BioWare Backs Down on Mass Effect DRM

Yep, and it is still unacceptable. I didn't buy Bioshock for the PC due to it's DRM and I won't buy any other game that uses it.

Activation limits are not the answer.

And for the people who dual boot in windows xp/vista, 3 activations won't even cover 1 formatted disc.

I must admit I don't mind how 'Steam' have done things when it comes to buying games. It allows you to download it on your computer whenever and means you always have a backup of a game in case you overuse a disc i.e BF2 in my case.

I know it's not perfect, but it beats having to delve into the masses of games to find the one disc you need to run the game. If your like me and buy and complete 10-20+ games a year for the past 11 years it builds up.

Also just a purely digital market doesn't appeal to many, but for the many of use with faster internet connections it doesn't make sense when you can buy the game for cheaper through digital release.

I do like to have a nice shiney metal DVD case to store my games in, with a thick manual to spend the installation time reading . But, thats just the icing on the cake of a good game it's not really required.

DRM is a waste when it's on CD/DVD form. All it becomes is a 1 maybe 2 day fiddle for crackers!

Well, it is official. Mass Effect for the PC has gone gold and Securom is still in it.

Furthermore Bioware has taken to sweeping all comments about it under the rug and redirecting them to the off topic forum which is not easily accessible from the Mass Effect page and will probably not be seen by new customers.

The battle for Mass Effect is over, all thats left is the body count and tallying the losses. Let us hope we can win the battle for Spore. If that battle too is lost, then we might as well concede the war and leave EA for dead.

Wow, the Amazon forums are pretty unanimous about this with the exception of the poor Bioware community rep. I don't envy his job right now.

Gotta love the tags they've given the game for the Amazon listing..

securom
drm
defectivebydesi gn
malware
activation system
pc game
rpg
bioware
fps
rootkit
activation
bioshock drm
cool game
copy protection
digital restriction management
internet authentication
internet connection required
limited resale
sci-fi
spyware

BioWare's forums are just a whole lot of questions and nobody listening.
I guess BioWare can blame piracy for nobody buying this one too.

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the decision to incorporate DRM solutions like this mostly a publisher issue, not a developer one? We can all be pissed at BioWare, but EA is the one really causing the problem. I suppose the easy idealistic argument could be made that Bioware should "stand up" against this crippling DRM, but if all of us "stood up" to our companies' bosses when they made lousy decisions, there would be only 1 word needed to describe us - unemployed...