Friday, February 12, 2010

ENCOURAGING PIRACY


I always thought online platforms for downloading games, such as Steam, are a good way to limit piracy while keeping a superior client support. But like anything else in life, you can ruin the best ideas by making them overcomplex.

Let’s take a look at the process I was forced to follow for playing Bioshock 2. I decided to buy a PC copy using Steam, but everytime I tried I got a different error message. There was a support service, but I had to create another account, this one only for the Steam Support Service.

Ok, I did it and I managed to send a report about the issue. On a reasonable time period (no more than 24h) I got a response including several potential solutions. I couldn’t make Steam work for the purchase, but I eventually bought the game using the Steam website.

Ok, now I own a brand new online copy of Bioshock. It took the whole day to download the code, but I finally got it all. Just when I thought I could start playing, another obstacle: If I ran the game without creating a ‘Games for Windows LIVE’ account I wouldn’t be able to save the game.

Why are they doing such a thing? I know why: They want a new user for their service, and they want to validate the copy to ensure it’s not a pirate one. But Hey guys, I’m using Steam to play the game. That should be enough. I eventually avoided creating a new one when my Xbox LIVE account was accepted, so I started playing.

In the meantime, some people that I know have been playing a pirate copy for days and free…