Spore, Mass Effect, I am sorry, but you have just been struck of my buying list if this Shacknews report is true. The Shacknews report links to this thread on the BioWare forums where BioWare technical producer Derek French reveals some very interesting, but worrying information regarding copy-protection measures for the PC versions of Mass Effect and Spore.

While his full post follows after the jump I will give the lowdown on what he says.
- You can install Mass Effect as normal - internet activation required

- From this point on you don’t need the Mass Effect PC DVD in the PC to play

- SecuROM will check the validity of the CD Key after 5 days of Mass Effect being installed

- After this check you have 10 days of playing guaranteed.

- Upon starting Mass Effect SecuROM will attemp to check the CD Key

- If SecuROM isn’t able to check within these 10 days then the CD Key will have to be re-checked before playing again

- If the CD Check is bad then the game will be locked until you get in touch with EA Tech Support

- This system is being used on Spore as well

Mass Effect uses SecuROM and requires an online activation for the first time that you play it. Each copy of Mass Effect comes with a CD Key which is used for this activation and for registration here at the BioWare Community. Mass Effect does not require the DVD to be in the drive in order to play, it is only for installation.

After the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check with the server within ten days (in case the CD Key has become public/warez’d and gets banned). Just so that the 10 day thing doesn’t become abrupt, SecuROM tries its first re-check with 5 days remaining in the 10 day window. If it can’t contact the server before the 10 days are up, nothing bad happens and the game still runs. After 10 days a re-check is required before the game can run.

I believe that the SecuROM settings are for up to 3 activations.

There is no banning or such if you go beyond the 3 activations, it just won’t activate. If you run into any issues with this, you will be able to contact EA tech support and they will help you resolve any problems you have getting your game to run, including issues with SecuROM.

Yes, EA is ready for us and getting ready for Spore, which will use the same system.

For clarity, though, an internet connection is not required to install, just to activate the first time, and every 10 days after. You can be completely connectionless for 9 days and encounter no problems playing Mass Effect. And you don’t need the disk in the drive to play.

Off hand, I do not know. Its the CD Key and a unique machine identifier of some type. Its the same system that SecuROM has been using for digital activation for years (if you have purchased through Direct2Drive, etc, they all use this same SecuROM system). We used the exact same system for Jade Empire PC when purchased through the BioWare Store.

Its a perfectly legitimate concern. EA has assured us that they have their auth systems and customer support staff in place and ready for the launch of Mass Effect PC. Anyone having issues with getting MEPC activated will be able to contact EA Support and get their problem resolved.

Further comments from Derek can be found in this thread.

My reaction? I am disgusted by this. I have become a firm believer that excess copy protection is bad. While an initial internet activation can be considered acceptable being forced to have your CD Key checked every 10 days is disgusting. I don’t care about the benefits of not needing the CD in the drive, that shouldn’t be a requirement as it is.

This has put me off getting Mass Effect for the PC and more than likely Spore too. This is excessive in my mind and is something that developers and publishers should be avoiding, like the plague.

Humbug!

Tags: Anti-Piracy, Mass Effect, SecuROM, Spore

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 9:27 pm and is filed under General News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.