Thank you Brad Wardell - a letter sent

from GalCiv2 Forums
I recently sent this letter to everyone I know that is a gamer. I told the story to a bunch of coworkers and they all asked me to send them the letter too. I just bought the game tonight and I love the insert about hassel-free software. Great Job! By the way, I have people buying your software that don't even play your games. Anyway, here is the letter I sent:

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There are a number of very important issues that face the PC game industry today. The most pressing is lagging sales. The PC games that you and I all love are going the way of the "Dodo bird". This is evident with the policies of such companies like EB Games and Gamestop. They have been scaling back their PC game stock for years. Gamestop doesn't carry PC Games and recently, EB Games is has taken this policy as well. When you ask they say that PC game sales are WAY behind console sales. I hardly blame them.

The industry will blame piracy as the reason sales are so flat. I don't buy those statistics. The research that I have done and the things I have seen leads me to believe that it has less to do with piracy and more to do with the increasing difficulty we are facing with the copy protection systems on PC games. It is becoming harder and harder to use a legitimate purchased copy of a game. How many of you have run into errors during an install only later to find out it was because of a compatibility issue with SecureRom? How many of you have lost a CD key and cannot play your game now? How many of you have to actually insert the physical media to play your game? All of these are fairly benign copy protection schemes but that is changing. Publishers are starting to use more and more invasive copy protection that, at best makes your system unstable and at worst can actually do physical damage to your hardware (www.glop.org/starforce).

Don't believe me? Right click on "My Computer". Select "Manage". Right click on "Device Manager" and select "View -> Show Hidden Devices". On the right hand side, expand the "Non-plug and play drivers" and look for something called "Starforce" or "Starforce Protection". There are a few publishers that live and die by this software, UBISoft being one of them. You can check for the games in the link above. If you have ever installed one of these games in the list, you will have the Starforce drivers installed. They sit between your OS and your CD/DVD Rom drivers and intercept all messages sent back and forth. Pretty nasty stuff to have on your system to JUST play a game.

Why is any of this important? Well, it may or may not be to you. For me, I LOVE PC games. Always have and always will...as long as there are PC games. With data that suggests the console market is far more profitable and the normal distribution methods closing to PC game developers and publishers, they are going to be forced out of the market and into the console market. Either that or we are going to have little dev houses create mediocre software. Gone will be the days of the Quake, Unreal, Half Life, Warcraft, etc. Basically all bigger budget single player or online PC games will be gone (not talking about the online MMOs. They will exist for a long time to come).

So what is my point? In these days where everyone is terrified of one another and software companies not being able to make a cent because of piracy, why is a small company like Stardock (www.stardock.com) releasing a game that has no DRM? No copy protection at all? How can this be with piracy costing the industry 100 TRILLION DOLLARS A YEAR!!!! Oh my! Well, they are directly challenging the notion that piracy is the cause of lost sales. Quite the contrary. They are saying that not only is that NOT true but they suggest that copy protection only makes it harder for the paying customers to use their legally purchased software. On top of that, their philosophy is if you give people a good product that is easy to use, give them compelling reasons to legally purchase the software, they actually will. They are single-handedly challenging the "piracy is out of control" mentality. As it turns out, GalCiv II is doing very well even though a download is available on torrent already.

You’re saying to yourself "Yeah...so?" The people who have bought the game love it. It is in line with games like Masters of Orion. Birth of a Federation. Civilization (on a galactic level), etc. Well, I am planning on purchasing the game from Best Buy tonight. First and foremost, I'm doing this to support this company. I whole-heartedly support their ideas on the subject and I am going to buy the game on that fact alone. I'm sure I'll like the game but for me it is irrelevant. This is the first time a software company in an industry that is "plagued" with piracy is calling into question the status quo. I believe our digital future is in danger. If you enjoy the freedom of being able to use software when, how, and where you like, support this company.
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15,561 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Piracy is a cop out. It assumes that every pirated copy is a lost sale.

I don't like being treated liek a criminal. That's why I like Stardock. They make it easy and worth it to buy their games.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I don't understand the phrase 'cop out', but in my experience the pirates would never, ever, ever buy the games in the first place (lots of pirates here in Australia, probably 50% of my friends, the other 50% don't play PC games).
Fences - Organize your desktop icons today!
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I ask myself how publishers can be so stupid? PC games are dying because of their idiocy. And it is spreading to all entertainment industry. Every dictatorship dream of controlling what people can do or see. Entertainment industry is making that dream (our nightmare) true. You spent your hard earned money just to be treated like a criminal. Congrats to Stardock for not being part of this fascist madness.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I didn't care too much for galciv I. Played it a couple of times, but for whatever reason, it didn't stick. I did think they were heading in the right direction with the game, but just hadn't gotten there yet. However, also because of that game, I learned about Stardock.

I was very impressed with the way Brad presented the company's philosophy on serving the customer first and foremost, and since then, I bought a few small apps from them (and have recommended them to dozens of others looking for similar products). Having worked in IT, I frequent a lot of boards / blogs and sites. Always, stardock was referred to in respecting tones, and devs from the company always presented themselves well.

When I heard that GalCiv II was in production, I pre-ordered and got access to the beta early on. I loaded up the beta, played for 4 hours, saw that they were on the right track and waited until release. (I LOVE the digital distribution too.)

The game has gripped me (even more so than Civ IV, which I have been a strong advocate of). And the updates that are coming keep me anticipating more hours in front of the monitor.

The fact that there is no copy protection garbage is more than just Icing for me; I simply will not buy a game that has starforce or similar garbage included. And the stance that Stardock has taken with regards to this is one I want to support.

So, I guess what I am saying is that I enjoy supporting the company; with this latest "battle" against starforce, I am even more inclined to push the game. Hell, I bought the game sight-unseen because I wanted to support them. The fact that Gal Civ II is also an incredibly rich, very fun game is pure vanilla icing!!

Keep up the great work - keep supporting your customers - keep developing apps you know your customers want and NOT what YOU think they need - and may you be triply blessed in revenue from this very awesome game!!
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The antipiracy shit they put in commercials, and preveiws, and when you start a DVD...it pisses me off. I actually have genuine anger start to bubble up when I see that. I have never pirated a DVD, a game, and I have only ripped a few songs off the internet...and if the songs were good, I then proceeded to buy the freaking CD.

The approach that all of the old bastards in charge of everything seem to be taking is that 'all the little punks are criminals, anyway'.

Screw them. Thanks, Stardock.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The research that I have done and the things I have seen leads me to believe that it has less to do with piracy and more to do with the increasing difficulty we are facing with the copy protection systems on PC games.


Huh? Nonsense.

No, the reason for the decrease in PC game sales are the inevitable rise in console gaming. PC games are increasingly restricted in the genres that are successful. If a genre can be ported to consoles with even moderate functionality, it will be (see FPSs), and it will flourish there more than on the PC. The only genres available to PCs are MMOs (patching is something only a PC can do, and it is integral to MMO gaming), RTS (needs a mouse), Strategy (needs a mouse), and most simulation games (needs a mouse).

Also, consider the Revolution. It's going to have a mouse. That's another 3 genres lost to console games (as well as making FPS's on consoles worth playing).

The only reasons to play games on a PC rather than a console are if you happen to like PC game genres or if you want indie-developed games. That's it.

Either that or we are going to have little dev houses create mediocre software.


You mean like StarDock sized dev houses? Or Link MoonPod sized dev houses? Basically, you mean independent developers.

I feel insulted by your implication that only big developers can make games worth a persons time.

Basically all bigger budget single player or online PC games will be gone.


And good riddance. I prefer console gaming to PC gaming. As I said, the only reason I ever bother is for games I can't get on the console. Rome: TW might be possible on the Revolution, and if it is, I'd rather play it there than on a computer. I don't need to worry nearly so much in online games about L33T H4X0Rz or other such things.

You can try all you want to frame the death of the PC game industry as "DRM D1D 1TZORZ!!!!!" but that's not born out in the facts. PC gaming is being killed by a product that does what PC gaming does, only better. It's more focused and far less expensive. Modern PC games are defined as the games that you can't get on a console.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The only reasons to play games on a PC rather than a console are if you happen to like PC game genres or if you want indie-developed games. That's it.


Or if you like being able to play a game while someone else is watching the TV.

Or if you like being able to play a game without having to fish out CDs or cartridges/untangle the controllers/swap out one system for another because you don't have enough hookups and/or outlets/etc.

Or if you like being able to save your savegames to a hard drive, as opposed to having to use fickle memory cards (if I had a dime for every time I suffered a mysteriously erased save...) or third-party "console save hard-drives". This generally allows you to save whenever you want, too (well, as long as the developer doesn't decide to port over the stupid limited savegames from the console version).

Or you like modding/playing with mods.

Or you like knowing that a buggy game can be fixed instead of having to live with it.

Or you like being able to buy any game you want without having to buy four different consoles (my biggest gripe, and IMHO negates your "console gaming is less expensive" comment).

Or you like being able to play your old games without praying over your ancient console going "Come on... just one more time loading the cartridge... you can do it, baby!". Console hardware just does not age very well, I find.

There's other non-gaming considerations too - for instance, when I invest money into a PC, I not only can play games but can do a lot of other stuff with it. Whereas with a console, gaming, and nowadays playing DVDs/CDs, is all I get. This wasn't so bad when consoles were around $200 at release and computers were more like $2000. But now that we're getting consoles that are more like $400+ at release, and you can get a good computer for more like $1200, it gets a bit harder to justify.

I'm not trying to bash consoles; they have their own perks, to be sure, and I own several consoles and many console games myself. I just don't think they're "better" than PCs in an objective sense. It's a matter of what things you care more about.

Peace & Luv, Liz

P.S. I also find the anti-piracy bits in movies and DVDs to be insanely irritating. Someone who paid to see the movie/bought the DVD doesn't need it and is just going to be thinking "Can we just skip to the damn show already?!" and someone who's going to pirate the movie/DVD won't care and will pirate anyway.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Huh? Nonsense.

No, the reason for the decrease in PC game sales are the inevitable rise in console gaming. PC games are increasingly restricted in the genres that are successful. If a genre can be ported to consoles with even moderate functionality, it will be (see FPSs), and it will flourish there more than on the PC. The only genres available to PCs are MMOs (patching is something only a PC can do, and it is integral to MMO gaming), RTS (needs a mouse), Strategy (needs a mouse), and most simulation games (needs a mouse).


Huh...what are YOU talking about?

PC games are not increasingly restricted to genres. The only game that plays better on a console than a PC is a 3D fighter or maybe a side scroller. All other genres fit better on the PC than on the console. The reason consoles are gaining more market is because Mom and Dad don't want to fuss (or know how to fuss) with a PC. As you mentioned, the cost does play a big role in this. I know many people that have switched to the console because it is simply less of a hassle to use it. People gravitate towards things that are easy to use. It has more to do with these things than the console being a better platform.

PC gaming is being killed by a product that does what PC gaming does,


There is no console made today that can do what my computer can do. There is no game on any console today that has a PC counterpart that looks better than it does on my PC. It may look as good but that is because the console is the lowest common denominator. The console is successful because of its cost, because it is extremely easy to use and there are fewer bugs because of the dedicated platform. Have you seen some of the projected numbers for the PS3? $599/$699 initial release. Hell, the 360 is $499. The cost is going to be less and less of a factor because you can buy a full computer for that much nowadays. Look at the games too. The 360 games are all $59.

You can try all you want to frame the death of the PC game industry as "DRM D1D 1TZORZ!!!!!" but that's not born out in the facts.


Where have you been? The "net" is going completely crazy with how fed up people are about DRM and totally overboard copy protection. Do a search on I hate DRM. See one story after another. Law makers all over the world are creating legislation for and against DRM. There are grass roots boycotts popping up everywhere. What is fact is that DRM and copy protection do little to nothing to prevent priacy. It penalizes paying customers. That is fact. This is only one piece of what is killing the PC game industry. By the way, how many pirating studies have you researched? 1? 2? None? I'm guessing none. I have analyzed a number of piracy studies. Picked apart paragraphs, sentence by sentence to assertain their true meaning. So don't try and lecture me about what is fact and what isn't. I have done my homework.
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Huh? Nonsense.

No, the reason for the decrease in PC game sales are the inevitable rise in console gaming. PC games are increasingly restricted in the genres that are successful. If a genre can be ported to consoles with even moderate functionality, it will be (see FPSs), and it will flourish there more than on the PC. The only genres available to PCs are MMOs (patching is something only a PC can do, and it is integral to MMO gaming), RTS (needs a mouse), Strategy (needs a mouse), and most simulation games (needs a mouse).


Huh...what are YOU talking about?

PC games are not increasingly restricted to genres. The only game that plays better on a console than a PC is a 3D fighter or maybe a side scroller. All other genres fit better on the PC than on the console. The reason consoles are gaining more market is because Mom and Dad don't want to fuss (or know how to fuss) with a PC. As you mentioned, the cost does play a big role in this. I know many people that have switched to the console because it is simply less of a hassle to use it. People gravitate towards things that are easy to use. It has more to do with these things than the console being a better platform.

PC gaming is being killed by a product that does what PC gaming does,


There is no console made today that can do what my computer can do. There is no game on any console today that has a PC counterpart that looks better than it does on my PC. It may look as good but that is because the console is the lowest common denominator. The console is successful because of its cost, because it is extremely easy to use and there are fewer bugs because of the dedicated platform. Have you seen some of the projected numbers for the PS3? $599/$699 initial release. Hell, the 360 is $499. The cost is going to be less and less of a factor because you can buy a full computer for that much nowadays. Look at the games too. The 360 games are all $59.

You can try all you want to frame the death of the PC game industry as "DRM D1D 1TZORZ!!!!!" but that's not born out in the facts.


Where have you been? The "net" is going completely crazy with how fed up people are about DRM and totally overboard copy protection. Do a search on I hate DRM. See one story after another. Law makers all over the world are creating legislation for and against DRM. There are grass roots boycotts popping up everywhere. What is fact is that DRM and copy protection do little to nothing to prevent priacy. It penalizes paying customers. That is fact. This is only one piece of what is killing the PC game industry. By the way, how many pirating studies have you researched? 1? 2? None? I'm guessing none. I have analyzed a number of piracy studies. Picked apart paragraphs, sentence by sentence to assertain their true meaning. So don't try and lecture me about what is fact and what isn't. I have done my homework.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
P.S. I also find the anti-piracy bits in movies and DVDs to be insanely irritating. Someone who paid to see the movie/bought the DVD doesn't need it and is just going to be thinking "Can we just skip to the damn show already?!" and someone who's going to pirate the movie/DVD won't care and will pirate anyway.


the reason they make you watch it is to let you know that it happens and they are mad.. they want you mad about the people they are mad about..