Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by on Wednesday April 12 2017, @09:24AM   Printer-friendly
from the yo-ho-ho-and-a-bottle-of-DRM dept.

In announcing its first major patch for Mass Effect: Andromeda last week, BioWare highlighted fixes to the game's much-maligned facial animations, as well as gameplay tweaks like larger inventories and skippable cutscenes. One thing BioWare forgot to mention in its patch notes, though, is an improved version of Denuvo DRM that is forcing pirates to use an outdated version of the game... at least for now.

[...] It's unclear why Mass Effect: Andromeda didn't feature the latest version of Denuvo in its initial release. In any case, the updated DRM leaves pirates stuck with a much less polished version of the game, and it could keep them away from months of further patches that are already in the works. It's a situation that reminds us a bit of Game Dev Tycoon and other games that intentionally make pirated versions inferior to legitimately purchased copies.

-- submitted from IRC


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday April 12 2017, @09:38PM (3 children)

    by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday April 12 2017, @09:38PM (#493078)

    Playing a game without paying, when it's still actively sold, is not fair use. Period.
    Unauthorized copies are not all lost sales, but a variable fraction of them is, depending on the game.
    Unauthorized copies are only advertising to the extent that someone will eventually buy the game or its sequel ... which is an even smaller fraction.

    Is there really a debate, or are people just trying to rationalize the fact that they'd rather not pay for their entertainment?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday April 12 2017, @10:47PM

    by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Wednesday April 12 2017, @10:47PM (#493119)

    I had actually checked. As I mentioned in my other comment, it would count as fair dealing, if not for the DRM.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @12:27AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @12:27AM (#493161)

    Playing a game without paying, when it's still actively sold, is not fair use. Period.

    Does it count as "actively sold" if you can't buy it because you live in the wrong country (aka region blocking)?

    • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday April 13 2017, @01:11AM

      by bob_super (1357) on Thursday April 13 2017, @01:11AM (#493185)

      Legally, yes.
      "Fair use" has an actual definition. It's not just some kid looking at a toy they want, being told no, and claiming "It's not fair".