Error (1000). ? please insert the original disk?

[JohnKendrick]

If you check page 15 of the Rail Simulator booklet, you will see that the DVD has a 3 month limited warranty (from date of purchase) that it will be free from operational defects. Any defects at this time can be sent to EA and you will receive a replacement DVD, for free (assuming you have proof of purchase, etc).

Clearly I cannot view the booklet without purchasing RS and that seems unlikely at present unless it is available to view online somewhere. (It does happen, I can download copies of the manuals for all my digital cameras.)

After this 3 month period, you can receive a new disc for £7.50, plus the original.

That maybe fair enough should it become damaged through neglect. Overuse though isn't a reason to charge again when it is the companies policy to force users to incur unnecessary wear on the DVD.

I do see the point of copy protection - it prevents people making copies for their friends, in the way that people can do with CDs and mp3s and so on...

I remember being about 13 or 14 when that topic came up between my friends and I, after we realised a particular game wasn't copy protected. All it took to play it was the original installation. Out of 4 people, there was only one sale. The company that made the game suffer from the sales they could've had, they introduce copy protection and now a game everyone wants, you have to buy.

There are other ways of course. Shame some users cannot be trusted not to pass on copies to friends then.

If those who were irked by keeping DVDs in the drive were in the majority, there'd be a lot more people complaining of "I've installed Rail Simulator and now it requires the DVD each time I wwish to play it!" as there has been with every other "fault" (quoted because a fault could be a perceived one, not an actual fault which causes a catastrophic error).

It'd also be causing the games industry far more harm as magazines would be writing in their reviews "contains copy protection" so those boycotting copy protection wouldn't buy it, but then, they probably wouldn't buy any game as everything is copy protected.

It isn't the copy protection that concerns me TO PREVENT COPYING (though it might if it became uninstallable after upgrading a DVD drive), just the need to have the DVD inserted EVERY time the program is run.

John

[CaptScarlet]

Well the obvious solution is to buy the download version as that doesn't require a dvd to run. Of course doing it that way does have other implications which some may not like but it is at least a option.

John

[JohnKendrick]

It does which begs a question....

John

[CaptScarlet]

It does which begs a question....

John

Well the download version does require its download manager to be running at the same time, so its swings and roundabouts really. Its just the way EA does things. Microsoft has activation ( and the disk depending on region ), EA requires the disk. There are very few games that don't have some form of DRM these days.

John

[Anonymizeruk]

I'm just wondering if everyone has forgotten that MSTS 1.2 (CD version) required the CD to be left in the drive. The curiousity was that after you installed the 1.2 patch via the official download (weather you needed it or not), the CD was no longer needed!

I agree that having to leave the media in the drive is a pain in the backside, and does no favours for the longevity of the media, but thats the way of things. I can either choose to keep the media in the drive, or seek an illegal workaround. I'll keep my choice to myself!

Cheers

Gaz

[phill70]

Good post Gary.
Can anyone tell me why this thread should continue ?

Adam and Derek read the threads and post, but this is nothing to do with RSDL, its EA.
As as I know no one from EA reads any posts here.
So RSDL and we cannot do anything about it, so how about contacting EA about it.

[JohnKendrick]

Still unanswered, will RS work with an HD DVD hybrid drive and similar Blue Ray devices, or does the copy protection cause problems ?

John

[CaptScarlet]

Still unanswered, will RS work with an HD DVD hybrid drive and similar Blue Ray devices, or does the copy protection cause problems ?

John

I would think that you would be better off finding that out on a dedicated site that deals with those type of drives seeing that most likely few people here would have one as yet.

John

[PaulH2]

Still unanswered, will RS work with an HD DVD hybrid drive and similar Blue Ray devices, or does the copy protection cause problems ?

John

I would think that you would be better off finding that out on a dedicated site that deals with those type of drives seeing that most likely few people here would have one as yet.

John

I have one and will give it a try over the weekend, although I'm not aware of any reasons why such a drive should suffer from copy pretection issues.

Paul

[JohnKendrick]

Thanks.

John

[jkxx74]

As pathetic as it gets, what's the point of four megabytes worth of copy protection if it means the legit users have to go thru the hassle of protecting the original disc like the crown jewels, while the hackers only need a few minutes to undo all the work the devs put in on the copyguard?

I totally agree but that's definitely not RSDL's fault or doing so complaining to them won't help. Otherwise I'm just as baffled at EA's decision to include complicated DRM/copy protection in their games that becomes a hassle for regular users and that gets cracked with the crack available online right away as well. It doesn't stop anyone except the person that was considering buying the game up until running into the copy protection. Maybe some day the suits will learn