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TheBlueRaja
14-05-2004, 22:12
Say,
theoretically speaking, I have downloaded a game of the internet that wasnt legit.

And say i started to feel A) Guilty or B) I wanted to play online with it. Well a LOT of people download games of the net and never buy them, but what if software companies started to encourage this, and instead of blocking these people, allowed them to buy JUST a CD-Key online from the creators for a fee lower than the in-shop price.

They then wouldnt need publishers, they wouldnt have to pay the cost of printing manuals, box's CD's etc, OR they could but just make it a few quid more expensive to do that, you could just download what you want from P2P and buy a Key for a legit version.

Wouldnt that be a better way of doing things?

Tricky
14-05-2004, 22:15
Idea is fine until someone "cracks" the CD-KEY system then companies lose out cos everyone has a copy of the software. Look at trial versions of software you can obtain with 30/80/120 day licenses, then get the crack to cancel the timelock

TheBlueRaja
14-05-2004, 22:16
That happens currently though and the CD-Keys get blocked. Its no different, and has nothing to do with the way the game is distributed.

Bifta
14-05-2004, 23:13
Idea is fine until someone "cracks" the CD-KEY system then companies lose out cos everyone has a copy of the software. Look at trial versions of software you can obtain with 30/80/120 day licenses, then get the crack to cancel the timelock

I doubt they'll ever crack online CD key authorisation, the best they can come up with after years of it being around is cracked servers, which are fairly few and far between.

Chris W
15-05-2004, 00:04
there are many applications (no games that i have heard of so far) that you can download and pay for online... isn't this similar to what you are suggesting?

TheBlueRaja
15-05-2004, 00:26
Nope,
Im simply suggesting that if you say, had illegally downloaded Call of Duty, played the single player and then wanted to move online, that you could simply buy a valid CD-Key from the official website for that game for a few quid less then the high street price of the game, given that you already have the "discs".

It would kind of be like officially releasing the game onto P2P networks as a CD image, which would require a valid cd-key to play online. Which is exaxtly what happens now excepts its illegally cracked and you cant play online. At least the software companies may be able to recouperate some money from Warez downloaders, by selling a specific CD-Key to a specific user online via the official website.