PC gamers receive bill of rights

I am 1 of the guys that wasn't too happy with DRM and in general the way "wide" PC gaming market was going (by wide i mean more titles not few very successful ones) however i completely disagree with statements: "if u walk in 2 a shop n u nik a game then wat apens?" coz in all honesty every time you walk in to a shop do u get a security guard assigned to you so he makes sure that you don't nick? people will always find a way to steal but that dont mean i should suffer! i for one really like what this people are doing and even if i dont really like their games i will still buy them just so i can support them! PS. why is no one complaining when PS1/2/3 Xbox/ Nintendo games get re-sold by their owners? or when they pass them to mates!? isn't that just as piracy as it is with computers? why not register games to PS and Xbox's ?

Comment by FLUBBER_BM at 10:09pm 7th September 2008

So we, the gamers, require working software with similar ease-of-use as a console. This would severely curtail most modding communities. We also want the means to play immediately, without system resources devoted to crapware. I have a solution to that one - go to SlySoft. For those without, maybe an activation-type system could be used, online play wouldn't be a problem, single-players would only need to re-register if they changed their hardware. This would require disabling their previous registration. Problem solved. Now if only Microsoft could do it this way...

Comment by slowmongoose at 2:19pm 6th September 2008

number 10 is right on the dot,like cod 4 you can play it online without the disc in the drive but cant do it with single player though...they should include that gamers should not be buying pay as you go cards to be able to play the games online ....for pc and console games.you already bought the console,games which cost a lot of money, plus your payin for your broadband then they want you to pay annual/monthly membership to be able to join the bloody games online...

Comment by SEYKYU at 3:12pm 5th September 2008

I feel developers abuse the ability to release patches on the internet. They release games unfinished because they have a deadline, and then try to fix it with patches. A game should be finished and then tested and tested again before it's released. Games look good on the pc but their quite often buggy, the focus is always on the consoles. Sony or microsoft will test a game and if it's not good enough they will send it back to the developer, i don't think the pc platform really has that, and it should. I would like to see microsoft and nvidia taking a more active role in making sure that the pc gets better quality games, it's in their interest.

Comment by erratum1 at 1:47am 4th September 2008

that all the copy protection and DRM stuff ENCOURAGES piracy, as the pirated stuff will have all that shite removed for your gaming pleasure. Sweet!

Comment by _irad_ at 5:10pm 3rd September 2008

This is why I love Stardock, they actually seem to have gamers best interests at heart....

Comment by cyberspice1 at 4:47pm 2nd September 2008

I think that these "rules" would encourage me to wanna move to steam, And I would like the abillity to test a game that I had bought off steam and then if it doesn't work then obviously steam would uninstall it and then you could get your money back... or just use the money that you had paid to buy another game!, And the garuntee that I could play these games that I'd bought online could be played offline would be very encouraging, and then I wouln't need to worry if I decided to move home because I could simply play them offline until my broadband supplier installs my broadband... (Well I'm with Virgin, So that would take 6 months... now you understand why I'm so concerned...)

Comment by NikoBellic at 3:23pm 2nd September 2008

Its obvious what game number 5 is aimed at...

Comment by NikoBellic at 3:20pm 2nd September 2008

number 10 is pretty obvious. also the main reason why megagames.com is still alive and well

Comment by thegreat0mi at 1:38pm 2nd September 2008

its time to call in trading standards... after all this is really their area of work. How about next time you buy a shoddy game, full of bugs, or one that doesn't run smoothly on your system despite you having the minimum specs or above, then you send the details to trading standards. If enough people do this then they may have to do somethign about it.

Comment by NewParadigm at 1:03pm 2nd September 2008

I don't think this is about enforcing the rules - its more about saying when you part with £35 for a game you get the best experience - publishers who don't adhere to these guidelines should have a good reason why not. As for not connecting to the internet or having the CD in the drive - how about a choice? I hate having to put the cd in the drive and like steam's activation. Why not say if you want to play without the cd in the drive you need to connect to the internet. As it is we have this either or - or in some cases both!

Comment by greentrident at 12:52pm 2nd September 2008

And what if you didn't have an internet connection. Would anyone at that point have assumed they needed a live connection to play an offline single player game?

Comment by pveater at 11:15am 2nd September 2008

You may not do it, but bear in mind the purpose of DRM is to discourage the illegal distribution of it, not to stop it, making people have original media in their drives helps this as a GUID for a disc can not be replicated if an online check is used. IMO a simple steam based system that allowed you to sell games would be the best way forward

Comment by finlay666uk at 10:50am 2nd September 2008

you only had to do it the once. then switch to offline mode, it wasn't that much of an ask.

Comment by TBallS at 9:30am 2nd September 2008

My current problem with games is when I moved house I moved to the stix which means I no longer have access to broadband... I have wireless but this sucks ass bigstyle. So in turn any game that requires to connect to internet intermittantly or for patches will not run on my PC .... eg Bioshock , Gears of War, Half Life 2 . So even though I did purchase these games I am unable to play unless.... I get friends to download pre-cracked versions which run better than some of the originals I have.... so is this piracy.... I have always used no-cd cracks and intro removers as i like to get right in to the action ... a lot of games I've looked to buy but when i read up on the protection it leaves me little choice...Put it this way no matter how much DRM / Protection you put on a game someone will come along and remove it... so why should we have to suffer for other people.... If they have download the game because they have no intention of buying it then tehcnically the games companies are not losing any custom. I like the so called Gamers Commandments as I have played some shockingly buggy games in my time and even patched their still like to crash just after you've completed the longest sections of the games.

Comment by akoli at 1:56am 2nd September 2008

it is a great idea but i think it will be impossible to enforce all of those new rules, but it i do like the idea of showing the invisable drivers, because when you delete a game the drivers are still there doing nothing and take up valuable space on your hardrive

Comment by morganbagert at 11:51pm 1st September 2008

Wake up and smell it - the publishers will laugh all the way to the bank!

Comment by Xonerater at 10:58pm 1st September 2008

I feel I should be entitled to a refund from Funcom for AOC which was the buggiest piece of software; some days it was unplayable. I think this is a good thing and I like the 'offline' inclusion too. How many people got suckered when they realised they needed a live internet connection to play HL2?

Comment by pveater at 10:08pm 1st September 2008

and I'd be perfectly happy to see it given out along with an almighty stick to bash pirates. Simply put, hitting people who share games is a tou7ch unfair without something like this make sure that when you pay for a game it meets some kind of standards.

Comment by NewParadigm at 8:56pm 1st September 2008

that is an impressive list. As to no.10 ... this is my favourite... mainly BECAUSE it isn't actually a harsh requirement to have to put the cd in the drive, it makes pc gaming just so much nicer. With ridiculously large hard drives it gives pc gaming a much needed 'nicety' to just be able to install the game and forget about the cd. A close second is that we should have a finished product put on sale... games which aren't are just inexcusable.

Comment by NewParadigm at 8:26pm 1st September 2008

I ..., am an honest decent Gamer who enjoys the wonder games of all kinds bring to modern human lifestyles, and as such I embrace steps and measures that ensure the mutually benficial progress of this industry and foster trust, respect and honourable relations between developers, publishers and Gamers (consumers & prosumers). I hereby request that you, a publisher/developer of games that are desirable & enjoyable to me and others to agree and adhere to the Gamers Bill of Rights, as set forth by Stardock and Gas Powered Games. The Amendments to the Bill are as follows: 1. Gamers shall have the right to return games that don’t work with their computers for a full refund. 2. Gamers shall have the right to demand that games be released in a finished state. 3. Gamers shall have the right to expect meaningful updates after a game’s release. 4. Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and updaters not force themselves to run or be forced to load in order to play a game. 5. Gamers shall have the right to expect that the minimum requirements for a game will mean that the game will play adequately on that computer. 6. Gamers shall have the right to expect that games won’t install hidden drivers or other potentially harmful software without their consent. 7. Gamers shall have the right to re-download the latest versions of the games they own at any time. 8. Gamers shall have the right to not be treated as potential criminals by developers or publishers. 9. Gamers shall have the right to demand that a single-player game not force them to be connected to the Internet every time they wish to play. 10. Gamers shall have the right that games which are installed to the hard drive shall not require a CD/DVD to remain in the drive to play. It is without doubt that these proposals represent a brave step forward, but if implemented thoughtfully, the Bill can help prevent piracy, while at the same time, benefitting honest paying Gamers who will reciprocate these benefits, thus ensuring a circular movement of Publishers helping Gamers/Gamers helpig Publishers as well as each party being able to help themselves in due process. I thank you for considering this Bill and hope you see it as the shining beacon that will enable to games industry to set precedents to other digital entertainment & media industries, by showing them that a balanced and sensible approach ensures everyone benefits from advances in technology and well-implemented, balanced procedure. (signed your name)

Comment by EdArch at 6:39pm 1st September 2008

I think that is reason enough to by Supreme Commander and Sins of a Solar Empire I have been looking for an excuse for a while now with SSE but that is the best news I have heard since Broadband in my area went over 2mb/s

Comment by Cool_CR at 6:42pm 1st September 2008

I wish Funcom with age of conan followed this bill they released the game full of bugs and missing promised content, it seems the only way to exspeirence the promised content is to continue paying the £10+ a month many months down the line from the release date, when really all the content should have been in the box from day one.

Comment by jinx26 at 6:37pm 1st September 2008

and it is workale. If you register the game/serial with the publisher then you can play it on your machine. If you register with a serial already taken then the game won't work, if you do sell the game on or give it to a mate/relative after you've played it to death, the perhaps you would un-register, thus freeing up that serial for someone else to register with. To me the list seems to have everything reasonable on it that a gamer would want and expect and if developers/publishers go about it in the right way then it could be pretty watertight - as always there will be those who will manage to find a way around it but I think if even at least half the proposals on here are taken on board by major houses then they will see the benefits of it more-or-less immediately. Hooray for another studio seeing sense and doing the thing that's right for everyone's sake. If this is to take off though, it'll need consumer support (y'know...like, from US!) so copy the next post and send it to any publishing/developer house thatmatters to you (or even one that's really peeved you off for their DRM or whatever reason)...

Comment by EdArch at 6:37pm 1st September 2008

EA would have a heart attack even contemplating what's on that list. Good stuff.

Comment by KingDazza at 6:18pm 1st September 2008

i think its a great idea to set some standards, and i have an answer to the system requirements problem. have demo's or benchmarks designed to evaluate the systems performance with the game available for free on the producers website. simply download and run, if your system can't take it, the benchmark will tell you, or you won't be able to play the demo. you dont need to be a pc wiz to do that do you?

Comment by yougotkicked at 5:59pm 1st September 2008

kudos to GPG and Stardock, it's wayyyy past time developers & publishers stopped releasing sh@ with no comeback, sure you can not buy another game from them but you're screwed with the one you got. Saying that 7 & 9 are a bit contradictory innit? And I have no problem with a game I bought contacting home to verify the key every week or so NOT every bloody 5 minutes.

Comment by titan at 5:25pm 1st September 2008

About time and good luck. This is what the PC market needs i am a avid PC gamer but even i have been feeling the lure of the console.

Comment by brave758 at 5:22pm 1st September 2008

I like it, but like some of the other posts say, as much as this should be adhered to by developers and publishers of games, it should also be adhered to by players. In other words those pesky pirates. Heres a worry though.... "Gamers shall have the right to expect that the minimum requirements for a game will mean that the game will play adequately on that computer." Can anyone else spot the tricky word here?? Adequately? That depends on an individuals' expectations and that differs alot.

Comment by paullarkins at 5:13pm 1st September 2008

the first one will be good how many of us av bought said game only to find its crap or just dont work with your hardware config and be told no we cant give u a refund only swop it that one turned me to getting a torrent to see if it worked if it was ok id buy it

Comment by damafia at 4:32pm 1st September 2008

Think about it. this is nothing new, ppl have been copying music and films they own for years, i cant imagine there are that many ppl out there cheap enough to buy a game, install it, sell it. its to much effort. torrents aren't, that's why there popular. I actually put no-cd cracks on all of my games, all of which legally brought, it just saves me the hassle of getting the cd out every time. i can just put it in the cupboard and leave it. its so easy to do its hardly worth having at all anyway.

Comment by TBallS at 4:26pm 1st September 2008

Think about it. this is nothing new, ppl have been copying music and films they own for years, i cant imagine there are that many ppl out there cheap enough to buy a game, install it, sell it. its to much effort. torrents aren't, that's why there popular. I actually put no-cd cracks on all of my games, all of which legally brought, it just saves me the hassle of getting the cd out every time. i can just put it in the cupboard and leave it. its so easy to do its hardly worth having at all anyway.

Comment by TBallS at 4:26pm 1st September 2008

Anything - is a step forward, however I would have been happy with these 3 points: 1) Reasonable prices, 2) Available on Steam, 3) In perfect working order no matter what the PC configuration, and no need for patches

Comment by CSQuake at 4:22pm 1st September 2008

I see where you're coming from, but if you play games on a laptop, it can be a total pain to have the cd/dvd in the drive as it just sucks your battery life and makes extra noise and heat if its constantly being read from... But I get thats its really hard to get a balnce between priacy and useability...if only someone had a hassle free way of stopping pirating...

Comment by PyrO_PrOfessOr at 4:12pm 1st September 2008

I just wrote a massive post which was erased when I had to log in :-{

Comment by evanjdooner at 4:18pm 1st September 2008

I hope they realise many will take advantage....don't need the disc in to play...many would then sell the disc to someone else, and in conjunction with number 9 means they can do it offline.....

Comment by finlay666uk at 3:58pm 1st September 2008

I'm not so sure about number 10. That seems fair enough to me.

Comment by l3v1ck at 3:46pm 1st September 2008

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