Gentlemen,

I am close to releasing my first game, which is an RTS that will be on CD. We are going out at $19.95 and hitting the non-US markets very hard.
I'm sure this is probably a classic dilemma, but I am really unsure about what type of copy protection to use, or if I should use any at all. I was thinking of Trymedia's new process which allows the user to make up to 5 copies (I can choose the actual number) and requires that an authorization be obtained to unlock the game. I know this will probably get hacked, but I just want to keep the casual copying down, especially in some of the more economically depressed parts of the world.
I am also considering just using an old manual varification that periodically requires the player to enter a symbol from the manual so the casual pirate would at least need to copy the manual as well.
Is all of this worth it? Am I just going to upset my players? Will I really stop anybody from ripping me off? I have already seen people get really upset just because I required registration to download the demo, so I guess I don't want to shoot myself in the foot.
Any experiences or suggestions about this are much appreciated.
BTW, the demo on our site is very old and will be updated within a week or two.

For those who are unfamiliar with the process:

"ActiveMARK-packaged games and software can be distributed both on CD and DVD at retail, as well as via download. After purchasing at retail, consumers must activate their products online or via telephone. They may backup their CD or DVD and share it with friends, because each copy automatically reverts to trial mode – creating an additional sales opportunity without incremental cost.

Unique activation codes are assigned to a product, and are inserted into each retail package. This activation code, along with a unique machine-configuration fingerprint is used to create a license that unlocks the product indefinitely. The user may complete this step in a single click if they have Internet access, or via a toll-free phone number. Each activation code can be used for multiple computers (up to a limit specified by the developer/publisher).

Trymedia issues activation codes and provides the infrastructure for end-user activation online and via telephone.

You may define, with complete granularity, the behavior of products in “trial” mode. For example, you may allow users to use your product for 5 days with a nag screen each day to remind them that they must activate, or if they lack a valid activation code, give them the option to purchase the product immediately. In this way, consumers can make backup copies, use the product on multiple computers, run it on laptops with minimal power drain and share content with friends, while enforcing your security rules at all times.

By combining a user-friendly physical media solution with the strength of ActiveMARK Client-Side Security, you can eliminate the cost and headache of supporting multiple, ineffective security solutions while providing users with appropriate and satisfying use options that enhance your product’s appeal. Moreover, you can benefit from the viral/pass-along sales that occur when people transfer content from one person to another."


Source (http://www.trymedia.com/services/security_cd_activation.shtml)

While I like the idea that the user can burn and distribute copies that automatically revert into trial mode for potential future customers, if I was a consumer, I would probably be put off by this process. I have a few reasons why this makes me feel a little queasy.

1) I cannot predict the future of your company. Six months or five years down the line my computer might crash, I might have to reformat and lose the activation on my computer, and now I can't activate my software because you went out of business. I've got a dead disc when I could still be playing the game.

2) Each CD copy requires a unique and new activation code. I could not back up the game and use the back up to play, thus protecting my investment, without paying for it again.

3) Each CD copy requires a unique and new activation code that is tied to the machine. What if I wanted to play on my notebook, or if my computer farts out and I have to buy a new one (assume I'm Joe Average and I buy new computers, not upgrade the parts I need)? Then I'll have to buy another copy all over again, according to the text above.

This doesn't seem like a good solution for copy protecting games. There's several large discussions for and against copy protecting here in this forum, but I don't really have a strong opinion either way. If you do use copy protection, though, it should be strong enough to stop Joe Average from massive sharing, but weak enough that Joe Average can actually play the game however they feel like.

If you are only trying to stop casual piracy, then most of the off-the-shelf solutions are probably more than you need. As mentioned above, the "dead disc" appraoch will just alienate customers - it's only really applicable to large well-established companies and probably better suited to expensive apps, not $20 games.

Also, pretty much any off-the-shelf solution will be hacked more readily than a custom solution. Stupid as that sounds. The more products that use a system, the more likely it is to have it's vulnerabilities pasted all over the various hacker sites/newsgroups.

I don't know a great deal about CD protection, so I can't really suggest any decent plans for a custom method, but I'm sure with a bit of thought you could come up with one.

Personally I would hate to play a game that every now and then stops to make me fill in word X from line Y of page Z just to prove I already paid for it. Once at the beginning is fine, but repeatedly asking for verification will just annoy people. Some might even see it as a bug in the verification system.

Sorry I couldn't be more constructive :(

Oh, and it might be worth noting that the ONLY old PC games I still play are the ones that didn't have copy protection on them (with the exception of Civilization, which I got pretty good at determining the answer to their questions). I've lost booklets and other junk, and several of my discs have become useless, especially considering a few of those games weren't popular enough for any information to be available online to this day for how to bypass their protection.

I especially miss my Critic's Choice cd, which had some really cool games like Dark Legions, Serf City, and Archon on it, but had you look up x word from y paragraph on z page from the manual, which I brought with me to friends' houses to show off the games and quickly lost it. Since then, I've only been able to find another copy of Dark Legions years later on Ebay (only one I saw since I first bought the game), and by now, I can't even play the damn thing because I can't figure out how to get my cpu to emulate the old PCs properly. :mad:

I think it's fair enough to require stuff from the manual at install-time - if your manual is a respectable size that can be stored somewhere and not instantly lost. Install codes printed on a tiny little card or flimsy sheet are going to vanish as soon as the game is installed and if the user ever wants to install the game again, they're going to be stuck mailing you the CD and demanding another code, which is a pain for everyone involved.

Asking for information from the manual during the game... only really works if it can be integrated into the game as a puzzle, and this is far more likely in an adventure game than an RTS. If it feels like part of the game that the player read the fluff on the Grand General Zhorn and know the name of his eldest son, the player won't be as irked as "What word appears on page 13, paragraph 2, line 5?" - especially if printing/localisation screwups cause that to get the wrong word!

Thanks folks!

It sounds like you are all pretty much unanimously opposed to copy protection for a game from a small company like mine. May I infer from this that you all feel it would probably just be great advertising to have my game copied and passed all over the place since it means the game was worth playing?
Also, does anyone have any experience with putting out a game without copy protection as far as how they think it affected their sales?

Originally posted by mtemple
[B]Gentlemen,

I am close to releasing my first game, which is an RTS that will be on CD. We are going out at $19.95 and hitting the non-US markets very hard.

[...]

I know this will probably get hacked, but I just want to keep the casual copying down, especially in some of the more economically depressed parts of the world.

Let me offer you some advice on the economically depressed parts of the world. I'm quite an expert on the subject given the fact that I live in one of those places, Argentina.

If you're planning to sell your game in these markets, you'd better think that $19.95 price over... Unless your game is something like Doom 4, you won't get anyone to pay that amount. It's difficult to ask that for a top-line game, let alone for an independent one.

Take Argentina, for example. A bit more than a year ago, one peso (the Argentine currency) was worth one dollar. Then, that radically changed, and nowadays one dollar equals around three pesos. Salaries haven't been adapted to the new situation, so when you ask $20 for your game, for an Argentine gamer it's like you were asking $60. Very few people can afford that.

Here, 90% of the games played are pirated games. The other 10% is made up, most of all, by online games that require an original key to let you play. This situation is similar in other economically deperssed countries.

So, if you inted to be able to sell your game in these countries, it'd be better to think of a cheaper price rather than a copy protecton. Maybe something around... $4. Otherwise, you should consider other markets for your game.

@Night Elf : "Non-US" == Europe in this context. Nobody even knows we exist :) Y saludos desde el otro lado del charco ;)

Actually,

We do mean Europe mostly, but we have been getting quite a few hits from Brazil on our web site. If you are saying that all of South America is pretty much in the same boat, then what we may do is accept an offer from a Brazilian distributor to handle our game. Our initial concern was that he wanted to master 5000 units on his own, and we have no way of really knowing if he'll stop at 5000.
But if you're saying nobody could afford $19.95 anyway, then maybe this is the best way to tap that market. Unfortunately, lowering the price any more is just not an option. We are offering multi-player play through GameSpy for up to 8 players. At $4.00 we couldn't recoup even the cost of that code.

But thanks very much for the input from South America! We are very interested in ways to bring your market into our sights, but I think we need to plan more from the beginning of the next project (if we survive that long)!

¡Hola, Gabriel! ¡Qué bueno encontrarse a un vecino por estos lados! :)

As the OP was talking about "some of the more economically depressed parts of the world", I couldn't think of a better example... I don't think there are many European countries that are so bad in terms of economy (maybe I'm wrong.)

Edit: Sorry, I was typing my response as mtemple was posting his...

Originally posted by mtemple
Thanks folks!

It sounds like you are all pretty much unanimously opposed to copy protection for a game from a small company like mine. May I infer from this that you all feel it would probably just be great advertising to have my game copied and passed all over the place since it means the game was worth playing?
Also, does anyone have any experience with putting out a game without copy protection as far as how they think it affected their sales?

I have a theory on this. Though anybody with more experience on this subject please feel free to shoot it down.

My theory is, if an independent game suffers from rampant piracy more than likely the game is popular enough that the game generates decent to substantial money for the author(s). Unless your game is extremely easy to copy and the method is widely known, I believe even if an independent game has rampant casual piracy, then the game is most likely a financial success due to popularity.

I'm not talking about simply a crack of your game being posted on a crack site. Just because there's a crack, doesn't necessarily mean there are hordes of people wanting to play your game. Just means your game is visible enough to get on the radar of a bored hacker.

But if an Indie game actually reaches the popularity where there are tons of people looking for a crack, it should have a healthy amount of legitimate sales, piracy withstanding. Us Indies tend to have low overhead anyway, so a few lost sales won't sink the ship.

Besides, I think piracy in some situations can actually create buzz. I friend of mine had a cracked version of a small not-so well known game. I played it on his computer and actually liked it. Even though my friend is into getting cracked games, I'm not, so I ended up purchasing the full version. I would have never known about this game if my friend didn't get the crack or if the game had a full-proof piracy protection scheme since the game was pretty obscure. So the developers actually got one extra sale due to piracy.

Though it's impossible to say if they gained more sales than they lost from piracy. However, one thing is certain, more people know about their game because of it.

So you can file me into the category of people who think Indies shouldn't really obsess over copy-protection. If piracy is actually an issue with your game, you should be doing fine regardless. You’re more likely to turn-off your existing customers with an obtrusive copy protection scheme. So I'd spend maybe a couple of weeks (or less) on developing a simple copy protection method, so your game isn't Freeware. But then spend the rest of your time polishing your game or improving your website. [shocking statement]Make your game worth pirating! [/shocking statement] :)

Originally posted by mtemple
Our initial concern was that he wanted to master 5000 units on his own, and we have no way of really knowing if he'll stop at 5000.
Ask for a good upfront payment...

I totally agree with Chris_Evans. Don't waste a lot of time developing a copy protection scheme. It will take up resources that could be better used on the game, and it will degrade the user experience.

As a player, I'm sick of all game copy protection schemes. They never stop the piracy, and the only person they inconvenience is me. The only crack I ever used was to circumvent the cd-check on a game I owned, because the cd-check killed the game performance.

Thanks,

The CD check is impossible to avoid because the music is Redbook and I am unwilling to put more of a load on the processor to play the music as WAV files. And not using copy protection is very tempting because it means less work for me!
But I have to get this right the first time. I can live with failure if it's because I just made a crummy game. But if the game is good and I go belly up because of a bad business decision...well that would be very hard to swallow.
Thanks for all of your input. I really would like to hear more from developers who have released a CD game. But I guess I'm leaning toward just a simple manual check that would occur only when the game was first installed.