How to Beat Piracy 101

from Stardock Forums
All other game developers and, ahem, big name publishers should take a lesson on what you guys are doing.

The fact that you guys are still tweaking and improving the game after it's release is so refreshing. What's especially cool, the patches aren't there to bring the game up to a playable state because it was kicked out the door prematurely. (Afterall, the original version of Galciv was not crashing to the desktop regularly, there were no weird graphical or sound glitches, and the AI, as all the professional reviews have noted, is absolutely top notch.)

I love how new units, events, features and just plain old more stuff are being continually added to the game. Sure you could save them all up for an expansion pack or a sequel, but you're not. I tip my hat to you for that.

But the fact that you guys are still "working" on the game after is release makes good business sense and IMHO is a textbook example of how to thwart pirates.

This game needs to be updated regularly (and I mean that in a good way) to enjoy all the new tweaks and features and that makes having an authentic copy essential.

Here's one criticism though, and I know I'm not the first to point this out. There really should be a warning on the box about the massive sleep deprivation that Galciv causes. I mean really this is getting out of hand. Sitting down for a one hour session is impossible. So how about a sticker saying "Playing Galciv induces One-More-Turn-I-Tis."

Keep up the great work. Nice to see a small publisher make good!

LOL
795 views 13 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
ROFL

Your are so right about the "massive sleep deprivation" problem :). Hehehe I sat down one time to play a quick game (yeah right!) 8 hours later I was still playing! LOL infact the only reason I quit was because the game crashed to desktop... must have been telling me something. Just for the record that game took me 3 days to beat!

Kuno
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
That's honestly one of the best things about GalCiv. You just don't know how much I hate having to reboot my PC because SafeDisc2 on GTA3 doesn't like my CD-RW/DVD combo drive. Plus piracy-prevention measures add to the total cost of the game, and guess who ends up paying for it in the end?

That being said, I've been keeping an eye out for GalCiv on the different p2p networks and haven't seen it. This is a good thing.

~SDC~
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
Really? I've seen GalCiv out there on p2p and also the updates... well not the 1.03 yet, but I'll gaurentee that once it hits the download area (not SD) it'll be there too...
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
Ubertaco, my take on Stardock's method of distribution is that paying customers get rewarded through the faster support. If you're a piece of pirating crap, you wait for whatever support trickles out to the general public. For instance, I know and they know there are keygens and such that let people install the standalone downloads of WinBlinds that they get from p2p networks, but there is often a wait of weeks between when there's a version available through SDC and when it's even possible for people to rip them off. It's not perfect, but unlike with 99.9% of software where it's available to pirates *before* it's available elsewhere, with Stardock's products, the pirates have to wait. It's one of the few genuine incentives to not pirate out there and I commend them for it.

Ideally, since even the web download area reqires a serial# and email, it'd be nice to nab these twits. If Stardock is smart, they should develop a way to identify each download individually. That way, post a standalone to Kazaa and see your Drengin/GalCiv/Object Desktop account(s) cancelled instantly.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
I agree whole heartedly CM.

I was just pointing out that GC is on at least a couple p2ps as is the 1.02 update pack. Hopefully this distribution method does make pirates less likely to bother, though with those type you never know...
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
"I was just pointing out that GC is on at least a couple p2ps as is the 1.02 update pack. Hopefully this distribution method does make pirates less likely to bother, though with those type you never know... "

Yeah, for many it seems like a collection obsession. Their piracy literally doesn't impact any bottom lines because they never play 90% of the stuff they get, it's just some sort of game to them to see how many different ISOs they can collect. Like some rare pokemon, I guess the more work they have to go through to get a certain game/app makes it all the more attractive.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
It's a random thread, out there fishing for space sharks without a fish hook. What did you expect? :CONGRAT: LOL

~SDC~
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
PS I like the thread, and everything that has been expressed in it. Take my post just above to be just plain silly :)

Damian

~SDC~
Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top
@ UberTaco: well that just sucks, I haven't seen (nor would I like to).

@ CodeMonkey: I guess I was just hoping that with StarDocks "Revolutionary" distribution methods & customer support the Pir8s wouldn't bother. A demo (I know it's on it's way) might cut some of it down.



~SDC~
Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
they ARE doing a good job of fighting piracy, but i think the only reason they have been so successful is this game isnt as popular as other games, hence it doesnt recieve very much attention from piraters and stuff...
Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top
There is no way to stop common pirating of any product. It is in a sort a hobby for some of these pirating groups. I know this for a fact I used to run a BBS system online for about 8 years back in the 80's out of New York and Florida it was called The Atari Connection for the Atari Computer Line. We had a users group with like 200 members, we routinely traded programs among ourselves. At one point a new member who was working for GE as a chip designers discovered ways to copy the games that were protected. To make a long story short I ended up (BBS was the users group supported board) with over 5000 copies of various games from around the world. The same thing happened with The C64 and the Amiga computers. We all watched as the Atari, C64 & Amiga computers fade away into nothing. Why? Because of the rampant pirating that had taken place. I never even thought I was doing a thing wrong. When we all finally realized that the reason our favorite computer was dying was due to the wide spread of piracy. I got rid of my collection completely, started buying all the programs that I was using. I was hired by a local programmer to help design and market games that were shareware style. We had a good success but not enough to allow us to expand into a good size company before the entire Atari line faded from history. By the late 1980's Atari was only being used in Europe.
In the end the only thing that really fights piracy is the end users own morales and logic. I NEVER pirate any programs, movies etc at all ever since my horrible lesson. I think that this companies approach is much better, but still there will be some who will always pirate for whatever reason. I would hope that anyone pirating this game would see it is well worth the money and grab it. Many games are not worth buying these days because they shove them out the door not complete. We should all be thankful on how Star DOck and the team deliver such a superior product and service. Encourage those we know that pirate to make an exception and go buy GC. The gaming industry is very large as we all know, but piracy still kills off billions every year, and worst of all the programmers, that bare trying to make a living off their work loose big. Most companies only pay a small royality to the programmers. At least in my day that is how it worked. These programmers have bills, families, homes etc that need this money to survive. Any pirates reading this should keep that in mind whenever they download a pirated program. You are taking the food right out of some childs mouth by pirating games and other programs. This is the truth not a stretch of the truth at all a real fact. Okay I am done on my rant and life story concerning piracy. I hope it means something to those who are pirating this GREAT game or any others for that matter. If nothing more then others can see where I stand and my experience with pirating. >:(

~SDC~
Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top
Desert Fox,
Do you really believe Atari and C64 disappeared because of piracy ?? Who was able to pirate the machines themselves ? ;)
On PC platforms, piracy was MUCH more easy some years ago, yet it didn't kill anything...

And dinosaurs, why did they disappear ? LOL