Info about DRM Thread

I know Desura doesn't have any inherent DRM, but as there is no specific DRM-free policy it would be good if there was a bit more transparency about whether or not a given game has DRM or not and if it does, what kind?

I know Sanctum for example mentions that it's Steam only, but is it the case that if nothing is mentioned then there's no DRM?

EDIT: Apologies if this has already been suggested, but a search of the entire forum for the word DRM turned up no results.

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Three days later:

Seriously, no one else cares about this at all? D=

Edited by: SirPrimalform

I have a feeling will Desura will provide a service similar to Steam where it is the DRM (I actually hope it does as I don't like third-party DRM). In which case I hope it starts claiming DRM-Free and Third-Party DRM, where unspecified implies it uses Desura's DRM system. Even without Desura DRM it is still good to have stated DRM-Free especially since Desura is gaining a lot of traction from Linux users.

I hope they don't implement their own DRM system to be honest. I fear that if they do, we'll end up with a situation like that on Steam where indie developers put the Steam DRM on their games even if the game is DRM-free elsewhere. If Desura introduced their own DRM and didn't start specifying which games were DRM-free I would just stick to GamersGate for my indie games.

That is a good point, but I don't think steam gives the option of being DRM free...

It definitely does, a few indie games on there are DRM-free, but not as many as are DRM-free elsewhere. Dungeons of Dredmor is an example of a game that supports achievements but can still run without Steam running, thus I conclude that use of the Steam DRM is completely up to the developer.

EDIT: After all, the developers don't give the source code of their game to Valve. I'm pretty sure the game has to be compiled with Steam integration by the developers and it's up to them whether or not to make the game refuse to run without Steam.

Edited by: SirPrimalform

i'd expect they would have to start to support some kind of DRM just to compete. IE indy games that are 100% DRM free are nice and pay the bills but MW4 would get everyone and their brother to use Desura.

We wont implement any DRM to Desura that you can be sure of. We like to run DRM free as much as possible, however we wont force developers to change the way their games do DRM for the service. DRM agnostic service.

Henley wrote: We wont implement any DRM to Desura that you can be sure of. We like to run DRM free as much as possible, however we wont force developers to change the way their games do DRM for the service. DRM agnostic service.

That's cool to know, but going back to the original question: For the games that do have DRM, is there some way we can know before purchase what kind of DRM a game has? Not knowing is (for me) quite off putting and is the primary reason I haven't bought anything here yet (just redeemed codes from elsewhere). Something along the lines of the way GamersGate does it would be great.

TheHappyFriar wrote: i'd expect they would have to start to support some kind of DRM just to compete. IE indy games that are 100% DRM free are nice and pay the bills but MW4 would get everyone and their brother to use Desura.

We both know that realistically, MW4 is going to be Steam only though. There's no way Desura can take on Steam at this stage.

Edited by: SirPrimalform

SirPrimalform wrote:

Henley wrote: We wont implement any DRM to Desura that you can be sure of. We like to run DRM free as much as possible, however we wont force developers to change the way their games do DRM for the service. DRM agnostic service.

That's cool to know, but going back to the original question: For the games that do have DRM, is there some way we can know before purchase what kind of DRM a game has? Not knowing is (for me) quite off putting and is the primary reason I haven't bought anything here yet (just redeemed codes from elsewhere). Something along the lines of the way GamersGate does it would be great.

TheHappyFriar wrote: i'd expect they would have to start to support some kind of DRM just to compete. IE indy games that are 100% DRM free are nice and pay the bills but MW4 would get everyone and their brother to use Desura.

We both know that realistically, MW4 is going to be Steam only though. There's no way Desura can take on Steam at this stage.

We have not had any bad DRM on the service yet, the most hardcore thing we have is you need to redeem a CDKey.

Henley wrote:

SirPrimalform wrote:

Henley wrote: We wont implement any DRM to Desura that you can be sure of. We like to run DRM free as much as possible, however we wont force developers to change the way their games do DRM for the service. DRM agnostic service.

That's cool to know, but going back to the original question: For the games that do have DRM, is there some way we can know before purchase what kind of DRM a game has? Not knowing is (for me) quite off putting and is the primary reason I haven't bought anything here yet (just redeemed codes from elsewhere). Something along the lines of the way GamersGate does it would be great.

We have not had any bad DRM on the service yet, the most hardcore thing we have is you need to redeem a CDKey.

Ah, but I have no way of knowing whether that CDkey is checked offline or online. I've come across indie games before where the developer has made the godawful decision to use their own brand of online activation, Planet Stronghold springs to mind. If they vanish, then poof goes my game whether I've backed it up or not.

I used to be fine with CDkeys but I've become wary in recent years because of online activation so forgive me for being suspicious. Can you confirm that none of your current selection of games that use CDkeys use any verification servers?

EDIT: I'm fine with a CDkey being checked for multiplayer, as long as the singleplayer doesn't require a verification server at any point so I know I can back the game up.

Edited by: SirPrimalform