Battlefront.com DRM

Asid · March 01, 2014, 10:56:49 PM

Hi folks

I was reading about the DRM used by Battlefront in their Combat mission games. The way i understand it you only have 4 activations when you buy the game + 1 extra each year. If you have an issue you are at the mercy of customer support. What are your thoughts?

What if you change hardware regularly?
Have issues and have to reformat?
HD failures?
OS re-install

Just seems a bit restrictive.

Regards

jomni · March 01, 2014, 10:58:26 PM

More than enough for me. How frequent do you change hardware anyway?
I change hardware once in 3 to 5 years.

Grim.Reaper · March 01, 2014, 10:59:43 PM

This has been debated many times here and usually gets interesting when discussed:)

I don't think anyone likes it, but you have people who will tolerate it and enjoy the game, while you have others that refuse to buy the game because of it...

Just comes down to personal choice....

It seems most people that run out of activations just contact support and "usually" they respond in a reasonable time with additional keys if your not abusing it.

Now I am sure we'll see all the incoming flak on this topic:)

Asid · March 01, 2014, 11:04:05 PM

Hi Jomni

I was just concerned as i have had issues >:( Some people never have any issue and keep the same PC for a long time. Some don't, take enthusiasts for instance.

Imagine a situation in a years time after a string of hardware "events" and you had used up your activations. It may be possible that you would have to wait a whole year to play :(

Regards

Grim.Reaper · March 01, 2014, 11:05:49 PM

Quote from: Asid on March 01, 2014, 11:04:05 PM
Hi Jomni

I was just concerned as i have had issues >:( Some people never have any issue and keep the same PC for a long time. Some don't, take enthusiasts for instance.

Imagine a situation in a years time after a string of hardware "events" and you had used up your activations. It may be possible that you would have to wait a whole year to play :(

Regards

No, I don't think that would happen...have seen people request help from Battlefront's support and they always seem to work it out, assuming your not abusing it.

Bison · March 01, 2014, 11:06:22 PM

I've had to contact customer support to get an additional activation. It really wasn't an issue other than waiting a day for the response.

Asid · March 01, 2014, 11:09:48 PM

Hi folks

I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to cause a fight or that i have any axe to grind with BF. Also apologies if this has been discussed before but hopefully there is some new insight as some time has passed.

Regards

Grim.Reaper · March 01, 2014, 11:13:35 PM

Quote from: Asid on March 01, 2014, 11:09:48 PM
Hi folks

I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to cause a fight or that i have any axe to grind with BF. Also apologies if this has been discussed before but hopefully there is some new insight as some time has passed.

Regards

Its just a topic that brings a lot of passionate emotion with it...I don't think anyone disagrees with the fact it is not a great DRM method, but at the end of the day they are not going to change it anytime soon no matter how much we discuss it. Therefore, you either have to accept it and enjoy the game or don't buy the game.

I have tolerated it myself and have not had an issue with it since CMBN was first released (however, I do realize some folks have had issues).

Asid · March 01, 2014, 11:18:09 PM

Quote from: Grim.Reaper on March 01, 2014, 11:13:35 PM

Its just a topic that brings a lot of passionate emotion with it.

Nothing wrong with a bit of passion ;)

Tuna · March 01, 2014, 11:29:37 PM

I had an issue when I upgraded my CPU last year.. There was no 'deactivation' program, so that kind of pissed me off.. Helpdesk did respond quickly..

I upgraded my Video Card this Xmas without any issues...

Definitely a pain.. I prefer Steam to crap getting upset about upgrades.. lol.. but then Steam has NO Customer Service!

Asid · March 01, 2014, 11:32:43 PM

Deactivating then reactivating seems a better option to me (seems)

Nefaro · March 02, 2014, 04:32:37 AM

Quote from: Asid on March 01, 2014, 11:09:48 PM
Hi folks

I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to cause a fight or that i have any axe to grind with BF. Also apologies if this has been discussed before but hopefully there is some new insight as some time has passed.

Regards

It's a valid concern and I share them.

I've purchased CMBN and the Commonwealth expansion but I didn't play it over the long-term and only loaded it up on one machine which I don't use much anymore. So I've not had to experience licensing issues with it. That doesn't mean it isn't there.

If I'm ever on the fence about a game, and it has some online activation limit DRM, I don't buy it. There are so many games out there these days, it's impossible to find the time for even the ones I already own. However, I had fallen off the fence after the British expansion was released so I gave it a try (and even more so for SC:WWI).

Thus far I haven't had to bother them to fix anything but that doesn't make me any happier about the situation and I'm still very hesitant to buy anything else with such a DRM scheme from them.

Asid · March 02, 2014, 04:56:57 AM

From a personal point of view i just feel that this type of DRM is very restrictive. It's great until something goes wrong and you have to contact support and try and get them (convince them?) that you have done nothing malicious.... :o

For me at least it's definitely something to think about.

SgtRock · March 02, 2014, 11:43:19 AM

Something big DRM wise changed after CMSF, go read Battlefronts Tech Support forums for CMBN & CMFI, for what ever reason their last game, CMFI seems to be the worst (over sensitive, their words, not mine), which tells me, Battlefront has little or no control of the third party DRM imbedded in their product. It's just dumb to have a DRM based on a non-changing PC configuration where any changes to hardware (even plugging/un-plugging a USB device) or software (update video drivers, Windows update) can trigger their DRM, which requires you to open a support ticket making the game unplayable until they respond.

Their demo's even been know to have DRM issues for some, even though they claim their is no DRM in their demos?

Installing/re-stalling their software with modules and updates is also way more complex than it should be because of their DRM. Where installing or updating in the wrong order will leave the game un-playable and require you to contact them again.

I've purchased nothing from them beyond CMSF, and won't buy anything with this level of DRM. It's too bad because I would have purchased more of their games.

Grim.Reaper · March 02, 2014, 11:44:08 AM

Quote from: Asid on March 02, 2014, 04:56:57 AM
From a personal point of view i just feel that this type of DRM is very restrictive. It's great until something goes wrong and you have to contact support and try and get them (convince them?) that you have done nothing malicious.... :o

For me at least it's definitely something to think about.

I don't think you will get any arguments from anyone who feels this DRM scheme is good....I think everyone would prefer something else to be used besides your computer configuration.....but if it comes down to playing the game, each person just needs to decide if they can live with it or not. For some people it could certainly be bad enough for them not to purchase the game and that is perfectly acceptable.