Ofp2 software protection

[bn880 5]

If a CD key check is done only when you have access to the centralized server then I'm for it. But that is the only way it will not obstruct normal users from playing freely, and, now you may see the problem with what Raven Shield is doing, it can (or at least did) require a CD Key check even if you can't directly connect to the server while you do have other limited internet access.

another words

If (no server connection = no CD Key check) Then

bn880.isGood

centralizedServerVerification.isBad

End if

EDIT: F1 race coming up in a few hours... must sleep

[Major Fubar 0]

That is why FADE has to be guaranteed not to activate on people who use legal copies of the game.  And as far as I know, Suma will always tell anyone using a legal version they do not have FADE.  So this will not be an issue as long as BIS can inform in their manual and other means that normal users will not be affected.

End of story if you ask me.    I don't know how many people with legal copies of the game had such serious doubts about FADE, I reckon it's less than a hundred out of all the sales.  

Well, if BIS can guarantee FADE will never effect a legitimate owner, no matter what third party addons, user made missions or campaigns he installs, then yes, FADE is fine...

[SpeedyDonkey 0]

Quote[/b] ]EDIT: F1 race coming up in a few hours

Yes! The starting grid today is really interesting (go kimi räikkönen)

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX 0]

The problem with fade is that people like me who own legal copies of the game, but don't like switching CDs every time they want to play a different game, will get a no CD patch, just so we can play without having to put in the CD. Also so that I can listen to a CD while playing/ editing / testing etc.

You might not think its a hassle, but it is really annoying having to dig out the OFP cd from a pile every time I want to play. Now I don't know if I have FADE happening or not. Because I *DO* have a legal version, CD key, etc, but I don't like swapping CDs all the time, am I going to get fade? Do I have it already? These are all problems which IMO should be solved for OFP2.

Also, one time my flatmate (who also has a legal copy of flashpoint but who also used a nocd patch, and is even more untidy with discs than me) reformatted his hard drive, then went to reinstall OFP. He couldn't find his disc, only the box with the manual, so I let him install from mine, but he used his own cd key. But then when we played online we both had the same user id? And we got that 'legal copies don't fade' message.... when both CD keys were legit.

Seems odd to me. I'd like the rules to be a little clearer. If we *have* to keep the stupid CD in the drive for OFP2, it should be mentioned. If we *have to* install from our own disc, it should say so.

(I play online with a nocd but I don't get the fade message)

[bn880 5]

Obviously I agree with the above 3 posts, it should be absolutely guaranteed for FADE then it's ok, and should be clear about which CD's you must use... if they say you have to absolutely install from the CD which goes with your CD-Key, then that should also be accepted.

As for the F1 race, that was the most interesting race in a long time, but also a gigantic screwup by track management, and totally broke all the strategy for many teams. (they should have closed the pits when waco time occured and realigned the car positions for a rolling restart after the tackle)

[Guest]

The problem with fade is that people like me who own legal copies of the game, but don't like switching CDs every time they want to play a different game, will get a no CD patch, just so we can play without having to put in the CD.  Also so that I can listen to a CD while playing/ editing / testing etc.

You might not think its a hassle, but it is really annoying having to dig out the OFP cd from a pile every time I want to play.  Now I don't know if I have FADE happening or not.  Because I *DO* have a legal version, CD key, etc, but I don't like swapping CDs all the time, am I going to get fade?  Do I have it already?  These are all problems which IMO should be solved for OFP2.

Also, one time my flatmate (who also has a legal copy of flashpoint but who also used a nocd patch, and is even more untidy with discs than me) reformatted his hard drive, then went to reinstall OFP.  He couldn't find his disc, only the box with the manual, so I let him install from mine, but he used his own cd key.  But then when we played online we both had the same user id?  And we got that 'legal copies don't fade' message.... when both CD keys were legit.

Seems odd to me.  I'd like the rules to be a little clearer.  If we *have* to keep the stupid CD in the drive for OFP2, it should be mentioned.  If we *have to* install from our own disc, it should say so.

(I play online with a nocd but I don't get the fade message)

This I don't get at all. You think that BIS and Codemasters should compromise the security of their game which is worth millions of dollars because you don't like having to swap disks Just organise your CDs!

As for server cd checks Just look at the total mess that is punkbuster. A program that is circumvented everytime they update it (just like patches), will not auto-update (just kicking you instead) and will (for many users) not allow you to play SP unless connected to the net. This sort of system is totally crap and I would HATE HATE HATE it to be implemented in OFP2.

I don't care about whether they use Safedisk/FADE etc etc so long as a legit copy with a legit key will work without problems.

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX 0]

No, I don't expect them to compromise the security of their game at all. There is no real need to have the CD in the drive, you can stop multiple users using the same CD by not allowing patches to work without the CD in. Cracked CD keys should also be detected by any patches.

Checking CD keys etc is best done online. There are many ways to do it, just because one program / way of doing it was fraught with problems doesn't mean they all will be/ are.

[Harnu 0]

punkbuster worked well for a while.

Until a few versions after the original release, and then every patch after that was cracked in a day

[kegetys 2]

Until a few versions after the original release, and then every patch after that was cracked in a day  

Almost everythign gets cracked in a day :P

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX 0]

I think the best solution to thwart piracy, since everything will eventually be cracked anyway, is to delay it by using a FADE like system on the patches - let them seem to work on a cracked copy but activate fade.

[Major Fubar 0]

Maybe software companies should not worry about copy protection, maybe they should just factor their losses due to piracy into the sales price of the game - oh wait, they already do!

[VXR 9]

i like the idea what Valvesoft did with Half Life..

everytime you play online... your serial key will be checked by the main WON server before u can play on an internet dedicated server.

heh something i didnt like when someone else got my CD-key, now im not able to join any HF/CS server anymore

[Guest]

There is no real need to have the CD in the drive, you can stop multiple users using the same CD by not allowing patches to work without the CD in.

You mean, by having the CD in the drive? Which is what you didn't want in the first place?

Quote[/b] ]Cracked CD keys should also be detected by any patches.

Again, I don't understand what you mean. A CD key works or it doesn't...you can't "crack" a key, it's an alpha-numeric string, and it's right or it's not. Legit or otherwise obtained doesn't come into it.

Quote[/b] ]Checking CD keys etc is best done online. There are many ways to do it, just because one program / way of doing it was fraught with problems doesn't mean they all will be/ are.

Just read the post above from Vixer. Now name one internet based system that works fully and properly, in which there is no way an illegal user can get around it, and no way a legal user will have problems with their game. Plus this also arrogantly assumes that everyone who buys the game will have a net connection, thereby reducing sales.

[SpeedyDonkey 0]

There is no real need to have the CD in the drive, you can stop multiple users using the same CD by not allowing patches to work without the CD in.

You mean, by having the CD in the drive? Which is what you didn't want in the first place?

I think he ment that You only need the cd in the drive when patching.

And about the F1, True, but im not complaining, mainly because i think that the incident with the naughty Scot was to mclarens advantage.

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX 0]

Quote[/b] ] You mean, by having the CD in the drive? Which is what you didn't want in the first place?

Only needing the CD in the drive to patch is a thousand times better than having to take the CD out and put it in again 5 or 6 times a day.

A cracked CD key is one that is distributed along with illegal copies. This means lots of people using the same CD key. Sometimes key generators are created, but usually its just a few different CD keys for cracked games. So if there's more than, say, 2 identical CD keys online, the master server should count that as a cracked key.

There is no system of any kind anywhere that works 100%. Whats your solution thats better than this?

Quote[/b] ]Plus this also arrogantly assumes that everyone who buys the game will have a net connection, thereby reducing sales

No, it doesn't. That was the whole point of doing the checking in the patch. If you don't have a net connection, you'll get the patch from a coverdisc or something. The patch then checks your cd key to see if it's legit and uncopied or not. No net connection nessesary.

[kegetys 2]

A "when patching only" cd check is quite stupid concept, since it pushes the game into the oh-so-common "No the game is not done yet but lets release it anyway and release a patch some day" direction, which is stupid. If you think your game is going to need a patch you should not release it at all, although for most games this seems to happen because of stupdi publishers who do things againist the developers wishes. One of the reasons why I very rarely buy games these days is that they are so poor quality, I dont want to wait 2 months and then download 500MB of patches to get the game working, i'd rather download the 700MB "demo version".

[Guest]

Oh I see. You were talking about during the patching process. I still think having a no-cd policy is stupid...those games are the easiest to obtain illegally as you don't need a CD...fairly obvious I would have thought?

Cracked key.....ok this is just the words you are using. I see what you mean.

Quote[/b] ]

Quote[/b] ]Plus this also arrogantly assumes that everyone who buys the game will have a net connection, thereby reducing sales

No, it doesn't.  That was the whole point of doing the checking in the patch.  If you don't have a net connection, you'll get the patch from a coverdisc or something.  The patch then checks your cd key to see if it's legit and uncopied or not.  No net connection nessesary.

The discussion was not about having an internet based check for patching (because of course you have to dowload the patch......). the discussion was about having a little server query evertime you tried to play the game. That means everytime you want to play the game, even for single player or mission/addon testing, you must be connected to the internet. And that is sheer arrogance as well as a guarranteed way of reducing sales.

And the assumption that people even download patches...many don't. I'd love to know the stats on how many people downloaded which patches for OFP, but I can almost be certain that it would be a reduced number for each patch. There are a large number of people who buy a game, and expect it to work...and aren't even aware of patches. Just remember there are a lot of people who play console games mostly...  

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

No-CD keys are a clear violation of the EULA. I will quote from my own copy of the game:

Quote[/b] ]THE PROGRAM is protected by the copyright laws of England, international copyright treaties and conventions and other laws. The Program is licensed, and not sold, and this Agreement confers no title or ownership to the Program or any copy thereof.

1. Limited Use License. Codemasters grants you the non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right and license to use one copy of the Program solely for your personal use on a single computer.

...

...

...

YOU SHALL NOT:

- Reverse engineer, derive source code, modify, decompile, disassemble, or create derivative works of the Program, in whole or in part

This makes it pretty clear. Installing the game on your brother's machine or on other machines on a network from a single disk is a violation of the EULA. Using a no-cd crack is a violation of the EULA ("modify" is the key word here).

Furthermore, the rules state that any discussion about cracks is not allowed (see rule 2.2).

Violation of the EULA and violation of board rules leave me no choice but to remove the posting rights of at least one member that posted in this thread. I will close the thread temporarily for further examination and discussion

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

After long debate we, the moderators, have come to the conclusion that it is in the interest of anyone to not allow any more topics about software protection of either OFP or OFP 2.

Thus, any more topics with this subject matter will be closed as soon as they are spotted.

Kind regards,

Ex-RoNiN