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blizzard · Oct 24, 2005, 06:13 PM

Yes, I know CDs are annoying. I know they drain battery life, I know they wear out the CD drive, and I know they make baby Jesus cry.

Yes, I know there exist methods of circumventing this arguably irritating and ultimately ineffective form of anti-piracy protection.

Yes, I know I'm pandering to the whims of 'The Man' in not allowing discussion on this topic on a corporate website where the owners could potentially get in trouble for content that appears on their server.

But darnit, it just makes my life so much easier by blanket banning no-cd crack threads, because there really isn't any other fair way of dealing with the issue. And, well, frankly I'm a little lazy, and clicking the 'lock' button so many times is making me grumpy. So I thank you for your cooperation in my newest sticky crusade, the pursuit of a No-CD crackless MacNN Games forum. If you have serious moral or ethical concerns about my stance, I welcome emails and discussion on the topic, preferably in the Lounge. But hey, I like living on the edge, so I'll leave this thread open for comments unless things get out of hand.

Thanks in advance!

bad_quote · Oct 24, 2005, 07:17 PM

Wow. Way to be afraid of the RIAA and stuff. Jesus you'r eacting straight edge.

Chuckit · Oct 24, 2005, 11:01 PM

The RIAA makes video games?

bad_quote · Oct 24, 2005, 11:39 PM

Same difference. They're all the man.

reader50 · Oct 25, 2005, 12:22 AM

I find the CD checks the most annoying for games that are no longer sold or supported. If that CD gets damaged, good luck getting a new one. One wonders what commercial value is protected by the check when the game is no longer sold.

Kudos to Epic for playing fair with their customers. Both UT99 and UT2004 had the check removed after a decent time. In both cases, the check was removed while the games were still sold.

Brad Oliver · Nov 2, 2005, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by reader50

I find the CD checks the most annoying for games that are no longer sold or supported. If that CD gets damaged, good luck getting a new one.

Have you ever had that problem with Aspyr? We have spindles and spindles of replacement CDs for pretty much all of our titles, stretching back to the start of time. If you have a broken or defective CD, you should have pretty good luck if you contact Aspyr support.

reader50 · Nov 3, 2005, 02:30 AM

I am very careful with all of my game CDs, so as to avoid the damaged-CD-key problem. This policy has been successful; I've yet to be bitten by that problem myself.

I was unaware that Aspyr kept replacement CDs to such an extent. Very nice, I'll remember that.

My post was intended to be more philosophical than personal, the check is a long-term annoyance that never goes away on most games. It would be nice if there were a 'last rites' update when a game stops being distributed, that removed the check. A reward of sorts for all of us who bought the game.

While I did have an older game in mind that still does the check after 5 years, it's not an Aspyr title. Also, a quick check revealed that it is still sold. Phooey, nothing like a few inconvenient facts to disrupt a complaint.

edddeduck · Nov 3, 2005, 08:16 AM

Originally Posted by reader50

I find the CD checks the most annoying for games that are no longer sold or supported. If that CD gets damaged, good luck getting a new one.

Just to add to Brad's comments we at Feral do the same thing and have replacement CD/DVD's for pretty much every game that we have ever released. You just need to drop a line to our support team and all should be right with the world again.

MaxPower · Nov 3, 2005, 11:16 AM

Thumbs up to Brad Oliver and edddeduck for taking the time to field questions and offer help on these forums. Its service like this that makes me want to support you guys

/can't stand cd-keys either but has worse things to get upset about

CaptainHaddock · Nov 3, 2005, 01:13 PM

A game I need to use a CD for every time is a game I won't buy. Insulting CD requirements just make other activities (and bootlegged games) more attractive.

JHromadka · Nov 8, 2005, 02:19 PM

I'd rather have product activation than CD checks.

Thain Esh Kelch · Nov 8, 2005, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by edddeduck

Just to add to Brad's comments we at Feral do the same thing and have replacement CD/DVD's for pretty much every game that we have ever released. You just need to drop a line to our support team and all should be right with the world again.

That might be easy for customers in the US...

Personally I hate CD-checks as hell... Especially with games that is years old, which noone copies anyway...

Footy · Nov 8, 2005, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by Brad Oliver

Have you ever had that problem with Aspyr? We have spindles and spindles of replacement CDs for pretty much all of our titles, stretching back to the start of time. If you have a broken or defective CD, you should have pretty good luck if you contact Aspyr support.

Hey Brad,

I've emailed to Aspyr about an issue with the Tiger Woods 2005 DVD. Seems both a buddy and myself are having the same issues with our TW05 disks and our new Power Mac Dual Core G5s. I really don't think DVD replacement is the answer though unless they do the "check" differently.

When the disk is in we'll get the message "Install the original disk" fairly often. Something like that anyway. I'll write it down next time is happens.

SuvsareRetarded · Nov 13, 2005, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by edddeduck

Just to add to Brad's comments we at Feral do the same thing and have replacement CD/DVD's for pretty much every game that we have ever released. You just need to drop a line to our support team and all should be right with the world again.

Really? Uh... I accidentally damaged my copy of Colin McRae rally 2005... could you send me a replacement disc please?

edddeduck · Nov 14, 2005, 05:28 AM

Originally Posted by SuvsareRetarded

Really? Uh... I accidentally damaged my copy of Colin McRae rally 2005... could you send me a replacement disc please?

As it is not available yet on the Mac yet, it's quite impressive you have a copy

Brad Oliver · Nov 14, 2005, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by Footy

When the disk is in we'll get the message "Install the original disk" fairly often. Something like that anyway. I'll write it down next time is happens.

Yes, the exact message would be helpful.

Footy · Nov 14, 2005, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by Brad Oliver

Yes, the exact message would be helpful.

Here ya go Brad, a screen shot.

Doesn't happen everytime the game is started but fairly often. Oddly it happens to a buddy that also has a new DC 2.0 G5 recently, so I'm not sure if it's somehow related to the new DVD/CD drives or something.

TW Error Message Pic

SuvsareRetarded · Nov 14, 2005, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by edddeduck

As it is not available yet on the Mac yet, it's quite impressive you have a copy

Uh...yeah... about that, that might be why it isn't working correctly. Please send me a new disc as soon as it goes gold.

Brad Oliver · Nov 14, 2005, 11:35 PM

Originally Posted by Footy

Here ya go Brad, a screen shot.[/URL]

Interesting. E-mail me at [email protected] and we'll talk about this further.

Footy · Nov 15, 2005, 12:05 AM

Thanks Brad... "you have mail"