"Bethesda Is Tired Of Spending Money Supporting Software Pirates
Posted by Patrick Klepek on 10/13/08 at 3:00 pm.
Piracy remains one of the biggest issues facing PC gaming these days.
Last week, Fallout 3″product managerPete Hines told me that some development studios now calculate that up to half of their customer support calls involve dealing with people who have pirated copies of the game.
Thats bad.
Hines discussed the problem of piracy with MTV Multiplayer just days before, ironically, the Xbox 360 version of Fallout 3″ leaked. Piracy is still far more prevalent on the PC side, which has serious implications for studios like Bethesda Softworks, whose development bread-and-butter has been PCs.
It is probably the most [long pause] probably the most difficult issue specifically facing PC gaming right now, said somberly-toned Fallout 3″product manager Pete Hines to me after playing four hours of his new game a few weeks ago. How are we gonna walk that line?
With this kind of concern at Bethesda, youd never guess what kind of copy-protection theyre putting on Fallout 3
Since our talk, circumstances have changed. Fallout 3″ has leaked. But the problems remain the same. The biggest obstacle, explained Hines, is figuring out who actually is a pirate.
There will be no Spore-like digital rights management (DRM) in Fallout 3. There wasnt in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Bethesda has seen no reason to make sweeping changes to their approach with Fallout 3.
Hines is sympathetic to the complaints of legitimate gamers. Thats why there isnt anything particularly intrusive in Bethesdas PC products.
You know, I saw the Penny Arcade guys did a number of guest editorials from guys like [Kotaku's Brian] Crecente and [Gamasutra's] Chris Remo, said Hines. Its not easy. Being a consumer, I totally see it from the consumer side. You know, get out of my way and let me play the game, right? I paid you money for this, I deserve to play the game with no barriers to entry and no frustrations.
Attempting to treat their players as legitimate consumers as widely as possible has its drawbacks, however. It becomes difficult for Bethesda to determine who is and isnt someone who paid for their game. This becomes especially distressing for the studios customer support division.
The amount of times we see stuff coming through where its like, the resolution to the problem was [the] guy had a pirated copy of the game said a visibly frustrated Hines. The amount of money we spend supporting people who didnt pay us for the game in the first place its fing ludicrous. We talk to other developers, guys who are [like] Yeah, its a third, its 50% of our [customer] support.
But theres a careful line for all parties. If someone calls in for support and seems to be experiencing a problem isolated to an illegitimate copy of the game, its not in Bethesdas best interest to take a gamble and call them out.
That doesnt mean they wont call someone out, thought.
You have to try and resolve their problem, he explained. If, in the course of doing that, you can determine that theres something else going on there, then clearly you could call a spade a spade. But you gotta be really sure before you imply that because people, rightfully so, get really pissed.
Readers, can you see both sides to this complicated issue? As gamers yourselves, what recommendations do you have for Bethesdas next game? "
ja also ich kann es nicht mehr erwarten das fallout 3 rauskommt, ich möchte gern wissen welche features das spiel habe wird und wie die vorherigen teile von fallout waren, ich hab ja selber oblivion schon gezzogt und ich find es einfach genial. des einzige kack ist das es gepiratet wurde... naja kann man nichts machen...
in diesen thema reden wir einfach über fallout 3
viel spass
quelle: http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/10/13/bethesda-deals-with-pirates/
Posted by Patrick Klepek on 10/13/08 at 3:00 pm.
Last week, Fallout 3″product managerPete Hines told me that some development studios now calculate that up to half of their customer support calls involve dealing with people who have pirated copies of the game.
Thats bad.
Hines discussed the problem of piracy with MTV Multiplayer just days before, ironically, the Xbox 360 version of Fallout 3″ leaked. Piracy is still far more prevalent on the PC side, which has serious implications for studios like Bethesda Softworks, whose development bread-and-butter has been PCs.
It is probably the most [long pause] probably the most difficult issue specifically facing PC gaming right now, said somberly-toned Fallout 3″product manager Pete Hines to me after playing four hours of his new game a few weeks ago. How are we gonna walk that line?
With this kind of concern at Bethesda, youd never guess what kind of copy-protection theyre putting on Fallout 3
Since our talk, circumstances have changed. Fallout 3″ has leaked. But the problems remain the same. The biggest obstacle, explained Hines, is figuring out who actually is a pirate.
There will be no Spore-like digital rights management (DRM) in Fallout 3. There wasnt in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Bethesda has seen no reason to make sweeping changes to their approach with Fallout 3.
The amount of money we spend supporting people who didnt pay us for the game in the first place
its fing ludicrous
Its pretty mild, said Hines of the DRM. Much like Oblivion, we want there to be some level of protection there so people arent just randomly pirating games and passing it around, but were very sensitive to the end-user experience, particularly for the person who has bought a legitimate copy and not doing something that is too intrusive, invasive. You bought your game, you put it in your PC, you start playing it.
Hines is sympathetic to the complaints of legitimate gamers. Thats why there isnt anything particularly intrusive in Bethesdas PC products.
You know, I saw the Penny Arcade guys did a number of guest editorials from guys like [Kotaku's Brian] Crecente and [Gamasutra's] Chris Remo, said Hines. Its not easy. Being a consumer, I totally see it from the consumer side. You know, get out of my way and let me play the game, right? I paid you money for this, I deserve to play the game with no barriers to entry and no frustrations.
Attempting to treat their players as legitimate consumers as widely as possible has its drawbacks, however. It becomes difficult for Bethesda to determine who is and isnt someone who paid for their game. This becomes especially distressing for the studios customer support division.
The amount of times we see stuff coming through where its like, the resolution to the problem was [the] guy had a pirated copy of the game said a visibly frustrated Hines. The amount of money we spend supporting people who didnt pay us for the game in the first place its fing ludicrous. We talk to other developers, guys who are [like] Yeah, its a third, its 50% of our [customer] support.
But theres a careful line for all parties. If someone calls in for support and seems to be experiencing a problem isolated to an illegitimate copy of the game, its not in Bethesdas best interest to take a gamble and call them out.
The worst possible thing you can do
is put them in a position where youre making them feeling like they better prove they have a legitimate copy
The worst possible thing you can do when someone calls and theyre having a problem with the game is put them in a position where youre making them feeling like they better prove they have a legitimate copy, said Hines. Really bad response.
That doesnt mean they wont call someone out, thought.
You have to try and resolve their problem, he explained. If, in the course of doing that, you can determine that theres something else going on there, then clearly you could call a spade a spade. But you gotta be really sure before you imply that because people, rightfully so, get really pissed.
Readers, can you see both sides to this complicated issue? As gamers yourselves, what recommendations do you have for Bethesdas next game? "
ja also ich kann es nicht mehr erwarten das fallout 3 rauskommt, ich möchte gern wissen welche features das spiel habe wird und wie die vorherigen teile von fallout waren, ich hab ja selber oblivion schon gezzogt und ich find es einfach genial. des einzige kack ist das es gepiratet wurde... naja kann man nichts machen...
in diesen thema reden wir einfach über fallout 3
viel spass
quelle: http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/10/13/bethesda-deals-with-pirates/
