So... why DRM?

[vrbandwagon]

This is a very interesting discussion.

My take:

• Add one more "seat" to please the majority

• Make the de-activation process automatic

• For God's sake, drop the monthly check altogether. I believe that some copy protection is needed, but making it too strict (which is not synonymous with difficult, by the way) can be quite insulting to your niche user base.
  
  Trust me, we're all going to be like family in the not-too-distant future, helping each other and sharing a passion for such a niche hobby. We can already sense the distinct personalty of each of this forum's most active members through their posts, which I find quite fascinating I must say.

Did I mention I liked the word "niche"? But only when pronounced "neesh" like the French, not "nitch", which sounds barbaric and dirty.

 

[RadJunk]

There is actually a major reason for the DRM not discussed here that I saw.

By actually registering for an activation code (by purchasing a license from us), you are granted license to use our creation to do things (you now have carte blanche use of our engine, in exchange for the purchase, for which there is a registered activation that can be tracked and verified). By purchasing a license, we give you the right to use our intellectual property (the code base). If someone is to pirate the software, they are illegally using our code base. We can verify whether or not a user has ever purchased an activation code. This is for your protection as well as ours. You have verification that you have this right. We have verification that you are due that right.

We have used a reliable 3rd party to handle the DRM. There are only a few choice options for protocols. There are things that work "that's just the way they do it". So far, none of these things have seemed like dealbreakers to me. I can see how they'd be marginal annoyances (aw man, WHY OH WHY do I have to log on to the internet once a month for 30 seconds...the humanity!...haha), but nothing that should make for some unfortunate user experience.

Two licenses is pretty standard. Home computer / work computer. Desktop / laptop. I have about 7 computers that I have to keep track of. My software is activated just like the rest of yours, btw. As is Josh's and Austin's. If WE can figure out ways to make it work with the constant juggling we have to do, I feel that anyone can! haha

And @opt2not - no. This is not designed for "you and a buddy" to collaborate on a game. In that scenario, you would have a license. Your buddy would have a license. Then you'd have four computers. To give a full scale commercial license at $36 should keep it reasonable enough so that if anyone wants to use NESmaker, they can get a license for it (even if it takes them two weeks of allowance savings or to sell a few old video games they have laying around, even a 10 year old kid should be able to manage). License is licensed to an individual, not an institution or game company.

 

[Kitsune]

License is licensed to an individual, not an institution or game company.

What if a company want to sell games or even "artistic material" made with Nesmaker then ?

 

[RadJunk]

A company is more than welcome to sell games made with NESmaker. The NESmaker license is a personal license. If people have the license in the company, they can make games and do what they want with them. And for a full commercial license at $36...compare that to any of the other game development platforms that currently exist.

There is no paradigm for a *company license*. Maybe that's something we have to look into, but most homebrewers to date (and we've met a lot of them) aren't "companies". They're individuals that give themselves a company handle for branding. If a three person team wanted to make a NES game with NESmaker, each person gets a license...now their "team" all has licenses...they have 6 computers they can activate between them. That's the design.

Maybe in the future we'll work on some bulk licenses or something, but that's not something we're entertaining right now. Even schools, who have been purchasing bulk licenses, know that $36 for a pair of activations is reasonable. So I'm not sure it's an immediate priority, but I do appreciate the feedback, and hopefully this helps answer some questions.

 

[Kitsune]

Thanks for the answer.

In fact I haven't any problem with the DRM.
As it's possible I publish a game with my company, one day, my question was here to know if it could be ok with you
Of course, if we need more than one person/ pc to make a game, we'll buy more license.

 

[chronosv2]

I can actually attest to how friendly the DRM actually is. I had to go over to a family member's home to watch their animals for a week, and it's a rural house so the internet connection is, shall we say, garbage. I had no problems activating and using NESMaker. I'll admit that I don't want to bother the team when the time eventually comes to move one of my licenses to another system, but I feel that, while I'm not a big fan of it, I understand why it's there and am fine with it. If I had a horror story to tell I might think otherwise, but what we have right now is all right.

 

[opt2not]

And @opt2not - no. This is not designed for "you and a buddy" to collaborate on a game. In that scenario, you would have a license. Your buddy would have a license. Then you'd have four computers. To give a full scale commercial license at $36 should keep it reasonable enough so that if anyone wants to use NESmaker, they can get a license for it (even if it takes them two weeks of allowance savings or to sell a few old video games they have laying around, even a 10 year old kid should be able to manage). License is licensed to an individual, not an institution or game company.

Thank you for your comments and explanations on this. ---> Uninstalls NES Maker <--- j/k !!! :lol:

 

[Dirk]

Expressing a negative or insulting tone wasn't my intention.

[...] I have a permanent needle mark on my arm because I had to donate plasma twice a week for a year just to eat.

Thank you very much for your follow up comment. I thought you were being a bit of a dick. I too have a permanent needle mark, because of donating plasma. I'm quite familiar with being poor and losing one's home, so your initial comment stung a bit.

 

[dale_coop]

It would be great if we could easily remove the licence from a PC... to move it to another PC.

PS: Thank you guys for your comments.
PS2: I too have a permanent needle mark... because I fought for a cancer for the last 12 months. I feel better now and don't need chemotherapy anymore (for no... and I hope, for ever).

 

[Dirk]

I hope you'll stay healthy and that it will never come back.

 

[dale_coop]

Thanks, Dirk