RE: [GD-General] serial numbers

[Timur D. <ti...@cr...>]

Unlikely mandatory registration will bring any change, it is valuable =
for online games of course,
but for the simple Single Player, what can they do? everything on the =
client can be cracked.
IMHO it is worthless to waste allot of precisios game development time, =
trying to protect from inevitable.

_________________________________
Timur Davidenko.
Crytek Studios (http://www.crytek.com)



-----Original Message-----
From: Javier Arevalo [mailto:ja...@py...]
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2003 5:39 PM
To: gam...@li...
Subject: Re: [GD-General] serial numbers


What kind of drugs are you on, man? :)

I assume most games are uniquely signed to identify the receiver of =
betas.
We certainly did that on Praetorians (nice batch-mode signature tool for
those 85+ magazines!). Leaked versions may still appear, and despite the
fact that the leak can be traced back to one of the magazines, you will =
have
a hard time getting any compensation, the most you can hope for is their
promise that "they will be more careful in the future". The point of =
digital
signatures is "prevention": make sure the mag gets the point that their =
copy
is uniquely signed, that the signature is prominently displayed on the =
title
screen, that it can be hacked to not appear there but can't be removed
entirely, etc etc. and hope that, if they screw up, it will be with =
someone
else's title.

Flooding will not stop most p2p systems, they have learned to cope with
that: "trusted link sites", statistics for files, and pretty soon they =
will
have built-in ratings and "quality" estimators, just like they don't =
have
central servers anymore. The ones that don't adapt will simply stop =
being
used.

I wonder what the future is for mandatory online registration / =
verification
systems. These do create much more trouble for pirated versions, but =
have
tons of usability and privacy issues.

  Javier Arevalo
  Pyro Studios

Colin Fahey wrote:
>
> [1] First, put a unique code in each build of the game before the
> official release date, then do a Google search for any cracked
> versions, and then embarrass the reviewer who leaked the game to the
> public before it was
> even on sale!  Demand his head on a platter from the game magazine
> editor, or threaten to reduce your bribes for A+/100%/5-star ratings.
> Won't those punks change their tunes when you cut off their supply of
> cocaine, outcall escorts, and Japanese anime DVDs!
>
> [2] Later, when the game is in general release, do the Google search
> again, and send "Cease and Desist" e-mail to the punks offering
> cracks to your game, from fake law firms or from Yakuza assassins
> with an inexplicable desire to optimize "market efficiency" for your
> product.  Or invoke the Patriot Act and TIA or whatever and have the
> crackers tried by a secret military tribunal and summarily executed
> -- or at least brainwashed and cryogenically frozen to be revived
> later as Universal Soldiers, defending the government against freedom
> and democracy.
>
> [3] Then, do what Madonna does!  Flood Kazaa and Direct Connect with
> *fake* cracks to your game -- and put in some profane message to
> infuriate pirates! Releasing your most unimaginative game yet, just
> to get more cash out of your fan base, would complete the analogy,
> but that would simply be icing on the cake!  That will teach them to
> rage against the machine!  The freakin' machine is X-treme raging
> right back at 'em!  You da "Man"!



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