Question regarding purchasing TOMI
 

I have really been looking forward to playing both TOMI and SOMI:SE but I was saddened to find out that I am unable to play SOMI: SE because it requires you have Steam (and thus an Internet connection). I do not have an internet connection on the PC I use for gaming (and can not afford one), so my question is:

Am I able to purchase TOMI on my dad's Mac (or on the PC at my social club) and then burn the installer to a DVD-R, to play on my PC when I get back home?

I really hope the answer is yes because, frankly, all this Internet connection requirement for every F***ing single player game released these days is forcing me to give up on new games and I don't think that's fair! I've already had to miss out on the likes of Bioshock, The Orange Box (and all the games within), Stalker and GTA IV.

Infact, things are so bad that when I purchased a boxed copy of the game Auidosurf a while back, I only realised an Internet connection was required once I got back home. The writing stating such was in a tiny (and we're talking almost unreadable) font on the lower part of the box (not even within the system requirements box).

Anyway, the shop I had purchased it from refuse to give refunds unless the game is broken (thanks GAME, hmph), so I ended up having to download a pirated and cracked copy of Audiosurf just so I could play a game I'd already payed for. Now, if this is the state of things then can someone please explain to me how this overprotective DRM is a good thing? Also consider that EA recently took a risk and scrapped DRM for the Sims 3 and it went straight to No. 1 in the charts... says it all really!

Anywho, sorry about the long rant but I really hope that you're going to tell me that I will be able to play TOMI because if not then gaming can go F*** itself (sorry for coming across as mega-angry but I'm just so upset at missing out on SOMI:SE when I've waiting so damn long for a new MI release). I look forward to your response, Thanks.

I think you will have to buy it and then get a crack for it so it can be used on other computers. Sadly today game companies expect everyone to be online 24/7 and most never games require such. I guess if possible for you, then get the installer, run it on your computer, then get a temporary Internet connection on your computer untill you have registered your game and logged in with your Telltale games login.

To avoid steam, just buy it directly on this site. ToMI at least doesnt have to be downloaded through steam. MI:SE seems to require that. In that case you might be required to install steam, download the game to it with an Internet connection, then playing it on your comp with steam in offline mode.

A problem with Monkey Island SE could be that its really big, 1,5gb I think. So your computer might need using an Internet connection for a while. Dont remember how big ToMI is.

Thanks for the reply kblood. I'm really upset to hear this news and sadly hooking my computer up to the internet temporarily isn't an option as my computer doesn't have a modem (silly I know but I had to save money on my new system somehow).

I guess my next question is, if I wait until TOMI's season is complete and order the DVD boxset from TellTale, will I able to play offline? This was the case with seasons' 1 & 2 of Sam and Max. I really hope TellTale does the same for Monkey Island because this seems like a fair trade off for those without Internet connections at least.

I suppose the only other possibility would be to download a cracked version of the game and then pay TellTale (even though I wouldn't actually be downloading the games from them). I can't be alone in thinking that this would just prove that DRM is a waste of time?!

In your situation it does appear to be problematic.

I would suggest you (or you and your dad go halves) get a wireless router and a wi-fi usb dongle for your pc and connect that way. No cables needed, no modem needed, no network cards needed.

It may not be ideal for you but it's an option none the less. :)

Yes, you're screwed with regards to SOMI:SE right now.

Better news with TOMI - my gaming PC is not connected to the net(and never will be) so that I don't have to slow it down with firewalls, AV and the like, so I was in the same boat. But if you run the installer, you'll find there's a "manual unlock" option, where you put in your serial number and it spits out a code. Email telltale with that code, the serial number and the game you're playing and they will send you back another code that allows you to play without an internet connection.

Viz, that's an interesting solution that I wasn't aware of. I don't suppose you know how much that might cost me and also would I need to subscribe to some kind of provider (such as a phone company or AOL)?

lord darkstorm, thanks for the information. That is a nice workaround on the part of TellTale (if a little convoluted).

Back to my previous question, does anyone know if the boxed DVD release will be DRM free, ala Sam and Max?

a wireles router has to be connected to a internet service provider of some description, which is usually on a contract so i dont see how that would work, unless you just got a wireless usb stick and used a friends router at their house or log in at an internet cafe or some other place with wifi. .. or you could just use a friends modem with an ethernet cable.

then again all that would only work for the initial download - i think with tomi at least it looks on the internet for registration every time you play? you could wait for the dvd then i think the only drm telltale have is a disc check so you'd be ok

maybe you mean a pay as you go mobile broadband stick? where you pay for a certain amount of gigabyte usage per month, put it in your pcs usb port and connect to the internet like internet on a mobile phone. You dont have to pay for the gigabytes you dont use, like a pay as you go mobile phone.

One of my friends connects to the Internet via a USB stick, via his mobile phone but I'll be honest; this kind of technology confuses the heck out of me. I understood the net when it was as simple as having a 56k modem, which plugs into your phone line... ever since then I'm just lost *sigh*

I will look forward to the DVD release of TOMI and will pray that the CD checker is the ONLY copy protection in place but I sometimes feel that I'll have to pretend that games stopped getting made around the year 2000.

I would just like to say that I think all this Internet DRM is a big load of nonsense because I checked when TOMI was released in cracked form and it was available, pirated, on the same date as the official release. So, that means that people who want to pay nothing get to play the game regardless of the DRM and people who want to play the game and have the Internet get to play the game and then there's people like me, who are more or less screwed.

Whilst I do appreciate the suggestions of the people who have responded to my question, I also feel it's a lot of effort to go through to play a single player adventure game on a PC which is able to run the likes of Fallout 3 with no worries and at a healthy resolution (a DRM free game that went to No. 1 in the charts - getting the picture here?).

In summary, I firmly believe that DRM does NOT stop pirating but it DOES punish real customers. Infact, even if I did have an Internet connection on my PC, I would still be pissed off at having a company checking up on me every time I try to play a game that I've paid for. It's rather like having an over protective mother, who insists on checking your pockets for smack every time you try to leave the house (even if you've never gone near drugs your whole life).

Let's get this straight... If someone has a pirate (and cracked) copy of TOMI then they can play without the anti-piracy police breathing down their neck but if you do pay Telltale for their efforts, then it's gonna be Watch-with-Mother time!

Q: How is that right or fair?
A: It ain't.

While you all enjoy the latest slice of monkey lovin', I guess I'll try to beat my high-score on Marble Madness...again! :mad:

Did you see Darkstorm's post? You can play ToMI on a non-internet computer, just takes some communication with Telltale's support team:

I know but that would mean I'd have to send an e-mail for each episode and how quickly would I even get the activation code back?! It all seems rather silly to me and I think I'll hold out until the DVD release because I don't agree with having DRM in the first place so I'll vote with my wallet.

Telltale's response times have been pretty good, actually. I've never waited more than a day for a response from Telltale support, and on a good day I've gotten a reply within *minutes*.

The DVD just uses a disc check, as long as it's in line with all of their DVDs since...at least Sam and Max Season Two.

Yes. A game with a multi-million dollar budget and mass market appeal sold a lot of copies.

Actually they don't. The check is done *once*. Once the check goes through that one time, it doesn't ask for activation again. You can play it offline and you can play it online without it doing anything.

The thing is I'd have to send the request from someone else's computer, so I might not be able to play until the following day or so (when I'd be able to access a computer again to check the response). I admit that's nitpicking though because it's more to do with the fact I don't agree with DRM in the first place. I think I should be able to download from Telltale, burn to a DVD-R and play straight away on my PC at home. I'm not up to no good, so why should I have to e-mail Telltale to prove so (see the mother analogy in my earlier post).

I think you misread my post?! I was saying that I will wait for the DVD for this very reason ;)

You can't blame them for assuming most of their customers have easy access to the internet, because downloading is the main method of distribution. And there are far worse DRMs out there, Telltale's is fairly non-invasive.

Nope, because to go back to my previous example of EA and the Sims 3... before they released the Sims 3 without DRM, EA was by far the worst offender for over the top DRM (to the point of only letting you install a game a certain number of times).

EA is a multi-million dollar company with games that have a mass market appeal and yet they had all this DRM because they feared that they would lose many sales due to piracy. Because so many people (people like myself) complained about to EA about the DRM, they decided to release Sims 3 without any and it went to No.1 in the charts. Ditto Fallout 3.

I appreciate that Telltale aren't a multi-million dollar company with mass market appeal but do you really believe that if they dropped the DRM from their games, that all of a sudden they'd go bust? Or even lose out on a profit that they otherwise would have made? I seriously doubt it!

I mean to say if there was no DRM on TOMI, would you have got a pirate copy instead? Of course not! Infact, If I wanted to, I could download a pirate copy right now but I won't because I want to support Telltale and I'm willing to bet that 99% of Telltale customer's would feel the same. So, why the DRM? If I want a pirate copy, it's there and anyone who doesn't want to pay but still play, already has done so, in spite of DRM.

I didn't realise this before and I admit that that's a fairly low level of DRM and that's somewhat positive but it's kind of a 'lesser of two evils' situation in my opinion.

There's a lot of people out there, like me, who use the Internet at locations other than their home. So whilst Telltale is right to assume that most people have easy access to the Internet, are they right to assume that said access is via their own gaming rig?

Actually, I really feel this thread has moved way beyond it's original purpose. I feel as though I'm talking politics and about DRM in general, as opposed to Telltale in particular (who at least have an option of getting an activation code). I just hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes by voicing my views :confused:

You can get a pay as you go usb dongle as shown below from o2 although all major companies provide similar service, using this you would pay only for what you used (in addition to the dongle itself):

http://shop.o2.co.uk/promo/o2mobileb...tab/Pay_and_Go

Enter your postcode here to check they have coverage for your area if not try another provider:

http://webgen.o2-uktech.com/postcodeChecker

If you wanted a more permanent solution you could get a standard wi-fi dongle that connects to an existing local network. You mentioned in your original post that you dad has internet access, if he currently connects through a router ask him if it has wireless capability. If so you can connect direct to it using a dongle such as this:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/94526

If he does not have a router (or one that incapable of wireless) it may be worth considering acquiring one and then networking both computers to use it. :)

You can get cheap routers such as the one below also from ebuyer but find out what his connection is first before buying hardware (is it cable, adsl or dial-up etc etc):

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132429

Thanks so much Viz, that's really helpful. Much appreciated :)
Unfortunately, I can't share my dad's connection because he lives in Surrey, which is about an hour's drive from my house. So I think I can rule that particular option out ;)

Ah I see, that does stretch the range a tad, I'd go for the pay as you go option in that case. :D

Telltale doesnt get it quite right here.

For starters the Demo is way, WAY, too short. You can´t judge by the Demo if this game is interesting to you or not. At least you should have let me walk around in the city.

After a few Minutes into the full game on a friends pc, i choose to preorder it. If i would have only played the demo, i would have never bought this. So yeah, quite ironic.

I´m gonna put this baby on 3 Computers max., so i don´t expect the DRM to kick in. At the end of the Season, we´ll get a Season DVD which (hopefully) will only feature the standard cd check. I´m fine with that. If there would be no season DVD, i would have either bought this game on Steam (no Securom afaik), or not at all. I only accept the Activation as a temporary solution, because, let´s face it, it won´t stop piracy anyway.

And we´re customers, so we have a right to speak up.

I seem to recall Spore selling extremely well despite its incredibly invasive DRM. Granted those copies were mainly sold before the anyone knew how bad the DRM was. Also, while while some people might be able to easily download a crack and easily use it, there are a good number of people who will most likely try this and get frustrated with trying to use the crack and whatnot and will eventually decide to just purchase the game since it would be easier to deal with (which wasn't the case with Spore when it was actually easier to download illegally).

Another thing that DRM does (as Dashing kind of alluded to) is to cause guilt. If I walk into someone's yard, no big deal right? But if I hop someone's fence into their yard, then most likely I will feel at least some kind of guilt.

So while I tend to agree that most retail releases have too much DRM, a company like Telltale that releases direct downloads needs this kind of DRM because it would make it a lot easier to pirate and the unknowing kid who just wants to play a game with monkey in the title might search for it on google and find it on megaupload or rapidshare.