Network CD-Keys

BugRoger · #1 January 18th, 2004, 01:27 PM

Wouldn't it be possible to sell additional CD-Keys for MP games? Illwinter could even disable the single player option and maybe sell it for $19.99. What do you guys think? Wouldn't this be great?

johan osterman · #2 January 18th, 2004, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BugRoger:
Wouldn't it be possible to sell additional CD-Keys for MP games? Illwinter could even disable the single player option and maybe sell it for $19.99. What do you guys think? Wouldn't this be great?

That decision rests in the hands of shrapnelgames, and they say that their experience with selling codes and downloads only is negative.

BugRoger · #3 January 18th, 2004, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
But LAN would require multiple machines all having the same CD-key and some way of recognizing that its on a lan. Not as easy as the other 2. Illwinter has not tried to program that in.

A check if the turn was submited from on of these IP-Ranges does the trick:
10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 (10/8 prefix)
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 (172.16/12 prefix)
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix)

This isn't a technical problem. It's politics as well...

Gandalf Parker · #4 January 18th, 2004, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BugRoger:
A check if the turn was submited from on of these IP-Ranges does the trick:

Or checking for a network name. Or using pings and traceroutes. There are alot of ways. Some are easier to spoof than others. Everything has its pros and cons. This just seems to be an area which Illwinter decided not to tackle.

The easiest thing might just be for a user to setup a shared directory PBEM game so that it looks HotSeat. I wont foolproof (script or batch file) this method until Im more sure of Illwinters or Shrapnels standing on such info.

Quote:

This isn't a technical problem. It's politics as well...

[ January 18, 2004, 13:41: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

BugRoger · #5 January 18th, 2004, 04:02 PM

But come on, people won't go as far as spoofing their IP. They would just download a key generator or a cracked exe or something.

I'm talking about the honest players here. I think it would be fair to allow the people who actually bought the game to play a MP-Game without spending a truckload of money. Limit it to 3 or 4 players. I would even applaud a limit of 2 players.

Allowing free LAN games or selling additional MP-Keys would be a great way to reward the honest players.

#6 January 18th, 2004, 04:04 PM

Bleh. You've been given your answer and a method and now you arguing not with the ones who control it, but the ones who deal with the policies in place. Perhaps you should Email these points to Shrapnel. I'm sure it would prove much more beneficial to whatever you are trying to accomplish.

Edit: Never underestimate those willing to find ways not to pay for legitimate services. It's a long proud human tradition.

[ January 18, 2004, 14:05: Message edited by: Zen ]

Gandalf Parker · #7 January 18th, 2004, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BugRoger:
Allowing free LAN games or selling additional MP-Keys would be a great way to reward the honest players.

I dont think anyone, not even the two companys involved, is arguing that point.

Karacan · #8 January 18th, 2004, 06:44 PM

I think the easiest way to allow multiplayer games is to remove the turn-limitation of the demo...

I know I played a lot of them before my full copy of Dom I arrived. The research cap (and the fact I loved the game dearly) were enough for me to purchase it for good after a week intense playing.

I'd love to show around Dom on one of our bimonthly LAN sessions as well, but I can't afford to purchase the five to eight copies required for that.

BugRoger · #9 January 19th, 2004, 02:30 AM

I recently attended a LAN party and showed the game to my friends. I didn't know that it isn't possible to play a LAN game with just one key and played some single player on a video beamer. I tried to get some people to remember our old paper PBEM days and get a game going. After the intial enthusiasm the appeal of Dominions soon faded when we noticed that we couldn't even try the game in MP. They resumed to play Starcraft.

That kept me wondering why people are still playing Starcraft with so many RTS-Games out there. I really think that it's the multiplayer spawn installation. You can play a 4 player game with a single copy. But you know what? Nobody was playing with a spawned installation. After playing Starcraft for years everybody bought his own copy.

We even checked out the Online store to see if you can buy and download Dominions Online. I could imagine that some folks would have bought a cheap MP-Key. And some of them (I am sure) would have loved the game and probably would have come back to get the full Version as well.

I know that the comparison between Starcraft and Dominions isn't really fair. Nonetheless would it be nice to have the possibility to somehow play a MP-Game without a full Version for every player. Heck, I can't even play a network game with my girlfriend (who has her computer in the same room as me) without buying a second copy.

I understand this is Shrapnel Games' decision and I can see their point. But from a player's perspective it sucks.

#10 January 19th, 2004, 02:34 AM

[ January 18, 2004, 12:50: Message edited by: Zen ]