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[Zzoram]

He isn't. I'll leave it up to him to explain the whole story but it's pretty much another nightmare steam story where an innocent gets their steam account closed and steam's piece of crap support is taking a really really long time to restore it.

that does sound kinda crappy

how bad is Steam support compared to other companies? I've never had to deal with them

 

[Jubs]

Man buying The witcher 2 is a no brainer.

Fixed.

 

[Hellsing321]

Wait is this article confirming that Dragon Age 2 is the first EA game to use Steamworks?

 

[Zzoram]

Wait is this article confirming that Dragon Age 2 is the first EA game to use Steamworks?

No. Games can be sold on Steam with no DRM other than Steam without using Steamworks. Steamworks includes achievements and cloud storage saves/settings.

 

[evlcookie]

Did your account ever get reactivated through the support route? I don't remember seeing any new posts by you in the Steam thread, but I could have missed it.

Nope. Still waiting for the bank to reverse the chargeback, could take up to 45 days. See how it goes lol.

It's more the fact that my 130 games, all legitimately purchased for are now being held from me due to a human error. That doesn't sit well with me at all, regardless of the human error.

If they were all retail purchases and not attached to a DD service then i would have all 130, while taking up space in my room, available to play regardless of human error. Unless the house burns down then i'm up shit creek there.

 

[soldat7]

What the fuck went wrong between DA1 and DA2? Seriously, someone should be able to explain it, because I loved DA1 so damn much but I can safely say I'll never be buying DA2. It seems like every simple decision that could be made was made incorrectly.

Suck. I'm currently playing the crap out of DA1 and loving it. I hope they didn't screw up DA2!

 

[Zzoram]

Nope. Still waiting for the bank to reverse the chargeback, could take up to 45 days. See how it goes lol.

It's more the fact that my 130 games, all legitimately purchased for are now being held from me due to a human error. That doesn't sit well with me at all, regardless of the human error.

If they were all retail purchases and not attached to a DD service then i would have all 130, while taking up space in my room, available to play regardless of human error. Unless the house burns down then i'm up shit creek there.

So during this time you can't even play in offline mode? I don't know much about chargebacks other than that stores hate them.

 

[Hellsing321]

No. Games can be sold on Steam with no DRM other than Steam without using Steamworks. Steamworks includes achievements and cloud storage saves/settings.

Ah my mistake.

 

[careful]

Patching out DRM is a good move. Most piracy is during the first month anyways, so if DRM had even the slightest anti-piracy effect (probably doesn't) that would no longer be an issue a few months later anyways.

Hmm not bad. Not that I would encourage the practice, but maybe it would be a decent anti-piracy measure to have the DRM server authentication code within the game code itself (no way for pirates to crack that unless they could somehow recompile the source?). The code would be enabled for the first month and then patched out later.
The problem is I wouldn't have faith in the publishers allowing the patch so early.

 

[Emitan]

Hmm not bad. Not that I would encourage the practice, but maybe it would be a decent anti-piracy measure to have the DRM server authentication code within the game code itself (no way for pirates to crack that unless they could somehow recompile the source?). The code would be enabled for the first month and then patched out later.
The problem is I wouldn't have faith in the publishers allowing the patch so early.

Or they would screw it up Ubisoft style and use a scene crack in a patch to fix the game.

 

[Zzoram]

Or they would screw it up Ubisoft style and use a scene crack in a patch to fix the game.

That was funny lol

 

[mrpeabody]

I do prefer Steam for many reasons, but honestly "phones home once in a while" is no skin off my back at all. My computer's connected to the internet 24/7, do what you gotta do. Just don't make me keep the disc in the drive, let me install it as many times as I want, and we'll be cool.

Saves and bindings in the cloud would be nice too, Bioware, if you're listening.

 

[Blizzard]

So during this time you can't even play in offline mode? I don't know much about chargebacks other than that stores hate them.

Nope, you can't log in at all (at least in the Steam client). I don't know if you can buy new games either, without making a new account. Steam presumably does it to protect themselves, but I don't think you get any sort of message at all, like "Dear consumer, your account is disabled due to a chargeback", or "Dear consumer, your account is disabled due to fraud detection on your credit card.", you just get "Hey, account is disabled" and maybe a popup saying to contact support.

I assume, evlcookie, that you have gotten a response from Steam support at least? They usually got back to me within a few days with a reply, even if the reply was not helpful. In your case I imagine the reply was "Wait until your bank reverses the chargeback" and that's what you're dealing with now. I'm sorry about your bank.

 

[Nirolak]

It seems that they decided to remove the login checks.

Below are the details of the final version of DRM that will be used with Dragon Age 2 for PC and Mac.

We appreciate your patience and feedback on this. DRM is always a topic of much debate, even internally. It requires a delicate balance between providing some level of IP protection while minimizing the inconvenience or intrusion to a player’s experience. These decisions are not made lightly - and a lot of time and effort was dedicated to ensuring that the system for DA2 is skewed to the player side of the experience. It is as follows:

Dragon Age 2 Physical & Digital PC/Mac DRM are as follows:

* No disc check, you do not need the disc in drive to play.

* No limit on the total number of PCs you can install the game on.

* There is a limit to the number of unique/different PCs that can play the game within a time window (if online) [5 PCs in 24hrs].

* After each new install there is a 1-time online check needed the next time you play, requiring a log in to your EA account to verify game ownership. If you are a member of these forums, you already have an EA account – just use the same email/password.

* You can play offline thereafter - the game will NOT require any subsequent login checks. If online, a game ownership check happens each time you play.

Steam versions use Steam DRM, no other DRM is added, which means:

* No disc check, it is used for digital game versions purchased from Steam only.

* No limit to the total number of PCs you can install the game on.

* There is a limit to the number of unique/different PCs that can play the game at any one time (if online) [1 PC].

* Each install requires logging into your Steam account to verify game ownership.

* You can play offline thereafter. If online, a game ownership check happens each time you play.

* Steam pre-loads use Steam release control – you will not be able to play until the release day/time has passed for that region.

Dragon Age 2 Release Control (non-Steam versions)

* Does not use securom.

* It does not install anything to the PC.

* Sole purpose is to check with a server to validate whether the game release date has passed or not.

* It completely removes itself after the game release date has passed.

* You will not be able to play until that date has passed.

* Dates & times are set to the retail street date per country.

Common questions:

Does this apply to consoles?

* No. This is applies to PC/Mac only.

What about Mac/Cider, does it use Securom?

* Dragon Age: Origins for Mac/Cider used Securom. Dragon Age 2 for Mac/Cider will NOT use Securom and instead it will use the same non-Steam system listed above.

A PC review mentions Securom, what gives?

* All EA preview & review game builds sent to press use Securom which is where the assumption came from. The Dragon Age 2 actual retail & download version of the game that you will play will not use Securom, it uses one of the systems above.

Source: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6194280&lf=8

 

[Malio]

Not sure if this has been posted in any of the other "We h8 DAII" threads, but just saw this on Ars Technica.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/...-hated-securom-despite-previous-ea-claims.ars

"* All EA preview & review game builds sent to press use Securom which is where the assumption came from. The Dragon Age 2 actual retail & download version of the game that you will play will not use Securom, it uses one of the systems above."

Oh, EA.

 

[Felix Lighter]

I'm not sure what's wrong with that. I'm not too concerned with the DRM used on the copies the press get prelaunch.