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[TA]

Their system might also require that you be installing a new game in order to create an account.

Oh, and by their TOS, having multiple accounts is grounds to ban them all.

[Thad]

EA doing damage control, says the mod who posted that is wrong.

[TA]

So, just like with Mass Effect and Spore.  They announce something atrocious, and appear to concede to something that's better while not actually changing what's the problem.

They're still saying they can revoke your ability to play your legally-purchased, single-player, offline game for any reason they feel like at any time, just that it won't automatically happen if they decide to ban you from the forums.

[Thad]

GP: Two new class actions against EA over SecuROM.  One focuses on its stealth installation with the Creature Creator, the other corroborates the stories of it fucking up file access.

The chickens are coming home to roost.

[TA]

Hm.

Any idea how you join a class-action?

[A²]

Have you purchased the products (Spore: Creature Creator, or The Sims 2: Bon Voyage) and been harmed by them?

[Brentai]

Yup!

[sei]

Fuck purchased.

EA's EULA for Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition makes utterly no mention of any Technical Protection Measures, DRM technology, or SecuROM whatsoever...

[Classic]

That explains a million fuktonnes of bullshit.

[A²]

Yup!

Show me on the Creature where the DRM touched you.

[sei]

Kind of moot when the entire thing is one giant penis.

[Thad]

So, okay, I've been reading up on Fallout 3, and near as I can tell:

1. It uses SecuROM.
2. It only uses SecuROM for a disc check.
3. It doesn't INSTALL SecuROM, it only runs it from the disc.
4. But it's still SecuROM and still does nasty things when it's running.
5. The Steam version doesn't have SecuROM.

I'm having trouble getting confirmation on anything beyond the first two, but that's my understanding from a Google search.  If anyone knows more than I do, feel free to correct me.  (And if this has been discussed in the Fallout 3 thread, well, my bad; I haven't been reading it since I haven't played the game.)

So, I don't have $50 to blow on the thing anyway, but if I did, it'd come down to a choice between getting the Steam version and getting the boxed copy and installing a no-disc crack.  The no-disc crack is less onerous from a user perspective because if, say, the cable goes out, I can still play my game, but if I go the Steam route, I'm not paying for something with SecuROM, even a comparatively inoffensive version of it.

[patito]

I'm sure the game requires a disc check at least once or something, but I'm able to run the game with no fallout 3 disc on the tray as long as I run the executable on the folder it's installed on, instead of from the disc. So it doesn't even require a no-CD crack.

I suggest getting confirmation of this from other people as well.

[François]

This short forum thread is the only piece of official information on the subject I can find. According to another thread I can't seem to dig up anymore, the SecuROM disk check is part of the launcher app, and it's so basic that you can play without the disk by running the game exe directly. I can't vouch for this however, as I have the Steam version. (On the plus side I can't find any trace of SecuROM on my system, and not for lack of trying.)

if, say, the cable goes out, I can still play my game

I'm not sure if that's what you're worried about, but Steam can run in offline mode, and every game works fine (though you can't play online in that case, obviously).

You can log in to Microsoft's Live service through Fallout 3, and if you save your game while doing so you can apparently only access these saves while logged in. That is pretty terrible, but you don't have to bother with that crap at all. I sure don't.

[PhoenixUltima]

Actually, the save thing is just that the game uses different save paths for different LIVE profiles, including one for when you're not logged in at all. So if you make saves while logged in, then come to the game later without the ability to log in, the game looks in the default path instead of the path your profile uses. You can get around this by just copying the files from your profile's save folder to the base one. Dunno what exactly that path is, and it differs between Vista and XP.

[Saturn]

I didn't have a problem at all loading while live was down for the new xbox update.

it just logged in as usual but with a "NOT CONNECTED TO LIVE" notice.

[Royal☭]

I'm sure the game requires a disc check at least once or something, but I'm able to run the game with no fallout 3 disc on the tray as long as I run the executable on the folder it's installed on, instead of from the disc. So it doesn't even require a no-CD crack.

I suggest getting confirmation of this from other people as well.

Confirmed.  You do have to go into the folder directory to do it, so I'd suggest making a shortcut to it.

[MadMAxJr]

So..  I can actually install this game on two different computers, and it will actually run on both of them at the same time?

I'm trying to think of the last time I bought a retail game that let me do that.

I think I need to infect my father with Fallout 3.

[Bongo Bill]

Just make sure you're not logged into Live or what-the-fuck-ever on both of them.

[Thad]

I'm sure the game requires a disc check at least once or something, but I'm able to run the game with no fallout 3 disc on the tray as long as I run the executable on the folder it's installed on, instead of from the disc. So it doesn't even require a no-CD crack.

I suggest getting confirmation of this from other people as well.

Confirmed.  You do have to go into the folder directory to do it, so I'd suggest making a shortcut to it.

...I know what "run the executable on the folder it's installed on" means.