Mass Effect was one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed games of 2007 when it released on the Xbox 360, and quickly ascended to the top of the list as one of the greatest RPGs of all-time. But as those who are familiar with the evils of over protective rights management systems (particularly in the US), DRM can ruin even the best of things.
The DRM (Digital Rights Management) on Mass Effect was heavily scrutinized by fans even before the game’s release on PC, as it was rumored to require an online re-authentication every ten days. While it’s not uncommon for a PC game to require an authentication to verify it is a legally purchased version of the game, such a frequent check-in system was immediately labeled as an inconvenience for users and an accusatory practice aimed at legitimate consumers. EA ended up eliminating the re-authentication process before the game’s launch.
Nevertheless, it’s now become apparent that Mass Effect will still be plagued by cumbersome DRM restrictions. As users learned through first hand experience and through persistent questioning on the Mass Effect message boards, a user can only install the game three times before one runs out of official activations. At first glance this may not seem like such a heavy restriction, but as anyone who is familiar with PC gaming can attest to, it’s an absurd restriction that can nearly cripple someone’s experience. First and foremost, the average user will almost always have to reinstall at least once for a myriad of reasons (configuration issues, hardware complications, etc), counting the initial install one would already be down to just one install left. What if you purchase a new computer and want to install Mass Effect on that new machine? Go for it, but that third install will be your last, leaving you with almost no options after the fact. What if users need to reinstall the operating system for an unrelated reason? A lot of people do reinstalls regularly as a part of PC maintenance. I could go on, but suffice to say there are a whole host of reasons why one would need to install a copy of the game they purchased more than three times.
Many users thought the DRM on Mass Effect would at least mirror that of the DRM on Bioshock for the PC, allowing users to gain an activation after uninstalling the game, but that isn’t the case. So even if you were to uninstall the game (clearly an antithesis to anything resembling an unfair or illegal use of the product you purchased), you would still be left out in the cold after three installs.
As if restricting their buyers’ experience and treating them as criminals was not bad enough, EA has had the nerve to give the fans the PR run around, almost seemingly unable to answer a simple question in regards to the amount of activation keys a user has. In a thread on the Mass Effect forums, one user outlines his attempts at getting a straight answer out of EA customer service reps, which often only resulted in inane answers devoid of any real substance that didn’t even come close to answering the actual question.
After several attempts and a persistent line of questioning, ‘Ares Draxus’ of the Mass Effect forums finally got his answer from EA, quote, “Unfortunately, you will not gain an activation by uninstalling the game.”
Meaning quite simply, three strikes and you’re out.
We will note that there should be some way to call EA support and rectify the situation, and gain some more activation keys, but that presumably comes after a long drawn out call on their hotline and jumping through at least four flaming hoops.
You can visit the link at the top of this post to read more about this story on The Consumerist website, or click here to read the original post on the Mass Effect forums for yourself.
