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Mass Effect SecuROM scheme revealed

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Kurbster

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From Bioware's forum:
SecuROM

SecuROM is the copy protection and security program included in Mass Effect PC.

Mass Effect PC uses SecuROM which requires an online activation for the first time you play Mass Effect PC after installation. After the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check with the server within ten days in order to revalidate the CD key. If it can't contact the server before the 10 days are up, the game still runs and it will re-check until it is successful. If the check is not successfully performed within the 10 day period, Mass Effect will not run until an online check is successful.

Each copy of Mass Effect comes with a CD Key which is used for the SecuROM activation and for registration here at the BioWare Community.
SecuROM does not require the Mass Effect DVD to be in the drive in order to play, it is only for installation.
Click to expand...
So from what I'm looking at here, the DVD will not be required to play. However, in order to bypass the (more than likely annoying) phoning-home of SecuROM every 10 days, you would use GameJackal's time-freeze option

Did I miss anything? :doh:
 
If the game does not require the DVD to play then why would you use GJ? Dont get me wrong I would love to use GJ to solve this issue but if the game does not check for a cd/dvd then quite frankly Securom has rendered GJ useless <_<...
 
you're missing the point... i dont think securom is globally changing to this, its just something the publisher decided to use... so gj is not 'dead' because of this.. the game just uses online activation checks instead of a disk check, so yes.. gamejackal is probably useless as it doesn't handle this, but its still effective for other titles...
 
I really hope that Securom does not change all products to this form of protection because if they do then thats the day I play console... :(
 
again, i think its up to the developers / publishers, not sony themselves.. i suspect this is just some option that was in securom for a while (look at bioshock with its online activation for example...) and the publishers just decided to use it for these games...
 
Every time such an "online activation" scheme is introduced, there is a huge amount of bitching and complainig from the community. While this odviously didn't stop 2K Games and Bioware, many other companies are hesistant to try such a scheme. This will NOT become the norm for SecuROM.

And while using Game Jackal for MEPC might seem useless for non-paranoid and broadband internet users, there will still be a use for Game Jackal. After 10 days, Mass Effect cannot run until the re-check is performed. People who don't like the phoning-home of SecuROM or the fact that their internet access is inconsistent can probably use Game Jackal to freeze the 10 day timer that SecuROM uses (provided that GJ developers maintain the time-freezing code).
 
erm the time freezing is for the profile creation.. if the game uses online activation only and no cd/dvd check then the time freezing isn't going to work is it.. considering the server you connect to KNOWS the right time... and somehow i can't see the gj developers handling that too easily...

even if the game uses the cd/dvd check + activation, gj will not handle the activation part (simply because it can't... the time freeze isn't applicable in this case...)...
 
the date check will be built right into the Mass Effect .EXE...and will only run on startup. No outside processes will be used (so they say, in some thread on the Bioware forums). If Game Jackal could trick SecuROM into thinking it was still on day 1, then the calling to the server will never happen. Of course you will still have to activate once you first install....

I thought that's what the time-freezing was for. If I remember, such feature was introduced in the first place because of something that SecuROM use to do differently on each calender day.

I appologize if I'm not picking something up important in your original posts....3 hours of sleep fries your brain :X
 
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would be interesting if that worked, but i doubt it will really depends on how the code is implimented... guess we'll have to wait and see eh :)

and yeh, i know how 3 hours sleep can fry your head... done it many times
 
Mass Effect was a game I was looking forward to. I have supported BioWare since Baldur's Gate was shipped. This game will I *not* purchase however – I will not agree to such a draconic protection by giving them (EA/BioWare) my money.

Oh - a lost sale, the irony!

:rolleyes:
 
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Well, I'd be interested in what information passes between the game and the SecuROM server that Bioware runs.

If I activate the game and somewhere on said server there is a record made of when the initial handshake took place connecting it with my registration key or account then it doesn't matter what my system clock says or if Game Jackal somehow froze the date on my system. The SecuROM server still knows the real date & time.

I won't claim to know how GJ does all its work but I don't know if removing the online check is something it can do by faking the time after activation or whatnot.

In theory, one might find out what the correct SecuROM server reply would be and then emulating it via other means while not actually letting the game contact the server.

I really haven't been much of a gamer in years so what I wrote above might be all wrong. I did pre-order this game to play on the new system I am building. I am definitely second-guessing and regretting having pre-ordered it and I may end up canceling my order. I still haven't made up my mind.
 
So does this game have single player? or is it online only?
1 major flaw in this plan is that some people still dont hvae the internet...very sad lonely people! but if they dont have the internet then they cant activate the game, if its online only then i dont see why people would want to "evade" the phoning-home of SecuROM as u might put it, if you own the game and play online and it doesnt need the disc inserted then there is no problem or even the need for GJ for this game, but there is thousands of other games out there that do! And im sure that u wont stop playing the older games for a very long time.

GJ users have nothing to worry about "this becoming the norm" as it would only benift the users coz the only real use of GJ is so that you dont have to use the Disc!

Its kinda like using Steam, you can buy Call of Duty 4 from that...and u dont need a disc for that, but on retail copies you do, In my opionion i think it is a very good idea, dont get me wrong i really like GJ, it has solved my problems of changing discs all the time but if the game companys made it so u dont need the disc and can still protect their profits then there is no real problem with it. My views are that if you got nothing to hide then theres no problem :D
 
mad_fr34k said:
So does this game have single player?
Click to expand...

It's a single player game only

or is it online only?
Click to expand...

And the DRM requires an internet connection that checks to ensure your cd key is okay every 10 days. Additionally, there's some sort of hardware activation limit of 3 installs.

The tradeoff is you don't need the disc in your drive in order to play.

By the way, they're saying Spore is going to use the exact same DRM.
 
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i love how they put more and more draconian copy protection in games. it only hurts the legit customers.

illegitimate cracked copies, with absolutely NO copy protection, are always available within a week, usually the same day it comes out.

pirates simply install from a cracked dvd image, copy the crack files to the install directory, and play. no copy protection, no crap. works especially well for single-player only games, as there is no online mode that is unavailable without a legit version.
 
you can't make sweeping statements like 'always within a week' especially considering its a 'new' part of the protection in use... we'll have to wait and see
 
evlncrn8 said:
you can't make sweeping statements like 'always within a week' especially considering its a 'new' part of the protection in use... we'll have to wait and see
Click to expand...

to the best of my knowledge it has always been within a week, usually much sooner.

Half Life 2 had a hard copy protection system, somewhat similar to this one, where steam was required to run the game, and would continually phone home at various times to check the cd key. it was cracked and available on 'certain sites' within a couple days (though the crack was apparently not perfect and needed manual input from the user occasionally to work).

Bioshock is also a game that had a ton of controversy over copy protection. the protection was deemed draconian by most of the community. there was a thread in the forums of over 1200 responses, most saying that bioware had lost a customer, and/or said customer would get a crack. this crack was available a day and a half after bioshock launched. afaik it worked fine.

Windows Vista was touted by MS as being more or less invincible to pirates. it was available across the internet in november, months before the official launch, even a couple weeks before the launch to businesses. various methods were used to get past activation, while still allowing security updates to be downloaded. timerstops, copied activation files from rc2, and finally the OEM keys that are still being used (SP1 did not fix this at all, despite the assurances from MS it would).

i dont condone cracking, illegitimate downloads, or the sites/people that do such. but i must say that if i was planning to buy mass effect (or bioshock) i would probably buy the game, and then download and install a pirated version with a crack. because it wouldnt have any copy protection crap to screw up my computer. every time i think of copy protection, i think of starforce and all the legit customers who got their precious gaming machines f--ed up.

publishers do deserve money for their work, but the methods they are using now will only end up hurting them.

--
Edit - i do really like the idea of not needing the dvd in the drive to play, but i would definitely take that over such crazy copy protection
 
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Zeratul said:
Bioshock is also a game that had a ton of controversy over copy protection. the protection was deemed draconian by most of the community. there was a thread in the forums of over 1200 responses, most saying that bioware had lost a customer
Click to expand...

Bioware didn't make Bioshock. 2K Boston/2K Australia developed Bioshock. 2K Games published Bioshock. The publisher typically is responsible for DRM. The developer usually doesn't have much choice.

Bioware is the developer of Mass Effect. Electronic Arts is the publisher of Mass Effect, and E.A. also owns Bioware. Electronic Arts would be the one most likely responsible for making the decision to use this Securom DRM in Mass Effect (and not Bioware).

I've got a feeling we will see this DRM on Spore and probably Sims 3 as well (Maxis is a division of E.A.).
 
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