Telltale Games

Iron Curtain · 12/08/2008, 05:46 am

Dear Telltale,

I understand your need to combat piracy with DRM, and I as much as you wish your games would not be pirated at all, but I do actually see some legitimate downsides to DRM. For instance,

1. What if Telltale were to (god forbid) go out of business or become part of a major publishing corporation? How will we be able to access our games since they have DRM?

2. What about installing the game on our own personal computers, which DRM would (theoretically) prohibit?

Just asking something to the so the producers could answer...

Maratanos · 12/08/2008, 07:59 am

Oh, dear God in heaven.

*runs for cover*

patters · 12/08/2008, 09:03 am

do you realise how unintrusive the drm used in telltales games is, and if telltale go bankrupt i'm sure they will still give us the rights to our games, whih you wouldn't need if you have the discs

Badwolf · 12/08/2008, 10:13 am

Doesn't Telltale's DRM let you use a serial key instead of online verification as well?
Definitely one of the less intrusive DRM's I've seen.

**Jake** · 12/08/2008, 10:14 am

I've answered this in greater detail in other threads, but I will say that while we understand many of the issues people have with copy protection, we have seen value in protecting our games. Maybe more importantly, if its a given that our games will have some sort of protection, we try to be real people about it. Telltale's games don't have any practical install limit -- you can play the game at home, on your PC at work when nobody's looking, on your laptop, your media center PC, etc, and nothing in the games will yell at you. To unlock the games all you have to do is login with your forum username and password and it will activate for you. (If that doesn't work, you can look up your serial number and enter it manually. If that doesn't work, against all odds, you can write in to support or submit a hardware-keyed number to the activation system, to give you a manual override code... but these things happen next to never, and are just safeguards in case people run in to trouble.)

Maybe unlike other game companies (I wouldn't know -- I've only worked at this one), Telltale is filled with people who are here because we believe in the products we make -- most of us would probably be playing them instead of making them if we weren't working here already -- so making sure the games stay accessible and in the hands of the customers who support us, even if the company were to somehow go away, is important to us. We keep our back catalog online, and even though we have shifted user account systems, activation systems, and store backends a few times, it's always been a priority to make sure that even the guys who bought Telltale Texas Hold'Em in the first few months of our existence can still access their games.

Fortunately for everyone involved, if tragedy struck and Telltale disappeared (unlikely!), the same people who have made sure to keep that a priority for our customers would still continue to exist as living human beings, walking the Earth. We're not an office of robots who will power off and officially disappear. We'll probably still know each other even! Keeping the games around for the people who have bought them is something very important to everyone

Iron Curtain · 12/08/2008, 01:54 pm

Thank you! I'm sorry if I came off as ungrateful.

Edit: I realize how unobtrusive Telltale's DRM is, but I'm glad my back is covered. That's all that matters to me (in addition to playing great Telltale games, that is (and that the company weathers this recession/depression)!).

**Jake** · 12/08/2008, 01:56 pm

You didn't. No problem!

marsan · 12/09/2008, 10:08 am

I'm having the strangest feeling of déjà vu...

tabacco · 12/09/2008, 11:10 pm

Also, it's worth mentioning that you can always get the free collector's DVD along with the season set, which doesn't have any activation whatsoever. The games on the disc only require that you have the disc in the drive.

Iron Curtain · 12/23/2008, 04:41 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by tabacco

Also, it's worth mentioning that you can always get the free collector's DVD along with the season set, which doesn't have any activation whatsoever. The games on the disc only require that you have the disc in the drive.

Ah, that saves my mind a lot of worry. I'm still worried about Telltale in these tough economic times, though.

Ashton · 12/23/2008, 06:07 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake

Fortunately for everyone involved, if tragedy struck and Telltale disappeared(...) We'll probably still know each other even!

Probably? are some of you planning to run off to a foreign country and have plastic surgery so you'll never re recognized as a TTG employee or soemthing?

Honestly, TTG's DRM is the least obtrusive I've ever seen. But lets be realistic. If something happens and TTG dissapears, there will be people working on the DRM "problem" and I'm sure the proper channels will have a "fix" available if it's needed...

(No I'm not encouraging anything illegal, just being realistic... this is what happened to most of the other abandonware games... like HtR...)

And there's always Gametap and Steam who use their own DRM that, AFAIK, does not affect TTG at all.

The Evolver · 06/05/2011, 07:31 pm

Folks, I was ready to purchase a few games here but what I'm reading seems to indicate that the DRM is Internet based. Which ties the life of the game to the developer bsiness life span. People can give the "mumph mumph" and say "it will be okay don't worry" but it is a ligitimate concern and is brushed off far too often. I keep my gaming PC off the Internet as it keeps it clean so any Internet based DRM is not an option. If you games use a serial, or a key that doesn't require being on line to use it that is fine, but Internet based activation is off limits. I've given plenty of support to independent gamers, and a regular purchaser/gift giver at gog.com because there is no aggressive Internet based DRM to worry about. If I am wrong about Internet based "activation" DRM please enlighten. Or if I am correct, and telltale games changes their stances or sells rights to a distributor that removes Internet based DRM, I'll be happy to purchase a number of your series, as I've ready good things. as I said, I Was about to purchase several games before researches seemed to indicate Internet based DRM. Thanks for any corrections to my assumptions (if any incorrect ones) and the work looks very nice indeed. Regards.

coolsome · 06/05/2011, 07:38 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake

We'll probably still know each other even!

Sooo you will recorgnise me If you see me on the street trying to play TMI.

ShaggE · 06/05/2011, 07:46 pm

Oh man, some names in this thread I haven't seen in quite awhile.

Blind Sniper · 06/05/2011, 08:37 pm

Evolver, you can still use a serial number if you don't want to use the online verification. Read Jake's post above.

*GuruGuru214* · 06/05/2011, 09:44 pm

The downloadable versions of Telltale's games all include a one-time online activation for their DRM, or they can be activated with a serial number. However, every Telltale season (meaning all of their games except Texas Hold'em, Bone, Puzzle Agent, Poker Night, and Hector) includes a DVD copy of the game for just the cost of shipping. The DRM on the DVDs is as follows:

Disc Check
Sam & Max Season 1
Sam & Max Season 2
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People

No DRM
Tales of Monkey Island
Sam & Max Season 3 (The Devil's Playhouse)

One-Time Online (or serial number) Activation
Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures

The DRM on the Back to the Future DVD is unknown, as the DVD won't be released until sometime after the season ends. It could follow the trend set by Tales and The Devil's Playhouse and have no DRM, or Universal might request some sort of DRM.

So yeah, for most of Telltale's major releases, you can get a version of the game that doesn't require online activation of any sort if you're willing to pay shipping costs on the DVDs. And if you don't mind serial number activation, Telltale's entire catalog is open to you.

Also, since you're new here, I'd like to clarify, I'm only a community moderator here. It's the folks with red user names who work at Telltale.

Terpor · 06/05/2011, 10:50 pm

Telltale. What do you think of GOG.com "Good Old Games" and would you guys ever release your games on their website?

*Icedhope* · 06/06/2011, 03:40 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuruGuru214

The downloadable versions of Telltale's games all include a one-time online activation for their DRM, or they can be activated with a serial number. However, every Telltale season (meaning all of their games except Texas Hold'em, Bone, Puzzle Agent, Poker Night, and Hector) includes a DVD copy of the game for just the cost of shipping. The DRM on the DVDs is as follows:

Disc Check
Sam & Max Season 1
Sam & Max Season 2
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People

No DRM
Tales of Monkey Island
Sam & Max Season 3 (The Devil's Playhouse)

One-Time Online (or serial number) Activation
Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures

The DRM on the Back to the Future DVD is unknown, as the DVD won't be released until sometime after the season ends. It could follow the trend set by Tales and The Devil's Playhouse and have no DRM, or Universal might request some sort of DRM.

So yeah, for most of Telltale's major releases, you can get a version of the game that doesn't require online activation of any sort if you're willing to pay shipping costs on the DVDs. And if you don't mind serial number activation, Telltale's entire catalog is open to you.

Also, since you're new here, I'd like to clarify, I'm only a community moderator here. It's the folks with red user names who work at Telltale.

Bone does have a DVD for each episode unless they removed them recently.

Rather Dashing · 06/06/2011, 04:37 am

Also, just in case nobody noticed, this thread is from December 2008, HALF A YEAR before I even joined. Necromancy in the extreme!

*Vainamoinen* · 06/06/2011, 04:46 am

Nuh-uh, you can do some real necromancy and revive threads from 2004. Always a hoot.

12/08/2008, 05:46 am	#1
Iron Curtain Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 431	Some questions to Telltale re: DRM Dear Telltale, I understand your need to combat piracy with DRM, and I as much as you wish your games would not be pirated at all, but I do actually see some legitimate downsides to DRM. For instance, 1. What if Telltale were to (god forbid) go out of business or become part of a major publishing corporation? How will we be able to access our games since they have DRM? 2. What about installing the game on our own personal computers, which DRM would (theoretically) prohibit? Just asking something to the so the producers could answer...

12/08/2008, 07:59 am	#2
Maratanos Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 851	Oh, dear God in heaven. runs for cover __________________ I'll combine your MOM with those items! Last edited by Maratanos; 12/08/2008 at 08:03 am.

12/08/2008, 09:03 am	#3
patters Take another photo Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: uk, manchester university Posts: 1,390	do you realise how unintrusive the drm used in telltales games is, and if telltale go bankrupt i'm sure they will still give us the rights to our games, whih you wouldn't need if you have the discs __________________ Take another photo for your book http://twitter.com/Patters666

12/08/2008, 01:54 pm	#6
Iron Curtain Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 431	Thank you! I'm sorry if I came off as ungrateful. Edit: I realize how unobtrusive Telltale's DRM is, but I'm glad my back is covered. That's all that matters to me (in addition to playing great Telltale games, that is (and that the company weathers this recession/depression)!). Last edited by Iron Curtain; 12/08/2008 at 01:57 pm.

06/05/2011, 07:31 pm	#12
The Evolver Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 1	DRM, a near purchase, but cannot have Internet based DRM on protected gaming system Folks, I was ready to purchase a few games here but what I'm reading seems to indicate that the DRM is Internet based. Which ties the life of the game to the developer bsiness life span. People can give the "mumph mumph" and say "it will be okay don't worry" but it is a ligitimate concern and is brushed off far too often. I keep my gaming PC off the Internet as it keeps it clean so any Internet based DRM is not an option. If you games use a serial, or a key that doesn't require being on line to use it that is fine, but Internet based activation is off limits. I've given plenty of support to independent gamers, and a regular purchaser/gift giver at gog.com because there is no aggressive Internet based DRM to worry about. If I am wrong about Internet based "activation" DRM please enlighten. Or if I am correct, and telltale games changes their stances or sells rights to a distributor that removes Internet based DRM, I'll be happy to purchase a number of your series, as I've ready good things. as I said, I Was about to purchase several games before researches seemed to indicate Internet based DRM. Thanks for any corrections to my assumptions (if any incorrect ones) and the work looks very nice indeed. Regards.

12/08/2008, 10:13 am	#4
Badwolf cannon restraint rope Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 837	Doesn't Telltale's DRM let you use a serial key instead of online verification as well? Definitely one of the less intrusive DRM's I've seen.

12/08/2008, 10:14 am	#5
Jake Telltale Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 5,843	I've answered this in greater detail in other threads, but I will say that while we understand many of the issues people have with copy protection, we have seen value in protecting our games. Maybe more importantly, if its a given that our games will have some sort of protection, we try to be real people about it. Telltale's games don't have any practical install limit -- you can play the game at home, on your PC at work when nobody's looking, on your laptop, your media center PC, etc, and nothing in the games will yell at you. To unlock the games all you have to do is login with your forum username and password and it will activate for you. (If that doesn't work, you can look up your serial number and enter it manually. If that doesn't work, against all odds, you can write in to support or submit a hardware-keyed number to the activation system, to give you a manual override code... but these things happen next to never, and are just safeguards in case people run in to trouble.) Maybe unlike other game companies (I wouldn't know -- I've only worked at this one), Telltale is filled with people who are here because we believe in the products we make -- most of us would probably be playing them instead of making them if we weren't working here already -- so making sure the games stay accessible and in the hands of the customers who support us, even if the company were to somehow go away, is important to us. We keep our back catalog online, and even though we have shifted user account systems, activation systems, and store backends a few times, it's always been a priority to make sure that even the guys who bought Telltale Texas Hold'Em in the first few months of our existence can still access their games. Fortunately for everyone involved, if tragedy struck and Telltale disappeared (unlikely!), the same people who have made sure to keep that a priority for our customers would still continue to exist as living human beings, walking the Earth. We're not an office of robots who will power off and officially disappear. We'll probably still know each other even! Keeping the games around for the people who have bought them is something very important to everyone

12/08/2008, 01:56 pm	#7
Jake Telltale Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 5,843	You didn't. No problem!

12/09/2008, 10:08 am	#8
marsan Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 345	I'm having the strangest feeling of déjà vu...

12/09/2008, 11:10 pm	#9
tabacco I Feel Fantastic Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Marin County, CA Posts: 2,129	Also, it's worth mentioning that you can always get the free collector's DVD along with the season set, which doesn't have any activation whatsoever. The games on the disc only require that you have the disc in the drive.

06/05/2011, 07:46 pm	#14
ShaggE Deep Mushroom Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 3,316	Oh man, some names in this thread I haven't seen in quite awhile. __________________ "This grass feels funny. It feels like... pants." - Kirby A song. Also a song.

06/05/2011, 08:37 pm	#15
Blind Sniper Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 200	Evolver, you can still use a serial number if you don't want to use the online verification. Read Jake's post above.

06/05/2011, 09:44 pm	#16
GuruGuru214 Crazy Windmill Mod Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Kakariko Windmill Windmill Status: Going Around Posts: 6,359	The downloadable versions of Telltale's games all include a one-time online activation for their DRM, or they can be activated with a serial number. However, every Telltale season (meaning all of their games except Texas Hold'em, Bone, Puzzle Agent, Poker Night, and Hector) includes a DVD copy of the game for just the cost of shipping. The DRM on the DVDs is as follows: Disc Check Sam & Max Season 1 Sam & Max Season 2 Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People No DRM Tales of Monkey Island Sam & Max Season 3 (The Devil's Playhouse) One-Time Online (or serial number) Activation Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures The DRM on the Back to the Future DVD is unknown, as the DVD won't be released until sometime after the season ends. It could follow the trend set by Tales and The Devil's Playhouse and have no DRM, or Universal might request some sort of DRM. So yeah, for most of Telltale's major releases, you can get a version of the game that doesn't require online activation of any sort if you're willing to pay shipping costs on the DVDs. And if you don't mind serial number activation, Telltale's entire catalog is open to you. Also, since you're new here, I'd like to clarify, I'm only a community moderator here. It's the folks with red user names who work at Telltale. __________________ The preceding post was made by a volunteer community moderator, not a Telltale Games employee, and does not reflect the opinions of Telltale Games. Remember, only you can prevent forum fires. Completed series runs: Kingdom Hearts (Timeline Order, Pre-DDD, 10/25/10 - 2/6/11) - Zelda (Release Order, 3/13/11 - 4/6/12) - Metroid (Timeline Order, 4/21/12 - 10/17/12) Last edited by GuruGuru214; 06/05/2011 at 09:50 pm.

06/05/2011, 10:50 pm	#17
Terpor Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 37	Telltale. What do you think of GOG.com "Good Old Games" and would you guys ever release your games on their website?

06/06/2011, 04:46 am	#20
Vainamoinen Community Moderator Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 6,666	Nuh-uh, you can do some real necromancy and revive threads from 2004. Always a hoot. __________________ Moderators on the TTG forums are all volunteers from the community and still belong to the community. They are not employees of the company. The opinions expressed in their posts are those of individual fans and must not be confused with official company statements.

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