[Episode] LucasCast: Episode 5

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

This is your answer:

ah, but the next time i started the game, the textures drastically improved. just like that.
when i had the problem, it was so bad that the logo on Shepard's suit was a white splotch with a bit of red. now its a crisp, defined 'N7'. weird.

besides that i have another oddity: the game came with two dvds... when i installed it, it didnt even ask for disc 2. it just used disc 1. and now, the game runs without any disc. which is insane. think about it: big, corporate EA letting us play mass effect without the disc...
im not using images or anything. it just... works
Has EA gone nice, or are they letting us play it without the disc because theres some mega anti pirating thing they've stuck in the game?

if its a random occurrence, i aint complaining. the longer my discs remain immaculately scratch free, the better.

[Venom750]

nice podcast

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

besides that i have another oddity: the game came with two dvds... when i installed it, it didnt even ask for disc 2. it just used disc 1.

disc 2 apparently has a bunch of more languages.

nd now, the game runs without any disc. which is insane. think about it: big, corporate EA letting us play mass effect without the disc...
im not using images or anything. it just... works
Has EA gone nice, or are they letting us play it without the disc because theres some mega anti pirating thing they've stuck in the game?

the reason for this is indeed some dastardly drm.
for those who dont already know, (like me before i bought the game), the game requires you to connect to the internet every 10 days to check the cd key. if you dont, itll block you from playing until it can connect again.
thankfully, that has been removed now. you still have to be online the first time the game runs though. but thats acceptable.
whats NOT acceptable is that you only get 3 initial activations before the game brands you a pirate and locks you out.

i hear bioshock had a similar system, but with that you get 5 installs, and when you uninstall one of your 5 installs, it gives it back to you.
not so with mass effect: YOU DO NOT GET ANY INSTALLATIONS/ACTIVATIONS BACK!!

this is plain unbelievable for me. its insane. just... insane.

to be honest, i couldve lived with the 10 day activation thing, but that was a total middle finger to people who dont have 24/7 internet connections.
but the limited activations is unacceptable. what if i get a new computer that can play the game maxed out? what if i want to reformat/reinstall windows to make my computer fast? what if a virus destroys my computer and i have to reinstall??! (the latter has actually happened to me recently).

whats perhaps the worst thing is that people who pirated the game have no complications like this, while people like me, who parted with hard earned money for this game, are screwed into the next dimension by ea.

but that said, mass effect is an absolutely amazing game. it was everything they said it would be. it was, totally, "Oowsum". ()