U
Unregistered
Guest
i just moved and seemed to have lost my kilrathi saga disc #4. Am I hosed or is there a solution?
U
Unregistered
Guest
after talking with some folks at work this is what is being attempted, will keep y'all informed about what happens
TC
SubCrid
You can't be mad at EA for their disc replacement policy... I believe they're still rather good about it, and Origin definitely was when it was in charge of it's disc replacement as a part of EA... It's just that they don't have a whole lot of insanely old game CDs around, and I don't really think they should be expected to. How many years do you expect them to hold on to them for (by which I mean reprint, because by now they've sold them all off to someone who wants them, or used them as replacements).
Delance
Victory, you say?
Well, I think they should replace the disks for as long as they own the rights. If they don't want people to download stuff from the net, why won't they replace old damaged disks?
People don't buy disks, they buy licenses. If the media is damaged, they are still entitled for the software, but can't use it. That's not very reasonable.
People don't buy disks, they buy licenses. If the media is damaged, they are still entitled for the software, but can't use it. That's not very reasonable.
U
Unregistered
Guest
Tc, I never said I was mad at EA, stuff happens and I was just wondering what options I did have, and I figured this would be the place to ask is all. and by the way, the burned disk from WC3 works well.
ChrisReid
Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
As TC said, EA is very reasonable when it comes to this. To many companies, people do buy the discs as well as the licenses and there is no replacement for damaged media at all. To quote the current EA policy:
"Limited 90 day Warranty
Electronics Arts warrants to the original purchaser of this product that the recording medium on which the software program(s) are recorded and the documentation that is included with this product are free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 90 days from the date of purchase..... This warranty shall not be applicable and shall be void if, in the judgement of Electronic Arts, the defect has arisen through abuse, misuse or neglect."
After that or if you damaged the discs, you can pay $15 to get replacements. They're surely not charging you for an additional license, they're selling you the media. And you have to understand that they only stock such media for a limited time. It's not really reasonable to expect a company to maintain resupplyable stock for the thousands upon thousands of different discs it's produced. Yeah, it'd be great if companies did and perhaps some could even afford it, but it's not a reasonable expectation that they should provide such services indefinitely merely because they retain the license. The disk exchange program for any company is basically just selling you a reduced price version of the game again. Magnetic media is easily backed up and optical media has a lifespan of a hundred years if you don't abuse, misuse or neglect it, so they're not really responsible for correcting your mistakes at any point once you purchase the software.
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
What are you talking about? I've never had a problem getting replacement discs from EA -- and they've been nothing but polite about it.
ChrisReid
Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
You know they print these things in batches of like ten thousand minimum, right? What would justify them to make more copies of a game that's eight years old and didn't sell all that many copies to begin with? Keep in mind they have millions of other titles to do this with too.
U
Unregistered
Guest
As it's not fair for you to have a license and no longer be able to use it. If you have a damaged disk and can’t get a replacement, it's not really wrong to copy it. That’s my interpretation.
Delance
Victory, you say?
Well, I forgot to log in. Anyway, it must be reasonable to both parties. Companies should somehow make available the software for the duration of the license. Either by download, or by burning a CD and shipping it, with the costs to the user. Even some third party could do it. At the very least, if the user found a way on his own to re-acquire the software in the Internet or by copying a CD, he should be allowed to. It's unreasonable to accuse someone of copyright infringement because they are copying something they have the license to use. It's very well under the rules of Fair Use of the US legislation, as well as the reasonable interpretation of copyright law.
That kind of thing happened because most copyright law was designed with the sole purpose of protecting the rights of the copyright-owners. Not that there's anything wrong with that protection, but we must also take in account the rights of the people who buy it in order to make a reasonable, balanced legal system.
That kind of thing happened because most copyright law was designed with the sole purpose of protecting the rights of the copyright-owners. Not that there's anything wrong with that protection, but we must also take in account the rights of the people who buy it in order to make a reasonable, balanced legal system.
ChrisReid
Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
If you run your drivers license through the washing machine and it's destroyed, you can't use a copy.. you have to buy a new one. If you broke your disc, lost your disc, etc, that's not the company's fault. It's rather generous of some companies to offer discounted replacements. It's not free to run this sort of support. When you're paying for your replacements, you're paying for the storage of thousands of different discs, you're paying for the receptionists/handlers of the disc exchange department, you're subsidizing the bulk batch of discs that needs to be manufactured to have on hand for people who screw their stuff up. After a certain period of time this gets to be prohibitively expensive. Sure, maybe it is reasonable for EA to charge the user the real cost of disc replacement for something old like Kilrathi Saga.. but it'd be cheaper for people to buy a copy off ebay so there's no reason to do this.
Delance
Victory, you say?
I was not talking about EA specifically. It's a nice thing that EA replaces stuff they are not legally obliged to. They are one of the best companies when it comes to this.
But a computer game is not like an action figure. When you buy an action figure, it’s the plastic thing that you are purchasing. If it’s gone, well, that’s too bad. The game is but a license to use that software. It’s pure convention that at the same time you buy a CD with the game recorded on it.
It just sounds silly now because anyone can just download this stuff from the net or copy the CDs, whatever is easier, and there's virtually no enforcement. But there should be a way to do this legally without having to buy another license. There has been debates about the obligations of the company that sells software, including disk replacement of old software. That’s just what I was talking about.
But a computer game is not like an action figure. When you buy an action figure, it’s the plastic thing that you are purchasing. If it’s gone, well, that’s too bad. The game is but a license to use that software. It’s pure convention that at the same time you buy a CD with the game recorded on it.
It just sounds silly now because anyone can just download this stuff from the net or copy the CDs, whatever is easier, and there's virtually no enforcement. But there should be a way to do this legally without having to buy another license. There has been debates about the obligations of the company that sells software, including disk replacement of old software. That’s just what I was talking about.
That's the rub.
Companies want to license you stuff, but act as if you own it when they're obligated to do stuff.
Licensing is good for them, for it means they control their product, rather than legally leave it in the law's hands. And by making you act as if you owned it, they make you buy a new license if you break it (even though for licensed software, you're entitled to get a replacement, often for a nominal replacement fee).
Of course, in this twisted day, they're getting away with this... by making it law.
Companies want to license you stuff, but act as if you own it when they're obligated to do stuff.
Licensing is good for them, for it means they control their product, rather than legally leave it in the law's hands. And by making you act as if you owned it, they make you buy a new license if you break it (even though for licensed software, you're entitled to get a replacement, often for a nominal replacement fee).
Of course, in this twisted day, they're getting away with this... by making it law.