An interesting thing happened a while back!

So an interesting thing happened a while back, as the word of WarFace is spreading, most of the time I receive positive reviews. Then sometimes I receive bad ones too, it doesn’t bother me; that is the nature of the human condition.
Some people believe, some don’t, some think this is an excellent idea, while
other dismiss without a second glance. All criticism are welcomed, and anything that can be used to learn from is a bonus.

So after checking several statistical bots, I found a link to a German overclocking site that had linked to my webpage. I followed it back, basically to see the opinions of WarFace.

http://www.overclockers.at/games_forum/warface_the_answer_to_pc_piracy_218962

Of course I wasn’t bother by any of the opinions expressed, in fact they have no idea of me or what I am trying to achieve. Why would they believe I am any different than any other soothe sayer? WarFace is a company “of getting results” through strange and unorthodox means, how do you describe that on paper? No that is something that has to be proven over time!

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Spikx

quote:

[…] With all that said and done, however, piracy is always going to be an issue on the PC. So when I saw the tweets from a startup company known as WarFace, offering up a full “Anti-Piracy Strategy” and omitting the dreaded words of DRM from the aforementioned tweets, I had to find out more. So. I proceeded to get in touch with founder of WarFace, James Grimshaw and bombarded him with questions about the product.

http://ironhammers.org/?p=2367 | http://www.warfaceaps.com/

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TassDingo

http://www.warfaceaps.com/itworks.php

wenn ich das so durchlese kann ich nur schmunzeln, imho nicht ernst zu nehmen…

It makes me smile when reading, in my humble opinion not to be taken seriously…

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22zaphod22

badass – supergeil – darauf hat die industrie gewartet

das it-works ist ja endgeil … die verpflichten sicher den cast von the expendables um alle illegalen kopien aufzuspüren und dann mit shotguns zu erledigen

badass – super cool – this is what the industry has been waiting for

If it indeed works, its hot shit … just like the cast of the expendables to track down the illegals with shotguns

 

 

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Mr. Zet

I loled (als ich die FAQ gelesen habe)

I Loled (as I read the FAQ)

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WarFace

Hello lads

TassDingo

laugh as much as you want.. but WarFace is able to track anything down. Even someone not man enough to insult warface to its face!

Help me fight piracy or shut up!

pwned!

James

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Spikx

Awesome 😀

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sk/\r

😀

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COLOSSUS

😮

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maXX

catfight!

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daisho

Google is their tool, hate their motivation.

wtf? 😀

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thachriz

😀

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GrOnD

weils dazu passt ” 😀 ”

Because it fits (Because it works?)

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userohnenamen

muahahahhahaha 😀

edit: jetzt is er sicher auf einer watchlist 😉

muahahahhahaha

edit: Now he is safely on their watch list

 

 

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thachriz

Herrlich:

What about file sharing?

File sharing Sites have one major weakness; the links has to be passed on to others. This is normally done in a forum, and that means people have to leave their details behind. WarFace has first hand information of these sites and the email addresses of the moderators.

 

 

na wenns so einfach is 😀

Alle die ” 😀 ” gepostet haben sind bestimmt schon auf der Warface pöse user watschlist!

Marvelous:

 

What about file sharing?

File sharing Sites have one major weakness; the links has to be passed on to others. This is normally done in a forum, and that means people have to leave their details behind. WarFace has first hand information of these sites and the email addresses of the moderators.

Now if that’s so simple

All the posted users are already on the Warface watchlist!

 

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COLOSSUS

Ich persoenlich finde

quote:

Will this work?

Yes!

noch viel ueberzeugender!

I personally think

 

Will this work?

Yes!

Much more convincing! (Unsure about this line? literal- “much convincing fool”)

 

 

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GrOnD

das ganze Konzept passt einfach, jetzt habens alle pösen L33CH3R !!!11

The whole concept fits, now having people pose as L33CH3R !!!11

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HaBa

quote:

Originally posted by thachriz

Herrlich:

What about file sharing?

File sharing Sites have one major weakness; the links has to be passed on to others. This is normally done in a forum, and that means people have to leave their details behind. WarFace has first hand information of these sites and the email addresses of the moderators.

na wenns so einfach is 😀

 

Alle die ” 😀 ” gepostet haben sind bestimmt schon auf der Warface pöse user watschlist!

 

 

 

Marvelous:

 

What about file sharing?

File sharing Sites have one major weakness; the links has to be passed on to others. This is normally done in a forum, and that means people have to leave their details behind. WarFace has first hand information of these sites and the email addresses of the moderators.

Now if that’s so simple

All the posted users are already on the Warface watchlist

 

😎  😀

“Haba is reposting expressing agreement with thachriz!”

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Turrican

lol, was für ein joke 😀

lol, what a joke

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SaxoVtsMike

quote:

Originally posted by thachriz

 

Alle die ” 😀 ” gepostet haben sind bestimmt schon auf der Warface pöse user watschlist!

 

 

Wenn das dann so ist schaun ma mal.

” 😀 ”

Hab mir das auch durchgelesen, Wäre aber mal ein interessanter ansatz das eine firma aktiv versucht torrents zu stören, bzw. gabs da nicht mal ne geschichte (zu napster zeiten <== oops pöses wort) das da mit absicht lieder in umlauf gebracht haben die irgendwo störungen hatten ?

naja mal sehen, von all den kopierschützen ist mir steam immer noch am sympatischsten

All the posted users are already on the Warface watchlist

If so then this is the times we live in. (?literal- If so then the show of the times)

 

 

I have also read, it would be an interesting approach for a company to actively disrupt torrent, or. Was there not a story (In Napster times <== oops ?pöses -post? word) where songs in circulation are used for intentional interference? Well let’s see, of all the copy protections Steam is still the most likeable.

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Turrican

quote:

Originally posted by SaxoVtsMike

<strong
Wenn das dann so ist schaun ma mal.

” 😀 “

Hab mir das auch durchgelesen, Wäre aber mal ein interessanter ansatz das eine firma aktiv versucht torrents zu stören, bzw. gabs da nicht mal ne geschichte (zu napster zeiten <== oops pöses wort) das da mit absicht lieder in umlauf gebracht haben die irgendwo störungen hatten ?

naja mal sehen, von all den kopierschützen ist mir steam immer noch am sympatischsten

 

 

ja, da waren damals iirc einige “fakesongs” im umlauf.

If so then this is the times we live in. (?If so then the show of the times)

I have also read, it would be an interesting approach for a company to actively disrupt torrent, or. Was there not a story (In Napster times <== oops pöses word) where songs in circulation used for intentional interference? Well let’s see, of all the copy protections Steam is still the most likeable.

Yes, as there were some “fakesongs” in circulation back then. (? iirc is either “in my recollection” or maybe means IRC?)

 

 

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d3cod3

da will wohl wer schnell förderungen abstauben bevor das unternehmen ex geht
:-p

Who wants to help themselves to some quick downloads before the company starts  (?Total guess work, my German is rubbish!)

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Rektal

I only believe it when I see it, i.e. a game said to have that “thing” and being not available illegally.

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Excuse my translation, and if anyone wants to point out any corrections, just leave a comment. I think the best thing it to take a general meaning of what the sentence is implying. For example Turrican says “lol, was für ein joke” which translates as “lol, what a joke”. But I don’t think it means the same in English. I would like to think that it means that the whole
nature of the thread is a funny joke! Unless the joke is actually on me! 🙂

I bear no ill will towards any of the guys here, I am sure they are all good people that have no dealings with illegal downloading. I think we were all having a little fun and all in the spirit of things.
Though, I never did hear again from TassDingo! But does he have a point? No and yes, based on the failings of others over the years and the whole mess that has now become piracy. I don’t blame anyone for making snap judgements and laughing at the whole topic that is piracy!

Something has to be done! If nothing more than to give gamers a reassurance that positive steps are being taken! WarFace is here to walk those steps. We are the middle ground; we cater for both gamers and publishers, not just protecting copy infringement rights, but protecting the PC platform.

Now these guys are all worried about WarFace tracking the names of illegal downloaders, we aren’t interested in that, though I didn’t say it. What we are interested in is removing illegal torrents or file sharing. Trying to track someone through the internet is worse than a needle in 20 haystacks. It’s a waste of time and resources! We are more interested in getting results, not wasting time.

Anyone who uploads PC games, they are fair game. We are not after the crackers, because they are a separate entity to the people that share games. Crackers are in it for the challenge of breaking something, while they make the whole anti-piracy process more difficult, we do respect them. (But that’s for another post!) It’s the uploader, who is at fault, they are the ones killing this industry, and yes we maintain that it is dying!

But don’t worry, WarFace is here to solve everyone’s problems!

Just the piracy issues first!

How to download like a pirate!

The first thing that amazes me; there is honour amongst pirates. Well most of the time!

If you don’t know how the torrent system works, then this is a quick run down! Basically you look for an illegal torrent file; this is a pointer to the latest movie/game/music/whatever. You double click, and it loads into your torrent client and away you go! It starts downloading, when you reach 100%, you can stop the torrent and you have the latest film on your hard drive.

It sound so simple, and it is. Basically the program is split into pieces and downloaded to the hundreds of people who want it. These people are called Leechers or Peers. Then there are people who have the file but share pieces out to those that don’t have it, Seeders. If everyone shares these pieces around, you can imagine how quickly the file would be downloaded.

Once you have gotten all the pieces from the internet there is no need for you to seed. It seems silly that illegal downloaders, who are fundamentally stealing a program, would hang around giving pieces of the files to others so they can steal it too! No it would seem more plausible that they would download and go, too play the latest game without being tracked! But it doesn’t work like that, and where the honour among thieves comes in.

This is what a lot of people don’t realise! That your information is logged, and I am not talking about your IP address because that really is not as important as you might think. But what is important, and often understated, is what kind of pirate you are!

On some sites, in the comments section, you’ll see:

How do you install the program? (noob!)
Or:
Please Seed!
Or:
Plz Seed..! (for coolness!)

These people don’t realise it, but they have just become a part of the unwitting joke of the P2P networks. And they are probably noobs too!

If someone seeds a program, they start getting a score which reflects that they share. The same with a person that doesn’t share, they become known as a leecher. Computers track this information and start shutting off seeders and peers on the network. Your connection gets slower and slower, but because it’s a gradual process and you won’t notice it. Even if there are thousands on the network, you’ll be scratching your head wondering why you have a 1kb download rate!

So what kind of pirate are you?

If you are constantly asking for people to seed, I think you have your answer!

So there are two types of illegal downloaders, the honest and dishonest! Who would have guessed there could be such a thing? Well its true, and even better, the sub groups within the P2P networks get even more complex. It’s almost like a community of people! For example there can’t be any more dishonest than a dishonest illegal downloader, can there? Can a woodchuck chuck wood?

You’d be wrong, for any action in life, there is always a reaction. So if people are going to start tracking your Leecher or Seeder life style, and if you are going to be a leech; then wouldn’t it be clever to have some kind of program to counter this. Of course there is, tonnes of them! From programs that directly edit the statistics file of your torrent client. So you edit the uploaded and download amounts. To programs that intercept packets, giving out a fake ratio. So it looks like you are constantly seeding, but in fact you aren’t.

Then there is the other side of the coin, the sharing illegal downloader, where people who seed can be invited to special groups. Called private torrents, these are almost exclusive clubs, which eliminate the riffraff from the P2P networks. So we have the elitist, the common man, and even the criminals! The more you look into the whole community, the more you realise, this world of computers is a human thing.

This stuff is all fascinating, and it seems odd that an anti-piracy group is talking so openly about it. But that’s the point, no one is! People, on the anti-piracy side of the fence, are blindly investing in products. They have no idea why the problem is there in the first place. WarFace is looking at illegal downloading and studying it, because to win a war, it’s as simple as the cliché, to know your enemy!

The Most Childish of Arguments

What annoys me the most about Pro-Pirate arguments, and please, I was born in Hong Kong, so I have heard them all! Is that in essence they are very childish! I know the scene very well, and the only justification I have heard, that has any credit; is the following:

A customer buys the product, but is so fed up with the DRM, that they illegally download to enjoy the experience.

This isn’t the fault of the publisher wanting a DRM, because in this chicken/egg question, piracy certainly came first! Now you can easily sit there and say that a publisher shouldn’t have DRMs that imposes restrictions on Gamers. But you cannot as easily justify this; if it was your product or if you where the Publisher.

Still, the above argument has a valid point, WarFace accepts this, and strives to make the illegal markets a better place. The other excuses, the ones I would call childish, when you really study what is being said. Are so silly that my mother would clip my ear if I dare say that to her, and this is a 4 foot 5, Chinese woman, talking to her 6 foot son! I don’t have the courage and I wouldn’t dare!

Pirates are poor, and wouldn’t buy the game anyway!
Wow! Really, has anyone ever done a survey to find this out, or are we just name calling here?
Please don’t start calling out third world countries, and ones just recently coming out of the second world, because they have a valid case. Why does it feel almost like a justification for the illegal downloaders of rich countries to do this and get away with it?

Because I am guessing that the majority of illegal downloaders are going to need some kind of high bandwidth internet connection, and a half decent computer to play these games. If they have money for those two items..Then it not fair to assume that they can pay for a game?

I am trying before I buy!
Apart from the fact that demo games are released before games come out, and are generally freely available. To justify this as a sensible argument has to be one of the cheekiest excuses I have ever heard. I don’t know of any real world product that allows you the same liberties. Say if you went into GameStop, and took the game off the shelf, stating clearly that you are trying before you buy! I wonder how far you would get before 3 big security guards tried to play Aussie rules with you?

I wouldn’t have bought the game in the first place! (The old – One illegal download does not equal one illegal sale!)
This almost seems to suggest that the pirate is doing the Game Publisher a favour! And on that note, I ask how?
Is the pirate filling in some kind of questionnaire, perhaps some feedback for the publisher? Is he going to do some review, improving the product in the long run? It there any kind of added value going into it? Is there any kind of contribution?

Let us be honest with one another…
Piracy is a huge problem killing the PC industry. If you don’t think so then I suggest you take a look, things are changing! Games aren’t being released on the PC any more, or being delayed.
When was Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2 released for the PC?
If you said September 3 (2010), No! I recently had to go to GameStop, and ask when, the guy said he didn’t know exactly but it was in October. (In Europe, he said that it would probably be the 15th!) I bet that on the first, I’ll find a torrent that allows me to play it 15 days before someone buys it here!

To the illegal downloaders I say this is a sad thing…
Perhaps from your point of view it might not be … but in the long run. But when you are my age, you might turn back and wish things had turned out a little different!  

It was like a million voices … suddenly silenced!

“A great disturbance in the Force. It was like a million voices crying out in unison, then suddenly silenced.”

Yes Star Wars, uttered by the famous Alec Guinness, as Obi-Wan Kenobi. And the reason why I am mentioning this?

http://www.ripten.com/2008/02/28/gaming-trends-part-2-the-state-of-pc-gaming/

I think this document says a lot about PC Gaming and the state of Piracy! It’s not about customers having to jump through humiliating loops in order to perform, and they are. It’s not about how illegal downloaders are laughing all the way to the bank, and they are. It’s not about the pure frustration the game publishers as they desperately try anything, and they are! It’s about the will of change, continuing to do something until they find a solution!

For the Pirates that are laughing, know this, piracy has forced a change in PC Gaming.

This change could go either way, after many times of losing sales and control of their products. Something had to give, and there are two choices, Stream Gaming, or something fair to both sides of the coin.

If the Game Publisher only released games on Streaming Platforms, they could charge what they liked and they will never lose control of their products. Since the conception of the computer, that has been the dream of any software developer, and others will follow suit. Do you seriously think that Microsoft will keep releasing MS Word 2003, 2007, 2010? No, but what if they had a cloud computing model where you buy a license for Word online, and they could charge you a flat fee, per month. Instead of encouraging you to buy newer versions, that looks just like the last one, they already have you paying for a monthly subscription.

Cloud computing! They wouldn’t dare do that for the PC Gaming industry! Would they? There are tonnes of negatives with this system, but from the publisher point of view there are none, the elimination of piracy and second hand sales. Are honest gamers taking the brunt because of the action of the few?

Perhaps Gamers have a point, Games are expensive, and DRM’s have been getting increasingly more restrictive! But piracy has done nothing except make Publishers angry, and gamers went about the complaint process the wrong way. We should not steal, and use justifications like the prices are too high, or because we don’t like the way things have been done! But gamers have made their bed, and it’s time to lie in it!

It should always be the customers who have the final voice, but this time, I fear that Publishers will win out. But I can’t disapprove of Publishers for wanting the Stream model, as it is a constant cash source.

Will the Publishers listen to the cry of the customer?

I think more to the point; did the customer listen to the cry of the Publisher?

Piracy Stats for Modern Warfare 2

Piracy is bad? Isn’t it?

Yes of course, but what I am talking about here is how bad is it? This is one of the main problems with Piracy! Any figures or statistics are hard to measure, hard to quantify, and even harder to get. Anyone looking into Piracy will know about the game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2”. Not because it was the most pirated, or that it was one of the best selling game of 2009. But because of all the attention, people have actually gathered some piracy and sales statistics for it. So when people talk about the scale of PC Game piracy, people always refer back to Modern Warfare 2.

The Game itself had as much praise as it did criticism. Some people loved it, and some thought it was not as good as the last, however good or bad people still kept talking. The story for this game doesn’t end just with its piracy story. However if you would like more information I suggest reading it from this very informative site. (http://www.modernwarfail2.com)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Modern Warfare 2 is a first person shooter developed by Infinity Ward, and published by Activision. This game was highly anticipated, because it was the sequel to the bestselling Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. During the release months it received much critical acclaim and lots of TV advertising. You can read more here at Wiki.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty:_Modern_Warfare_2)

 

What does that mean? Is piracy a big problem?
Yes, but it is not a clear cut answer! One of the main ways game publishers can tell if a copy is pirated is through support. For example, as cheeky as it is, even people who download the game illegally will sometimes require tech support. From this, and the suspicious questions asked, Publishers can guess as to the number of illegal copies that exist in the market.

The best way to see the problem is to compare the sales and piracy pattern. When Modern Warfare 2 for the PC is matched against the XBox 360 version, we find an almost trend reversal. That the sales for the Xbox matches the piracy level for the PC; and the Xbox piracy figures matches the sales for the PC. Of course the scale is different, but it does give an insight into the sales that should have been for the PC, if Piracy wasn’t a problem.

 

 

So there is a problem?!?
But no one is sure how big the problem is! Most pro-torrent sites will point out that an illegal copy won’t mean a direct sale. Also arguing illegal copies are people speaking out about the restrictive DRMs bundled with the software. Claiming that if Game Publishing companies removed the DRMs, resulting sales would go up. There is no evidence to support this, and even evidence to support the opposite.

The PC Game “World of Goo” suffered a 90% piracy rate at the hands of illegal downloaders. The fact is even more shameful as this was the first release from a small independent games company. The game itself was released without a DRM protecting its media, and also received critical praise as being one of the best puzzle games of 2008. Did resulting sales increase? No, a shame, but a lesson learned!

DRMs aren’t too restrictive, are they?
But the customers have a point … DRMs ARE restrictive! They generally only annoy the customer, but the illegal downloaders rarely experience any DRM issues.

In 2008, Assassin’s Creed was released for the PC. What is significant, is the game’s DRM, which was badly cracked, and thousands of illegal downloaders got their hands on this game. DRMs have security features that if someone attempts to remove the security protection, the game will fail. In this case, this is exactly what happened; the resulting bug was called the Jerusalem bug. (Referring to the place “Jerusalem” that when entered into during the game, would cause it to crash! Not the actual living insect, yes there is one!) But of course this wasn’t discovered until much later and Ubisoft received the full brunt of blame, not the people who tried to remove the DRM.

Is it right that DRM’s are on the game in the first place? No.
Is it wrong that companies use DRMs? Again the answer has to be No!

So there is nothing the Publishers can do?
Two horrible words, Cloud Computing! For many reasons, this is the worst thing to hit the PC gaming industry since the … DRM. Don’t get me wrong the technology is very clever and has much potential, just like the …DRM. But honesty I can’t blame the Gaming Publishers for wanting to protect their products. What is really troubling is that OnLive beta across America in June 2010, and I feel that this is too early.

Cloud computing, for gaming, the game sits on a server and is streamed by video to the user. There are a hundred and one benefits to the game publishers, and nearly none for the customer. But what I don’t like about this the most, is you will never own your game in any way.

What’s the Answer then?!?!
We have it, and we want to tell you all about it! We have all the benefits:
• Not an intrusive DRM!
• A complete Piracy Solution, a Strategy!
• Benefits for Customers and Game Publishers!
• New Markets!
• New Control over your products!
• Low Costs, High Returns, Larger Profit Margins!
Come find out what we are talking about!

Information Sources:
Wikipedia Review of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2”
Modernwarfail2.com: Sales flop in the UK!
Gamespot.com: Five-day sales hit $550 million
TorrentFreak.com: Most Pirated Game of 2009!
Arstechnica.com: A Crying Shame, World of Goo piracy rate near 90%
Picture taken from PCFormat, Issue 239, May 2010, Article: A World of Piracy, by: Tamsin Oxford.