I want to buy Uprising, but...

[Adam Blue]

EDS means that with the purchase of your digital product, your download will be available for five full years from the date of purchase. This is an extension to the complimentary coverage we provide for one year with any digital purchase from the EA STORE. You’ll gain peace of mind knowing that we have your program stored and ready for you to download again at your convenience!

A little extra protection on your order to keep your products safe? Why not!

This is an extra 5.99 on top of the 19.99 for Red Alert 3: Uprising, which I guess you can look at as tax. It's an expansion for $20 with 4 campaigns, the 4th being a diablo-style dungeon crawler with Yuriko, the psionic school-girl.

My questions is...is this DRM free?

1. Extended Download Service - Upon payment of the specified fee, Digital River, Inc. ("DR") agrees to provide you (the "End User") a service that enables the End User to make multiple downloads of digital computer software products (a "Product" or "Products") purchased in a single order (an "Order") and downloaded from this Web site (the "Site") for a period of five (5) years after the End User purchases the Product (the "Service").

So, unlimited downloads for 5 years?

[J Arcane]

Fuck the EA store. Seriously. That's more than it used to be, when I was deciding where to buy Spore, the times were 6months regularly and 2 years with EDS. I wound up getting it from Direct2Drive instead.

If EA Store is the only way they're selling this, I personally recommend giving them the finger and going without rather than supporting such tripe. If it isn't, then get it somewhere else, almost all of EA's releases come to D2D at least.

[Murtaug]

Way back when I was playing Battlefield 2142 I bought the Northern Strike expansion through their download service. It downloaded and installed through their software, and I forget where exactly, but I ended up finding the setup file that I have saved and used several times to reinstall.

Not sure how much it has changed, that was a couple of years ago now, but I imagine it is similar.

[Adam Blue]

Way back when I was playing Battlefield 2142 I bought the Northern Strike expansion through their download service. It downloaded and installed through their software, and I forget where exactly, but I ended up finding the setup file that I have saved and used several times to reinstall.

Not sure how much it has changed, that was a couple of years ago now, but I imagine it is similar.

Yeah, the store is gone. It's back now and web-based, with less DRM crap. If this file is a free-to-move-around-and-install-anytime type of file, I say it's a great deal.

[Libuke]

Moved to news?

[J Arcane]

Yeah, the store is gone. It's back now and web-based, with less DRM crap. If this file is a free-to-move-around-and-install-anytime type of file, I say it's a great deal.
Until something happens to your hard drive, or you forget to back it up when moving to a machine, or lose the homemade backup disc you burned, or . . .

Fuck that. A "great deal" would be working like every other fucking decent digital seller on the market, from Steam, to Impulse, to D2D, to GOG, and beyond, and letting me redownload the game I bloody paid for as many times as need be.

The EA Store's terms are nothing more than a bogus money grab, and basically mean all you're doing is paying for a very long term rental, and that's unfuckingacceptable.

[Adam Blue]

Until something happens to your hard drive, or you forget to back it up when moving to a machine, or lose the homemade backup disc you burned, or . . .

Fuck that. A "great deal" would be working like every other fucking decent digital seller on the market, from Steam, to Impulse, to D2D, to GOG, and beyond, and letting me redownload the game I bloody paid for as many times as need be.

The EA Store's terms are nothing more than a bogus money grab, and basically mean all you're doing is paying for a very long term rental, and that's unfuckingacceptable.

Copy it onto four dvd's and online storage?

[J Arcane]

Copy it onto four dvd's and online storage?
I already paid for digital storage when I bought a digital copy of a game for the same bloody price as the retail box.

[Adam Blue]

I already paid for digital storage when I bought a digital copy of a game for the same bloody price as the retail box.

Just IMO, if this is actually DRM free loke GOG, then technically this is better than steam. You don't need a client and I assume just a regedit of the key would allow network play...although this title has no multiplayer, which could go into way it is available in this way.

Yes, a time-limit sucks...but for those who know how to get around it, it could be worth it.

Just like the original EA store and Google Videos...I'll be sad the day a digital gaming service goes under.

[soqua]

Let me try to understand.

So $20 for the game, and $5.99 for the right to download it again should you lose the game for whatever reason, and you think it's a better deal then steam because it doesn't have DRM or require a client? :boggle:

I'd wait a few months to see if they put the game on Steam, or wait until October when they inevitably release it with an expansion pack.

[J Arcane]

Let me try to understand.

So $20 for the game, and $5.99 for the right to download it again should you lose the game for whatever reason, and you think it's a better deal then steam because it doesn't have DRM or require a client? :boggle:

I'd wait a few months to see if they put the game on Steam, or wait until October when they inevitably release it with an expansion pack.
Except it does require a client, the EA Downloader, and it does have DRM. There is no way whatsoever in which the EA Store works better than Steam, or anything else for that matter.

[Adam Blue]

Except it does require a client, the EA Downloader, and it does have DRM. There is no way whatsoever in which the EA Store works better than Steam, or anything else for that matter.

This is what I've been asking...I never said it was better but suggested so if there was no required client or DRM. It advises multiple downloads through the course of five years.

And I'm not sure if the downloader is really a Steam-style client. I'm wondering if it's similar to Amazon. Just there for the download, but not to activate the game.

These discussions seem to jump to conclusions quickly which are just sparking arguments, implying one side is 'dummer' than the other. My whole point of this discussion was to look into this distribution and find something positive out of it. Sorry I made it difficult to understand.

[J Arcane]

The client is required to download the installer, and while technically the DRM for each game is attached to the installer itself rather than integrated with the client, the installers still require you to have the client installed, and as well, it uses the client for update installs.

It's basically like Steam, only more needlessly complicated and irritating. The only technical advantage is that it is more flexible when it comes to backing up the installer. Steam can back up install files as well, but it uses this wierd CD backup system that I've never bothered with because it's not necessary, as Steam lets me download my games whenever I choose for as long as Steam continues to exist.