Avoid Bioshock like the plague

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Zorachus

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This is very bad news for one of the hottest new games to come out

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=41921

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/24/draconian_bioshock_drm_eased/

The problems stem from SecuROM, a DRM infection of unconscionable proportions, brought to you by the good people of Sony, again. 2KGames took the anti-user step of hurting paying customers with this malware in order to prevent piracy, but if you don't want to end up with a system filled with unremovable malformed registry keys and an uninstallable coaster, your only recourse is to pirate it.

What SecuROM does is phone home and activate, the same way MS malware in WGA and Vista does. If you install the game twice, it will keep you from installing a third time. As of this writing, some are calling it a bug, others are saying that the limit has been raised to 5 times, but there is no official word from 2K Games either on their web site or on their forums.

If the whole screwing of the consumer in this was wasn't evil enough, they managed to lower the standard yet again. SecuROM will hose you if you run AVG antivirus like I do, or you happen to have the audacity to run MS's own Process Explorer. If you read the links and the comments, you will see that both SecuROM and 2K have mastered the art of pass the buck, each blaming the other while not solving the problem. The 2K Games Bioshock forums are littered with complaints, far more than I have ever seen on a single game. It is a mess.
 
Securom does seem to suck and has some compatibility problems from what I have read, but I have never had problems with games that have used it.
I understand that companies want to protect their intellectual property, but there have to be better drm schemes than securom. Of course, the fact that there are pirated/hacked copies of the game floating out in the internet suggests that either DRM or sucurom do not work.
 
Zorachus said:
This is very bad news for one of the hottest new games to come out

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=41921

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/24/draconian_bioshock_drm_eased/

The problems stem from SecuROM, a DRM infection of unconscionable proportions, brought to you by the good people of Sony, again. 2KGames took the anti-user step of hurting paying customers with this malware in order to prevent piracy, but if you don't want to end up with a system filled with unremovable malformed registry keys and an uninstallable coaster, your only recourse is to pirate it.

What SecuROM does is phone home and activate, the same way MS malware in WGA and Vista does. If you install the game twice, it will keep you from installing a third time. As of this writing, some are calling it a bug, others are saying that the limit has been raised to 5 times, but there is no official word from 2K Games either on their web site or on their forums.

If the whole screwing of the consumer in this was wasn't evil enough, they managed to lower the standard yet again. SecuROM will hose you if you run AVG antivirus like I do, or you happen to have the audacity to run MS's own Process Explorer. If you read the links and the comments, you will see that both SecuROM and 2K have mastered the art of pass the buck, each blaming the other while not solving the problem. The 2K Games Bioshock forums are littered with complaints, far more than I have ever seen on a single game. It is a mess.
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Hahaha, The Register article has a link at the bottom of the page to a story, worth a read :D
"Bioshock killed my computer"
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182421
 
just so you know tweakguides, firingsquad, pc gamer, and gamespot all mentioned in their game reviews that they had problems too. all but gamespot even mentioned issues with just trying to install the game and being unsuccessful at times . gamespot mentioned the audio problem including the no sound issue in Vista that tons of people are having. Just wait for the patch is pretty much the consensus.
 
WhyYouLoveMe said:
Bio what? I've never heard of this game. :confused:
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I'm not surprised. I picked it up in the bargain bin at some dollar store.

I'm running AVG and it's been working fine. BS has froze on me, but I've been putting a lot of hours into it. Nothing that would suspect a link to AVG. Securom does suck though.
 
Met-AL said:
Cool, another thread on the very same subject.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1217007

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1216874

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1216275

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1216623

Oh, and it's not a rootkit.
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Being 2[H]4U and still haven't learned eh?
I think im going to pretty much cut and paste the original post in the videocards forum, general gaming subforum, case forum and make 5 of the same thread in the overclocking forum and add "Will overclocking my e6320 make a difference in bioshock?"... The stupid fucking questions never end my friend. Thats why I spend most of my time away from the retard children of these forums and stick to genmay most of the time.
 
lloose said:
Being 2[H]4U and still haven't learned eh?
I think im going to pretty much cut and paste the original post in the videocards forum, general gaming subforum, case forum and make 5 of the same thread in the overclocking forum and add "Will overclocking my e6320 make a difference in bioshock?"... The stupid fucking questions never end my friend. Thats why I spend most of my time away from the retard children of these forums and stick to genmay most of the time.
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Don't forget to ask a stupid BioShock question in the Forum Help & Feedback forum as well. :D
 
I've had enough of this sensationalist crap. There is no reason to avoid BioShock. It doesn't give you a root kit and it wont damage your computer. I, and almost everyone else, have had no problems with it.
 
The reason to boycott Bioshock is that paying customers should not have to end up paying the price for software pirates. Not only are we plagued with install issues, we are forced to take rediculous steps to get something we paid for to function. The online activation itself is a step too far. When I leave the store having paid for the game, that is the transaction, and the proof of that sale is my receipt. I should not have to go through additional steps and make sure my pc is online to play the game. I should not have to allow them to install unwanted software (securom) on my system.

Also, purchasing flawed and useless copy protection technology only costs the paying customer more money. If you look at any major copy protection be it audio, video, or software, they have all been broken. The price of research and development of this technology is being paid for by the consumers who legitmately buy the product. The software pirates do not pay for this, nor are they as burdened by the copy protection and legit customers. That sir, is why you should avoid purchasing Bioshock.

I personally reccommend you send emails to Take2 and 2K games support address informing that you will not be purchasing the game until the securom software is removed. One person wont affect the company, but if 50,000 send the same message, it might have a big enough impact on the bottom line to actually consider making a change.
 
DavidJB said:
I've had enough of this sensationalist crap. There is no reason to avoid BioShock. It doesn't give you a root kit and it wont damage your computer. I, and almost everyone else, have had no problems with it.
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These are just some of the things I have noticed myself and from others. Of course some of these are interrelated and a couple are nitpicking.
1. mouse issues
2. game install problems
3. securom issues
4. audio cracks, pops and sometimes complete lack of sound
5. no AA in DX10
6. cant change refresh rate
7. various low resolution textures even on high settings
8. black squares reported by several people
9. widescreen issues
10. game conflicts with things like processor explorer and other legitimate software
11. jiggly ai.....bodies and some objects keep jiggling or twitching for no reason
 
If the game was full of bugs, looked like shit, recieved shitty reviews, and made your cock fall off then maybe I'd understand all the bitching about this games anti piracy.... However, the game has very few bugs, looks and plays awesome, recieved amazing reviews and surprisingly, doesn't make your cock fall off... I swear writing fucking letters to 2K over BIOSHOCK? What happens when you play an actual poor game? Blow up the devs houses? :p
 
I highly suggest trying to contract the Bioshock disease. I'm not worried about whatever Malware could be coming from whatever, for some reason I highly doubt a company would make something that is dangerous to people's comps.

Don't avoid it. :) Enjoy it.
 
People have a right to be worried about this sort of thing.

Saying their position isn't justified because nothing bad has happened is such bollocks. Secuirty requires a proactive approach you don't wait until you're hit by a exploit in your system before you patch the flaw, you leave windows update on and let it auto patch so that you're safe from such exploit before anyone has a chance to write malicious code to abuse it.

I work in the IT industry and I'm very concerned about what gets installed on my PC, and overbearing copy protection is a big no-no. Especially when it starts installing files I cannot remove and alike.
 
2K has a statement up about BioShock's DRM. According to them, SecuROM isn't an actual rootkit, it's just hiding some registry keys on your system. Gaming Bob, who originated this story, has also retracted his analysis of the DRM as being a rootkit, and posted up some easier instructions for removing the SecuROM service, so it looks like it's indeed safe to come out and play.
Click to expand...

2K has a statement up about BioShock's DRM. According to them, SecuROM isn't an actual rootkit, it's just hiding some registry keys on your system. Gaming Bob, who originated this story, has also retracted his analysis of the DRM as being a rootkit, and posted up some easier instructions for removing the SecuROM service, so it looks like it's indeed safe to come out and play.
Click to expand...

2K has a statement up about BioShock's DRM. According to them, SecuROM isn't an actual rootkit, it's just hiding some registry keys on your system. Gaming Bob, who originated this story, has also retracted his analysis of the DRM as being a rootkit, and posted up some easier instructions for removing the SecuROM service, so it looks like it's indeed safe to come out and play.
Click to expand...

Need I say more?
 
My god I wish people would stop bitching about this crap. I installed it on my computer through steam and so far its running slicker then greased owl shit.

Seriously though anti-piracy measures do not encourage piracy thats like arguing that bank vaults encourage bank crime, its illogical.

In the pre-net days if one person copied a game or photocopied a book or made a mixed tape, they could distribute it to may ten or 20 people or in the most extreme cases a hundred or so. Today one person can put a song, book (I.E. Harry Potter 7), movie or cracked game online and millions of people have access to it. And sad as it is the easier to becomes to get pirate material the more and more people will do it, why? because there are only so many people willing to pay for something out of principle.

So stop bitching about DRM if you don;t like how it effects your computer then tell all these pirates out there to stop spending all thier time cracking games and instead develop and DRM that doesn't screw up your shit and then sell it for a bagillion dollars to the big games companies.
 
I happen to like the game quite a bit as well. I bought it through Steam and have no complaints so far. I haven't personally run into problems, I have it installed on my XP drive and my Vista drive (I dual boot on this machcine). I wish that I could run it at a higher res, but oh well.
 
Damn is BioShock really this riddled with problems or is it just a handful of people bitching about something new. Looks like the same bitching that was going on when Valve introduced STEAM.
 
On a positive note, maybe people will move on from bitching about Windows Vista?
 
Damn I should've listened to this guy. I bought Bioshock and played through it, but just as the ending came up the rootkit erupted from my case, gave me aids, murdered my family, raped my girlfriend, attacked pearl harbor, assassinated JFK, and caused global warming. AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE
 
Duro said:
Damn I should've listened to this guy. I bought Bioshock and played through it, but just as the ending came up the rootkit erupted from my case, gave me aids, murdered my family, raped my girlfriend, attacked pearl harbor, assassinated JFK, and caused global warming. AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE
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Did you at least enjoy the game?
 
All this rootkit, secureROM BS is just a poor excuse for those to cheap to buy the game, to pirate it ... its that simple. I couldn't care less if you have managed to justify pirating to yourself, but dont try to justify it to others.
 
Love the game, hate the DRM.
I still haven't figured out which ports to open on my firewall (short of turning security to 'low') to get it to start. I resorted to turning the firewall down, starting the game, and alt-tabbing back to turn the firewall back up.
Offline mode (I have the steam version) does not work. Forwarding the ports Steam uses (as well as some supposedly exclusive to Securom) are a no go.
I should not have to sacrifice security of my entire network to play this game.

Before Bioshock, CS:S worked fine without doing anything, so it's a Bioshock/securom issue, not a Steam issue.
 
Duro said:
Damn I should've listened to this guy. I bought Bioshock and played through it, but just as the ending came up the rootkit erupted from my case, gave me aids, murdered my family, raped my girlfriend, attacked pearl harbor, assassinated JFK, and caused global warming. AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE
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word on the streets is it was responsible for 9/11 too.

to those that beat it, how long did it take you? i'd get the game, but only 9-12 hours of gameplay isn't enough for me to pay 60 for it
 
ne0-reloaded said:
word on the streets is it was responsible for 9/11 too.

to those that beat it, how long did it take you? i'd get the game, but only 9-12 hours of gameplay isn't enough for me to pay 60 for it
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I'm only about 3/4 done, and I've easily put 15 hours into it so far.
 
I have to agree that this topic has been and is being covered in more than 1 thread.

The answer is simple, if you don't like the DRM, then vote with your wallet and don't buy the game.
 
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