I'm not going to read that wall of text, Lecic, sorry. I'll respond to the first sentence/line in each paragraph.
Again, this is not a DRM issue. Ships, within the game, are physical objects.
Yes, but they also exist as digital media in the real world, and the implications of that can't be escaped. Again, this is an absolutely perfect example of DRM.
You'll notice that no one sells ships in game currently. Why is this? Because you have absolutely no way to prevent someone from purchasing your design once and then no one else on the server ever buying it from you ever again. """X""" is not the reason no one can get rich off selling ships. Lack of protection means no one tries in the first place because it'd be a foolish endeavor. You either get one or two maximum sales, or you have to sell things at a loss, in which case, what the fuck is the point?
The number X means DRM can't solve the problem.
You can sell more than once on a server (assuming X is greater than 1), see my third section. You can also use a business model that doesn't need to sell more than once.
As for your negatives, they are just flat out WRONG.
Which part?
Do "financial" pressures drive for-profit designers to design? Obviously yes.
Will that pressure be greater or less if sales of old designs are protected? Obviously greater.
Will that pressure translate into a slower rate of design? For some designers some of the time, yes - so overall yes.
Do arms races drive the need for new designs? Yes, as people opposed to my argument have pointed out in this thread.
Will DRM slow the spread of designs through the community? Yes, it's one of the reasons DRM is being asked for.
If it takes longer for a faction to convert its fleet to a new design (it has to buy each ship individually), will it extend the time its enemy can wait before it requires a new design in response? Obviously. Therefore the rate of design slows.
As for factions- HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
Are you even in a faction, dude? This is not even remotely true.
No idea what isn't true as you haven't quoted specifically.
- Innovating to stay ahead of the competition is still necessary in a designer friendly world. I would argue it is MORE necessary since you can't just perfectly steal a design to sell for a lower price. You would need to actually design something yourself.
- Being able to sell a locked generic model does not require customized models to stop being sold.
- Yes, you can have a faction commission you for a design at a massive price. Or you could also produce a design for a faction and not have to worry about them just taking the design for themselves.
- Either you're suggesting you sell a completed ship for 70% of its materials cost, in which case you're losing money no matter how many sales you make, or you're suggesting just selling an unfilled blueprint of the ship to people, in which case, I have to ask- why the hell would people who prefer to build their own ships buy that?
- If no-one can copy designs old designs have a longer shelf life. They can be sold for longer (good for designers). There's less need for a designer to create a new design.
- Of course not.
- Not seeing the point here.
- Yes, apologies, not thinking straight there. Edited the post.
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Jojomo
1) Straw-man argument. You focus entirely on the assumption that designers want to get rich and have said nothing about the security of clever-ideas that has been a theme among builders who support a little copy-protection. This kinda amounts to 'look at my shiny X-formula' which in public speaking would be considered a
grocery list.
Yes I do focus on designers who want to make a profit. It's a theme in almost every post people arguing against me have written
2) Again with the profits. This might come as a shock but every creative person I know considers 'pressure to produce' antithetical to creativity. Increasing pressure is a negative effect itself so why do we want to increase it...in a game.
Yes, again. As above, you can see variations of "What's the point of selling if I can't keep selling" in almost every post (besides mine) for the last few pages. If you want to talk about designers who aren't interested in profits you're in the wrong argument, but my simple advice would be: don't sell your design. Problem solved.
Then you advocate increasing the speed of the arms race like that was a good thing. Lets just skip to end of that book and read the last page: " Upon discovery of the meta-game-Uber-design everybody stops building new ships and just uses it because it kills". I know the arms race is leading there, I just don't know why we should be in such a hurry to arrive.
No I don't. I advocate not slowing it down.
Assuming the SM system is well designed, there is no perfect ship design. Instead you get a situation like paper-scissors-rock where all designs have a counter design, ad infinitum.
3) Business advice. Get on that innovation treadmill you lazy buns. Sell high and don't worry about your patron re-selling your designs. Screw your best clients by gouging them...they're factions they deserve it. Sell low and eat cat food so the masses will buy your trinkets. Kind of all over the map in this business seminar.
People keep asking how they can make a profit without DRM. Happy to oblige with some possible suggestions.
Speaking for myself I have a turret design that I sold to a friend on a server. I only sold it to him because I trusted him not to share it without giving me credit (not credits). I have since posted that turret and a dozen other builds on the dock. They are filled with all my best secrets & they are mostly obsolete by now. Creative people are asking Schine to help them retain credit so that they can share more freely. I am not Bogarting my ships, I am passing them around (and not getting paid btw). Are you sharing your builds?
I beg your pardon? You want DRM so you can share more freely? There's nothing right now to prevent you sharing with anyone and everyone.
I don't fully understand your point here, but if you want more people to have access to your designs, DRM is going to work against your goal.
When my current design is finish absolutely I will share it. The first thing I'll do will be to post it, and every other future design.
