a DRM question

[vdude]

I really want to buy Defense Grid. I'm all about supporting indie developers, and by all accounts the game looks cool. I'd LOVE to buy it, just to support some non-FPS games if nothing else.




I won't buy games that need steam, period, end of story. I've seen some posts in this forum that there's a non-steam version available, but it was not clear to me exactly what the DRM restrictions were on that one. Here's my single requirement: I don't mind one time activations, key files, personalization of the executable to my name, or similar kinds of schemes. But I'm buying a new computer in a few months, and I absolutely won't buy anything that is tied to specific hardware. I've just found that it isn't worth while in the long haul - my hardware changes sometimes and I don't want to have to fight to run my old games. Anything that ties my purchase to a particular CPU, mobo, etc I can't do.




I just went and bought World of Goo purely on a whim, since it didn't have DRM and again was an indie developer. But DG is making it harder for me - I'm having trouble figuring out the answer to this: if I buy the non-steam version of DG, is it tied to my current hardware in any way?

Please understand: I'm NOT a pirate - I am more than happy to support people doing cool things like this. I buy all kinds of indie content - games, music, movies, etc.

Also, this isn't a hard requirement for me, but does anyone know if DG runs under Wine on Linux?

thanks in advance.

[klausbreuer]

Well, I can certainly understand your position, as it matches mine rather closely (except that I'm also bothered by one-time activation, but it's the lowest form of DRM, thus not too bad).



This one is a one-time activation, bound to your hardware.

Nope, you're not out of the clear yet: you can one-time activate several times - I did this: first at work, to get the key files. Then I found out they don't work at home, and a trace found CPU ID and PC name queries.

But when I was able to get internet access for a moment at home, I could enter the key again, and the game has been running without any bother since then.



So, don't get it from Steam (I'm not exactly a Steam-friend myself), but these Greenhouse guys, it's not good but okay.



Ciao,

Klaus



PS: No, no, the game is excellent, I was referring to the DRM idiocy - but my bet is we cannot blame the programmers for that.