EA sneaks Securom into Dragon Age II

RenHoek writes: Ars Technica reports that with the release of Dragon Age II, various users encountered the dreaded Securom DRM, even though Bioware ensured users that it wouldn't be included. Seeing that a fair few users only bought DAII thinking they could avoid the problems and other discomforts this DRM brings, it will be interesting to see what EA's next step will be.

user pressure

[K10W]

with enough user pressure and hopefully decreased sales from those who have not yet bought it will lead them to release a patch to remove protection much the same way some devs did in past such as X2 where patches were released to remove starforce from the game due to complaints etc. DRM I don't mind so much as long as it is invisible but f it causes problems then I think it is counter productive since it is always cracked so ends up being only users with headache of drm issues are legit ones and conversely

People trust EA?

[RobbieThe1st]

I haven't trusted them for -years-. Fortunately, I haven't seen any games I want from them in years, so...

Nothing to see here, move along.

[westlake]

We haven't heard from EA on the story about reports of SecuROM DRM in Dragon Age 2, but BioWare Live Team Technical Producer Derek "CrushBug" French made a couple of posts to our forums that discuss the matter. He says:

"Sorry, but there is some confusion on this. We use Sony Release Control which shares some functionality with other Sony products (SecuROM), but we do not use SecuROM for the DRM. Once the Sony Release Control check is passed, Release Control self-destructs, removing the Release Control wrapper and it is never used again. Game updates will not use Release Control because obviously the release date is passed. Additionally, installing the game and then any future game patch will also remove the Sony Release Control check and it will never run on your computer."

When asked about a running SecuROM process, he said: "There is no running process once it unwraps and self-destructs." In reply to a question about registry entries, he replies: "An inert registry entry that does nothing." Finally, when asked about files remaining on users' hard drives, he explains: "In a temp folder that is never referenced again. This part is sloppy and should be cleaned up, though. We will see about doing that in a patch."

BioWare on Dragon Age 2 DRM [bluesnews.com]

Re:

[tepples]

It needs an Internet connection to install.

So does Windows, which reverts to Reduced Functionality Mode if not properly activated.

Re:

[K10W]

still think it's bad myself. Single player games should not ever need a net connection and it doesn't stop piracy so why do it. I've deliberately not bought games in the past when no had no net access or on gaming rig that I didn't want hooked up to net or was in place I couldn't connect to my net due to wiring or poor wifi signal issues and wasn't about to rewire my house to play one game, now cracked copies often run without net access. Basically the anti piracy method only affects legit users and perhaps

Re:

[tepples]

Single player games should not ever need a net connection

Single-player games have always been multiplayer in fact: comparing score, comparing achievements, etc.

was in place I couldn't connect to my net due to wiring

Aren't most houses wired for a landline over which one can at least run occasional dial-up, at least since the 1950s when the U.S. Rural Electrification Act expanded to include telephone service?

Makes me wonder why I bother paying for these things.

When "these things" include Windows, it could be because nobody has yet paid the Wine team to fix compatibility with some other application you want to run. When "these things" include major-label video games, it's

Re:

[K10W]

No access is awkward in some parts of the house. It's 17 bedroom Victorian building so large and one entire wing doesn't get access and it is the wrong side to recieve phone line as they all come n from the opposite wing of the house. Yeah I hear you on the wine front though since it is the reason I still run dual boot as need some win software for work. By wonder why I bother paying I mean why not steal it and save myself the trouble of jumping through hoops only legit users do hmmm. I guess I could use cr