Besides, the game is boring. More like Settlers: the Stripped Down Version. But to each their own.

Wake up. Just because you haven't had any issues doesnt mean nobody else has had any.

Uh...you obviously didn't read the_Monk's post. It was never said that nobody else had any problems with DRM. the_Monk only stated that many of these problems are user created, and not the fault of the DRM itself.

So what he's saying is that if I just don't install any other softwares on my computer it might work fine? Riiight...

And since when have ISO readers been 'questionable software'? I've used them for legit purposes plenty of times, yet some games refuse to start if a computer has one installed.

I've never had any DRM issues in my history of gaming since the ZX Spectrum 48k.  I used to get a little annoyed every time I had to get the paper wheel out of the box to match up Monkey heads with idols and stuff just to play the game.

Umm, what? There's pleanty of incentive to pirate games even without DRM. Like say, people want a free game.

Most pirates are NOT out to make a point, or doing something principled. They're cheap. Given the option of a game costing $50 or the same game costing $0, it's easy to figure out which one is going to win. That's why there is piracy on games with no DRM (oh hi Demigod), and there was piracy on games before DRM existed.

Oh, and anybody can make up statistics. 41% of all people know that.

Is it a coincidence? Probably. Since my legit, vanilla, non tweaked to hell OS is pretty similar to yours, and one day Mass Effect just decided to stop working for a while due to SecuROM.

All you're doing is saying that anybody who has had problems with DRM is doing something wrong. It's not true. My father in law has a pretty normal setup and has been burned by DRM so many times that he gave up on PC gaming entirely and bought an Xbox 360. I wonder how stuff like that helps the PC game industry compete against the consoles? It's not like he was demanding a whole lot, he just wanted the game he bought to run properly and not tell him that he's a pirate. (Oddy enough the pirated version worked correctly. Go figure.)

Viisari

1.  Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying and my life-experiences prove it!  I have machines I do nothing but game on.....ever.  I have other machines I use for business/personal shit.  It's just about smart funds-allocation afterall.  Instead of building one super-wasteful-ueber-system (that doesn't actually do any ONE thing better than a medium-power-gaming-rig) I have always had a DECENT gaming rig, and something else to do other things.  Sort of a PC-console if you will.....    The result......no DRM issues.....EVAH!

2.  You said it right there "I've used them for legit purposes plenty of times......."  Why would you need to qualify your statement like that if the PRECONCEPTION of them being mostly used for ILLEGAL ACTIVITY wasn't true?  Your statement alone makes them "questionable"!  .......think much?

the Monk

Oh... you were just trolling... Moving along...

...

Okay okay, so you're basically saying that if I want to avoid problems with DRM I need to get a new PC that's used just for gaming? That's like saying that there IS a problem with DRM. Big one too.

Oh, and guess what a paying customer who's having problems with DRM does? He gets a crack for his game. And then it works just fine. Isn't that funny?

While I don't like DRM, I don't think pirating anyway will get thier attention. They will simply put more restrictive DRM to try and combat it, despite however pointless such a cause appears to us.

The only way to stop companies from putting DRM on thier products is to not buy or pirate thier games. Obviously not buying the game sends them the loudest message as if sales drop and consumers make it known that it is because of the DRM, smart companies will think twice before doing it again. However, if they see lots of pirated copies being used, then they can rationalize those as lot sales despite obvious reasons why thier not, and use it a fuel to implement more DRM.

So if you don't want companies to continue with intrusive DRM use, don't buy or pirate games that you think fall into that catagory.

Viisari,

Not only are you twisting my words and attempting to use circular reasoning against me, you conveniently omitted my second point, so I'll quote myself again:

Put Plainly!  DRM exists because WE decided somewhere along the way that if it can be TAKEN without paying for it, why PAY?

Problem:

 Please read the following carefully.  What I'm saying is.......there is a problem with what people think they should be able to do with their systems. 

You yourself said, having an ISO-reader/emulator installed (which let's not forget...you HAVE used for legit purposes.......) caused a certain DRM to balk.

So in fact, something you had installed on your system which is MOST OFTEN used for illegal purposes (but you have used plenty of times for legit reasons) caused alarms to go off in the DRM which exists because WE insisted to make a sport of TAKING things we should be PAYING for?  You can't see the real problem there? 

Solution:

People want be able to download anything and everything, install anything and everything, run anything and everying.  That can only work if everyone is also prepared to accept the consequences of said actions.  There are any number of reasons NOT to do one or all of the aforementioned not the least being that you may cause something ELSE to not function.

There are TWO ways to accept the consequences of one's computational actions!

1.  If you insist on running emulators, decryptors, rippers, image-readers and the lot on your machine and DRM bitches at you, then un-install the offending software and chalk the frustration received as a result up to your own stubborness on the subject.

-or-

2.  Do what I and obviously some other people have figured out.  Run two machines.  One for the DRM-enabled games which is kept clean of all "questionable software", so you will never have DRM hissy-fits, and another to do your "dirty" work on.

By the way, Dawn of Discovery is such a beautiful game.  I seriously feel sorry for anyone who feels the need to forego this amazing game based on the vapid reasons for doing so detailed in this now thoroughly hiijacked thread!

-- monk out!

Or 3. download a pirate crack so you don't have to buy a friggin second computer (jeez, get real) or use your computer as a... console? Lol. I feel sorry for you spending all that money for nothing. You could have cracked all your bought games and saved yourself a lot of money.

Also, two more points:

DRM existed almost since day one. It existed before the Internet. Anyone who has ever played those really old games knows this. Back then they had special codebooks and tricks hidden in printed manuals "enter the second word of the third paragraph on page 12 of the manual" and so on. Naturally, that was considered practice for hackers even back then.

DRM never worked. Not once. The only way DRM "works" is if the game or software is uninteresting enough to fly "below the radar" - so no hacker group even hears of it or attempts to crack it since no one wants it and they get no fame for it.

So, in theory we all know what DRM software is supposed to do. In practice, however, it is an absolutely impotent piece of garbage which only brings grief to legitimate customers. Instead of sticking to normal DRM measures, like serial keys and (in my experience the best method) perks for legitimate customers (like multiplayer, patches etc.), publishers like EA who are using these draconian schemes only hurt their customer base - pirates don't even blink anymore.

As for Dawn of Discovery, yeah its pretty, but that's pretty much it. If you like eyecandy and substitute it for actual substance, you'll like it. I find it overly speeded up, with no requirement for forethought and planning if you have a few farming islands going with traderoutes. Interesting how those hemp farmers never need feeding too. I guess weed *is* nutritious, as some say!

And now you're making up statistics. And the problem here is that a game that I bought is checking my computer for software that the publisher THINKS is bad. It's not their place to decide what I can and cannot install on my computer. It's my computer. I decide what I install on it, not them. Such tools are not illegal, and even though you insist that they're mostly used for illegal purposes you show no evidence for this, except for your gut feeling. If DRM did this for all 'questionable software' then yes, we'd all HAVE to buy a second computer for just gaming and that'd be very very silly.

Out of all my friends no one has a separate gaming computer. Why? Why'd they need one? Why should they need one? Why's one computer not enough? You ARE saying that the solution to all DRM-problems is a computer solely for gaming. Well, that's stupid. Sure, if you want to have one then be my guest, but why should everyone else get one when one computer would do the same job just fine. DRM is CREATING the problems which so many people complain about. If there was no DRM, this problem would be non-existent.

Now, wanting to protect your stuff is okay I guess, but doing it in a way that harms buying customers is WRONG. And even funnier, the pirates get a BETTER product. They will suffer none of the bad things DRM might do. So the pirates are getting a problem free game for free. Now I like buying stuff. But when the game I just bought from a shop refuses to work because some publisher somewhere decided it was a good idea to annoy paying customers, I start wondering why I even bothered with buying it. Had I downloaded it, I'd have it for free (no shiny case though) and without problems caused by DRM. And I've lost count on how many times I've had problems with different games. And even more funnily, the problems are usually solved by getting a crack.

This will probably get me banned but whatever, I don't even care. I'm playing this game. It's a great game, one of the best city builders for a long time. But I refuse to buy it. If they ever release it without TAGES, I'll buy it that very second. But not before. Isn't that kinda funny? I resorted to piracy because they tried to protect their software from it. Doesn't that make DRM kinda counter-productive? Surely any sane person could see that all DRM does is harm. It harms customers and it harms the companies using it.

You can say I'm a dirty pirate or that pirates are the reason DRM exists, but hey, they offered a better product. I don't have to worry if TAGES servers are up ten years from now, or how many different machines I can install the game on, I can just play it without problems.  It's a shame I can't get such a product from a store.

I'd put £50 here and now on Viisari having used those emulator tools to run a downloaded game, who's willing to take my bet?

Actually, it doesn't need one.