The only thing I can do to express my distaste is boycott games that use extreme anti-piracy measures, so that's what I will continue to do.

DRM is one of the main reasons I don't game on the PC. Sansui hit on a major point. You are supposed to format your HDD and do a clean install periodically. You shouldn't have to call up a publisher to get permission to reinstall your games because you do the required maintenance on your PC.

I see where most of your problems are.
You don't have a secretary to do the calling for you. Too bad.

It's a snowball effect, in 1994 was sharing copies of games such a huge deal that something DRM like would be needed?

I'm not exactly at any standing point on DRM, I haven't done nearly enough checking into its concept. But from what I understand it's some form of ID tag that creates restrictions on products purchased at full price.

The issue would be at what price would the product be renting or bought. There is a major difference, fortunately Block Buster forced the US government to acknowledge this with their late fee clause.

So at what point does the person own the product? Does the person own the DRM inside the product? If that's the case is it legal for the person should a means arrive to remove the DRM that they own?

If they don't own the DRM then are they stealing that portion of the product? Is it free? Did the person ask for it?

Sounds like DRM is literally being forced down the consumers throats when the real piracy is in bootlegging and not just sharing disks.

The big legal issue these days and I'm certain it's bound to show up in court soon enough lay in micro-transactions for either virtual products that were already in the original medium purchased or using real currency for virtual products.