Dawn of War II Fighting Piracy With Free DLC

Dawn of War II developer Relic Entertainment plans to combat piracy not with DRM, but with free downloadable content meant to reward the people who actually buy their game.

Relic plans to release a steady stream of free downloadable content as a way of rewarding people who buy their game and indirectly enticing pirates. "We really want to give our players a top-notch experience and we want to reward our players for playing our game," Jonny Ebbert, lead designer of Dawn of War II, said in an interview. "Free downlodable, regularly accessible stuff that enhances the game and then that's an incentive for people who didn't buy it."

Unlike DRM-based anti-piracy measures, Ebbert believes this incentive-based approach rewards gamers instead of punshing the innocent. "We want to give out steady doses of free downloadable content because we believe in rewarding people who buy the game and the reason we don't like DRM solutions is because they punish the innocent and they have to jump through all these hoops," Ebbert said. "We don't want to do that so we're going with the approach that Valve pioneered to just reward the people who actually bought the game with cool stuff."

So, Relic has big plans. Their track record for supporting their games isn't exactly solid, however, based on the example of the original Dawn of War. Relic, though, will be the first to admit to that. "Our support of Dawn of War wasn't up to snuff," Ebbert said. "We did that to ourselves by making a very difficult patching pipeline, so one of the firs things we did was make it very easy to patch Dawn of War II."

They seem to be stepping up their content delivery game already - a multiplayer beta for Dawn of War II will be available starting later this month. Owners of the Dawn of War expansion Soulstorm will get early access beginning on the 21st, while the general public will get their hands on the beta - which includes all the Dawn of War II races - a week later on the 28th. The beta will be available exclusively through Steam.

[Via Shacknews]

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Round of applause, everybody.
I'll definitely buy it now.

I have never tried DAW, I might now these guys actually speak sense.

Dechef:
Round of applause, everybody.
I'll definitely buy it now.

Same, this is a brilliant idea that strangely I have never heard of before this!

Oh by the way its DoW not DAW.

So, how long before they figure out that the pirates will get their hands on the DLC too?

sirdanrhodes:
I have never tried DAW, I might now these guys actually speak sense.

Try the first game, there are demos on Steam. They're the only RTS games that have ever appealed to me.

So...

-They admit to their mistakes, and have done their best to correct them this time around
-The game won't feature DRM
-Legitimate players will receive cool stuff

Well shit, it ain't all that hard to make the gamer happy is it? Are you paying attention EA, you ass-backwards morons?

So do you need a Steam version of Soulstorm to get the early access beta?

Ever since the advent of DLC, I thought that the best way to combat piracy is to feature DLC that is only accessible by owners of the legitimate game.
The biggest issue with DRM is that it hurts the average consumer. I can only install/uninstall Spore five times (they upped it from 3) before I need to purchase another copy of the game. However A pirate can install his pirated copy an unlimited number of times, and just miss out on the online features. The online features in Spore were important enough to the game that consumers didn't need any incentive to not pirate it.
Bravo to Relic for making a smart move.

Do they say how Soulstorm owners will be able to access the Beta?

Umm... what exactly stops the pirates from obtaining pirated copies of the DLC?

Not to piss on their parade, I think it's great that they're taking a different approach, and maybe the extra waiting time or small extra challenge involved in finding cracked copies will mean a few pirates convert, but I can't see it having a huge impact.

Maybe through the "these guys aren't being dicks, let's reward them for that" avenue, but not directly because of the DLC release.

Thats my question. How exactly will the pirates not be able to use the DLC?

TsunamiWombat:
Thats my question. How exactly will the pirates not be able to use the DLC?

My belief is that they won't explain how so that the pirates won't know how (at least not initially)

And even if the software pirates do manage to get through this security measure, you still have to give props for Relic trying to do something that isn't involving total bastard "punish all paying customers" DRM.

Well I seem to scored big with this one. I bought the Dawn of War everything pack from Steam during their new year sale. Now I find this out and an early access to the beta! I have been starving for an RTS and really want to experience Dawn of War online gameplay because the original is pretty messed up by Gamespy.

AceDiamond:

TsunamiWombat:
Thats my question. How exactly will the pirates not be able to use the DLC?

My belief is that they won't explain how so that the pirates won't know how (at least not initially)

And even if the software pirates do manage to get through this security measure, you still have to give props for Relic trying to do something that isn't involving total bastard "punish all paying customers" DRM.

Agreed. If my PC wasn't made of dried toothpaste and hamsters i'd definatly buy this game. As it is, it will have to wait...

TsunamiWombat:

AceDiamond:

TsunamiWombat:
Thats my question. How exactly will the pirates not be able to use the DLC?

My belief is that they won't explain how so that the pirates won't know how (at least not initially)

And even if the software pirates do manage to get through this security measure, you still have to give props for Relic trying to do something that isn't involving total bastard "punish all paying customers" DRM.

Agreed. If my PC wasn't made of dried toothpaste and hamsters i'd definatly buy this game. As it is, it will have to wait...

My PC makes minimum requirements, but I'm not sure I want to try this game until I've got something that can actually run it well.

i think this is a grat idea, it may fail, and probably will...but good on em for trying.

its good to see they recognised how valve did and are trying it themsleves. Im loving this new free DLC era we seem to be entering, its great to see a game company care for there customers rather than punish them.

best of luck to Relic with this, even if this may temp the pirates to pirate it more :/

valve and relic = win, i hope the rest join them but thats abit too hopeful :P

Khell_Sennet:
So...

-They admit to their mistakes, and have done their best to correct them this time around
-The game won't feature DRM
-Legitimate players will receive cool stuff

Well shit, it ain't all that hard to make the gamer happy is it? Are you paying attention EA, you ass-backwards morons?

Now now, Khell. Save it for a proper rant thread. I enjoy those.

Yay, Valve and Stardock's Methods are spreading!

Keane Ng:
They're the only RTS games that have ever appealed to me.

Have you ever tried World in Conflict?

As for this, I'm glad Relic seem to have the brains to see that harsh DRM (like SercuRom) only help pirates justify their copyright infringement. I think that I might have a look into Dawn of War, or even Company of Heroes (if I can find their demos).

Khell_Sennet:
So...

-They admit to their mistakes, and have done their best to correct them this time around
-The game won't feature DRM
-Legitimate players will receive cool stuff

Well shit, it ain't all that hard to make the gamer happy is it? Are you paying attention EA, you ass-backwards morons?

The day EA starts paying attention to customers is the day I eat my own arm. And I can remember a bunch of people saying that they were refusing to pirate the new Prince of Persia BECAUSE it had no DRM, so that strategy seems to have worked well. Also, I'm just happy I managed to pick up Soulstorm, so now I get the beta early.

Khell_Sennet:
So...

-They admit to their mistakes, and have done their best to correct them this time around
-The game won't feature DRM
-Legitimate players will receive cool stuff

Well shit, it ain't all that hard to make the gamer happy is it? Are you paying attention EA, you ass-backwards morons?

Seriously. This is exactly what people need to do to combat piracy. I've been trying to decide between this and Starcraft II, and I think this just closed the decision.

That's the right attitude, hurray for Relic.

Oh cmon Meatloaf, I doubt Starcraft 2 will come out this year. This is blizzard after all :P

stompy:

Keane Ng:
They're the only RTS games that have ever appealed to me.

Have you ever tried [/i] World in Conflict[/i]?

No. I don't know Dawn of War clicks with me, it just does. I don't even like Company of Heroes, and they're really similar.

Agree with the approval expressed by everyone else on this thread. Mass Effect on the PC had a similar system with the Batarian DLC though didn't it? Still an admirable effort on Relic's part as long as they don't release a crippled husk of a game on release day.

xitel:

Khell_Sennet:
So...

-They admit to their mistakes, and have done their best to correct them this time around
-The game won't feature DRM
-Legitimate players will receive cool stuff

Well shit, it ain't all that hard to make the gamer happy is it? Are you paying attention EA, you ass-backwards morons?

The day EA starts paying attention to customers is the day I eat my own arm. And I can remember a bunch of people saying that they were refusing to pirate the new Prince of Persia BECAUSE it had no DRM, so that strategy seems to have worked well. Also, I'm just happy I managed to pick up Soulstorm, so now I get the beta early.

That's a good point - perhaps all those gamers (myself included) have actually made a difference by refusing to buy DRM infected games! Power to the consumerist masses! :D

As to whether pirates would just get the extra content n stuff anyway, how far would you trust a pirate to reliably patch your software, hmm?

Well that's a positive step that can only be applauded. Props to Relic.

Tenmar:
Oh cmon Meatloaf, I doubt Starcraft 2 will come out this year. This is blizzard after all :P

Yes, but they are both RTSs, and I really don't need more than one RTS every few years. Plus, I'm holding out for the Zerg or Protoss campaigns.

Glad to see a developer actually know what they're doing. To be honest, I'll probably still pirate the game first to be sure I enjoy it, but if I do this raises the chance of me buying it by about 100%. They do forget that pirates can simply torrent the DLC separate unless they put some kind of impenetrable barrier up which doesn't allow players to mod game files, but I guarantee that this will encourage potential pirates to buy a game rather than an easily bypassed security feature like DRM.

meatloaf231:

Tenmar:
Oh cmon Meatloaf, I doubt Starcraft 2 will come out this year. This is blizzard after all :P

Yes, but they are both RTSs, and I really don't need more than one RTS every few years. Plus, I'm holding out for the Zerg or Protoss campaigns.

Coming in 2011! :P

Just kidding I don't actually know when

meatloaf231:

Tenmar:
Oh cmon Meatloaf, I doubt Starcraft 2 will come out this year. This is blizzard after all :P

Yes, but they are both RTSs, and I really don't need more than one RTS every few years. Plus, I'm holding out for the Zerg or Protoss campaigns.

You are going to have some real RTS blue balls when they come out :P. At least you will have the multiplayer from starcraft and can play the zerg and protoss.

Dawn of war, Starcraft and the Kane's Wrath and Supreme Commander are the only RTS games that ever got me hooked in and these developers appear to using a very clever method to avoid piraters, the game has my vote and my cash when it comes out :). Unlike EA: DRM didn't stop piracy, let's make the DRM even harder on Spore, that'll be sure to stop the piracy...

in the RTS genre, Starcraft 2(with the 3 way split single player campaign) is going towards piracy, while things like this encourages actually buying the game.

Creative and well done, I am looking forward to it.

Well this reinforces my will to buy this game but to be honest I don;t see why pirates won't just steel the new content and make it available online.