The real reason behind DRM - Used Game Sales?

Now that companies are more fully adopting draconian DRM standards it got me thinking. None of these things have come remotely close to preventing piracy from occurring (as evidenced by SPORE being widely pirated even before release). So that got me thinking... "what could be the real reason?" and the thought of used games sales suddenly popped in.

After all, people are less confident in buying used games since they might not know how many "activations" are left. And if you have to call in, who knows if they'll give it to you additional activations (especially after learning that it's a used copy). Sure the reality of the situation is that there's not much for people to worry about since most people will only activate once and you get multiple ones... but we all know that people's fear usually overcomes logic and they'd much rather buy the new copy.

What ya'll think?

Nah, its because of rotten sea sailing people like darthbudge.

Oh hell yes! I totally agree with this. I've seen copies of Spore and Bioshock for sale on craigslist and I have no intention on buying them (knowing how unethical some people are). The only way I would buy a used copy of such a game is if the seller gives me the email account they activated the game with. That way, if you need to, you can get the publisher to give you more activations and have the proof you need that you bought the game new. Otherwise, who knows?

You know that wouldn't be a bad idea. Just create a different disposable email account for each game that needs this sort of activation. A logistic nightmare though.

I have a strange feeling that this has always been The Man's intent with DRM, at least for PC games.

I can't honestly believe the CEOs and execs at these big publishers could be so stupid as to keep signing off on draconian DRM that doesn't do anything to curb piracy, while consistently evading discussions about used PC game sales.

DRM will kill the resale... at least for activation types.

Thats why I like alternate methods like TAGES which just screws up the game, and doesn't bother with Activation.

but guess which games we're talking about...

EA

EA hates it that it's losing money on resales..

go figure.

[quote name='xycury']DRM will kill the resale... at least for activation types.

Thats why I like alternate methods like TAGES which just screws up the game, and doesn't bother with Activation.

but guess which games we're talking about...

EA

EA hates it that it's losing money on resales..

go figure.[/QUOTE]TAGES has a negative effect on product perception though. Both Titan Quest and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. use it, and are considered extremely buggy games in the public.

But how many of those reported bugs are from legit owners, or from pirates that are getting their games screwed up by TAGES? Either way, that's a LOT of pissed-off pirates going on game forums and posting blog entries about how their game is buggered up to hell, and how nobody should go near them.

I wouldn't be surprised if many future, legit customers got scared away from a purchase because they've seen a thread on a game's official forums all pointing on the same show-stopping, TAGES-inflicted (unknown to players) bug, with no official word about it from devs (who know what's happening, but don't know how to proceed further).

[quote name='eswat']TAGES has a negative effect on product perception though. Both Titan Quest and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. use it, and are considered extremely buggy games in the public.

But how many of those reported bugs are from legit owners, or from pirates that are getting their games screwed up by TAGES? Either way, that's a LOT of pissed-off pirates going on game forums and posting blog entries about how their game is buggered up to hell, and how nobody should go near them.

I wouldn't be surprised if many future, legit customers got scared away from a purchase because they've seen a thread on a game's official forums all pointing on the same show-stopping, TAGES-inflicted (unknown to players) bug, with no official word about it from devs (who know what's happening, but don't know how to proceed further).[/quote]

Good Point, that's why I wouldn't mind a notifier that Tages is going to screw your game up ....

Again DRM ruining sales... it's sad...

I haven't been scared by Tages yet... EA's activations though has... I have Bioshock, but no more.

seems to me that digital distribution does far more to stop reselling than drm.

If a game I'm looking foward to is crippled with DRM I won't "buy" it, plane and simple. The last thing I want is a small program installed on my computer without my permission.

Companies take the copying risk in developing games for the PC, just like they take the used game sale risk when developing for the consoles.

Most of the time cd keys work well enough to get one person to play the game, at least from my friends and I's experience.

[quote name='xycury']DRM will kill the resale... at least for activation types.

Thats why I like alternate methods like TAGES which just screws up the game, and doesn't bother with Activation.

but guess which games we're talking about...

EA

EA hates it that it's losing money on resales..

go figure.[/quote]

You what's so sad about EA's stance. If it wasn't for the fact people can resell their older Madden's/generic EA sports game, newer edition sales would be lower. If they want to prevent people from getting the full benefit of buying used games, then they should update rosters every season for the original owners. Otherwise them.

drm is just the next step in copy protection, and for the most part, it's far kinder than efforts of the past, such as code wheels. If a game limits me to 5 installs of a game, but also allows me to uninstall to get one of those 5 back, that's pretty fair, especially if they make it so the game isn't needed to be in the drive. There is good drm and bad drm, and many of the companies that had bad drm have since heard the complaints of gamers and responded accordingly.

Piracy and used games have hurt publishers almost since the beginning. Its why you see preorder bonuses so often, and its why some games will be shifting bonus content to preorders or early sales in the coming years.

No, Jer. FF7 sucks now. The only way you're allowed to say anything remotely positive about it is if you start your sentence with "Back in the day." Did you even read the ing memo?