Staggered release and pirate copies

[T J 0]

Now that ARMA is released in CZ, it's no secret that it has also been available openly on the file sharing networks, and the starforce protection cracked too, at least enabling the downloader to try the game in SP mode.

My question is this, what do people, and developers consider the impact will be on overall sales of the game? I guess it is only a matter of time till somebody releases a working keygen, the language problem isn't a problem anymore, so will the majority even bother buying the game when it is finally released in their locale?

Might it have possibly led to greater sales if the game had been released simultaneously?

What plans do BIS have in place to ensure that cracked copies can't say be patched, or especially, that versions using a keygen cant play on public servers. (Its already well documented how you can play on a VPN, but that will limit the cracked copies to playing with each other)

I also wonder if the release of a demo might not have lessened the interest in the cracked version? It strikes me that most downloaders have done so to get a taste of the game before it is released in 3 months time to the majority of territories.

Hopefully, the 505 release will contain a major update and patch, and also, a load more content, model and MP mission wise that will make it seem an attractive proposition for an actual purchase.

I appreciate that most long time posters here are hardcore fans who buy the game out of loyalty and appreciateion anyway, but that isn't true of the vast majority. Are there enough genuine fans to make the game a commercial success?

What are your thoughts?

TJ

[stisoas 0]

as ever, 40% of all player will not buy game...

but these 40% arent OFP veteran.

the others, will buy it of course. so , the best way for BI is to try to lock patching.

[T J 0]

In fact it would be very interesting to have an (anonymous) vote poll set up to give an indication as to how many visitors to this site have actually downloaded the 'trial' version, just to have a taste, dont you think?

Please understand I am not in any way encouraging anybody to break the law, but there is no point pretending it hasn't happened already.

My real surprise was the speed with which starforce was disabled.

TJ

[VladAlex 0]

I think BIS have a STUPID policy... Its very bad. And the thing wich is badder again is that Arma is not especially brillant... So the fan from germany are going to buy it. The fan from others country cant wait anymore so they are going to download it. And the rest of the world will not buy it at all...

BIS have NEVER take in consideration our request (for a demo especially). BIS dont reach there objective to share the tools with documentation before the release of Arma. The wiki is TOTALY not usefull.

It's bad time for BIS, and I just hope that they save enought money to make Game 2...

[Sgt_Eversmann 1]

also...I think...that makes a protection like starforce senseless.

I mean, it's always the same and the ones who are pissed are they who bought the game.

but we had that discussion already I know.

It would have been better if there was a demo first and then a release everywhere at the same time. It just makes more sense.

I don't want to say that it was stupid by BIS, think they have their own opinion about that, but it the other way would have been better.

I have to say I don't know how much BIS is affected by the Publishers.

[BH808303 0]

My personal opinion:

All games will be hacked/cracked and their always will be group of people who wouldn't pay 30-50 eu for a game. This is the same for commercial successes like BF2 etc.

But with most games a illegal copy will make it unusable for online gameplay and with ArmA the lasting gameplay is online, so my guess is that the eventual sales will be pretty good.

The success of ArmA is mainly gonna be decided by the community which gonna make new missions/models/mods/etc.

[OFPCAT 0]

My personal opinion:

... success of ArmA is mainly  gonna be decided by the community which gonna make new missions/models/mods/etc.

Definitely right! ArmA should have a more nice prospect for Modding and new addons both from fans and official sources.

Actaully, I never play the official models from BIS in OFP in late time and just indulged in lots of Mods made by fans for their better visual and graphic effects. But now it seems the visual effects of ArmA is even better than those of the best Mods in OFP. So I think the mod makers in the community could make very awesome addons based on current ArmA in future and make the game booming for long.

[VladAlex 0]

Yes of course !

But we dont have any tools ! And it will take a long time to learn how to use it and to do Arma quality models... Time is crucial.

[icebreakr 3156]

I seriously attacked any members that tried to DL even for testing purposes before the buy. The game is available from CZ and in few days from Germany/Austria. I currently own CZ Special Edition (t-shirt,map) but I'll also buy German one and of course final Q12007 release

Please support quality game makers!

[sickboy 13]

Just wanted to add that it's the publisher who decides the release schedule, the copy protection, etc. etc. NOT BIS... All complaints about that can be thrown at ideagames.com I guess ... It's probably also why Placebo killed every starforce discussion, and all related issues; they can't change it Besides, it seems to work just fine for everyone I know that has ArmA

[feersum.endjinn 6]

Of course simultaneous worldwide release would've been better, but OFP and ArmA are first and foremost multiplayer games. Requiring CD-key check against online database for multiplayer guarantees most people who downloaded pirated and would've bought the game will buy it eventually anyway when it is available legally.

Starforce is a lot harder to crack then most copy protections out there but there also has been lot of effort from warez scene towards defeating it. Also SATA drives and motherboard-specific drivers have some part in reducing efficiency of Starforce as it can't intercept and check disk traffic when doing cd check since it doesn't have access to proprietary hardware interfaces and probably couldn't support all possible chipsets out there anyway.

OFP and Resistance were both available as warez, in Resistance's case even before official release. They still went on and sold at least 1Ë million copies despite US release being few months after EU one.

[finarvas 1]

Piracy does not affect sales at all. Those who download the game and don't buy it wouldn't have bought it in the first place...

[Placebo 29]

Piracy is not to be discussed on these forums. Anyone finding links to illegal versions of our games is welcome to Email them to me Placebo@bistudio.com as well as any shared serial numbers they come across.