Pirates win legitimate purchasers lose again

[PaladinWarrior]

The crack to install and run Bioshock without activation and without the SecuROM rootkit is out; also it actually works!!! I've confirmed it personally with my legal copy using a few tools I've learned about since Bioshock's release.

When are developers going to learn that copy protection methods such as the current SecuROM hurts only legitimate purchasers like many of us here. What we get in rootkits that won't install and DRM software installed without adequate notification. We get the limit of 5 installs then having to call and ask can we please install it again.

The Pirates, what do they get? They get a working copy of an original, free of DRM software, no rootkit installed on their PC, and can install it as many times as they want.

Does this make sense 2K Games?

All you are doing is punishing the people who legitimately purchase your great game.

Most of all you are forcing some of us to turn to the piracy scene in order to get around the invasive methods you've imposed upon your "legal" user base.

It makes perfect sense for us legal users to download the crack for our purchased copies, make a DVD image, and then install it without worries of activation, rootkits, and DRM.

I'd rather keep my virus scanner(s), spyware checkers, and trojan finders up to date, than to have DRM and rootkits permanently installed on my PC.

Hopefully this doesn't create more software pirates; although I don't see how it wouldn't.

[SyNMaN]

The crack to install and run Bioshock without activation and without the SecuROM rootkit is out; also it actually works!!! I've confirmed it personally with my legal copy using a few tools I've learned about since Bioshock's release.

When are developers going to learn that copy protection methods such as the current SecuROM hurts only legitimate purchasers like many of us here. What we get in rootkits that won't install and DRM software installed without adequate notification. We get the limit of 5 installs then having to call and ask can we please install it again.

The Pirates, what do they get? They get a working copy of an original, free of DRM software, no rootkit installed on their PC, and can install it as many times as they want.

Does this make sense 2K Games?

All you are doing is punishing the people who legitimately purchase your great game.

Most of all you are forcing some of us to turn to the piracy scene in order to get around the invasive methods you've imposed upon your "legal" user base.

It makes perfect sense for us legal users to download the crack for our purchased copies, make a DVD image, and then install it without worries of activation, rootkits, and DRM.

I'd rather keep my virus scanner(s), spyware checkers, and trojan finders up to date, than to have DRM and rootkits permanently installed on my PC.

Hopefully this doesn't create more software pirates; although I don't see how it wouldn't.

um the crack is used after installation so they still install securom

[conantheking]

Piraters lose out. I love presentation, if I have a plane white disk with the game name written on with a magic marker I can't play the game. It feels to cheap, no presentation.

I stick to playing games that have a nice presentation, not some cheap ass 59p disc.

[Topeira]

but they get free installations.

i think ppl who purchased the game should rejoice too as they can use the crack to install their copies as much as they like.
this crack is the exact reason i am buying this game... finally.

[PaladinWarrior]

Actually SynMan what I learned is if you use the registry edits to remove SecuROM manually after the install it works.

Bioshock "legal" with no crack doesn't work after manually removing the Securom entries in the registry.

Removing SecuROM manually from registry after "install" of legal version, then using the crack file, Bioshock works flawlessly.

Odd but true.

[Rebelphoenix]

but they get free installations.

i think ppl who purchased the game should rejoice too as they can use the crack to install their copies as much as they like.
this crack is the exact reason i am buying this game... finally.

And that is why Pirates win and we loose.

[D33M0N533D]

To pirate, or not to pirate, is that really the question?

The real question here is, who is the bigger pirate. The person who downloads the game and uses an available crack to play it, or a company who produced that game, refusing to address many concerns of the users, AFTER they all paid for it???

Each individual will undoubtedly have their own response, and even though I have asked the question, the answer is not needed and a response is not required.

Let everyone hold their own answers to themselves, as it is an inevitable consequence, that the answer you come up with is neither right, nor wrong in this case...

The paradox that is 2k Games...

[Pain]

Pirates are around and will always be around. That isn't the point.

[Topeira]

what exactly did you loose, rebelphoenix?
money? dont think so. buying a game is the RIGHT way.
spywhere on your machine? - as posted above - remove the spywhere after cracking.
i dont see a loss.

[Pain]

Each individual will undoubtedly have their own response, and even though I have asked the question, the answer is not needed and a response is not required.

That is exactly right. Everyone has their own idea of reality, so all these many threads are just taking up space.

[conantheking]

And that is why Pirates win and we loose.

Yeah but isn't there meant to be a patch coming out for the PC version which gets rid of the limited installs?

[Rebelphoenix]

what exactly did you loose, rebelphoenix?
money? dont think so. buying a game is the RIGHT way.
spywhere on your machine? - as posted above - remove the spywhere after cracking.
i dont see a loss.

I've had this Securom malware on my pc since the demo came out. I've lost a lot of my time dealing with this and doing research on Securom praying that it wouldn't destroy my computer like Starforce can.

[Pain]

Yeah but isn't there meant to be a patch coming out for the PC version which gets rid of the limited installs?

Dont be dumb. Thats not the point. The point is to complain endlessly.

[PaladinWarrior]

And that is why Pirates win and we loose.

You are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT Rebelphoenix!!!

All they've served to do is:

1. Make a fair to small amount of potential purchasers wait until the release fiasco is settled.

2. Force some customers to attempt to return their software

3. Force some customers to the pirate scene for the crack thereby possibly creating more software pirates.

What if I were thinking damn PC gaming is expensive, I better chose my game purchases wisely. Then I bought Bioshock KNOWING it would be a GREAT game, then become surprised about the activation and SecuROM rootkit. So I decide now a crack is out which allows me to finally play without worry or concern, I'll download it. Then I see all of these other games I can easily download without paying a dime.

Personally I'm not going to do that, but I can understand the logic of anyone who does.

If developers continue to use copy protection such as this; It actually makes more sense NOW to buy software legally then download a crack for it!!!!!!

[Pain]

Here's a suggestion for you guys. Ghost, or Acronis True Image. Run an image before you load something. If you don't like it, pull your image back and you are done. No buying the software that you don't like, and nothing remaining to cause you heartburn. You can move on with your life.

Check it out. It works great. Will save you all great trouble.

[Grinsomx]

one thing is true and thats the tittle of this thread....
while legitimate users have to install whatever cp is thrown at them, pirates just take a few days off and release a cracked version, usually enabling you to remove the 3th party program (wich btw is never mentioned on the box) and endless installs.
if the game industry keeps up this kind of stuff...guess what will happen?

[AJ Rimmer]

3. Force some customers to the pirate scene for the crack thereby possibly creating more software pirates.
!!!

suppose i could have easily dloaded 4.7 gig by now and be playing it,but i still prefer to avoid the genuine threats from the sewers and just wait for delivery.

but i do concede,its bound to have sent new folk to the sewers and they might indeed get hooked into the "free" games milange.


whoever 2K asked to sit on the forums on release to answer questions and alay fears must have smoked a spliff and fell asleep for a week

[D33M0N533D]

Here's a suggestion for you guys. Ghost, or Acronis True Image. Run an image before you load something. If you don't like it, pull your image back and you are done. No buying the software that you don't like, and nothing remaining to cause you heartburn. You can move on with your life.

Check it out. It works great. Will save you all great trouble.

Acronis is a great product, I use it once a week on my Main (non-gaming) rig, or right before I make any changes on any of my other systems. I'd recommend that before Ghost. (always seemed a bit, glitchy. I lost a few images, with ghost that is).

[big_al0591]

exactly why I hate buying pc games. I mean, why should I have to try to screw around with a program that will hardly work when a cracked version works just fine??? this is why I just look to my faithful console versions.

[PaladinWarrior]

Here's a suggestion for you guys. Ghost, or Acronis True Image. Run an image before you load something. If you don't like it, pull your image back and you are done. No buying the software that you don't like, and nothing remaining to cause you heartburn. You can move on with your life.

Check it out. It works great. Will save you all great trouble.

Excellent idea!!!

I do something a bit different after reading a Maximum PC article now though.

Use some type of virtual PC software such as Virtual PC 2007, Parallels Desktop, or VMWare Workstation. Then install Windows XP onto the "virtual harddrive". Install and update virus scanners, spyware checkers, and trojan hunters on that virtual harddrive. Make a backup copy on CD of the clean virtual environment (it should be 1 large file). Then Run all new "suspect" software from that virtual environment first. If the suspect software messes up your virtual environment then restore the copy from CD.

I'm doing this with my "legal" Bioshock and the crack.

So far everything checks out clean.

[theboss5950]

Piraters lose out. I love presentation, if I have a plane white disk with the game name written on with a magic marker I can't play the game. It feels to cheap, no presentation.

I stick to playing games that have a nice presentation, not some cheap ass 59p disc.

I love this game and theres nothing wrong with the copy protection. Never had an issue with it.

But your comment is silly as heck though. Your not going to play a cd cause it feels cheap, well I'll be damned, the cd is in the drive, what are you going to use your laser eyes to read it?? lmao. Who gives a shi* about the CD, my Bioshock cd has been in my PC since I got the game, I don't even remember what it looks like. The Bioshock holographic box looks better than the CD. I don't take the CD out the drive and stick my tongue down that circle hole every 30 minutes.

I pay for good games, not some artwork on a cd. Presentation is the manuals, the booklets, the packaging. The CD will be in the drive, it doesn't matter. You act like you just saw a CD for the first time or something.

[PaladinWarrior]

I love this game and theres nothing wrong with the copy protection. Never had an issue with it.

But your comment is silly as heck though. Your not going to play a cd cause it feels cheap, well I'll be damned, the cd is in the drive, what are you going to use your laser eyes to read it?? lmao. Who gives a shi* about the CD, my Bioshock cd has been in my PC since I got the game, I don't even remember what it looks like. The Bioshock holographic box looks better than the CD. I don't take the CD out the drive and stick my tongue down that circle hole every 30 minutes.

I pay for good games, not some artwork on a cd. Presentation is the manuals, the booklets, the packaging. The CD will be in the drive, it doesn't matter. You act like you just saw a CD for the first time or something.

Hey you can't fault a guy like conan for loving presentation. I bet a guy like him, loving the way a CD looks, must have a SMOKING hot wife/girlfriend and a badazz car to boot.

[D33M0N533D]

Excellent idea!!!

I do something a bit different after reading a Maximum PC article now though.

Use some type of virtual PC software such as Virtual PC 2007, Parallels Desktop, or VMWare Workstation. Then install Windows XP onto the "virtual harddrive". Install and update virus scanners, spyware checkers, and trojan hunters on that virtual harddrive. Make a backup copy on CD of the clean virtual environment (it should be 1 large file). Then Run all new "suspect" software from that virtual environment first. If the suspect software messes up your virtual environment then restore the copy from CD.

I'm doing this with my "legal" Bioshock and the crack.

So far everything checks out clean.

Interesting http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/ima...ons/icon14.gif

Basically your running in whats commonly referred to as a "sandbox".
I have yet to attempt it with Vista, but I used to do it all the time with XP.

Good advice for those that want that extra layer of security... although restoring an image is just as quick.

[Pain]

Acronis is a great product, I use it once a week on my Main (non-gaming) rig, or right before I make any changes on any of my other systems. I'd recommend that before Ghost. (always seemed a bit, glitchy. I lost a few images, with ghost that is).

I used Ghost exclusively for a long time [from a dos boot disk] but I switched to Acronis last year and it rocks. Highly recommended and worth twice the price of around $30 at newegg.

[D33M0N533D]

I always seemed to have a few problems with Ghost and restoring images onto a RAID array. Acronis has never given me a single hiccup yet, and I've got several different combinations of RAID arrays with different chipsets, controller cards, etc. Never a problem yet with Acronis. Handles everything very smoothly, even all my external drives.

[conantheking]

I love this game and theres nothing wrong with the copy protection. Never had an issue with it.

But your comment is silly as heck though. Your not going to play a cd cause it feels cheap, well I'll be damned, the cd is in the drive, what are you going to use your laser eyes to read it?? lmao. Who gives a shi* about the CD, my Bioshock cd has been in my PC since I got the game, I don't even remember what it looks like. The Bioshock holographic box looks better than the CD. I don't take the CD out the drive and stick my tongue down that circle hole every 30 minutes.

I pay for good games, not some artwork on a cd. Presentation is the manuals, the booklets, the packaging. The CD will be in the drive, it doesn't matter. You act like you just saw a CD for the first time or something.

Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. I ain't no cheep skate and I don't accept a product with no presentation. I like to have a nice case, nice cd and manual. Presentation is important. I accept quality products, not pirate copies.

Plus I have respect for the gaming market, by paying for the game its my way of saying thanks for giving me a fun game to play.

[conantheking]

I love this game and theres nothing wrong with the copy protection. Never had an issue with it.

But your comment is silly as heck though. Your not going to play a cd cause it feels cheap, well I'll be damned, the cd is in the drive, what are you going to use your laser eyes to read it?? lmao. Who gives a shi* about the CD, my Bioshock cd has been in my PC since I got the game, I don't even remember what it looks like. The Bioshock holographic box looks better than the CD. I don't take the CD out the drive and stick my tongue down that circle hole every 30 minutes.

I pay for good games, not some artwork on a cd. Presentation is the manuals, the booklets, the packaging. The CD will be in the drive, it doesn't matter. You act like you just saw a CD for the first time or something.

If you disagree and want to debate my opinion, fair enough but learn some respect.

[theboss5950]

Personally Ive used Direct2drive a few times and I love it. What can I say? hmm, but whatever though.

[tkatot]

I Bought this game... althou i downloaded over 50+ other games in the past.
I Bought it cause i really wanted to give the company back something for developing this awesome game. im not sorry for that. not at all, and i had problems, for six days i couldn't get the game running, had loads of problems.
But then i got to play it... it's great... the game itself is great. the protection, not so much.
so im going to download it and burn it for future use... i paid my money for this game... might aswell get it without all the extra crap...

[Tamalero]

Actually SynMan what I learned is if you use the registry edits to remove SecuROM manually after the install it works.

Bioshock "legal" with no crack doesn't work after manually removing the Securom entries in the registry.

Removing SecuROM manually from registry after "install" of legal version, then using the crack file, Bioshock works flawlessly.

Odd but true.

does bioshock steam version REQUIRES you to use securom? or you can remove it and make the game run normally?

[Carnifx]

Yeah but isn't there meant to be a patch coming out for the PC version which gets rid of the limited installs?

Lol.. NO, absolutely not. You need to read more carefully.

[conantheking]

Lol.. NO, absolutely not. You need to read more carefully.

Wouldn't this be it?

Also, we have in the works a revoke tool which you will be able to run on your machine if you want to free up that key and move it to to another computer (this works very much like Steam or iTunes system).

[AJ Rimmer]

Lol.. NO, absolutely not. You need to read more carefully.

ohhh i dont know about that....look how quiet the place got after the crack was announced.
[here of all places btw,freaky huh? ]

those in power must surely have seen that now the "vocal minority" are all playing it,they may as well release the rest of the customers from the activation fracas.

[oritxupolite]

Patetic . I have a steam version, with rookit , no DVD , no manual for 45 euros , and the crack is out and the pirate version not has the pure crap Securom made Kevin Levin/ irrational /2k .

[empreality]

I can confirm this, working really well and free of SecurROM, but I still appreciate all the work that was put in to the game. Music really well done, the story is very moving and feels really like a real adventure.

Rapture, wow it almost feels like a whole different living world. Great job!

Interesting intro to the game, literally throws you into the story, and my does everything look really nice!

Though I have yet to go further into the game then where I left of during the demo, the game still feels really smooth and running on my a bit above minimum required hardware. I also may add, that it might be that new modded nvidia drive: "XTreme-G 163.44 XP 32bit" which is really well done, and with great coding and what not, http://tweakforce.com/ if your interested.

Anyways, kind of disappointed with all the commotion that the PC users have been faced with from launch. But hey, at least we(all of the sides) can now enjoy the game you made with or without securom...

[empreality]

Also just noticed, I don't really have a reason to go to this forum any more...Which was waiting for the demo, then the game...Now it's like...Meh, see you during the delay of Bioshock 2 Demo I guess..lol

[wildquinine]

I love this game and theres nothing wrong with the copy protection. Never had an issue with it. <snip> You act like you just saw a CD for the first time or something.

Maximum LOL. This is the best post I've read since I got on here. I don't think it could possibly have been said better.

[nathanlawliet]

If there was one game I would use an activation crack on it, it'd be Bioshock.

1. SecuRom
2. Limited installs
3. No MP functionality. And in my opinion, MP is the only reason you SHOULD activate something.

Next time I'll read up before I get something from 2K. But still, Bioshock is a great game.

[UNATCOII]

Next time I'll read up before I get something from 2K.

Read the forums before buying any new game. Because devs are inserting all sorts of BS in new releases. Be it ads to now limiting activations (without telling customers on the OUTSIDE of the box).

[wildquinine]

If you disagree and want to debate my opinion, fair enough but learn some respect.

Dude, I'm sorry but if a slamdown is funny enough the usual rules just stop applying. I was actually choking with laughter at his post.