Guru3D.com
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • Channels
    • Archive
  • DOWNLOADS
    • New Downloads
    • Categories
    • Archive
  • GAME REVIEWS
  • ARTICLES
    • Rig of the Month
    • Join ROTM
    • PC Buyers Guide
    • Guru3D VGA Charts
    • Editorials
    • Dated content
  • HARDWARE REVIEWS
    • Videocards
    • Processors
    • Audio
    • Motherboards
    • Memory and Flash
    • SSD Storage
    • Chassis
    • Media Players
    • Power Supply
    • Laptop and Mobile
    • Smartphone
    • Networking
    • Keyboard Mouse
    • Cooling
    • Search articles
    • Knowledgebase
    • More Categories
  • FORUMS
  • NEWSLETTER
  • CONTACT

New Reviews
G.Skill TridentZ 5 RGB 6800 MHz CL34 DDR5 review
Be Quiet! Dark Power 13 - 1000W PSU Review
Palit GeForce RTX 4080 GamingPRO OC review
Core i9 13900K DDR5 7200 MHz (+memory scaling) review
Seasonic Prime Titanium TX-1300 (1300W PSU) review
F1 2022: PC graphics performance benchmark review
MSI Clutch GM31 Lightweight​ (+Wireless) mice review
AMD Ryzen 9 7900 processor review
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 processor review
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor review

New Downloads
Corsair Utility Engine Download (iCUE) Download v4.33.138
CPU-Z download v2.04
Intel ARC graphics Driver Download Version: 31.0.101.4090
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 23.1.2 (RX 7900) download
GeForce 528.24 WHQL driver download
Display Driver Uninstaller Download version 18.0.6.0
Download Intel network driver package 27.8
ReShade download v5.6.0
Media Player Classic - Home Cinema v2.0.0 Download
HWiNFO Download v7.36


New Forum Topics
GeForce RTX 4070 Spotted with Boost clock up-to 2475 MHz RTX 4080 Owner's Thread The Samsung Galaxy S23 is rumored to cost an additional 150 Euros (+specs) MSI Interrupt Steering Causing Input Lag Windows 10 AMD GPU Design Seems to Leave Space for Future 3D V-Cache Extreme 4-Way Sli Tuning Rumor: Further GeForce RTX 4090 Ti specs emerge Recommend some good and old drivers for GTX1660S AMD A620 motherboards to get very affordable? Two chipsets planned Crash 0xc0000005 (3221225477) in Red dead redemption 2(solution found)




Guru3D.com » News » EA Infects Battlefield Hardline with new ghastly DRM

EA Infects Battlefield Hardline with new ghastly DRM

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 03/25/2015 07:26 PM | source: | 159 comment(s)
EA Infects Battlefield Hardline with new ghastly DRM

So hey - I was am working on a graphics performance review for Battlefield Hardline, and guess what ? Do you guys remember the DRM introduced in Ubisofts Anno 2070 ? Well, EA just did pretty much the same thing. They sniff your PC and monitor for hardware changes.

The story goes like this; once upon a time I started working on a performance review. And after testing merely a handful of graphics cards I noticed EA will now lock your game (Battlefield Hardline) with the following message:
 


Interesting huh? Especially considering it is just one PC that we are using ? 
Here's what EAs DRM is doing these days, EA does not just verify the number of PCs you work on slash use, no Sir .. they monitor hardware changes inside your PC now, which I am sure is a privacy breach on many levels. So once we insert new hardware CPU / mobo / graphics cards or even a system firmware flash  the hardware id # hash changes and if that happens a couple of times EA will render your game activation invalid. From what we now have learned, you get to have 5 hardware changes per license. Use them up and access to the game will be blocked for 24 hours per activation. 

What a bunch of rubbish ....

If this is the future for EA titles then you guys can forget about VGA performance reviews as EA is rendering that pretty much impossible now. I've now been waiting for like 3 or 4 hours and we are still locked out of the game. The only way to solve this would be purchasing another key and setup a secondary account. This means that if we'd like to make a VGA performance review on Battlefield Hardline with a card or 20 we'd need to purchase the game three to four times. 

EA - Guys we understand your piracy and cheating/hacking concerns, really we do. But STOP pissing off your user-base with this STUPID non-sense as it just is not needed. This is not five PCs we are using, it's happening after we swap out a videocard. Thus one user, one PC ... but changing graphics cards. Do that 5x in 24 hours and you are locked out of the game for 24 hours.

Hey -- if hardware changes force Windows to de-activate, we push a button and the system gets re-validated. EA however refuses you to login to the game for 24 hours, I could understand an hour; but 24 hours ?? I don't get that anymore, how does that make any sense ? Sighs - you need to wonder - at what point will the industry realize they are killing the PC game market themselves ?



EA Infects Battlefield Hardline with new ghastly DRM EA Infects Battlefield Hardline with new ghastly DRM




« ASUS Announces EA-AC87 a 1734 Mbps media bridge and access point · EA Infects Battlefield Hardline with new ghastly DRM · Battlefield Hardline VGA graphics performance review »

32 pages 1 2 3 4 > »


harkinsteven
Senior Member



Posts: 2942
Joined: 2008-11-29

#5036912 Posted on: 03/25/2015 02:08 PM
Thank god I have no interest in this obvious cash grab. EA and UBI are the debil.

Denial
Senior Member



Posts: 13997
Joined: 2004-05-16

#5036914 Posted on: 03/25/2015 02:10 PM
Probably for the best, not only is it not a good game but it looks noticeably worse then Battlefield 4 for some reason.

LiviuTM
Junior Member



Posts: 17
Joined: 2013-12-26

#5036915 Posted on: 03/25/2015 02:13 PM
Are you kidding me? Maybe you should marry one configuration and stay together Till Death Do You Part.

Great job, EA :finger2:

Gumby
Member



Posts: 52
Joined: 2002-11-11

#5036916 Posted on: 03/25/2015 02:13 PM
Not so sure it's about piracy so much as the cheating in the game as this article explains. "BF4 cheaters are now hardware banned, but hackers already have a solution" http://bf4central.com/2015/02/bf4-cheaters-hardware-ban/

Also http://youtu.be/1LlCUXYgx4c

chinobino
Senior Member



Posts: 1127
Joined: 2006-06-19

#5036923 Posted on: 03/25/2015 02:19 PM
You give them free advertising and they give you the finger - nice. :rolleyes:

32 pages 1 2 3 4 > »


Post New Comment
Click here to post a comment for this news story on the message forum.


Guru3D.com © 2023