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Half-Life 2 'Interview' - False Activation Claims? 91

An anonymous reader writes "According to a mini-interview with Valve's Gabe Newell at Nerdsahoy.com, Half-Life 2 will use a form of online product activation to prevent more than one install per copy." Newell also allegedly comments on distribution, saying "...our marketing will mostly lean towards [Valve's online 'content delivery system'] Steam as the method of acquiring the game." Update: 09/02 14:34 GMT by S : Unfortunately, many signs point towards this being a fake, fabricated interview.
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Half-Life 2 'Interview' - False Activation Claims?

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  • Well.... (Score:1, Redundant)

    by M3wThr33 ( 310489 )
    Despite what he says, I'm still going to need to get a new graphics card(From a GeForce 2 GTS), and I heard something of a special ATI bundle.

    I'm an ATI guy, I got the GF2 for free, before that I had a Rage 128.
  • by Soul-Burn666 ( 574119 ) on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @01:52AM (#6848346) Journal
    "it uses a system much like Windows XP"

    Newsflash: 20 days before the official release date of WinXP, a no-activation version was already installed in millions of PC worldwide.

    Maybe they could decrease the number of online gamers, even that was proven impossible. A huge percentage of online HL gamers use a pirated copy and a CDKey "they got from a friend".
    • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @02:04AM (#6848392)
      I doubt that Half Life 2 will have a corporate version ;)

    • by Kris_J ( 10111 ) on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @02:14AM (#6848419) Homepage Journal
      If there's anything that is a better indicator of declining profits than investment in product activation and/or DRM, I haven't met it yet. They're also a good indicator that:
      • The current management don't have a clue about the business, and
      • There are no innovative people left in the company.
      Obviously a really large business is not a coheasive blob and some sections may still be doing a good job, but it does tend to indicate that the person with the reigns doesn't have a clue where they're going.
      • I seen em at ECTS, and when they started saying "we experimented with this" every minute or so you can see there are some good techie twiddlers there still :)
    • "Newsflash: 20 days before the official release date of WinXP, a no-activation version was already installed in millions of PC worldwide."

      Yeah, it was the corporate edition that was installed. Somehow I doubt IBM's going to buy 1,000 copies of Half Life for the employees to use.
  • by Ceyan ( 668082 ) on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @01:56AM (#6848359)
    Why do companies continue to insist on spending more and more resources on copy protection?

    A) It's been proven ineffective, everything from the first disc-copy protection format to activation has been proven to be worthless. About the only thing left to try is hardware DRM, but even that's not fool-proof (X-Box).

    B) If anyone is willing to go through the effort to search, or learn, how to copy games they'll find a way to do it. Those that don't bother with passing copy protection either don't buy the game or will be turned aside by anything beyond a key code.
    • Well its worked pretty damn well so far with WON. If you wanted to play online you needed to authenticate with the WON server. So its really just more of the same, though perhaps less lenient this time around.
      • What I find annoying is that it might interfere with the fact that the machine which I play from might change fairly often. I thought they'd got it all working well with the WON thing - meant you had to have bought a legit copy at some point, and meant I bought two copies of HL1 overall. But having to activate the product, wtf???

        Daniel
        • Ahh yes ... but Windows Activation checks your "Hardware Profile" against what activated. I doubt that Valve cares what hardware you're running. If anything it'll be checking IP/range against what IP you're on. I can see the activation hiccoughing when you switch ISP's ... not hardware.

          Kleedrac
          • As you do when you play from various locations, eg on your beefy company laptop! - or if you have LAN parties in the office and at home, where you're always using your own copy yourself but product activation would prevent you from using it on both computers (non-simultaneously).

            Daniel
      • However, you're forgetting that online services are another matter altogether. And even that isn't fool-proof (with one exception, there are a few games that keep a database of all currently available codes and every new user registers against that database, so that prevents anyone from using a keygen to generate a random value that fits in with the programs algorithims).
    • by Inoshiro ( 71693 ) on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @03:00AM (#6848547) Homepage
      "About the only thing left to try is hardware DRM, but even that's not fool-proof (X-Box)."

      Xbox Live! service + XBox hardware = no mods, no cheaters. There's the odd bugged game that can be used in various evil ways, but the actual combination of a locked-hardware set and a locked-network is fairly strong.

      Sure, you could possibly crack it, but it's so improbable as to be impossible.
      • by Golias ( 176380 ) on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @04:30AM (#6848726)
        Actually, the more popular mod chip designs have a toggle switch on them so you can switch them to look "unmodded" to the X-Box Live server, and use all the hacks when in stand-alone mode.

        Now that Live has been up for a while, it's probably just a matter of time before X-Box hackers learn what Live is looking for to confirm it's legit, and come up with a mod chip that spoofs that.

        • A matter of time before MS changes its check, or adds new ones.

          Don't underestimate the motivation that money can bring to a company. Especially when they'll only be getting my money while I know that there are no modded Mechs on Mech Assault that are indestructable.
        • The xbox hackers know what's being validated, they just haven't figured out how to masquerade it as valid data. It's checking the bios, and what do we change on a modded xbox to run custom apps and copies ? the bios of course. So it is secure until we find a way to execute one bios, but present another to the Xbox Live test (or completely override the test itself - perhaps by intercepting accesses to the bios memory-mapped area). It's tricky but just like the PSX stealth mods that 'hide' after their job
      • Golias mentioned one point, allow me to mention another. A third-party has been developing a completely SEPERATE service similar to X-Box Live, I believe it's called XBoxConnect (although don't quote me on that).
    • Tribes 2 hasn't been cracked as far as I know--you use your CD key to get a username online, and nothing prevents you from making multiple installations.
      • A) It's an online matter, so that makes a huge difference, I'm refering to only solo play.

        B) Tribes 2 is cracked, I know because I have a cracked copy I obtained a few weeks ago when my brother destroyed my original since I wouldn't ever give up playing to let him play. (It didn't occur to me until afterwards that I could use my old information (hey, I was extremely pissed and not thinking straight), but after I realized that I stopped using my illegal information, so for all I know it may have been track
        • A) It's an online matter, so that makes a huge difference, I'm refering to only solo play.

          I guess the way to avoid those problems is to have a nearly non-existant first person mode. I prefer well done multiplayer and single-player, but I realize nobody pirates Tribes 2 for the single-player missions.

          B) Tribes 2 is cracked, I know because I have a cracked copy I obtained a few weeks ago when my brother destroyed my original since I wouldn't ever give up playing to let him play. (It didn't occur to me until

      • Damn did that piss me off - I had to buy two copies of the game because my first one was second hand and the key had already been used.

        It wasn't too bad though, since it did mean we had two copies floating around at LAN parties... you have to put in a valid disk at every level change, and no one thought to bring along a machine with a CD burner.
    • Xbox isn't hardware DRM, it's in the bios, which is just software. The modchips out there are just bios overrides, you can do the same with those "007 save game" exploits that simply reflash the bios with a cracked version. And even hardware DRM will be defeatable unless someone builds it right into the core, because if it's in a separate chip, someone somewhere will manufacture a pirate chip to replace it and defeat the protection.

      Copy protection doesn't stop piracy, it just slows it down a few millisec
  • Mail in card?? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by evilhayama ( 532217 )
    God, that's going to be annoying if you don't have internet access for some reason. Buying a game only to not be able to play it until you post off a card and get a response would be crazy, especially for overseas customers.

    I hope it's like Windows XP where you get 30 days to activate your HL2. If that's what happens there might be nothing stopping me from installing an illegal copy, playing it for 30 days then reinstalling/giving up.
    • I can't imagine why they would give you a 30 day activation period since most people would have finished the game long before then, unlike WinXP which can never be finished (unfortunatly).

      Umm, perhaps it's because people are still playing CounterStrike 5 years after Half-Life has been released, which required the full retail copy of HL until it was released as a standalone product commercially? Or any other popular HL mods. The single-player portion might be over for most in less than 30 days, but that
  • eh? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by toddhunter ( 659837 ) on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @02:03AM (#6848388)
    I'm sure I misunderstand but
    it allows one copy of HL2 per machine
    Does that mean I can't install 2 copies on my own machine? Well fair enough.
    I bought the neverwinter nights expansion recently, unfortunately the CD was a bit flaky so it would barely install properly. After about 4 hours of work on the net, I managed to make a backup of the CD that I could trust would work in 6 months time.
    I don't mind product activation 'provided' you can backup the CD without digging around for special tools, and there is a nice system in place whereby if you re-install/upgrade your PC it can be re-activated.
    And it would also be nice if these measures start to work if they dropped the prices back down to the levels before they raised them to combat piracy. Can't see that happening though
  • by Sparr0 ( 451780 )
    the biggest problem with a system like this are what happens when you want to reinstall the game? or buy a new PC?
  • Fuck you, Valve. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @02:30AM (#6848467)
    At least, that was my first reaction. If I can't install this game on my home home computer, then install from the same CD on my computer at work to play LAN games at lunchtime with my co-workers who are also going to be buying a copy - the effective cost of the game just doubled and I'm not going to bother with it at all.

    And this is from someone who bought the original Half-Life TWICE. I got it once when it first came out, then again when it was available in the giant bundle with both expansion packs as I'd since loaned the CD to a friend who'd moved away. If me buying your game twice isn't customer loyalty, I'm not sure what is. If you're going to turn around and screw me by forcing me to buy two copies of your product - adios. I'm not buying another one of your games ever again.

    If the activation would allow me to install it in two places, so long as I only ran it in one place at a time (and even if it required me to be connected to the internet - I'm used to that for massively multiplayer games) that would be acceptable to me. So long as there were an uninstall feature that would let me move one activated copy to another computer if/when I upgrade my machine.

    But product activation in HalfLife 2 would be such a monumentally horrible idea that I question the source - especially as I've never heard of that site before.
    • by Komarosu ( 538875 )
      Good point, i liked the fact in HL1 they had WON IDs for online play but for LAN these were scrapped (as obviously you can't validate them) but this was excellent for these office LAN bashes :)

      Now we maybe have to suffer with no HL2 LAN play, i could see this could cause a problem at LAN parties where a net connection is extremly hard to get (say like a LAN party in a Pub meeting room).
    • Re:Fuck you, Valve. (Score:3, Informative)

      by Zathrus ( 232140 )
      If the activation would allow me to install it in two places, so long as I only ran it in one place at a time (and even if it required me to be connected to the internet - I'm used to that for massively multiplayer games) that would be acceptable to me.

      IIRC, that's allowed. Now this is all based on the reading of one thread [burstfire.net] on the HL2 forums, but in there Gabe Newell states that you can play from a friend's house using your CD key, even without them having bought the game. Better yet, your key bindings an
    • Not only is the interview fake, but you won't even need to take the CD with you to work - if you're logged in to Steam, it knows you have the rights to the game and will let you have it.
  • I don't know a lot about how the system here works, but I do know that I lost my key to Q3. WTF couldn't they print it on the CD instead of on the jewel case? Ugh. If this system means that I won't need to keep an easily losable number around, I guess its okay. If not, well then I won't be buying it.

    I mean, if they're going to use a system like this, why not just include a dongle?
    • The first thing I do when I buy a game with a CD-Key is take out my trusty Sharpie pen and write the key on the CD.

      You need a license to have a dog, but any fool can have a child!
    • If you stick it on the Jewel Case you can use a more brutal machine to stick it on than if it was the sensitive CD.

      Plus you can get the jewel cases made ahead of having the CDs pressed.

      But I agree, this is annoying move from Valve.
      Like all copy protectin, the only people it will annoy is legitimate customers.

      "No CD Present" - "Yes there is, it's on the shelf in the box"

      5 minutes and a trip to
      http://www.gamecopyworld.com
      later

      "ahh, no-cd bliss"

      • NO CD cracks are perfectly legal, and makes games load quicker. You still have to own the game to play online (or a legit authcode), so it is NOT PIRACY!

        NOCD Cracks are a godsend for lan parties, why would I want to take all my CD's, when there are 15 different games up, fuck swapping discs. Bad enough you pay 50 bux for a game or 200 bux for an OS to be treated like a criminal.

        Its tough being a consumer.

    • I had one CD once that had the key on the CD label. (Student version of JBuilder.)

      Ran installer. "Okay, now your product key, please?" Ummmmm.... wondering where the heck it is supposed to be, then (after exiting, unmounting the CD and ejecting it) noticing it's on the CD.

      If I remember correctly, then I had to do it again because it had a strange font that made distincting between l and 1 hard, or some other silliness like that.

      Having the key on CD may make it harder to lose, but also quite hard to se

  • HAHAHAHAHA (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @02:46AM (#6848514)
    Guess what happens when their "STEAM" content delivery system suddenly has HalfLife 2 available.

    CRUNCH. No more Steam Content servers.

    They say they have 1.8Gbps [steampowered.com] bandwidth, but a mere 3345 people used 1.3Gbps when the RedHat ISOs [scarywater.net] were released on BitTorrent. Centralised content distribution like Steam is simply not going to be able to handle the load for the size of files they're going to be throwing around.

    Without some decentralised P2P file downloading action it's about as bright an idea as their "Powerplay" initiative (and look how that turned out [gamespy.com]).
  • So... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Fweeky ( 41046 ) on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @02:53AM (#6848530) Homepage
    ... pirates get to wait an extra couple of hours for a crack, and paying users get yet another annoying "protection" to get in their way. Yet again, those who aren't paying are getting a *better* product (no faffing about keeping the CD in the drive, no mandatory registration) than those who are. That's great! No, really...

    Are they at least going to offset the annoyance factor by forgoing the CD checks? I have 300GB of disk space - I don't want to have to screw about hunting for a disk I can't copy properly which should be in storage somewhere safe.

    Screw Steam too; post it to Usenet and P2P, and give me a way of buying a cheap license which factors in the fact that I didn't cost anything to distribute the game to. It's going to appear there anyway; it might as well do so legitimately.
    • Coudldn't agree more, in the end, its only the paying customers losing the time, effort, and if Windows XP Activation is anything to go by, a whole lot patience.

      I cannot imagine going through an activation every time I buy a new game, This will detract more from sales than any piracy statistic.
  • by swdunlop ( 103066 ) <swdunlop AT gmail DOT com> on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @03:21AM (#6848596) Homepage
    Sierra seems like they are trying to beat out Activision and Electronic Arts for pissing on its customers, lately. First, the public relations debacle that culminated here [relicnews.com], with one of Sierra's PR reps calling his customer base miniscule and sophomoric, and now an adoption of a licensing scheme which, like every scheme before it, won't hinder pirates but will annoy legitimate users to no end.

    I was on the fence about buying Half Life 2, since I really enjoyed the mods for HL1 more than Sierra's game, but I don't think Sierra will be getting a piece of my entertainment budget for a while. It's a shame, because I really like Relic's games.
  • by Drakin ( 415182 ) on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @03:29AM (#6848615)
    That the source is kinda dodgy? As one AC mentioned, it's not a site anybody's really heard about, and it was submitted anonymously. Combine this with the way it reads. While Mr. Newell often made amusing responces to questions, they tend to at least have more humour than what was found in this interview. Not to mention the way the questions were posed. 8/27/03 Interview with Mr Newell for comparison [gamingsource.co.uk]
    • I was just thinking that myself Drakin. Are we that desperate for information on HL2 that we will dissect any tiny bit of info from what could easily be a fake interview. How many more conclusions can we jump to from this article?

      We need some solid proof on the points raised and not these Chinese Whispers [chinesewhispers.com]
    • That the source is kinda dodgy?

      It sure smells funny :) Anyway, the release date is said to be September 30th, but, frankly, information is really sparse if that date is realistic. I mean, there aren't even system requirements mentioned at Sierras website [sierra.com], nor a picture of the box...

      If there was a poll about whether this article is fake or not, I'd vote "fake".
    • by simoniker ( 40 ) * <<simoniker> <at> <slashdot.org>> on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @09:47AM (#6850203) Homepage Journal
      Thanks for everyone cluing me in as to the possible suspect nature of the interview. The headline's been changed here and at GameTab, and the article's been updated. Honestly, don't people have anything better to do with their time than make up interviews, and then anonymously submit them here? Grr.
      • Unfortunately, the damage is probably already done. Months from now when HL2 is released, somebody will probably pop up with "I'm not going to buy that because it has Product Activation. I read it on /."
  • Now I admit I browse at 2, so someone may have mentioned this. But with Half-Life (the original first version), you also needed a valid product code to download patches and play online. From what I remember, there was no way to get around this, and while Half-Life was released illegally you still couldn't play online.

    If they give you 30 days with this, how is it any different?
    • You don't need a valid code to download patches, but for playing the game online, yes.
    • Re:Wha??? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Kleedrac2 ( 257408 )
      Small error there. You need a valid CDKey to use the Sierra Update to download patches. Anyone can go to http://www.planethalflife.com/ and download patches and mods to their hearts content.

      Kleedrac
  • by Dunkirk ( 238653 ) <{david} {at} {davidkrider.com}> on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @06:57AM (#6849102) Homepage
    I was really looking forward to HL2. I had the date marked on my calendar and everything. However, with this news, I doubt I'll buy it at all. I've avoided buying Windows XP because of the whole issue, and continue to run Windows 2000 to play games. To me, the "upgrade" wasn't worth letting someone else tell me that I was "allowed" to run it, even after I've already paid for it because of a hardware change. What if I lose my internet connection after the change? I'm stuck until I make a call? I'm sorry. That's just ridiculous -- to me -- that I would have to fool with that, again, after I've paid for it, free and clear. Unfortunately, I've just tried this new "Steam" product, and I thought, "Hey, this will be great! All these games for free! It will even be perfect for LAN parties because we'll finally be able to play Counter-Strike even though not everyone has bought it." Then I realize that for one thing, there are ads every time you launch a game. Not big ones, but ads. "Fine," I thought, "this is a free product. I get what I pay for." On top of this, the other thing that bugs me is that it's "phoning home" every time I launch a game. Again, it's free, and I guess that's part of the deal, but if we don't have an internet connection at the next LAN party (and sometimes we don't), then we can't play Counter-Strike for free. The bottom line is that I like to install my games both at work and at home, so I can play on my own time at lunch, and occasionally after work. I take my saved games back and forth while I beat a new game to death. If Valve tells me that I can't do that without paying for two copies, that's their perogative, of course, but it's also my perogative to not buy it. It seems ridiculous to me that I can't treat a video game like a book, and take it "where I want to go today." Product activation "like Microsoft" indeed. It looks like Valve will inherit my Microsoft buying habits, and I don't buy anything from Microsoft any more.
  • One of the things that sucks about this sort of thing is how it affects those of us who use Wine to run the program. Case in point: I own HL1 and BlueShift. HL1 installs quite happily under Wine, and runs. BlueShift installs but won't run - in order to run it under Wine you have to use a cracked version. So once again you have a legitimate user being forced to use a cracked game in order to play that which they own.

    One of the questions WRT HL2 I have is "Will I be able to play it under Linux?" - either via
  • I'm really sorry to see Valve go to this model. I was really looking forward to playing HL2. However, now I highly doubt I'll buy it. :(
  • This is fake (Score:3, Insightful)

    by entrager ( 567758 ) on Tuesday September 02, 2003 @07:31AM (#6849275)
    I seriously doubt this article is authentic, as someone else pointed out. I'm surprised no one else has posted the whois info yet.

    Domain Name: NERDSAHOY.COM
    Registrar: GO DADDY SOFTWARE, INC.
    Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
    Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com
    Name Server: NS0.WASABIDNS.COM
    Name Server: NS1.WASABIDNS.COM
    Status: ACTIVE
    Updated Date: 24-may-2003
    Creation Date: 24-may-2002
    Expiration Date: 24-may-2004

    Notice the creation date. The main page of Nerdsahoy.com claims it's been up since 1999. Netcraft has no history on the site, nor does the Wayback machine.

    nerdsahoy.com claims that all of it's previous news was accidentally deleted... a likely story indeed.
    • I agree, if this is not a fake then I am a "small thin blonde swedish wilderness cookie girl who ha syet to meet her quota!" ... which I'm not, so it must be a fake, I hope and I pray its not, I REEEEALLLY hope its a fake.
    • planethalflife think it's fake as well, and there isn't the firestorm I'd expect there to be if this was for real over at futuremark. Basically I think someone is playing silly buggers.

      On the other hand, Steam will have the ability to read and write to your half-life 2 directory - it'll be able to upgrade your game or install mods, cf interview here [futuremark.com]. Which is nearly as potentially troublesome..
      • Re:This is fake (Score:3, Interesting)

        by entrager ( 567758 )
        Which is nearly as potentially troublesome..
        I'm not concerned about that feature. Steam is an option, it can be turned off. But even so, I trust Valve not to do anything that I don't want. Valve has always done right by me, and I don't expect that to change.
  • How many people will be able to play at once in a single multiplayer game?

    No comment.

    You have been tight lipped about multiplayer from the start... is there anything you can tell us? C'mon!

    Prepare to taste the future.

    Is he hinting at distributed servers or what. One of the cools things about the original HL was that level loading was done seamless, allowing people to move back and forward through the game. Extrapolating this to game servers brings us to players roaming from server to server, without

    • From the Halflife2.net forum linked somewhere else in this thread (posted by McFace):

      Distributed computing is harder than hyperthreading but it has the potential to increase performance by a huge amount (8X on our tools) as opposed to hyperthreading (30%). All of our tools are going to a distributed approach.

      So the taxonomy looks like this:

      - general algorithmic optimization (general good thing to do)
      - DX9 optimization (big gains, long term direction)
      - 64-bits (not that hard, solves memory problem as wel
  • Just did a wee (translation - little) bit of digging on Google and found the following cached page [google.co.uk]. (I searched for Nerdahoy)

    It also appears that these are the gentlemen who made the sites, Lamespy and Crappynews. Which I have never heard of but do sound very parody orientated.
  • For fucks sake!! (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'm posting this anonymously cause I'm pretty sure it'd get modded to flamebait otherwise. I can't fucking stand the fact that you assholes are using such a pitiful excuse as a copy protection scheme as the reason you're gonna pirate a game. If you want to pirate and don't want to give Valve money for product don't. But don't try to excuse it by saying "I don't like their copy protection, they are gay, so I won't buy it." That's lame.
  • FAKE! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by braedan51 ( 624642 )
    This inverview is an obvious fake. Has ANYONE ever heard of Nerdsahoy.com, come on! The site is extremely sparse and if you go to the main page you get some BS about how their news archive was deleted, so to ONLY article on this site is a FAKE HL2 interview. LAME. This never shoulda made it to /. A little common sense goes a long way.
  • Not likely (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Valve have never previously mentioned product activation in any of the genuine interviews.

    Seems most games these days tend to work with a CD key which appears valid for offline gaming but have slightly better controls to check authenticity when playing online. It's widely known that Steam will be used for HL2 multiplayer, this seems to allow one CD Key per account, but from what we've seen so far there are no controls on where you install the game. We've yet to see anything mentioning Steam being require
  • Confirmed fake. (Score:2, Informative)

    by wire2k ( 703777 )
    http://nerdsahoy.com/articles/view.php?articleID=1 66
  • by luekj ( 692478 )
    I am so confused now!

    This bloody fake article has tainted my mind! It was just casual enough to make me think it could be real and just chums of Gabe. How could I be so nieve?

    I'll never trust an interview link again, gah. I think I'll need a chain to restrain my giddy mouth from saying "but they're going to have incentives to go with the online purchase, really!!".

    I think I need a life....

  • Unfortunately, many signs point towards this being a fake, fabricated interview.

    Why unfortunately? If it requires product activation there is no way in hell I'd ever buy HalfLife 2. And i'd like to, so i hope it is a fake interview.

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