#Market Survey
9 messages in this thread
We are about to release our first entertainment software (otherwise known
as a game). We would like to solicit your input concerning our idea for
purchase verification. Here goes:
The game will ask for a registration number. If you can't provide one it
will allow you to play any 1 level of the game. The registration number
will NOT be included in the package. To get the registration number you
have to register your purchase by mail using a registration card we
include. We should be able to return all registration cards the same day we
receive them so turn around should be quite fast. We will pay for the
postage of the registration number back to you.
This seems fair but we'd like to know what you think. Please, no mindless
flames about the worth of purchase verification. The game will be released
with some kind of verification or not at all.
Irritating. But so is manual-keywords. The method you suggest would be a
major annoyance at the outset (or worse if the Brutes In Blue lose the damn
thing), but would be less infuriating thereafter than "where did I put
that &^%%@$#&^**manual!?!"
An interesting solution, at any rate, if you indeed have to muck up your
creation with this tripe. I understand. Eager to see what you have to
offer, Karl Sparklin
Perry, some comments:
(1) It beats copy protecting the disk.
(2) The U.S. Snail wait is going to really infuriate some people, who
feel they shouldn't have to wait to use software they've already paid for.
Your method would probably work a lot better if they paid AFTER they got to
try out a few levels.
(3) No matter how clever the scheme (and sometimes inversely
proportional to it) you'll gain a few weeks at best. (I know, you know
this already, sorry.)
(4) It's probably worth a try if no one's already bombed with it. The
worst that can happen is it gets cracked early, which would result in
nearly the same distribution it would have had if "unverified".
Interesting approach! I would be interested in hearing how it works out.
My first thoughts are that you should provide a way to get that
registration number via a WATS line or perhaps on-line contact with the
company. That way the game-o-holics out there in computerland would be
able to lose at all levels the first day.
I wouldn't buy a product which I couldn't use for a week or more. The "we
will pay for the postage of the registration number back to you" worries me
also. It implies that I have to pay postage to get it to you in the first
place. Since I don't normally send in warranty cards except for high ticket
items this just adds another layer of aggravation and delay.
Provide a toll free number for instant registration and the idea may work.
Otherwise, it'll have to be the game of the century for people to be
willing to put up with the hassle.
Perry, I'm sorry but this nonsense is just getting completely out of
control. Either you developers want to provide software that is of maximum
utility and convenience to the purchaser with REASONABLE restrained
consideration for the problems of the market place, or get out and stop
making everybody's life miserable.
Perry, As you may remember, I publish educational software aimed at the college
market — a high piracy area if there ever was one. Normally we avoid
protection because of the customer reaction, and rely on low price and docs to
get people to buy. I agree with you that that would NEVER work with a game.
But, again, as a publisher, I think your planned scheme will lead to trouble.
The administrative hassles will be enormous– unless there is a simple
algorithm for generating the registration numbers and then that algorithm will
be on the pirate boards within days of publication. My suggestion would be to
go with the key word in the docs approach. It sure as heck isn't foolproof,
but it helps and it requires very little support by the publisher (the only
problem I've found is typos — you do have to be really careful there). We are
using that method with what we consider to be our most piracy prone products.
-Brian
I'll stand with Ted Haskell (as opposed to his "interpreters" in this thread).
You can keep the game and the boondoggle (but thanks for the warning). I hate
piracy, personally, but I am just as fed up with vendors who sabotage their own
product under the delusion that this stops anyone or does anything but
encourage the notion that piracy is a valid concept among immature minds.
This may not be the kind of response you solicited, Perry, but it is a valid
response within the context of the industry.
I know too many kids for whom the arts of piracy itself has become the game.
— Kevin