DRM limitations (merged with "why DRM sucks")

[RCanning]

The laptop I use to run games does not have enough power to run Acrobat 6. It runs a text editor fine, so I can do everything I need while gaming. It runs a web browser fine, so I can even look things up online. I just wont be able to open anything that has DRM because Acrobat 6 requires a more powerful machine.

Make the products so I can't use em, and I won't pay for em.

 

[Grazzt]

The laptop I use to run games does not have enough power to run Acrobat 6. It runs a text editor fine, so I can do everything I need while gaming. It runs a web browser fine, so I can even look things up online. I just wont be able to open anything that has DRM because Acrobat 6 requires a more powerful machine.

Acrobat READER 6 doesnt require that much power (and AR 6 is all that is required to view the files).

Here are the specs for using Acrobat Reader 6 (you use something less than this as your gaming machine???):

Intel® Pentium® processor

Microsoft® Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows NT® 4.0 with Service Pack 6, Windows 2000 with Service Pack 2, Windows XP Professional or Home Edition, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

32MB of RAM (64MB recommended)

60MB of available hard-disk space

Internet Explorer 5.01, 5.5, 6.0, or 6.1

 

[d20Dwarf]

Intel® Pentium® processor

This alone is a pretty big negative if it is truly a requirement. Are you telling me I can't game on a Celeron or Athlon chip? A lot of notebook computers, even high end ones, have non-Pentium chips in them these days, as these chips have in some cases caught up or even surpassed Pentium capabilities.

And I'm not trying to be pedantic....I'm trying to understand why you would want to technologically alienate a large % of your audience. From what I hear, some publishers are using this service to target people in remote areas that might not otherwise have access to games. People in remote areas are also less likely to be on the technological cutting edge, or have access to the most expensive notebook and desktop computers.

 

[coyote6]

He's not alone.

As I said in another thread, my laptop's never been online, and I have no intention of configuring it to use my dialup (or any other) connection (unless I suddenly get a WiFi card for it, which would require either ridiculously cheap WiFi or sudden wealth on my part). Therefore, I won't be activating DRM on it and thus won't be buying any DRM'd PDFs.

Damn, now I'm *really* kicking myself for missing Malhavoc's anniverssary sale a couple of weeks ago. I went and wish listed all the stuff I hadn't bought yet, but didn't have time to buy & download at the time; then I forgot, until the sale was over. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

 

[NeghVar]

Wil,

Adobe Reader and Acrobat 6 are not limited by CPU type...

Don't take this as me defending the DRM unpleasantries that are afoot.

This alone is a pretty big negative if it is truly a requirement. Are you telling me I can't game on a Celeron or Athlon chip? A lot of notebook computers, even high end ones, have non-Pentium chips in them these days, as these chips have in some cases caught up or even surpassed Pentium capabilities.

And I'm not trying to be pedantic....I'm trying to understand why you would want to technologically alienate a large % of your audience. From what I hear, some publishers are using this service to target people in remote areas that might not otherwise have access to games. People in remote areas are also less likely to be on the technological cutting edge, or have access to the most expensive notebook and desktop computers.

 

[wedgeski]

And I'm not trying to be pedantic....I'm trying to understand why you would want to technologically alienate a large % of your audience. From what I hear, some publishers are using this service to target people in remote areas that might not otherwise have access to games. People in remote areas are also less likely to be on the technological cutting edge, or have access to the most expensive notebook and desktop computers.

Pentium predates Celeron.

In any case, no, it just means you have to have a Pentium equivalent machine. These days, this is just about every PC on the planet that you don't run by connecting a bicycle to a flywheel coming out the back.

 

[Tsyr]

Count me also in the "My laptop is not, never has been, and at no forseeable time in the future ever will be, online" crowd.

To compound the issue, I run linux exclusivly on my laptop. It lets me squeeze a little bit more oomph out of the seriously outdated hardware on it.

 

[Grazzt]

This alone is a pretty big negative if it is truly a requirement. Are you telling me I can't game on a Celeron or Athlon chip? A lot of notebook computers, even high end ones, have non-Pentium chips in them these days, as these chips have in some cases caught up or even surpassed Pentium capabilities.

And I'm not trying to be pedantic....I'm trying to understand why you would want to technologically alienate a large % of your audience. From what I hear, some publishers are using this service to target people in remote areas that might not otherwise have access to games. People in remote areas are also less likely to be on the technological cutting edge, or have access to the most expensive notebook and desktop computers.

No- Acrobat Reader runs fine on Celerons and Athlons. It just means a "pentium-equivalent" processor. We have 400+ machines here at work all running celerons and each of those workstations run AR 6.0 without a problem. And all my machines at home are Athlons.

 

[Funksaw]

Someone over at RPG.net mentioned that they tried it out and that when you transfer it to another computer, it asks to repurchase it - not redownload it. This leads me to believe that Adobe's FAQ, and not DTRPG's FAQ, is the real one, and that Steve Weick is intentionally or unintentionally misrepresenting his product's capabilities.

Considering the time I've had with White Wolf in the past, I'm not likely to give them the benifit of the doubt. Even with WoD2 coming up, and even with my Exalted addiction, I view this type of DRM as not only a poor value but just plain immoral (I'm a card-carrying member of the EFF) and I'm boycotting Eden, GOO, and White Wolf in both PDF and Print until such time as they either fold DTRPG or remove the DRM from the products.

It won't be a long wait if the companies involved are shrewd businessmen - it looks like the site itself is as popular as Salmon Rushdie in Tehran.

 

[Cergorach]

Someone over at RPG.net mentioned that they tried it out and that when you transfer it to another computer, it asks to repurchase it - not redownload it. This leads me to believe that Adobe's FAQ, and not DTRPG's FAQ, is the real one, and that Steve Weick is intentionally or unintentionally misrepresenting his product's capabilities.

It works, it just seems like that some people don't have a clue what their doing. Shouting around multiple boards that DTRPG are lying bastards isn't helping the issue.

It works without having to repurchase the product, if you have any problems don't bitch about it on forums, e-mail DTRPG with your problems so that they can help you.