Gothic 2 Gold: With Starforce?!

Albromor · 10-20-2006, 11:43 AM

I have seriously looked into getting this game. I went to Amazon.com and a few of their reviewers mentioned that the Gold edition does have Starforce. The thing is I've looked at the list of games that supposedly had this copy protection and no rendition of Gothic or Gothic 2 was listed.

In fact, I couldn't find anything on the net that said it did. Anyone know the real story? Would they have aded Starforce to the Gold edition? It wouldn't make sense especially with the firestorm it created in the gaming community this past year.

Thoran · 10-20-2006, 01:41 PM

Starforce isn't a major problem, you can remove it before it's ever allowed to run on your system...

Buy the game, download the crack, install the game but DON'T LET IT REBOOT (starforce needs a reboot to become active), install the crack, remove starforce.

johnny · 10-20-2006, 06:10 PM

I take it we're discussing Gothic 3 here ? Gothic 2 is pretty much old news these days.

Albromor · 10-20-2006, 07:02 PM

No, we're talking Gothic 2 because I have yet to play it and Amazon.com has the latest Gothic 2: Gold release on a DVD-Rom. The thing is the 2 of the reviewers really like it but say it has Starforce.

The thing is I can't find anywhere where Gothic 2 is listed as one of the games shackled with Starforce.

Lord Gorbag · 10-22-2006, 11:20 PM

What's 'Starforce'?

Is it spyware? I've got Gothic Gold2 on my shelf as well, but now I'm hesitant to install it.

Thanks

Luvian · 10-23-2006, 07:44 AM

It's not Spyware. It's a copy protection scheme, but it install a program in Windows, that program has been known to cause software and hardware problem, and it's a potential vulnerability that could be exploited by hackers.

If you desinstall it the game won't work anymore. If you desinstal the game it doesn't always desinstall Starforce or desinstall it correctly, so you have to use another program to remove it cleanly. They also don't tell you they are installing Starforce on your computer.

It used to be a popular anti piracy solution a year ago, but more and more people are getting pissed so it's not used as much, mostly it's only used by german companies now, they seem to really like it for some reason.

[ 10-23-2006, 07:45 AM: Message edited by: Luvian ]

Ziroc · 10-23-2006, 08:14 AM

Prolly Germany because piracy is REALLY bad there from what Some German game companies say..

Yeh, Crack that sucker outta there. Usenet has all the cracks and NO-CD patches you'll need.

Thoran · 10-23-2006, 09:04 AM

And for any lurkers... Of course it goes without saying that while I and others here advocate using noCD hacks to get rid of unwanted crap like starforce, only do it to games you've legally purchased.

Pirating is bad... mmmkaaayyy?

Starforce is not spyware... it's a copy protection program that installs a Device Driver as a way of preventing apps like Daemon Tools from mimicking a cdrom (a popular way of pirating software).

There was a raging debate regarding how safe starforce was, and I think rightly so. It installs itself into the storage device driver list and interferes with requests going to OTHER storage drivers. IMO it is highly likely that folks with some non-mainstream drive devices (like raid arrays) will experience potentially catastrophic device errors as a direct result of this crapware. Its a poorly conceived and overly onerous scheme, at best it adds additional overhead to storage device access (increases latency and possibly throughput of your drive subsystem).

And as an added bonus... games using Starforce will likely NEVER be allowed to run on Vista unhacked.

[ 10-23-2006, 09:08 AM: Message edited by: Thoran ]

10-20-2006, 06:10 PM	#3
johnny 40th Level Warrior Join Date: April 15, 2002 Location: Utrecht The Netherlands Age: 58 Posts: 16,981	I take it we're discussing Gothic 3 here ? Gothic 2 is pretty much old news these days. __________________

10-23-2006, 07:44 AM	#6
Luvian Ironworks Moderator Join Date: June 27, 2001 Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Age: 43 Posts: 6,763	It's not Spyware. It's a copy protection scheme, but it install a program in Windows, that program has been known to cause software and hardware problem, and it's a potential vulnerability that could be exploited by hackers. If you desinstall it the game won't work anymore. If you desinstal the game it doesn't always desinstall Starforce or desinstall it correctly, so you have to use another program to remove it cleanly. They also don't tell you they are installing Starforce on your computer. It used to be a popular anti piracy solution a year ago, but more and more people are getting pissed so it's not used as much, mostly it's only used by german companies now, they seem to really like it for some reason. [ 10-23-2006, 07:45 AM: Message edited by: Luvian ] __________________ Once upon a time in Canada...

10-23-2006, 08:14 AM	#7
Ziroc Ironworks Webmaster *Bow to the Meow* Join Date: January 4, 2001 Location: Lakeland, Florida Age: 51 Posts: 11,720	Prolly Germany because piracy is REALLY bad there from what Some German game companies say.. Yeh, Crack that sucker outta there. Usenet has all the cracks and NO-CD patches you'll need. __________________ Ziroc™ Ironworks Gaming Webmaster www.ironworksgaming.com The Great Escape Studios - 2D/3D Modeling www.tgeweb.com & Ziroc's Facebook Page Visit My Flickr Photo Album

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10-20-2006, 11:43 AM	#1
Albromor Mephistopheles Join Date: June 13, 2001 Location: Northfield, NJ USA Posts: 1,417	I have seriously looked into getting this game. I went to Amazon.com and a few of their reviewers mentioned that the Gold edition does have Starforce. The thing is I've looked at the list of games that supposedly had this copy protection and no rendition of Gothic or Gothic 2 was listed. In fact, I couldn't find anything on the net that said it did. Anyone know the real story? Would they have aded Starforce to the Gold edition? It wouldn't make sense especially with the firestorm it created in the gaming community this past year.

10-20-2006, 01:41 PM	#2
Thoran Galvatron Join Date: January 10, 2002 Location: Upstate NY Age: 56 Posts: 2,109	Starforce isn't a major problem, you can remove it before it's ever allowed to run on your system... Buy the game, download the crack, install the game but DON'T LET IT REBOOT (starforce needs a reboot to become active), install the crack, remove starforce.

10-20-2006, 07:02 PM	#4
Albromor Mephistopheles Join Date: June 13, 2001 Location: Northfield, NJ USA Posts: 1,417	No, we're talking Gothic 2 because I have yet to play it and Amazon.com has the latest Gothic 2: Gold release on a DVD-Rom. The thing is the 2 of the reviewers really like it but say it has Starforce. The thing is I can't find anywhere where Gothic 2 is listed as one of the games shackled with Starforce.

10-22-2006, 11:20 PM	#5
Lord Gorbag Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: October 14, 2006 Location: Japan and California Age: 64 Posts: 4	What's 'Starforce'? Is it spyware? I've got Gothic Gold2 on my shelf as well, but now I'm hesitant to install it. Thanks

10-23-2006, 09:04 AM	#8
Thoran Galvatron Join Date: January 10, 2002 Location: Upstate NY Age: 56 Posts: 2,109	And for any lurkers... Of course it goes without saying that while I and others here advocate using noCD hacks to get rid of unwanted crap like starforce, only do it to games you've legally purchased. Pirating is bad... mmmkaaayyy? Starforce is not spyware... it's a copy protection program that installs a Device Driver as a way of preventing apps like Daemon Tools from mimicking a cdrom (a popular way of pirating software). There was a raging debate regarding how safe starforce was, and I think rightly so. It installs itself into the storage device driver list and interferes with requests going to OTHER storage drivers. IMO it is highly likely that folks with some non-mainstream drive devices (like raid arrays) will experience potentially catastrophic device errors as a direct result of this crapware. Its a poorly conceived and overly onerous scheme, at best it adds additional overhead to storage device access (increases latency and possibly throughput of your drive subsystem). And as an added bonus... games using Starforce will likely NEVER be allowed to run on Vista unhacked. [ 10-23-2006, 09:08 AM: Message edited by: Thoran ]

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