Network CD-Keys

Yes Gandalf is correct.

Free Multi-player would be great, but I can see the business reasoning and profit margining behind this particular way. I hope that in the near future they would be able to sell just CD Keys (whether or not they are sold Online or not, is another issue) for a diminished price. But I don't get my hopes up. That may be because I'm of the opinion that Dom2 is worth every penny of the $50.00 I spent on it. The same I did for Starcraft years ago, and even bought another copy when I lost the CD a year or two later when I could have just as easily burned or downloaded a new copy.

Either way, you'd have to try to send a petition to Shrapnel and not IW for it.

[BugRoger]

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]

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.

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

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

[BugRoger]

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.

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]

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]

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.