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More and more games seem to be shipped with CD keys. While at first only a few games (for example Half Life) had them, now most games seem to use them - single AND multi player. In general, CD keys can be a good thing. It stops people from just cracking a game - when online you need a unique CD key to be able to play. But there's a darker side to CD keys - a side that many of you probably already came in contact with. Let me explain.
These days you have a few kinds of protection - CD based protection and CD keys are the most used. But, say, 10 years ago, before the CD-rom drive graced out PCs, games were shipped on 3.5" disks. There was no internet so CD keys were useless and it's almost impossible to put disk based protection on the disks themselves (expecially as disks never lasted that long and many people made bakups).
So, to prevent people from copying games, they create 'copy protections sheets/wheels/etc'. Everytime you started the game, you had to take the manual or wheel or whatever they managed to come up with and try and find the right answer to a question. This was cursed by many as some people really made it hard. Take Sierra and King's Quest VI where you had to solve a riddle which was based on the manual. Took me yonks to figure out the solution and for obvious reasons walkthroughs were not allowed to contain the answer as it was part of the copy protection.
Ahh yes. I remember when there were paper based software protection methods. I remember the spin wheel for Zool on the Amiga, problem with that is you could photocopy it. So then Worms came out and to get around the photocopying problem they printed shiny black writing onto matt black background, problem was it was difficult to find the code you needed.
One word: the dog's danglies.
So when copy protection became a simple CD check, I was happy. Until companies realised that cracks were very easy to make. So to make it harder, they added CD keys. It wasn't so hard to create key generators but generated keys only work offline. And this is where we come to the dark part. So far I encountered numerous problems with CD keys:
- losing them being the most obvious one. Even if I write them down somewhere I still manage to lose them. Some are on the cases, some are on the manuals. Some are even on a seperate sheet.
- second hand games: when buying second hand games it often happens that the CD key is useless. Take Diablo II - once someone registers the CD key you can't use it anymore unless you know the exact name of the person that registered it. OR the CD key is missing, or still in use by the owner that sold it (Half Life springs to mind).
- stolen CD keys: sometimes it happens that your CD key got stolen. This can have happened in the store where the DVD cases are usually left on the shelves. A simple piece of paper and a pen allows you to copy legitamite keys from those games. OR you're unlucky and someone has created your CD key with a key generator. I heard several people complaining about this. The key that is used twice is often banned from all channels, making it useless.
- when you own the game more than once: I have 5 Half Life CD keys. I got one from a friend who never plays HL online, 2 from the HL generations pack, one from the original that I bought back in 1998 and one that I got from someone on the internet. My brother uses one but when I reinstall HL I'm not always sure what CD key my brother is using. Same with Diablo II - I often use the wrong one making that CD key invalid for a few days.
So you see, CD keys have their fair share of problems. While a copy protection sheet used to be annoying too, at least it didn't have the problems CD keys have. And is this REALLY the best solution? Getting hold of a valid CD key isn't that hard but it always hurts someone else unlike a copy protection sheet. Or should the CD key be imprinted on the CD itself? People wouldn't be able to copy it and unless you lose the CD you never lose the cd key.
Now that CD keys are becoming common, I am looking after my manuals more. CD keys seem the best solution unless we can get rid of all piracy. It's silly that you need a CD key to play offline too even though it's purpose is only for online play. In many cases where I couldn't find my CD key, I just went online and used a key generator, hoping that the urge to play online wouldn't come over me. An embedded CD key would solve this like I said, but the biggest problem would be that each CD would have to be pressed with a different image, which could cause problems.
Printing the CD key on the CD would be of benefit to the user, but it doesn't solve the problem of the massive piracy problem. And it is massive, - underestimated by almost everyone - I think if every game on everyones hard drive had been paid for legitimately then the computer games industry's balance sheet would be several million pounds up. Seriously. Only one CD of its kind would be accepted - same with cd keys except you can't lose them this way. People often make the wrong deduction that everyone who owns pirated games can pay for them. My guess is that about 20% of all pirated games is in hands of people who can afford to buy the real thing and I think that's pretty generous.
I know that many people who get pirated games cannot afford the genuine article. If I can't afford a game, thats my problem. I either wait til its out on budget or save up enough money to purchase it. If I can't afford a chocolate bar, I don't walk into the shop and pick it up and walk out having not paid for it, because not only is it wrong, it's also illegal. And yet people who pirate games do this, but because they are sitting comfortably at their computer they don't equate it with the stealing that it is. I just have a problem with people who pirate games, don't they see they are really shooting themselves in the foot?
If everyone took the mentality that copying games was fine, then the revenue wouldn't be there for the developer and as a result, we, the game playing public suffer from poorer games. So, anyway, I don't know - putting the CD key on CD could be the solution, I was probably just confusing myself in saying it wouldn't solve the problem. But if you copy the CD and tell everyone your CD key will the game not still run? I suppose its different with online games because your key is checked with a central server before allowing play.
On the pessimistic side:
Nothing will stop piracy and cracking! But it will slow it down at least - which is what CD keys do. take Neverwinter Nights - without a CD key it's not much use except to play on cracked servers. Take MMORPG - useless unless you pay a monthly fee. It's all about making it harder to play with an illegal copy. Any type of security a man will create, another man will always be there to crack it. Mankind is always that way all over history in any place. Some people make things and others try to steal it. Companies make a CD key to protect their software or try to develop new ways, but why? It is because they dont want to loose money - well too much work in security may lead to money loss, normal security can't prevent people from cracking and copying the games.
Ryu.
These days you have a few kinds of protection - CD based protection and CD keys are the most used. But, say, 10 years ago, before the CD-rom drive graced out PCs, games were shipped on 3.5" disks. There was no internet so CD keys were useless and it's almost impossible to put disk based protection on the disks themselves (expecially as disks never lasted that long and many people made bakups).
So, to prevent people from copying games, they create 'copy protections sheets/wheels/etc'. Everytime you started the game, you had to take the manual or wheel or whatever they managed to come up with and try and find the right answer to a question. This was cursed by many as some people really made it hard. Take Sierra and King's Quest VI where you had to solve a riddle which was based on the manual. Took me yonks to figure out the solution and for obvious reasons walkthroughs were not allowed to contain the answer as it was part of the copy protection.
Ahh yes. I remember when there were paper based software protection methods. I remember the spin wheel for Zool on the Amiga, problem with that is you could photocopy it. So then Worms came out and to get around the photocopying problem they printed shiny black writing onto matt black background, problem was it was difficult to find the code you needed.
One word: the dog's danglies.
So when copy protection became a simple CD check, I was happy. Until companies realised that cracks were very easy to make. So to make it harder, they added CD keys. It wasn't so hard to create key generators but generated keys only work offline. And this is where we come to the dark part. So far I encountered numerous problems with CD keys:
- losing them being the most obvious one. Even if I write them down somewhere I still manage to lose them. Some are on the cases, some are on the manuals. Some are even on a seperate sheet.
- second hand games: when buying second hand games it often happens that the CD key is useless. Take Diablo II - once someone registers the CD key you can't use it anymore unless you know the exact name of the person that registered it. OR the CD key is missing, or still in use by the owner that sold it (Half Life springs to mind).
- stolen CD keys: sometimes it happens that your CD key got stolen. This can have happened in the store where the DVD cases are usually left on the shelves. A simple piece of paper and a pen allows you to copy legitamite keys from those games. OR you're unlucky and someone has created your CD key with a key generator. I heard several people complaining about this. The key that is used twice is often banned from all channels, making it useless.
- when you own the game more than once: I have 5 Half Life CD keys. I got one from a friend who never plays HL online, 2 from the HL generations pack, one from the original that I bought back in 1998 and one that I got from someone on the internet. My brother uses one but when I reinstall HL I'm not always sure what CD key my brother is using. Same with Diablo II - I often use the wrong one making that CD key invalid for a few days.
So you see, CD keys have their fair share of problems. While a copy protection sheet used to be annoying too, at least it didn't have the problems CD keys have. And is this REALLY the best solution? Getting hold of a valid CD key isn't that hard but it always hurts someone else unlike a copy protection sheet. Or should the CD key be imprinted on the CD itself? People wouldn't be able to copy it and unless you lose the CD you never lose the cd key.
Now that CD keys are becoming common, I am looking after my manuals more. CD keys seem the best solution unless we can get rid of all piracy. It's silly that you need a CD key to play offline too even though it's purpose is only for online play. In many cases where I couldn't find my CD key, I just went online and used a key generator, hoping that the urge to play online wouldn't come over me. An embedded CD key would solve this like I said, but the biggest problem would be that each CD would have to be pressed with a different image, which could cause problems.
Printing the CD key on the CD would be of benefit to the user, but it doesn't solve the problem of the massive piracy problem. And it is massive, - underestimated by almost everyone - I think if every game on everyones hard drive had been paid for legitimately then the computer games industry's balance sheet would be several million pounds up. Seriously. Only one CD of its kind would be accepted - same with cd keys except you can't lose them this way. People often make the wrong deduction that everyone who owns pirated games can pay for them. My guess is that about 20% of all pirated games is in hands of people who can afford to buy the real thing and I think that's pretty generous.
I know that many people who get pirated games cannot afford the genuine article. If I can't afford a game, thats my problem. I either wait til its out on budget or save up enough money to purchase it. If I can't afford a chocolate bar, I don't walk into the shop and pick it up and walk out having not paid for it, because not only is it wrong, it's also illegal. And yet people who pirate games do this, but because they are sitting comfortably at their computer they don't equate it with the stealing that it is. I just have a problem with people who pirate games, don't they see they are really shooting themselves in the foot?
If everyone took the mentality that copying games was fine, then the revenue wouldn't be there for the developer and as a result, we, the game playing public suffer from poorer games. So, anyway, I don't know - putting the CD key on CD could be the solution, I was probably just confusing myself in saying it wouldn't solve the problem. But if you copy the CD and tell everyone your CD key will the game not still run? I suppose its different with online games because your key is checked with a central server before allowing play.
On the pessimistic side:
Nothing will stop piracy and cracking! But it will slow it down at least - which is what CD keys do. take Neverwinter Nights - without a CD key it's not much use except to play on cracked servers. Take MMORPG - useless unless you pay a monthly fee. It's all about making it harder to play with an illegal copy. Any type of security a man will create, another man will always be there to crack it. Mankind is always that way all over history in any place. Some people make things and others try to steal it. Companies make a CD key to protect their software or try to develop new ways, but why? It is because they dont want to loose money - well too much work in security may lead to money loss, normal security can't prevent people from cracking and copying the games.
Ryu.
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More and more games seem to be shipped with CD keys. While at first only a few games (for example Half Life) had them, now most games seem to use them - single AND multi player. In general, CD keys can be a good thing. It stops people from just cracking a game - when online you need a unique CD key to be able to play. But there's a darker side to CD keys - a side that many of you probably already came in contact with. Let me explain.
These days you have a few kinds of protection - CD based protection and CD keys are the most used. But, say, 10 years ago, before the CD-rom drive graced out PCs, games were shipped on 3.5" disks. There was no internet so CD keys were useless and it's almost impossible to put disk based protection on the disks themselves (expecially as disks never lasted that long and many people made bakups).
So, to prevent people from copying games, they create 'copy protections sheets/wheels/etc'. Everytime you started the game, you had to take the manual or wheel or whatever they managed to come up with and try and find the right answer to a question. This was cursed by many as some people really made it hard. Take Sierra and King's Quest VI where you had to solve a riddle which was based on the manual. Took me yonks to figure out the solution and for obvious reasons walkthroughs were not allowed to contain the answer as it was part of the copy protection.
Ahh yes. I remember when there were paper based software protection methods. I remember the spin wheel for Zool on the Amiga, problem with that is you could photocopy it. So then Worms came out and to get around the photocopying problem they printed shiny black writing onto matt black background, problem was it was difficult to find the code you needed.
One word: the dog's danglies.
So when copy protection became a simple CD check, I was happy. Until companies realised that cracks were very easy to make. So to make it harder, they added CD keys. It wasn't so hard to create key generators but generated keys only work offline. And this is where we come to the dark part. So far I encountered numerous problems with CD keys:
- losing them being the most obvious one. Even if I write them down somewhere I still manage to lose them. Some are on the cases, some are on the manuals. Some are even on a seperate sheet.
- second hand games: when buying second hand games it often happens that the CD key is useless. Take Diablo II - once someone registers the CD key you can't use it anymore unless you know the exact name of the person that registered it. OR the CD key is missing, or still in use by the owner that sold it (Half Life springs to mind).
- stolen CD keys: sometimes it happens that your CD key got stolen. This can have happened in the store where the DVD cases are usually left on the shelves. A simple piece of paper and a pen allows you to copy legitamite keys from those games. OR you're unlucky and someone has created your CD key with a key generator. I heard several people complaining about this. The key that is used twice is often banned from all channels, making it useless.
- when you own the game more than once: I have 5 Half Life CD keys. I got one from a friend who never plays HL online, 2 from the HL generations pack, one from the original that I bought back in 1998 and one that I got from someone on the internet. My brother uses one but when I reinstall HL I'm not always sure what CD key my brother is using. Same with Diablo II - I often use the wrong one making that CD key invalid for a few days.
So you see, CD keys have their fair share of problems. While a copy protection sheet used to be annoying too, at least it didn't have the problems CD keys have. And is this REALLY the best solution? Getting hold of a valid CD key isn't that hard but it always hurts someone else unlike a copy protection sheet. Or should the CD key be imprinted on the CD itself? People wouldn't be able to copy it and unless you lose the CD you never lose the cd key.
Now that CD keys are becoming common, I am looking after my manuals more. CD keys seem the best solution unless we can get rid of all piracy. It's silly that you need a CD key to play offline too even though it's purpose is only for online play. In many cases where I couldn't find my CD key, I just went online and used a key generator, hoping that the urge to play online wouldn't come over me. An embedded CD key would solve this like I said, but the biggest problem would be that each CD would have to be pressed with a different image, which could cause problems.
Printing the CD key on the CD would be of benefit to the user, but it doesn't solve the problem of the massive piracy problem. And it is massive, - underestimated by almost everyone - I think if every game on everyones hard drive had been paid for legitimately then the computer games industry's balance sheet would be several million pounds up. Seriously. Only one CD of its kind would be accepted - same with cd keys except you can't lose them this way. People often make the wrong deduction that everyone who owns pirated games can pay for them. My guess is that about 20% of all pirated games is in hands of people who can afford to buy the real thing and I think that's pretty generous.
I know that many people who get pirated games cannot afford the genuine article. If I can't afford a game, thats my problem. I either wait til its out on budget or save up enough money to purchase it. If I can't afford a chocolate bar, I don't walk into the shop and pick it up and walk out having not paid for it, because not only is it wrong, it's also illegal. And yet people who pirate games do this, but because they are sitting comfortably at their computer they don't equate it with the stealing that it is. I just have a problem with people who pirate games, don't they see they are really shooting themselves in the foot?
If everyone took the mentality that copying games was fine, then the revenue wouldn't be there for the developer and as a result, we, the game playing public suffer from poorer games. So, anyway, I don't know - putting the CD key on CD could be the solution, I was probably just confusing myself in saying it wouldn't solve the problem. But if you copy the CD and tell everyone your CD key will the game not still run? I suppose its different with online games because your key is checked with a central server before allowing play.
On the pessimistic side:
Nothing will stop piracy and cracking! But it will slow it down at least - which is what CD keys do. take Neverwinter Nights - without a CD key it's not much use except to play on cracked servers. Take MMORPG - useless unless you pay a monthly fee. It's all about making it harder to play with an illegal copy. Any type of security a man will create, another man will always be there to crack it. Mankind is always that way all over history in any place. Some people make things and others try to steal it. Companies make a CD key to protect their software or try to develop new ways, but why? It is because they dont want to loose money - well too much work in security may lead to money loss, normal security can't prevent people from cracking and copying the games.
Ryu.
These days you have a few kinds of protection - CD based protection and CD keys are the most used. But, say, 10 years ago, before the CD-rom drive graced out PCs, games were shipped on 3.5" disks. There was no internet so CD keys were useless and it's almost impossible to put disk based protection on the disks themselves (expecially as disks never lasted that long and many people made bakups).
So, to prevent people from copying games, they create 'copy protections sheets/wheels/etc'. Everytime you started the game, you had to take the manual or wheel or whatever they managed to come up with and try and find the right answer to a question. This was cursed by many as some people really made it hard. Take Sierra and King's Quest VI where you had to solve a riddle which was based on the manual. Took me yonks to figure out the solution and for obvious reasons walkthroughs were not allowed to contain the answer as it was part of the copy protection.
Ahh yes. I remember when there were paper based software protection methods. I remember the spin wheel for Zool on the Amiga, problem with that is you could photocopy it. So then Worms came out and to get around the photocopying problem they printed shiny black writing onto matt black background, problem was it was difficult to find the code you needed.
One word: the dog's danglies.
So when copy protection became a simple CD check, I was happy. Until companies realised that cracks were very easy to make. So to make it harder, they added CD keys. It wasn't so hard to create key generators but generated keys only work offline. And this is where we come to the dark part. So far I encountered numerous problems with CD keys:
- losing them being the most obvious one. Even if I write them down somewhere I still manage to lose them. Some are on the cases, some are on the manuals. Some are even on a seperate sheet.
- second hand games: when buying second hand games it often happens that the CD key is useless. Take Diablo II - once someone registers the CD key you can't use it anymore unless you know the exact name of the person that registered it. OR the CD key is missing, or still in use by the owner that sold it (Half Life springs to mind).
- stolen CD keys: sometimes it happens that your CD key got stolen. This can have happened in the store where the DVD cases are usually left on the shelves. A simple piece of paper and a pen allows you to copy legitamite keys from those games. OR you're unlucky and someone has created your CD key with a key generator. I heard several people complaining about this. The key that is used twice is often banned from all channels, making it useless.
- when you own the game more than once: I have 5 Half Life CD keys. I got one from a friend who never plays HL online, 2 from the HL generations pack, one from the original that I bought back in 1998 and one that I got from someone on the internet. My brother uses one but when I reinstall HL I'm not always sure what CD key my brother is using. Same with Diablo II - I often use the wrong one making that CD key invalid for a few days.
So you see, CD keys have their fair share of problems. While a copy protection sheet used to be annoying too, at least it didn't have the problems CD keys have. And is this REALLY the best solution? Getting hold of a valid CD key isn't that hard but it always hurts someone else unlike a copy protection sheet. Or should the CD key be imprinted on the CD itself? People wouldn't be able to copy it and unless you lose the CD you never lose the cd key.
Now that CD keys are becoming common, I am looking after my manuals more. CD keys seem the best solution unless we can get rid of all piracy. It's silly that you need a CD key to play offline too even though it's purpose is only for online play. In many cases where I couldn't find my CD key, I just went online and used a key generator, hoping that the urge to play online wouldn't come over me. An embedded CD key would solve this like I said, but the biggest problem would be that each CD would have to be pressed with a different image, which could cause problems.
Printing the CD key on the CD would be of benefit to the user, but it doesn't solve the problem of the massive piracy problem. And it is massive, - underestimated by almost everyone - I think if every game on everyones hard drive had been paid for legitimately then the computer games industry's balance sheet would be several million pounds up. Seriously. Only one CD of its kind would be accepted - same with cd keys except you can't lose them this way. People often make the wrong deduction that everyone who owns pirated games can pay for them. My guess is that about 20% of all pirated games is in hands of people who can afford to buy the real thing and I think that's pretty generous.
I know that many people who get pirated games cannot afford the genuine article. If I can't afford a game, thats my problem. I either wait til its out on budget or save up enough money to purchase it. If I can't afford a chocolate bar, I don't walk into the shop and pick it up and walk out having not paid for it, because not only is it wrong, it's also illegal. And yet people who pirate games do this, but because they are sitting comfortably at their computer they don't equate it with the stealing that it is. I just have a problem with people who pirate games, don't they see they are really shooting themselves in the foot?
If everyone took the mentality that copying games was fine, then the revenue wouldn't be there for the developer and as a result, we, the game playing public suffer from poorer games. So, anyway, I don't know - putting the CD key on CD could be the solution, I was probably just confusing myself in saying it wouldn't solve the problem. But if you copy the CD and tell everyone your CD key will the game not still run? I suppose its different with online games because your key is checked with a central server before allowing play.
On the pessimistic side:
Nothing will stop piracy and cracking! But it will slow it down at least - which is what CD keys do. take Neverwinter Nights - without a CD key it's not much use except to play on cracked servers. Take MMORPG - useless unless you pay a monthly fee. It's all about making it harder to play with an illegal copy. Any type of security a man will create, another man will always be there to crack it. Mankind is always that way all over history in any place. Some people make things and others try to steal it. Companies make a CD key to protect their software or try to develop new ways, but why? It is because they dont want to loose money - well too much work in security may lead to money loss, normal security can't prevent people from cracking and copying the games.
Ryu.