12 réponses à ce sujet

[mechgouki]

 
I bought Mass Effect 2 on PC, original.

I was dead set against buying Mass Effect 1 on PC, because of the stupid online activation and 3 installs limit.

And then I heard about this way to go around it without using cracks. What I heard is that all you have to do is to delete paul.dll, and the DRM will be changed into a disc check instead of online activation.

Is this true? If so, then I'm going to buy it. But I'll like some confirmation. I don't want to support EA by buying their games, only to have this action come back to bite me in the ass.

I don't want to have to delete the paul.dll, only to have a message telling me the wrong disc is in the drive when I put in the correct disc. If I have to use a crack to play a game I bought with cold hard cash, I might as well go pirated.

Modifié par mechgouki, 26 mars 2012 - 01:11 .

[mechgouki]

Anyone knows that the Amazon download DRM is like btw?

[mechgouki]

Guys, c'mon, please help me?

[mechgouki]

Someone please help?

[PsiFive]

Just guessing here, but maybe nobody who looks at these forums knows the answer. Personally I don't recall any online activation at all with ME1, though being a Steam download rather than a disc might be the reason for that. Why not approach the problem a different way? If the 3 install limit is going to be a problem for you then you could talk to EA directly and ask them whether this means a full reinstall to a new PC or if simple hardware changes count as another install, and if the latter what the procedure is for the fourth time you upgrade a PC component. Or just buy the game from Steam so your licence is tied to your Steam account instead.

[mechgouki]

Thank you for taking the time to answer me, I appreciate all the help I can get.

Unfortunately for me, any game that requires a connection to the internet is strictly off limits. This includes Steam.

If I buy a game, that game must be self contained. Connecting to a server somewhere simply for the sake of asking for permission to play a game I bought with cash, is not acceptable.

Let's just say it is a matter of personal preference. If I explain why, it will just lead to another argument between people who can accept online DRM, and people who can't. I've seen too much of those arguments already.

And btw, I would buy Steam version, if they were willing to sell it for $5. But too bad for me, they had to sell at 20 bucks. Amazon recently had the digital download for $6US. I happily signed up for an account to buy it online. Guess what? They don't accept paypal!!!

Modifié par mechgouki, 29 mars 2012 - 06:07 .

[PsiFive]

mechgouki wrote...

If I buy a game, that game must be self contained. Connecting to a server somewhere simply for the sake of asking for permission to play a game I bought with cash, is not acceptable.

You don't have to. Steam has an offline mode. I use it a lot after having an epic dummy spit through being unable to play a game that I only wanted to play because my internet connection had packed up. At the time I didn't know about the offline mode and called them all kinds of unrepeatable names for not letting me play a game installed right here on my local drive - that wasn't actually the case though of course with a bust internet connection I couldn't google and find out about it until afterwards. My own fault for not looking more deeply into Steam's options before. Now I know about it I use offline mode most of the time, even when my internet connection is just fine. As I recall each game you buy needs to connect to Steam at least once but I believe it's only once, which you can do right after you download it and just exit before actually starting a game. After that you can play in ofline mode indefinitely as far as I know.

I'm probably with you on DRM to a large extent. Is it annoying and intrusive? Yeah, it can be. Is it a deal breaker? Your mileage may vary, but not for me if it can be minimised to a single occurrence, and as someone whose income depends on creating copyrighted material I can kind of understand the game industry's concern even as I disagree with their approach. 

mechgouki wrote...

And btw, I would buy Steam version, if they were willing to sell it for $5. But too bad for me, they had to sell at 20 bucks. Amazon recently had the digital download for $6US. I happily signed up for an account to buy it online. Guess what? They don't accept paypal!!!

Yeah, heads you lose, tails the other lot wins. If Paypal's an essential and Amazon won't take it then I guess that's a no go for you anyway. Yes, it's dearer on Steam (accepting Paypal is probably a small part of the reason why) but they do reduce the prices of these old titles now and then. If you can wait to play them and keep checking Steam you'll probably find it marked down to ≤ $10 eventually.

Ideal? No, of course not. Ideal for me would be physical media, no registration crap, and they pay me about $75 an hour to play it. But if I was going to hold out for that arrangement I'd still be waiting even to play Pong.

[rct2guy]

 EA released their own de-authorization tools a while back for a number of their games, including Mass Effect. You can download it here. I haven't tried it myself, so I'm not sure if it works, but I would assume it does.

[mechgouki]

Steam is something I would avoid like the plague, unless they are selling something dirt cheap. I will pay good money for something I can hold in my hand, not for plain data off some server. I know that is a seriously outdated way of thinking, but that's the way I am.

I don't hate Steam personally, but I hate retail box games that use steam. Games like Supreme Commander 2, Skyrim, Darkness 2, all these games, the retail box has absolutely zero value. I completely avoided games like these and I won't even try to pirate them.

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I want to know if the game can be played without EVER connecting to a server and asking for permission to play, not if it can be authorised and deauthorised.

What I want to know is the Paul.dll, not the deauthorisation.

But that doesn't matter right now. The store that was selling the physical copy of the game now has it completely sold out.

Worse, the asian version is completely out of print, and no retail stores in my area are willing to import the US version EA Value.

My only choice is to pirate it now.

Trying to support a game isn't always so easy...

Modifié par mechgouki, 31 mars 2012 - 04:30 .

[mechgouki]

w00T!!! I found an exporter that has the game!! At least, I hope they still have stock....

But I still haven't heard much answers about the paul.dll.

rct2guy, have you tried deauthorizing it, then removing paul.dll to see if it runs a disc check?

[mechgouki]

Aw, won't anyone try out the Paul.dll for me? :"(

[mechgouki]

Anyone?

[mechgouki]

WOOT! I tried it, it worked perfect! Even with 1.02 patch.

I deleted the paul.dll file, it switched to a disc check.

I bought the EA Value games version. It was imported, the shop keeper charged me around 32 US bucks for it.