DRM + CD Key + Activation + Registration (Optional) + Access Code... Seriously???

[zest]

How to play this lovely user-friendly gem:

1) Install DRM client - Steam

2) Download the game

3) Stay in online mode / run it for the first time. You thought small little game like that would be ok just to use one DRM protection steam is? Think again...

4) First screen - enter serial number... Done? Not quite yet...

5) Second screen - activate your product or register you product online... What? Really after having it already protected by steam and serial number... Ok, let me try to use the registration button..

6) Third screen - Register. It says: "Please fill in the boxes below. All marked boxes must be filled in: First name, Last name, Address, Postcode, City Country, Birth Date, Gender, Email. Also the form takes technical info about your pc specs.".. What the fff!!!??? My bank didn't ask me for as many personal details when I was setting up my personal banking account... Thankfully there is an option to go back and have this cancelled.. Still I am asked to activate...

7) Fourth screen - Activate. On the next screen I am welcomed with this message: "It won't happen often, but you may need to provide your Internet connection information. To do this, just press the 'Connection settings' button.. At this stage I do not really believe.. What a piece of cra... DRM protection, serial key, activation and now this? This seriously must be a joke... But curiosity wins. That must have been the last screen.. I click through.. and..

8) Fifth screen - "Thank you! Battle vs. Chess product activation has been completed successfully." But.. but.. What is this... "Your access code is: 1234-5678-9012-3456. Please write down this access code for the future use". What access code? What future use? Have I already not used an external DRM protecion? Have I not given you a serial key? Have I not been asked to register and activate this piece of annoying yoke and asked for my personal infomation (that I declined to do) and my Internet connection? What is that bloody access code needed for? Seriously lads? What is wrong with you...
I would delete that piece of s by now but I am actually desperate to go through only so I can write this review... (and get steam cards maybe). I click OK.

9) Finally, It looks like I can run the game.. can I? Yes, it looks like I can...

10) "Funny" fact - Even if i refused to provide any of my personal info on the registration page and I skipped that screen, the game somehow knows my first name and logs me in with it without my permission. Nope, not the steam login/username, but my real name that is not publically provided. How and based on what information. You guess...

Avoid.

0/10

[amoretpax199]

You don't have to enter your personal information...

[zest]

Yes, and I wrote it. Still the game asks you to do it. And it has numerous pointless protections for a small not-AAA title. You just simply didn't get my point.

[amoretpax199]

Originally posted by zest:

Yes, and I wrote it. Still the game asks you to do it. And it has numerous pointless protections for a small not-AAA title. You just simply didn't get my point.

I get your point and you don't even have to do any of those steps that you listed. Everything is optional except the part where you have to enter your CD key.

[zest]

You can skip the registration process, true that, but all other points listed apply:

1) game uses drm protection - steam
2) game uses cd key to activate - cd key
3) game uses registration - optional, skippable
4) game activation screen - second DRM (Internet, post) - online activation
5) game asked me to provide my Internet connection information - additional info
6) game generates access code - not even sure what is it. And why is it generated.
7) game knew my first name from the very beginning, so information was somehow harvested.

These were all my points. I believe we do not need all of this to play a small game like this. Well, any game to put my points valid.

[amoretpax199]

1) Game uses DRM protection - Steam

This is obvious since it's on Steam.

2) Game uses CD key to activate - CD key

Most games will ask for this only once after you install the game. This game is one of them and it doesn't ask you to enter it everytime.

3) Game uses registration - Optional, skippable

Many softwares and games ask for this ask well but they usually let you skip them.

4) Game activation screen - second DRM (Internet, post) - Online activation

This takes only like 30 seconds and this is for the people that bought the physical copy.

5) Game asked me to provide my Internet connection information - Additional infomation

You can skip this with just one click so I don't see what is the problem?

6) Game generates access code, I'm not even sure what is it and why is it generated?

Just ignore it since this relates to the physical copy.

7) Game knew my first name from the very beginning, so information was somehow harvested.

Are you talking about the Steam name? Most games use your default Steam name.

It's really petty to rate this game 0/10 for these reasons...

[Staryn]

It gets your name from your Windows profile. (I'm on Win10 and my profile is an old email, and Battle vs Chess is calling me the first 5 letters of that email.)

[Psyringe]

This game uses an obnoxious, invasive (as in requesting a _ton_ of personal information), and completely unnecessary DRM on top of Steam. Other Topware titles do the same. There were also issues with "Two Worlds" only allowing three installs; after that, your "CD key" expired and your Steam copy became unusable. There was no information about that on the product page. There is no information about the third-party DRM and its potential limitations on the product page of Battle vs. Chess either. I wouldn't at all be surprised if this game, like Two Worlds, stopped functioning after several installs.

It boggles my mind that someone actually comes here to defend and trivialize such practices.

Thanks to zest for providing very relevant, and much needed (seeing that the product page doesn't inform properly about this) information.

Hopefully Topware will, at some point, switch to a more customer friendly approach. But as long as they don't, posts like zest's are absolutely warranted.

[CyFiver]

People just can not seem to understand that the info it's pulling is from a public location and that those people who are worried about it, well don't seem to understand the technology they are using. There is an old saying back in my College IT class for this.. what was it now.. ahh yes!

"Technology is only as smart as the user using it."

Glad to see it still holds true over fifteen years later!

Cheers

[battle.monkz]

got change from the five, fiver?

[lavidadeunaneurona]

If you only want to play singleplayer, do you have to go through all this?

[Bigguns 93]

Originally posted by amoretpax199:

Originally posted by zest:

Yes, and I wrote it. Still the game asks you to do it. And it has numerous pointless protections for a small not-AAA title. You just simply didn't get my point.

I get your point and you don't even have to do any of those steps that you listed. Everything is optional except the part where you have to enter your CD key.

STeam, CD key, and activation code are not optional. Those are required. That is a lot of DRM

[☮Morti]

Ohh no, I have to use steam and verify a CD-key. Quick! Grab your pitchforks and torches so we can collectively chase these developers down the street. My puny brain cannot handle the amount of clicks required to activate this product.

The OP could've registered a 100 games in the time he took to write this wall of text.

All I remember that I had to do is copy and paste a CD-key and click 2 buttons, the rest can be safely ignored. Thats about as much DRM as Cities Skylines. Get over yourselves.

To those thinking that the NSA works in coorporation with Topware in order to track your internet activity, again; get over yourselves.

[Sooron]

Well i registered and all and game isn't launching at all ... lovely ...

[Blehh.....]

Originally posted by amoretpax199:

6) Game generates access code, I'm not even sure what is it and why is it generated?

Just ignore it since this relates to the physical copy.

The access code, thats's to do with the uninstallation of the game, right?

[Valérian]

OP, thanks for the warning and extensive post about this totally ridiculous and absurd copy protection. WTF were the devs / publisher thinking!?!?!

The game is in my library but because of the completely r-e-t-a-r-d-e-d DRM scheme I will NOT install and play it, not unless they CHANGE this crap!