Hawkeye

I had fully stuffed bases in the US, Brazil, Europe, Japan and Australia in the original X-Com and I would very much like to have them in this game too, since building up from "our base is up and we can now cover half of the US and parts of Central America" to "we are now a global agency and can bring the hammer down on the aliens anywhere they show their ugly face on Earth" was a ton of fun. Of course, that would necessitate the ability to put a Skyranger in every base along with the troops needed for missions. And yeah, I didn't really follow the development, so I am seriously out of the loop and have no clue if this is even remotely possible.

Hey, I actually agree with you. Yes, I buy the right to use the software. And that is what I do. I want to use the software, now, tomorrow, in ten or in twenty years. I _buy_ the right to use the software, I don´t lease it. That´s the whole point. This means: No limited number of installations (as long as only _I_ use the program). No online activation (who knows of the servers are still up in 10 years?) and sure as hell no online verification every time I want to play (if I have to prove that I am not a thief every time I want to play, you treat me like a thief. And if you treat me like a thief, you won´t get one cent from me). The only games this "lease" scheem actually has merits is online-games, where I pay a monthly fee for playing. Here I realy lease the game. Of course, that is where the big software companies want to go anyway with all the games they make (cloud computing anyone?) And yes, that is what I do. I buy from companies that let me do those things with the software I buy and I won´t by from those that won´t. Simple as that. As Xenonauts won´t have any of those DRM scheems, I will get it (pledged at Kickstarter already, actually)

Any software, that needs online verification to play. As soon as the sever goes down, I don´t have nothing exept a lot of code that won´t work anymore. It might be technically a little different than the publisher actually stating "We don´t want you to play anymore." but the effect would be the same. They decide to shut the server down means I don´t have nothing left.

Hm, we might even be on the same page on some level. Yes, me starting burning copys and selling them would be a copyright infringement, no doubt about that. But the same way I own a book and can do whatever I want with that book (read it myself, give it away as a present, resell it) I own a game I bought. I can use it, I can gift it to a friend, I can sell it to someone else. And I can do this the day after I bought the book or 50 years later and the author/publisher can´t do squat about it. He sure as hell can´t come 5 years after I bought the book and tell me: Well, we decided that your licence to read that book has run out, so hand it back to us, or else!´ Of course, I can´t start making copys of that book and start selling them, that´s quite clear, but the book itself is _mine_ after I bought it. I simply don´t grant any software company more rights to the stuff I buy than I grant an author/publisher with a book I bought.

Well, I see it different. If I go into a store, I _buy_ the game, no matter what it says in a piece of paper inside the box. It is a _store_. Stores _sell_ stuff. Period. Yes, many software companies try to tell me, I don´t actually own the game. Pull me to court and prove it to me, I say! But enough of this, I don´t want to start a legal discussion

Ok, thanks for the fast help. Neither Steam nor Desura will happen then. DRM free all the way. Yes, Steam is very convenient (from what I read), but I _buy_ games, I don´t rent them (sorry, that´s how I see it). This means, I dl it, burn it on CD/put it on an external disk and install it whenever I feel like it, no matter where I am or what system I use.

Ok, as the new guy around, I have one question: What about DRM Now, I am an old school guy who loves to pull out some of his old (and I mean oooooold) games and play them occationaly (Original X-Com, Wasteland, Bards Tale,...). With that in mind, I am ok with a serial-number I have to type in after/during install, but any kind of online activation/verification will keep me from jumping in. Note: I do not use Steam and know nothing abut Desura, so anyone can enlighten me about that download system? Note2: Yes, I have read the "How to download Xenonauts without using Desura, so I am aware that I not necessarily need it to get the game