I dont trust them either and always disable them if possible if not unless the proggy is exceptional quit usin gthe software... But I dont know if this is the case with most gamers... just a thought

dwiel ~ tazzel3d

quote:Original post by MadKeithV
Modifying the program is illegal, even if you originally wrote that too. It would be like Ford walking into your garage and taking the wheels off your Ford Cougar, saying "we built it, so it''s ours."

Not even close. By your logic, releasing patches to your own software would be illegal. I wrote software product A (the app). I also wrote software product B (the crack) whose whole purpose is to modify product A. Whether or not product B works as intended is a different matter. The fact is that the user downloads and runs product B with the express intension of having it modify product A.

To use the car analogy, this would be like saying that if you bought a Cougar and took it back to the Ford dealership (though I''m not sure why you would, since its a Mercury ) and asked them to modify it (give it a tune up or something), they would have to say "sorry, were not allowed to modify that vehicle".



Ron Frazier
Kronos Software
www.kronos-software.com
Miko & Molly - Coming July 2002

quote:Original post by MadKeithV
Modifying the program is illegal, even if you originally wrote that too. It would be like Ford walking into your garage and taking the wheels off your Ford Cougar, saying "we built it, so it''s ours."

So by your logic a patch would also be illegal..?

quote:Damnit man, I just read the whole thread (in disqust I might add) and was just going to point the same thing out.

I ALWAYS use nocd-cracks when possible, not only because it's annoying to remove the disc currently in, find it's jewel case and put it in there and then go find the game CD and insert it everytime you feel like playing something, but also because I only have one CDROM-player and would sometimes rather have some good music in there rather than for no for gameplay related reason verify itself.

Releasing a program that willfully does something other than is said is called MAKING A TROJAN.

No, that's incorrect, by cracking the app/game you are violating their EULA, TOS or whatever, I am sure there is something in there about requiring the cd and not modifying the application etc. So here is my point, you as the developer negate your responsibility when they attempt to modify your code beyond what you have stated in your EULA, meaning you can't be held responsible for anything that may happen. It would probably not me a good idea to do anything destructive, but as far as someone using a crack/leaked key on my app I am not happy about that and if it cripples my app and stops them from using MY hard work then I i'll be happy!

Besides, most cracks/key gens have trojans and virii in them anyway! I think its a joke to say that running a crack to steal a program should be my problem, I feel its our responsibility to make it as hard as possible for them to crack our software~!



[edited by - Nicolas Bischoff on July 27, 2002 6:15:26 AM]

quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
Damnit man, I just read the whole thread (in disqust I might add) and was just going to point the same thing out.

I ALWAYS use nocd-cracks when possible, not only because it''s annoying to remove the disc currently in, find it''s jewel case and put it in there and then go find the game CD and insert it everytime you feel like playing something, but also because I only have one CDROM-player and would sometimes rather have some good music in there rather than for no for gameplay related reason verify itself.

Releasing a program that willfully does something other than is said is called MAKING A TROJAN.

wtf is wrong with you?
You find the cd, put it in and the game auto-starts (dont have to search for it on the start menu..)
Most games just check the cd, then start loading the game.
Use this idle time by swapping the game cd with your audio cd.

Game developers would have to be some of the most hard-working people there are. You owe it to them to follow their rules.

--redwyre

Just a thought;

You don''t actually have to be nasty to your customer, such as crash hdd/send registry to a central server (what are you going to do with it anyways ?).

All you have to do is make the patch make the program less usable; look at Spyro YOTD (Spyro III), which did this brilliantly. If you had a hacked version, it would run nicely for the first level (30 mins). Then it would tell you as an info-blurb (delivered using the in-game system) that it thought you had a hacked version, and that it might not work perfectly. By the third level (2+ hours into the game), it strategically removed some of the keys needed to get to the next level. It''s a gracefull failure, the customer is disappointed, but not upset (and if they played for 2 hours to get there, they may buy the original copy anyways), and it''s a lot harder to track down than an immidiate crash/msg box that appears straight from the crack.


Hackers may well decided to defecate on your website if you crash someone''s hdd, but if all you do is a gracefull non-functioning, they shouldn''t be that angry.

As far as I remember, the hacker even wrote a .NFO thanks to the "good programmers at sony" (much to the disgust of the dev studio that actually made the game) who gave him so much fun.

You can check out the article at Gamasutra..

Allan

Fe doeyr, Frender Doeyr,Ein sjoelv doeyr paa sama vis.
Eg veit et som aldri doeyr, dom over kvar ein doed.
Cattle die, Friends die, You yourself will also die.
I know something that never dies, the memory of every dead.