Why is In-Store DVD-ROM different?

[cringer]

To Telltale,

Why is the DVD you sent to customers DIFFERENT than then the version that is in stores? I was told the in-store version DOES NOT require online activation. WHY would you send customers a different disc?? This is HIGHLY annoying.

[plrichard]

It is my understanding that Telltale does not distribute retail versions of their games. Therefore, the retail version will be mostly different than the version you get directly from Telltale. I personally would suggest that you purchase the games directly from the Telltale store. Not only do they give you ridiculously good deals on most of their items but they are also amazingly helpful in getting their games to work when people are having trouble.

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by cringer

To Telltale,

Why is the DVD you sent to customers DIFFERENT than then the version that is in stores? I was told the in-store version DOES NOT require online activation. WHY would you send customers a different disc?? This is HIGHLY annoying.

As far as I know, the Telltale DVD does not require online activation. It only checks to make sure the disc is in the drive.

Oh, and plrichard: W&G, as well as SBCG4AP, were both released to retail by Telltale, no middle man this time around.

[Avistew]

Originally Posted by Pale Man

As far as I know, the Telltale DVD does not require online activation. It only checks to make sure the disc is in the drive.

Yes it does. The Wallace and Gromit DVD has the same episodes as the downloadable ones. With the same activation.

[Rather Dashing]

If you're buying Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures now, I'm sad to say I'd support the retail box instead of the Telltale store one. The Telltale Store DVD lacks pretty much everything that makes Telltale's Collector's DVDs attractive in the first place, other than the presence of a box and a disc.

[RevolverBobcat]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

I'd support the retail box instead of the Telltale store one.

What are the differences?

[plrichard]

Originally Posted by Pale Man

Oh, and plrichard: W&G, as well as SBCG4AP, were both released to retail by Telltale, no middle man this time around.

Oh ok, cool.

[Wapcaplet]

My theory is that W&G didn't sell as well as anticipated (note the fairly quick price reduction to $20), and Telltale released a scaled-back DVD for financial reasons -- it may not have made economic sense to put together a DVD that has Telltale's usual quality.

I don't think we've ever received a definitive answer from Telltale about the differences. So to repeat RevolverBobcat's question to Telltale: what exactly are the differences between the TTG store DVD and the retail DVD?

[Hassat Hunter]

Well, for starters owners of 'shop versions' seem to get a whole load of additional issues ingame with crashes and non-interactive areas.

Sounds pretty bad to me... :?

[cringer]

It is my understanding that Telltale does not distribute retail versions of their games. Therefore, the retail version will be mostly different than the version you get directly from Telltale. I personally would suggest that you purchase the games directly from the Telltale store. Not only do they give you ridiculously good deals on most of their items but they are also amazingly helpful in getting their games to work when people are having trouble.

If this is the case, then it should be noted on the item on the site. For instance saying "The retail version ONLY does not require online activation. For those who want to play without online activation, then this is the version for you. However, if you want a the Collectible DVD-ROM, which is exclusive to TellTale, then buy ours, but note that this edition will require online activation since the included versions are the one from the site. You may wish to have both editions if you are interested in the collectible special features and the offline activation." Then, in their store they could offer BOTH and let those who want both get a discount for buying both at the same time, and those who just want the retail edition, just buy that one from them or another source.

My largest complaint is that when I read the site FAQ, it said this:

QUESTION: Do Telltale's games have copy protection?

ANSWER: Yes, but we try to keep it as low-key and non-annoying as possible. Our downloadable games use a version of SecuROM that requires online activation. Our disc-based games also use SecuROM. Disc games don't require online activation, but the disc must be in the drive while you play.

This is located under Support / Technical Questions on the site.

[SHODANFreeman]

I would guess that if it requires online activation (mine didn't, but that may be because I had previously activated the downloadable versions on my PC), that it was an oversight. I doubt they intentionally added online activation this time around.

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by Pale Man

I would guess that if it requires online activation (mine didn't, but that may be because I had previously activated the downloadable versions on my PC), that it was an oversight. I doubt they intentionally added online activation this time around.

There was a Telltale post on the issue, but I can't seem to find it. From what I can recall, it was a "technical hurdle", and they chose getting the DVD out sooner over fixing it. I think that was a bad judgement.

[Hassat Hunter]

Same here. Hopefully TMI got a better treatment. Oh well, we shall see this spring.

[Klink]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

There was a Telltale post on the issue, but I can't seem to find it. From what I can recall, it was a "technical hurdle", and they chose getting the DVD out sooner over fixing it. I think that was a bad judgement.

I believe this is the post you are looking for:

http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/...8&postcount=15

Originally Posted by Will

I can't comment on the longterm situation of DVD DRM, since I don't know what it will be. The reason WG went in this direction was primarily a technical one. To get the standard disc-based securom protection for WG would have required a major technical overhaul and would have pushed the production of the dvd out months later. It would probably have been summer before we would have been able to create it, and we felt that people would rather have the DVD with existing DRM than making everyone wait that long.

As for the future of DRM on disks, it's hard to say. I'm a pretty strong proponent of the disk based DRM, but there are new technical difficulties on the horizon that we are currently researching.

Thus far, you are the only person that has actually complained about the issue outside of the company.

Emphasised bold text is mine. Reason why I point this out is it seems more likely than not that future DVD releases may feature online activation rather than standard disc checks. Tie the bolded text to the final line "Thus far, you are the only person that has actually complained..." (even though complaints have been made in the W&G forums) shows that they may have hoped to have this issue slip by without anyone noticing.

I hope I'm wrong, I honestly do. I have invested quite a bit into buying Telltale products. Hell, I even ordered the Tales of Monkey Island DVD along with Sam & Max Season 3 in order to get the free shipping without first waiting to see what the DRM on the disc actually is. If the Tales DVD does include online activation, rest assured it would be the last product/DVD I buy from Telltale (Sam & Max Season 3 DVD included).

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by Klink

I believe this is the post you are looking for:

http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/...8&postcount=15

EXACTLY the one. Thank you for finding it.

Emphasised bold text is mine. Reason why I point this out is it seems more likely than not that future DVD releases may feature online activation rather than standard disc checks. Tie the bolded text to the final line "Thus far, you are the only person that has actually complained..." (even though complaints have been made in the W&G forums) shows that they may have hoped to have this issue slip by without anyone noticing.

I'd rather not delve into speculation over motives that can't really be known. I'd rather talk about what we actually have. It's a fact that the Wallace and Gromit DVDs use online activation. Whatever the reason, that's a problem. If they continue to require this, no matter what the intentions, the disc copy will lose all value for me, because it's NOT a disc copy at all. It is, at the very best, misleading to say you get a disc copy when online authentication is used.

I hope I'm wrong, I honestly do. I have invested quite a bit into buying Telltale products. Hell, I even ordered the Tales of Monkey Island DVD along with Sam & Max Season 3 in order to get the free shipping without first waiting to see what the DRM on the disc actually is. If the Tales DVD does include online activation, rest assured it would be the last product/DVD I buy from Telltale (Sam & Max Season 3 DVD included).

If Tales has online activation as well, I'll wait to see what they do for the Sam and Max DVD. If that requires online activation, I think I'm done buying Telltale games directly from Telltale. However good intentions may be, they may as well send me an empty box if it's an online-activation DVD, and the DVD is the main reason I buy direct and new from Telltale's store.

[Klink]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

If Tales has online activation as well, I'll wait to see what they do for the Sam and Max DVD. If that requires online activation, I think I'm done buying Telltale games directly from Telltale. However good intentions may be, they may as well send me an empty box if it's an online-activation DVD, and the DVD is the main reason I buy direct and new from Telltale's store.

Exactly the reason why I buy direct from Telltale. I'm usually against any form of online activation, which is precisely the reason why I haven't bought Mirror's Edge yet for the PC (boxed copy of course). In Telltale's case, I'm willing to forego the online activations for the digital copies as, up until this point anyway, we've had the option for a physical copy with a traditional disc check protection system. As you say:

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

...[T]he disc copy will lose all value for me, because it's NOT a disc copy at all. It is, at the very best, misleading to say you get a disc copy when online authentication is used.

What's the point of paying the price of shipping for a 'physical copy' when it would be far cheaper and easier to just download the digital versions and burn them on a DVD? Up until this point, the DVDs from Telltale had value. I could install them whenever I wanted to, on as many machines as I wanted to, as many times as I wanted to because I own the license to play the game(s) I legally bought.

As it stands now, I regret buying Wallace & Gromit and am almost ashamed to have it sitting on my shelf of games as the DVD is useless. Sure, I get the Wallace & Gromit short-movies yet the entire W&G DVD is made up of items we could have downloaded ourselves! In fact, that's exactly what I'll do. For your viewing pleasure, here's the W&G DVD in its entirety.

- First, if you have the digital versions of W&G, go to your Games page up the top and download all the W&G episodes.
- Youtube/Google Video "Wallace & Gromit Cracking Contraptions". Watch all 10 of them.
- Go here: http://www.telltalegames.com/videos/ and download/watch practically all the trailers advertising all of Telltale's games.
- Go here: http://vip.telltalegames.com/ and scroll down to Wallace & Gromit and download some concept art.
- Go here: http://www.videogamer.com/videos/wal..._feature.html# to download the 'Behind the Scenes'.

Vwolla! I r maek teh DVD!

I don't know about you but that certainly wasn't worth the price of shipping. To be honest I have no idea what Telltale were thinking. I would have waited a few extra weeks/months in order to get a DVD that was worth the price WITH a standard disc check for the games themselves. As it stands this was a worthless DVD and a worthless purchase.

[Hassat Hunter]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

If Tales has online activation as well, I'll wait to see what they do for the Sam and Max DVD. If that requires online activation, I think I'm done buying Telltale games directly from Telltale. However good intentions may be, they may as well send me an empty box if it's an online-activation DVD, and the DVD is the main reason I buy direct and new from Telltale's store.

Meh, I would stop getting DVD's, but would still buy here. After all, you get more stuff here for the same price compared to other downloadportals (Steam, GG, Direct2Drive etc.)

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by Klink

Voila! I r maek teh DVD!

Don't say 'voila', Sam.

[Klink]

Originally Posted by Pale Man

Don't say 'voila', Sam.

You crack me up, pale little buddy.

[Olegdr]

Ugh, thanks for warning me. Just sent an e'mail to TT support cancelling my order for W&G and TOMI DVDs. I don't need a worthless paperweight of a DVD that won't run without phoning home. If I want to play like that, I'll just get the downloadable versions from my account!