I've been thinking.....

[Arcane]

Yes that is a rare occurrence but I have been thinking about EA's ditching of PC versions of NBA Live (and other sports titles), that their main concern is piracy right well wouldn't the made fresh daily 365 additions especially requiring a code be 1 of maybe a few ways EA could fight piracy in their games. The game wouldn't live up to its full potential without these daily updates for one and with the person having to purchase a code for when they buy a second hand game would that deter people from using a pirated game and would the purchased code recognise if the copy of the game isn't genuine much like the Windows Genuine Advantage patch.

Your thoughts?

[Patr1ck]

No need to buy it since we can just share roster files. Here have the latest DNA update, Mr. Pirate. Maybe that's one of the reasons why they are going away from physical media. The simplicity of sharing PC files could circumvent revenue from even legal game owners. A way around that could be to never update a complete file, which I assume is just a roster with changes and updates, but use an intermediate file with only the changes and updates, and the game applies it to the roster once it's verified as a valid copy.

I think if someone bought a second hand copy and the code was already entered, they could buy a new code and it would apply to their copy of the game. If I recall correctly, the Synergy code is attached to the console it is entered on, so I wonder how that would work with PC's.

[JaoSming]

365 rosters were posted regularly for the 360 and PS3 on OS for people to download to their consoles with either the Xsata, transfer cable, or memorystick (ps3) people will always find a way around it

but it is biting those people in the ass right now, i get 5 messages a day saying "why cant I select rosters in your EA Locker?" since they dont have 365, and then ask for my code

[Andrew]

people will always find a way around it

Indeed. Having said that, requiring some sort of registration for 365 updates to work properly (no matter how the user acquires them) is a solid enough idea to try and combat piracy and keep NBA Live 365 free, but again we come back to the reality that eventually people will find a way around that.

[Arcane]

Well this thread was a way to try and be creative and think of ways to beat ea's concerns of piracy for pc and use that as a way to have a last ditch effort for pc release in next gen so lets try and think out of the box.

[JaoSming]

they seem quite motivated to follow Tiger Woods online though...


they could put a trigger in the 365 rosters so that they wont load unless 365 was purchased/activated, but that would get hacked
maybe remove DNA all together for non-365 peoples so if a roster has it, and the user doesnt, it wont load

using games for windows live is a good way to go as well i think. people who pirated FUEL (and people in Poland since GFWL isnt supported there) were bitching on the official forums because they couldn't save without using GFWL.

[Andrew]

Yeah, locking a key feature like that might be a feasible solution. If nothing else you could prevent a cracked game from being used to play online, but since there's more to a basketball game than online matchups there's a lot of people that probably wouldn't bother too much.

[Patr1ck]

Preventing them from saving anything is a very good deterrent, especially for a sports game where you always need to save your changes, whether it be a roster, setting, dynasty, or replay.

I thought of a weird way, but it alienates any non-internet users(but so does any online delivery method, so I guess this one could fall under what they are looking for in terms of security). Basically, the EXE file is not distributed with the game. The user must log on every time they want to play, and the EXE file is downloaded into memory and run from there. This EXE could be changed from time to time or every time through some random code encryption or something, circumventing. Also, the game would stop itself from executing if it could not verify with the server, and that method of verification would change from day to day on both the server and the downloaded exe.

[kibaxx7]

... I have been thinking about EA's ditching of PC versions of NBA Live (and other sports titles), that their main concern is piracy ...

Then they wouldn't have released it for 360 A lot of warez forums post 360 games and guides to play them properly...

It's not that I visit them.

[Arcane]

... I have been thinking about EA's ditching of PC versions of NBA Live (and other sports titles), that their main concern is piracy ...

Then they wouldn't have released it for 360 A lot of warez forums post 360 games and guides to play them properly...

It's not that I visit them.

Yeah I know 360 games are easily ripped too along with wii, psp and ps2 so it does ask the question is there a deeper reason to why there is no PC releases.

[Andrew]

I thought of a weird way, but it alienates any non-internet users(but so does any online delivery method, so I guess this one could fall under what they are looking for in terms of security). Basically, the EXE file is not distributed with the game. The user must log on every time they want to play, and the EXE file is downloaded into memory and run from there. This EXE could be changed from time to time or every time through some random code encryption or something, circumventing. Also, the game would stop itself from executing if it could not verify with the server, and that method of verification would change from day to day on both the server and the downloaded exe.

Interesting approach. I reckon take a step back from that though and require some kind of online verification to use NBA Live 365 that requires an active Internet connection but is done each time you load the game. Obviously there'd be a file that could be hacked, but perhaps periodic security patches/updates or file size detection could effectively block a cracked game and refuse verification for the updates.

That way, people who don't want to use NBA Live 365 can play the game without an Internet connection and forego using that feature, but they can't just grab the updates from someone else because they need the online verification. When it comes to pirated copies, I don't think you'll ever wipe that out because as we've already acknowledged there's enough ingenuity to keep that culture going, but finding a way of blocking pirates from taking advantage of all the game's features might make it a less appealing option for people who want the whole experience. Piracy will continue, but people who decide they'll just download a pirated version can be countered with the reality that what they get won't include a lot of what they want.

[Arcane]

I am liking the ideas I say we keep thinking of a few more and i'll use this and take it EA and say look we've come up with some potential out of the box ideas around your concerns and hesitations about releasing a PC version of the game. It will be sad the day NBA Live Series Center becomes NBA 2K Center entirely.

[JaoSming]

yea, I wouldnt bet on that happening at all, even if Live doesnt make it back onto the PC

[Arcane]

I know but i'm determined to try

[JaoSming]

i was talking about the nba 2k center remark, lol, by all means try for the PC version all you can

[Andrew]

It can't hurt to ask or do a bit of our own "market research", petitions and whatever.

[AMenace]

Some great ideas here guys!!!!!!

[Lean]

I hope they re-consider because honestly, I miss having NBA Live on PC. Besides if they consider the PC genre dead, they should scrap Mass Effect and remove BioWare as one of their developers.

[christyw744]

I think it was a good idea about the ditching of the PC game, piracy is off the chain nowadays.

[Andrew]

Piracy isn't just restricted to the PC platform though. Further to that, I'm not sure that it's any more a problem now than it was, say, five years ago. And if piracy is/was the main issue then there are certainly ways of discouraging it as we've discussed in this very thread. In short, I don't think many people around these parts will agree that ditching the PC version was a good idea.

[fumanchu]

Preventing them from saving anything is a very good deterrent, especially for a sports game where you always need to save your changes, whether it be a roster, setting, dynasty, or replay.

I thought of a weird way, but it alienates any non-internet users(but so does any online delivery method, so I guess this one could fall under what they are looking for in terms of security). Basically, the EXE file is not distributed with the game. The user must log on every time they want to play, and the EXE file is downloaded into memory and run from there. This EXE could be changed from time to time or every time through some random code encryption or something, circumventing. Also, the game would stop itself from executing if it could not verify with the server, and that method of verification would change from day to day on both the server and the downloaded exe.

this is a gud idea coz i saw someone experience this....i have a friend who bought a pirated copy of FUEL (why would you do such a thing to a good game?) and while playing a couple of races he suddenly found out that he can't save this damn progress....ha! that's piracy for you...buy the real thing...it's worth it...

[Bodz]

My dad recently went to HK and China and he brought back NBA Live X with Kobe on the cover. Initially, I thought it was a new release but after reading the back cover (in chinese), I realised it was a re-packaged Live 08 with the latest NLSC roster updates, signature moves and hotspots...

They even put the company EGS on the cover as well. I was rather skeptical of installing it in my PC for fear of that it may lead to some incompatibility that may cause my PC to crash or worst, viruses! Just upgraded it last year Nov so I didn't want to take any chances.

Furthermore, I've read of so many cases cited here that the game crashes due to missing files. But that's how rampant piracy is in China.

[fumanchu]

yeah everything starts in China...we have lots of pirated anythings here in the Philippines and most of them came from China and some i dont know if from Malaysia of Thailand...can't tell the difference on the characters...good thing NBA2k9 came cheap (well as far as US is concernced) coz here in the Philippines it sells for $40+ on good cd shops...the cheapest i saw was $30...good thing i got mine handcarried by a friend from the States... =)

[Patr1ck]

Andrew, Jon, and I need to start a business in China.

[Andrew]

"This place's got more pirated tapes than a..."
"A Chinese K-Mart?"
"Well, that'll have to do."

That is pretty funny though.