LAN play

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

I would like feedback on this post, so if anyone feels like doing so
I would appreciate it. BEFORE flaming me, please understand that I OWN A
LICENSED COPY OF NEVERWINTER NIGHTS, SOU, AND HOTU. I believe that
Bioware made an excellent game and that they should be rewarded for their
efforts with my money. That said, I feel that limiting LAN gameplay to 1
key per computer is wrong and immoral. Here goes:

Problem: Having bought one copy of NwN, SoU, and HotU, I decided I wanted
to play on my LAN against my girlfriend. Lo and behold! The server does
not allow multiple clients with the same cd-key, and further it queries
Bioware's authentication server to make sure that the cd-keys are valid.
Putting aside the Big Brother aspect of this, it seems unfair to me that I
have purchased a game from a company and I am not allowed to use it to
play against my friends at home on my network.

WELL: I had to do something about this. I began by hexing the nwserver
binary and found that it queries certain internet servers run by Bioware
for key verification. I ran a packet sniffer and verified that indeed
those were the servers contacted. I figured that if it was unable to
query these servers, the key check would become impossible. I was right.

Hence, in order to play networked NwN against my friends, I am forced to
block all outbound connections to these 4 authentication servers, and use
generated CD-keys for the additional clients. This has been verified to
work with version 1.62. The process is as follows:

1) Find additional unique cd-keys for each box that will connect at one
time.
2) block all outbound connections to the following servers:
nwmaster.bioware.com
nwnauth.kr.infogrames.com
66.244.193.142
203.239.47.115

This can be accomplished with iptables as follows:

iptables -N NWN
iptables -A NWN -d nwmaster.bioware.com -j REJECT
iptables -A NWN -d nwnauth.kr.infogrames.com -j REJECT
iptables -A NWN -d 66.244.193.142 -j REJECT
iptables -A NWN -d 203.239.47.115 -j REJECT
iptables -A NWN -d nwmaster.bioware.com -j REJECT

Then just reference the NWN ruleset from any rulesets that control IP
masquerading and output. Works like a charm.

Please send any feedback to this newsgroup. I want to know what other
people think of this.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

This patch will do the same thing as the parent post, but instead of doing
the blocking on a network level it does it in the nwserver binary itself.

/* LAN Patch for Bioware's Neverwinter Nights Linux server:
* Hordes of the Underdark version 1.62 (English)
*
* This software is distrubuted with NO WARRANTY in the hopes
* that it will be useful. Don't come bitching to me if it
* eats your hard drive.
*
* ***********************************************************
*
* This program will change a few bytes in the nwserver app
* to let multiple users have access to the server at the
* same time on a LAN. It nullifies the internet cdkey-check.
*
* Relevant changes happen at bytes:
* 2773561 (2a5239h)
* 2823040 (2b1380h)
* and basically involve resetting the authentication servers
* to localhost. If instead of patching your binary you wish
* to simply block the relevant outbound connections, the
* servers are:
*
* nwmaster.bioware.com (66.244.193.9)
* nwnauth.kr.infogrames.com (61.82.131.41)
* 66.244.193.142:5121
* 203.239.47.115:5121
* (UDP, not TCP but for good measure block all protocols)
*
* This is useful, for example, on a home network where there
* are two or more people who want to play against each other
* but where two separate valid CD-keys are not available.
*
* Compile with: cc -Wall -std=gnu89 -O2 -pedantic server_patch.c -o patch
*
* Run 'patch' in the same directory as nwserver, and the
* patched binary will be written out as nwserver.patched.
*
* This source is released under the GPL and may be freely
* copied and used as long as you do not claim that you
* wrote it.
*
* Revision History
* v0.1 (May 04, 2004): Initial release
* v0.2 (June 07, 2004): Improved output and error checking
* Rewrote patch code to be more efficient
*/

#define P1_SIZE 35
#define P2_SIZE 31
#define A_OFFSET 2773561
#define B_OFFSET 2823040

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>

int main()
{
int i;
struct stat nwstat;
char *o_md5, *p_md5, md5[66], *buffer;
FILE *md5_check, *nw_orig, *nw_patch;
/* define the patch bytes and binary md5sums */
char p1[P1_SIZE+1] = { 0x31, 0x32, 0x37, 0x2E, 0x30, 0x2E, 0x30, 0x2E, 0x31,
0x3A, 0x35, 0x31, 0x32, 0x31, 0x00, 0x35, 0x31, 0x32, 0x31, 0x00, 0x31,
0x32, 0x37, 0x2E, 0x30, 0x2E, 0x30, 0x2E, 0x31, 0x3A, 0x35, 0x31, 0x32,
0x31, 0x00 };
char p2[P2_SIZE+1] = { 0x6c, 0x6f, 0x63, 0x61, 0x6c, 0x68, 0x6f, 0x73,
0x74, 0x00, 0x69, 0x6f, 0x77, 0x61, 0x72, 0x65, 0x2e, 0x63, 0x6f, 0x6d,
0x00, 0x6c, 0x6f, 0x63, 0x61, 0x6c, 0x68, 0x6f, 0x73, 0x74, 0x00 }; o_md5
= "2d5f4f0230a763c2ccfca30d7d1aba81"; p_md5 =
"add9bfa83b9f733e3951c05615f430df"; /* Begin patch code */
printf("LAN patch for the NwN: HotU Linux server version 1.62\n");
printf("Performing prepatch validation...\n-----------------------\n");
/* error conditions */
if((buffer = malloc(3000000)) == NULL) {
fprintf(stderr,"Could not allocate memory. Exiting...\n"); return -1;
}
if((nw_orig = fopen("nwserver","rb")) == NULL) {
perror("Unable to open nwserver for reading"); return -1;
}
if((nw_patch = fopen("nwserver.patched","wb+")) == NULL) {
perror("Unable to create patched binary"); unlink("nwserver.patched");
return -1;
}
if((md5_check = popen("md5sum nwserver","r")) == NULL) {
fprintf(stderr,"Could not check nwserver's md5sum. Exiting...\n");
return -1;
}
if(stat("nwserver",&nwstat) == -1) {
fprintf(stderr,"Unable to get statistics on nwserver. Exiting...\n");
return -1;
}
fgets(md5, 33, md5_check);
if(strcmp(md5, o_md5) == 0)
printf("Input file validated.\n-----------------------\n");
else {
fprintf(stderr,"Input file invalid or already patched. Exiting...\n");
return -1;
}
/* read input and write patched file */ printf("Patch commencing:\n");
i = fread(buffer, sizeof(char), A_OFFSET, nw_orig);
fwrite(buffer,sizeof(char),i,nw_patch); printf("Patching section #1 (%i
bytes)...\n",P1_SIZE); fwrite(&p1,sizeof(char),P1_SIZE,nw_patch);
fseek(nw_orig, P1_SIZE, SEEK_CUR);
i = fread(buffer, sizeof(char), (B_OFFSET-ftell(nw_orig)), nw_orig);
fwrite(buffer,sizeof(char),i,nw_patch); printf("Patching section #2 (%i
bytes)...\n",P2_SIZE); fwrite(&p2,sizeof(char),P2_SIZE,nw_patch);
fseek(nw_orig,P2_SIZE,SEEK_CUR);
i = fread(buffer, sizeof(char),
(int)(nwstat.st_size-ftell(nw_orig)),nw_orig);
fwrite(buffer,sizeof(char),i,nw_patch); fclose(nw_orig);
fclose(nw_patch);
/* do the final check */
pclose(md5_check);
md5_check = popen("md5sum nwserver.patched","r"); fgets(md5, 33,
md5_check);
pclose(md5_check);
if(strcmp(md5, p_md5) == 0) {
printf("-----------------------\nPatched file validated.\n");
printf("-----------------------\n");
chmod("nwserver.patched",nwstat.st_mode); printf("Patch completed
successfully.\n-----------------------\n"); printf("Patched server
binary is nwserver.patched. Have fun!\n");
}
else {
fprintf(stderr,"Patch did not complete successfully.\n");
fprintf(stderr,"Removing patched binary...\n");
unlink("nwserver.patched");
return -1;
}
free(buffer);
return 0;
}

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

"A. Smith" <smith@forge.com> wrote in message
newsan.2004.06.09.14.11.44.908636@forge.com...
> I would like feedback on this post, so if anyone feels like doing so
> I would appreciate it. BEFORE flaming me, please understand that I OWN A
> LICENSED COPY OF NEVERWINTER NIGHTS, SOU, AND HOTU. I believe that
> Bioware made an excellent game and that they should be rewarded for their
> efforts with my money. That said, I feel that limiting LAN gameplay to 1
> key per computer is wrong and immoral. Here goes:
>
Works like a charm.
>
> Please send any feedback to this newsgroup. I want to know what other
> people think of this.


Nicely done but it seems like a smart person like you could make enough
money to afford to buy the necessary number of games to have a legal copy on
each computer. Smartassed remark aside ;-) don't go into the moral issue.
You may be perfectly correct in your moral opinion but in realtime you
agreeded to the license when you opened the box. You might also consider
that Bioware isn't totally responsible for the copyprotection measures on
the software. Decisions like that are frequently made at the upper
management levels of the distribution company.

Again, nicely done but a simpler soltuion is to unplug the ethernet
connection to the outside world while you're playing.



Windigo

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

"Windigo" <windigonotat@paganplanet.comnot> wrote in message
news:q2Gxc.6154$wS2.5568@okepread03...
:
: "A. Smith" <smith@forge.com> wrote in message
: newsan.2004.06.09.14.11.44.908636@forge.com...
: > I would like feedback on this post, so if anyone feels like doing so
: > I would appreciate it. BEFORE flaming me, please understand that I OWN
A
: > LICENSED COPY OF NEVERWINTER NIGHTS, SOU, AND HOTU. I believe that
: > Bioware made an excellent game and that they should be rewarded for
their
: > efforts with my money. That said, I feel that limiting LAN gameplay to
1
: > key per computer is wrong and immoral. Here goes:
: >
: Works like a charm.
: >
: > Please send any feedback to this newsgroup. I want to know what other
: > people think of this.
:
:
: Nicely done but it seems like a smart person like you could make enough
: money to afford to buy the necessary number of games to have a legal copy
on
: each computer. Smartassed remark aside ;-) don't go into the moral issue.
: You may be perfectly correct in your moral opinion but in realtime you
: agreeded to the license when you opened the box. You might also consider
: that Bioware isn't totally responsible for the copyprotection measures on
: the software. Decisions like that are frequently made at the upper
: management levels of the distribution company.
:
: Again, nicely done but a simpler soltuion is to unplug the ethernet
: connection to the outside world while you're playing.

LOL, after he made the changes....priceless ;-)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

not one to throw rocks at those with morals in question. But when a game
developer produces a game of Neverwinter's magnitude. the best way to praise
sed developer would be to "buy" the product. not blow smoke up his ass then
hack the only copy you've bought and say it's a great game but i don't want
to buy another one to be able to play on my home lan. I for one, think NWN
is a great product so much that i bought the Original NWN when it was
released, SoU when it was released and HotU when it was released. when the
time, that my wife was sufficiently interested in playing NWN, i coughed up
for NWN-Gold. The game is good enuff to warrant, a mere140 bucks for months,
if not years of entertainment. not to mention game developers like music
artists deserve to be paid every penny for their creative works.

....Syn...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

"Visceral_Syn" <someone@somewhere.com> wrote in message
newszKxc.13356$LC3.12486@bignews2.bellsouth.net...
> not one to throw rocks at those with morals in question. But when a game
> developer produces a game of Neverwinter's magnitude. the best way to
praise
> sed developer would be to "buy" the product. not blow smoke up his ass
then
> hack the only copy you've bought and say it's a great game but i don't
want
> to buy another one to be able to play on my home lan. I for one, think NWN
> is a great product so much that i bought the Original NWN when it was
> released, SoU when it was released and HotU when it was released. when the
> time, that my wife was sufficiently interested in playing NWN, i coughed
up
> for NWN-Gold. The game is good enuff to warrant, a mere140 bucks for
months,
> if not years of entertainment. not to mention game developers like music
> artists deserve to be paid every penny for their creative works.
>
> ...Syn...
>
>
I agree and have the necessary number of legal copies for my families'
computers. I seldom bother to argue moral issues with people. Generally
speaking when someone gives a morals based reason for doing something it's
usually no more than justification for doing what they wanted to do. In
this case A. Smith in a fit of moral indignation managed to prove he's
incapable of searching google.com archieves to learn how to run a lan game
on 1 CD key. Instead he demonstrated his ability to kill a house fly with a
flamethrower when all you need is a rolled up newspaper.



Windigo

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

"Windigo" <windigonotat@paganplanet.comnot> wrote in message
news:slLxc.6193$wS2.3322@okepread03...
>
> "Visceral_Syn" <someone@somewhere.com> wrote in message
> newszKxc.13356$LC3.12486@bignews2.bellsouth.net...
> > not one to throw rocks at those with morals in question. But when a game
> > developer produces a game of Neverwinter's magnitude. the best way to
> praise
> > sed developer would be to "buy" the product. not blow smoke up his ass
> then
> > hack the only copy you've bought and say it's a great game but i don't
> want
> > to buy another one to be able to play on my home lan. I for one, think
NWN
> > is a great product so much that i bought the Original NWN when it was
> > released, SoU when it was released and HotU when it was released. when
the
> > time, that my wife was sufficiently interested in playing NWN, i coughed
> up
> > for NWN-Gold. The game is good enuff to warrant, a mere140 bucks for
> months,
> > if not years of entertainment. not to mention game developers like music
> > artists deserve to be paid every penny for their creative works.
> >
> > ...Syn...
> >
> >
> I agree and have the necessary number of legal copies for my families'
> computers. I seldom bother to argue moral issues with people. Generally
> speaking when someone gives a morals based reason for doing something
it's
> usually no more than justification for doing what they wanted to do. In
> this case A. Smith in a fit of moral indignation managed to prove he's
> incapable of searching google.com archieves to learn how to run a lan game
> on 1 CD key. Instead he demonstrated his ability to kill a house fly with
a
> flamethrower when all you need is a rolled up newspaper.
>
>
>
> Windigo
>

I understand what you are saying *but* remember when all the two or more
player games were on one computer ? When they had split screen so you could
have seperate play ? How would you feel if they asked you to buy two copies
to play those games ? Take it to its natural conclusion, ie that the game
*requires* two computers to play, because one computer is not powerful
enough to run two instances of the game engine. I do not see how this
justifies shelling out for another copy of the game. Sorry, I just don't.
Not a moral argument dressed to save me some money, Just my honest opinion.

I don't blame Bioware. I think someone at Atari (and companies like them;
they weren't the first by any means) saw the opportunity to $$ching, with
very little added effort.



--
Entreri
--

I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it
comes out.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

"Entreri" <j.horward@here.com> wrote in message
news:MsMxc.496$Uf2.408@newsfe6-gui.server.ntli.net...
>
>
>
> "Windigo" <windigonotat@paganplanet.comnot> wrote in message
> news:slLxc.6193$wS2.3322@okepread03...
<Snip Previous Message> >
>
> I understand what you are saying *but* remember when all the two or more
> player games were on one computer ? When they had split screen so you
could
> have seperate play ? How would you feel if they asked you to buy two
copies
> to play those games ? Take it to its natural conclusion, ie that the game
> *requires* two computers to play, because one computer is not powerful
> enough to run two instances of the game engine. I do not see how this
> justifies shelling out for another copy of the game. Sorry, I just don't.
> Not a moral argument dressed to save me some money, Just my honest
opinion.
>
> I don't blame Bioware. I think someone at Atari (and companies like them;
> they weren't the first by any means) saw the opportunity to $$ching, with
> very little added effort.
>
>
>
> --
> Entreri
> --
>
> I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it
> comes out.
>

Opinions are cool. I have several myself '-)

I won't argue the right or wrong of the situation for reasons mentioned
before. The simple fact of the matter is our opinions really don't matter.
It's a matter of copyright law. If you want a legal setup, you buy the extra
software for multiple computers. If you don't, that's your business but
your setup will not be legal. I would note that the standalone server which
comes with every copy of the game can be run on a seperate computer without
a second license.



Windigo

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 17:28:59 -0500, Windigo wrote:

>
> "Entreri" <j.horward@here.com> wrote in message
> news:MsMxc.496$Uf2.408@newsfe6-gui.server.ntli.net...
>>
>>
>>
>> "Windigo" <windigonotat@paganplanet.comnot> wrote in message
>> news:slLxc.6193$wS2.3322@okepread03...
> <Snip Previous Message> >
>>
>> I understand what you are saying *but* remember when all the two or more
>> player games were on one computer ? When they had split screen so you
> could
>> have seperate play ? How would you feel if they asked you to buy two
> copies
>> to play those games ? Take it to its natural conclusion, ie that the game
>> *requires* two computers to play, because one computer is not powerful
>> enough to run two instances of the game engine. I do not see how this
>> justifies shelling out for another copy of the game. Sorry, I just don't.
>> Not a moral argument dressed to save me some money, Just my honest
> opinion.
>>
>> I don't blame Bioware. I think someone at Atari (and companies like them;
>> they weren't the first by any means) saw the opportunity to $$ching, with
>> very little added effort.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Entreri
>> --
>>
>> I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it
>> comes out.
>>
>
> Opinions are cool. I have several myself '-)
>
> I won't argue the right or wrong of the situation for reasons mentioned
> before. The simple fact of the matter is our opinions really don't matter.
> It's a matter of copyright law. If you want a legal setup, you buy the extra
> software for multiple computers. If you don't, that's your business but
> your setup will not be legal. I would note that the standalone server which
> comes with every copy of the game can be run on a seperate computer without
> a second license.
>
>
>
> Windigo

Entreri puts it very well in his statements. It really infuriates me that
companies want to (as someone else put it) '$$cha-ching' on the backs of
hardworking people. As far as licensing goes, that also disgusts me: by
opening the package, you agree to the terms and conditions of the 'license
agreement' contained INSIDE the package. If I don't like this agreement,
I have no recourse because I cannot return opened software.

Should I have to buy 6 copies of 'LOTR:ROTK Extended edition' ($50 ea) if
I want to have a party at my house and 6 friends watch it? I am not
commercially broadcasting it. Why should I have to pay $300?

I also agree that if my buddies were connecting to my server from their
home over the internet, they should buy copies. But we're talking ONLY
about using this in your own home with the people you live with. I would
feel bad if I was giving free copies away to everyone who asked for it
willy nilly, but this is different.

This is a case of corporate greed at its best. It is not some sort of
excuse to legitimize so-called 'piracy'; it is to enable fair use. It is
the same reason why I have no-cd loaders for most of my games (Starcraft,
Diablo, etc). I own legitimate copies of all these games and yet I as
their customer am treated like a criminal. Would it be easier to simply
download a hacked version off the net and not pay these companies a dime?
Yes, but that is theft, and as much as I hate giving the corporate world
any money at all I do so.

If I can play on both computers in single player mode at once, surely I
should be able to play also in multiplayer. This is nothing more than a
case of a bad company (tm) -- Atari -- doing evil things.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

"A. Smith" <smith@forge.com> wrote in message
newsan.2004.06.10.00.45.13.195900@forge.com...
> Entreri puts it very well in his statements. It really infuriates me that
> companies want to (as someone else put it) '$$cha-ching' on the backs of
> hardworking people. As far as licensing goes, that also disgusts me: by
> opening the package, you agree to the terms and conditions of the 'license
> agreement' contained INSIDE the package. If I don't like this agreement,
> I have no recourse because I cannot return opened software.

That's not a beef between you and any softwre maker it's between you and the
store you bought it from. Unless of course you bought it from the maker
itself.

> Should I have to buy 6 copies of 'LOTR:ROTK Extended edition' ($50 ea) if
> I want to have a party at my house and 6 friends watch it? I am not
> commercially broadcasting it. Why should I have to pay $300?

No you aren't commercially broadcasting it. If you charged them to watch
then yes you would be.

> I also agree that if my buddies were connecting to my server from their
> home over the internet, they should buy copies. But we're talking ONLY
> about using this in your own home with the people you live with. I would
> feel bad if I was giving free copies away to everyone who asked for it
> willy nilly, but this is different.

The only difference between over the internet and them sitting beside you in
the same room is physical distance between you. What if you had two
different internet connections in the house say person A has a cable and
person B has dsl.... They wanna play via the internet... Or house A has a
wireless network...house B has a computer connected to wireless network...


> This is a case of corporate greed at its best. It is not some sort of
> excuse to legitimize so-called 'piracy'; it is to enable fair use. It is
> the same reason why I have no-cd loaders for most of my games (Starcraft,
> Diablo, etc). I own legitimate copies of all these games and yet I as
> their customer am treated like a criminal. Would it be easier to simply
> download a hacked version off the net and not pay these companies a dime?
> Yes, but that is theft, and as much as I hate giving the corporate world
> any money at all I do so.


> If I can play on both computers in single player mode at once, surely I
> should be able to play also in multiplayer. This is nothing more than a
> case of a bad company (tm) -- Atari -- doing evil things.

Yeah you still buy their products. If you hate their policy so much why do
you continue to pay for their products? You don't like the laws go write you
congressperson...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

"A. Smith" <smith@forge.com> wrote in message
newsan.2004.06.10.00.45.13.195900@forge.com...
> On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 17:28:59 -0500, Windigo wrote:
snip
> >
> >
> > Windigo
>
> Entreri puts it very well in his statements. It really infuriates me that
> companies want to (as someone else put it) '$$cha-ching' on the backs of
> hardworking people. As far as licensing goes, that also disgusts me: by
> opening the package, you agree to the terms and conditions of the 'license
> agreement' contained INSIDE the package. If I don't like this agreement,
> I have no recourse because I cannot return opened software.
>
> Should I have to buy 6 copies of 'LOTR:ROTK Extended edition' ($50 ea) if
> I want to have a party at my house and 6 friends watch it? I am not
> commercially broadcasting it. Why should I have to pay $300?
>

If you're watching it on 6 different DVD players/monitors - yes


> I also agree that if my buddies were connecting to my server from their
> home over the internet, they should buy copies. But we're talking ONLY
> about using this in your own home with the people you live with. I would
> feel bad if I was giving free copies away to everyone who asked for it
> willy nilly, but this is different.
>

Legally there's no difference. Your lan is a network - the Internet is a
network. What's the difference. It's in your home? You might as well say
" I bought a shotgun and took it home. My buddy came over and pissed me off
so I shot him. But I'm at home so it's OK. If I'd shot him out in the
street I'd be guilty of murder but not in my house."



> This is a case of corporate greed at its best. It is not some sort of
> excuse to legitimize so-called 'piracy'; it is to enable fair use. It is
> the same reason why I have no-cd loaders for most of my games (Starcraft,
> Diablo, etc). I own legitimate copies of all these games and yet I as
> their customer am treated like a criminal. Would it be easier to simply
> download a hacked version off the net and not pay these companies a dime?
> Yes, but that is theft, and as much as I hate giving the corporate world
> any money at all I do so.
>

You're a thief if you don't pay for the software. I don't have a problem
with it. It's simply a fact. Just because you don't like a rule doesn't
give you the option of breaking it without guilt.


> If I can play on both computers in single player mode at once, surely I
> should be able to play also in multiplayer. This is nothing more than a
> case of a bad company (tm) -- Atari -- doing evil things.


If you're playing using one CD key on two computers, you're violating
copywrite laws. This isn't a moral question it's a legal one.


Please understand me. I'm not saying Atari (in this case actually Hasbro) is
right. I don't agree with the usage restrictions and I don't always always
follow the rules. I do however know the rules and if I pirate software for
whatever reason, it make me a thief. You on the other hand want to do
whatever suits you and take the moral highground by saying "It's a bad rule.
It's not right" Well, you're still a thief. But like I said, I don't have
a problem with that.



Windigo

 

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i'm agreeing with Windigo on this one

 

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"Insane Ranter" <spam@not.me> wrote in message news:<xOOxc.5107$JF6.1877@bignews5.bellsouth.net>...
> "Entreri" <j.horward@here.com> wrote in message
> news:JlMxc.490$Uf2.280@newsfe6-gui.server.ntli.net...
> > I wonder how said companies would react if I asked for a
> > replacement CD as my original was destryed by wear and tear from
> constantly
> > having to put it in the CD drive. I should have made a backup ? That's
> > illegal too.
>
> No it's not illegal. You are allowed to make one copy of the disks for
> archival purposes as long as the copies and original remain in your
> pocession.

Whilst agreeing that each player should own their own legal copy, I
have to note that with the HotU disc, the archive copy serves no use
since I was unable to play HotU with the copied disc in the CD drive.

I've already made my opinion known (I uninstalled HotU until I get
around to buying Something that can make a usable copy so I can keep
my original CDs safe from wear and tear)

 

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"Anonymous Jack" <alordofchaos@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:cf889346.0406100645.1db6b6d0@posting.google.com...
> "Insane Ranter" <spam@not.me> wrote in message
news:<xOOxc.5107$JF6.1877@bignews5.bellsouth.net>...
> > "Entreri" <j.horward@here.com> wrote in message
> > news:JlMxc.490$Uf2.280@newsfe6-gui.server.ntli.net...
> > > I wonder how said companies would react if I asked for a
> > > replacement CD as my original was destryed by wear and tear from
> > constantly
> > > having to put it in the CD drive. I should have made a backup ? That's
> > > illegal too.
> >
> > No it's not illegal. You are allowed to make one copy of the disks for
> > archival purposes as long as the copies and original remain in your
> > pocession.
>
> Whilst agreeing that each player should own their own legal copy, I
> have to note that with the HotU disc, the archive copy serves no use
> since I was unable to play HotU with the copied disc in the CD drive.
>
> I've already made my opinion known (I uninstalled HotU until I get
> around to buying Something that can make a usable copy so I can keep
> my original CDs safe from wear and tear)


I've heard that the latest version of Alcohol will handle it and you might
try CloneCD. The easy way is to go to www.gamecopyworld.com and download
the noCD patch.



Windigo

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

Windigo wrote:
> If you're playing using one CD key on two computers, you're violating
> copywrite laws. This isn't a moral question it's a legal one.


Err...don't go there. Really. Copyrights are a complex thing, and, while
hacking copy protection is a violation of the DMCA, how many of us are
using No-CD hacks even though we have a copy (or copies) of the game? In
any case, shutting down your Internet connection and using a generated
CD key is not necessarily "hacking".

The use A. Smith describes is, quite possibly, protected under
interpretations of copyright law by the Supreme Court, which gives
owners of media the fair use right of making first-generation copies of
media for themselves for personal use. In his case, Smith is not even
making a copy, just using a purchased copy in a manner not allowed by
the license. However, the shrinkwrap licenses published by software
makers are not binding contracts. Unless you live in one of the US
states that has adopted UCITA (Virginia and Maryland the last I
checked), the shrinkwrap license is not legally enforceable.
--
Barry Scott Will
Pyric RPG Publications
http://www.pyric.com/

If you insist on emailing me, remove all the **JUNK** first

 

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"Barry Scott Will" <nwn**JUNK**@cavecreations.net> wrote in message
news:GgZxc.12603$0y.1887@attbi_s03...
> Windigo wrote:
> > If you're playing using one CD key on two computers, you're violating
> > copywrite laws. This isn't a moral question it's a legal one.
>
>
> Err...don't go there. Really. Copyrights are a complex thing, and, while
> hacking copy protection is a violation of the DMCA, how many of us are
> using No-CD hacks even though we have a copy (or copies) of the game? In
> any case, shutting down your Internet connection and using a generated
> CD key is not necessarily "hacking".
>
> The use A. Smith describes is, quite possibly, protected under
> interpretations of copyright law by the Supreme Court, which gives
> owners of media the fair use right of making first-generation copies of
> media for themselves for personal use. In his case, Smith is not even
> making a copy, just using a purchased copy in a manner not allowed by
> the license. However, the shrinkwrap licenses published by software
> makers are not binding contracts. Unless you live in one of the US
> states that has adopted UCITA (Virginia and Maryland the last I
> checked), the shrinkwrap license is not legally enforceable.
> --
> Barry Scott Will
> Pyric RPG Publications
> http://www.pyric.com/
>
> If you insist on emailing me, remove all the **JUNK** first


I've worked in the newspaper industry for a number of years and had to deal
with copyright issues on a frequent basis. The key word is "personal".
When you make a copy for backup or to use instead of the original you're in
line with the law. When you make copies for other people to use it is no
longer personal use. It doesn't matter if personal gain is or is not
involved.



Windigo

 

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"A. Smith" <smith@forge.com> wrote in
newsan.2004.06.09.14.11.44.908636@forge.com:

> Problem: Having bought one copy of NwN, SoU, and HotU, I decided I
> wanted to play on my LAN against my girlfriend. Lo and behold! The

[ snip hack ]

> Please send any feedback to this newsgroup. I want to know what other
> people think of this.

I thought that NWN checks for a valid CD in the drive when you start it?
How did you get around this?

Knight37

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

Entreri wrote:


> It really annoys me when multiplayer LAN play requires more than one copy of
> the game... Makes me want to just rip off the thing and not even buy one
> copy in the first place.

Take a look at EverQuest sometime.

You're griping about NWN requiring one copy of the game per computer...
but EQ goes even further: you are supposed to buy one account per USER.

I have NWN, and I share a computer with my two kids, no problem.
Admittedly if I wanted to put it on their computers as well I'd have to
pony up for the seperate copies...

BUT EQ asks me to buy a seperate account for each of my kids, even
though we are all sharing one machine. We aren't all logged in at once,
there's only one of us using the game at any given time...

While NWN's rule is like inviting your buddies over to watch LOTR:ROTK
on seperate TV's and seperate DVD players, so you have to buy a copy of
the movie for each, EQ is like requiring each person watching the movie,
even if its all on one DVD player/TV combo, to buy a seperate liscence
to view!

I'll leave it to your imagination whether I'm actually paying for three
EQ accounts under these circumstances.

On the other hand, I'll admit I'm seriously considering buying two more
copies of NWN gold + HOTU and rigging our machines as a LAN. Unlike EQ
with its 12.95 a month in addition to the up front fare for the
software, NWN is one payment and done... and as others have said, the
fee per hour of entertainment is really pretty low.

Lance

 

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Windigo wrote:
> I've worked in the newspaper industry for a number of years and had to deal
> with copyright issues on a frequent basis. The key word is "personal".
> When you make a copy for backup or to use instead of the original you're in
> line with the law. When you make copies for other people to use it is no
> longer personal use. It doesn't matter if personal gain is or is not
> involved.


However, "personal" is generally extended to include the members of
one's own household. I.e. if I make a copy of a CD and give it to my
neighbor, I'm breaking the law. If I make a copy of a CD for my child,
the law is a lot less clear.
--
Barry Scott Will
Pyric RPG Publications
http://www.pyric.com/

If you insist on emailing me, remove all the **JUNK** first

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 14:56:54 +0000, Knight37 wrote:

> "A. Smith" <smith@forge.com> wrote in
> newsan.2004.06.09.14.11.44.908636@forge.com:
>
>> Problem: Having bought one copy of NwN, SoU, and HotU, I decided I
>> wanted to play on my LAN against my girlfriend. Lo and behold! The
>
> [ snip hack ]
>
>> Please send any feedback to this newsgroup. I want to know what other
>> people think of this.
>
> I thought that NWN checks for a valid CD in the drive when you start it?
> How did you get around this?
>
> Knight37

There are patched executabled on www.gamecopyworld.com for NwN:HotU 1.62.
Download one of them and replace nwmain.exe in your installation directory.