Over in this now locked thread on the official Mass Effect Community forums, BioWare Technical Producer Derek French explained what type of copy protection and activation systems Mass Effect will use upon its release for PC on May 28th.
To say the least, BioWare/EA’s plans for the game caused massive complaints from the community. To put it bluntly, Mass Effect for PC will require online validation every 10 days. Taking hints from 2K Games using SecuROM with BioShock, the game will only allow up to three game activations as well.
"After the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check with the server within ten days (in case the CD Key has become public/warez’d and gets banned). Just so that the 10 day thing doesn’t become abrupt, SecuROM tries its first re-check with 5 days remaining in the 10 day window. If it can’t contact the server before the 10 days are up, nothing bad happens and the game still runs. After 10 days a re-check is required before the game can run."
To increase the worry, French revealed in a follow-up post that Spore will utilize the same validation system, "Yes, EA is ready for us and getting ready for Spore, which will use the same system."
In part two of the ordeal, French tried to reassure the grumpy crowd that EA will provide all the customer service needed to address problems, also gamers shouldn’t worry if they want to play Mass Effect years from now because the validation servers will still be up and running.
"It does not take any extra effort to keep the servers running, because its not just for Mass Effect, it will be for Spore, and all the other PC titles coming up. In fact, it would take more effort to shut down one PC title than to keep them all going."
