DRM for online functions

[Hearteater]

Too bad Steam registration of a key can't do an online, one-time verification of a key by matching the email address on the steam account to the email the distributor has on file for that key.  Obviously easier sais than done.

[keith.lamothe]

Too bad Steam registration of a key can't do an online, one-time verification of a key by matching the email address on the steam account to the email the distributor has on file for that key.  Obviously easier sais than done.

Yea, that would require knowing which distributor that key was given to and that distributor being willing to set up a web service (or whatever) to verify that info, and Valve being willing to spend the time working with each such distributor.  To me it's a surprise that they're willing to deal with external registration at all (though it does help encourage the "I want everything through steam" approach from customers, a very good thing for Valve), but expecting them to go a bunch of extra miles working with a bunch of other distributors to better facilitate providing services you didn't pay Valve for seems... yea

[zespri]

For the record, I had it with this topic.

That's what superb customer service is about, keep entertaining your customers by answering their silly posts until they get bored, lose interest and stop on their own accord. This way they get the satisfaction of airing their thoughts, warm feeling that they got noticed and no one gets killed/banned in the process =) Well done, Arcen! 

[Wanderer]

For the record, I had it with this topic.

That's what superb customer service is about, keep entertaining your customers by answering their silly posts until they get bored, lose interest and stop on their own accord. This way they get the satisfaction of airing their thoughts, warm feeling that they got noticed and no one gets killed/banned in the process =) Well done, Arcen! 

Thank you.  There is nothing quite like the feeling of Heineken in your nose at two thirty in the morning.  I needs me a woots smiley!

[eRe4s3r]

My only interest in adding to this topic was to keep damage from Arcengames and from some customers on steam which is obviously not appreciated

I was also kinda confused about the replies to Zespri's posts, maybe I should have gotten the hint that this topic would go south with everyone focusing on DRM, instead of how to prevent damage to Arcen the easiest and cheapest way possible.

Oh well ;p
Germany lost against Italy.. bah

[tigersfan]

Germany lost against Italy.. bah

Agreed.

[zespri]

http://indiegames.com/2012/08/piracy_is_a_fact_of_life_so_wh.html

[KingIsaacLinksr]

http://indiegames.com/2012/08/piracy_is_a_fact_of_life_so_wh.html

Haha, that is funny.

[Coppermantis]

If I was an Indie developer, that would be something I'd do.

[Draco18s]

there are paying gamers and there are pirates. Pirates don't normally become paying gamers, and the people paying typically don't pirate

That's not actually true.

For instance, do you know why I was banned from the Steam forums?

Advocating Piracy.

Know how many games I have registered through Steam?  Over 100.

[RCIX]

I noticed a discussion about keys and keygens and how you'd make a difficult to generate key system. My thought:

And then suddenly, a patch that bypasses keygen. Unless you mess with the code that the key validator and surrounding systems uses each patch, this "fixes" the problem entirely. And if you want to stop it you're stuck fiddling with a whole bunch of code every single patch...

[Draco18s]

And then suddenly, a patch that bypasses keygen.

A lot of cracks work this way, but "removing" the key validation code.

[RCIX]

Ugh, i meant key validation But yeah.

[eRe4s3r]

The discussion was about how to make a key where you can tell which is valid and which keygenned so that no keygen ever produced legit keys Something that is with the current employed system not possible and indeed "by design"

And yes, it would be better if cracks were needed and would have to remade every single patch because then you would actually have something that protects your game. Instead of leaving the barn door not just wide open, but giving everyone who didn't pay a better service than those who paid. (in the sense of what is more hassle)

[Draco18s]

The discussion was about how to make a key where you can tell which is valid and which keygenned so that no keygen ever produced legit keys Something that is with the current employed system not possible and indeed "by design"

It's called a one-time pad, and they're a pony to produce.

Any sequence of pseudo-random numbers that is produced by a computer is possible to calculate twice.  That's how Keygens work: they follow the same math with the same seed value.