SPCR

I enjoyed Oblivion a lot and wanted to buy the new Fallout3, assuming it won't have some nasty DRM attached.
But it seems that's not the case, the SecuROM page at Wikipedia says, quoting:

The developing corporation Bethesda producing Fallout 3 in an interview assured the public that they would not be utilising any remote-activation DRM but merely the basic disc checking version. However shortly after the release customers discover that this is not true, and instead the game contains a version of SecuROM v7.36 which checks for the disc as previously stated but also has an invasive kernel-mode driver which checks for commonly used CD/DVD writing software on the system and if detected, the installation is aborted. The version sold on Steam does not have this feature.

This is really pissing me off! I already avoided buying the GOTY version of Oblivion (includes the two expansion packs) because it comes with SecuROM.
What should I do to buy good games that are DRM-free? I never used Steam and read that some games at Steam may be using SecuROM-online.
I don't want invasive DRM software on my computer, that I use for both work and leisure, because it could compromise stability.

Just be glad it doesn't have an activation limit.

Maybe the no-CD cracks remove this bullshit...?

I doubt it, since the no-CD cracks don't remove kernel-mode drivers AFAIK.
Anyone uses Steam, and can confirm that I should be able to buy DRM-free Fallout3 from Steam?

How about this? http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?s ... d=25596161

Interesting, thank you for the link!
But I'll wait for confirmation before ordering.

Tzupy wrote:Anyone uses Steam, and can confirm that I should be able to buy DRM-free Fallout3 from Steam?

Steam is DRM, so no.

I am quite happy with Steam, it is indeed Digital Rights Management, but it's not as intrustive as securom. On top of that it gets the customer an extra service that the pirate won't receive. Steam itself as a service allows you to buy and directly download games pretty easy and fast, and their prices are pretty competitive as well. On top of that, you can download and install the games that are linked to your account anywhere that you install the steam client and log in. Also there's an IM system (that works ingame) and some other features.

Another +1 for steam from here. If you buy from Steam, you don't need any optical disks because obviously you don't have any, so you are relieved of the massive inconvenience of having to swap optical disks in your drives manually to be able to play different games. Also if your hard drive crashes or house burns whatnot, you can just redownload the games again. If your original dvd cracks in two, you can't get a replacement.

Because of these features, I do prefer Steam to any other DRM-protected systems in games. I might still prefer no DRM whatsoever.

In fact I do buy all my games. But some packages I never open, because I don't want to install the DRM parasites that come with the game. It sucks that the law-abiding customer is the sucker here. So I just skip any titles with sucky DRM, and do something else with my time instead.

I guess it's a moot point for me either way, since nowadays I have zero time for gaming anyway.