Well this is my second post and it raises a very well known issue... CD Keys.

I think we all know how confusing the inclusion of a CD Key in the manual is when the game never asks for it... yet for other people the game asks for it, or requires online registration then doesnt down the track... and some of us dont have online access with our gaming computers and the issues just escalate.

Then there are issues of how obtrusive some product protection software is... ever noticed its still on your computer in some form after uninstalling the product or limits you to 3 computers from which you may play the game and if those computers become outdated or die then you have a useless game CD until you beg ubisoft to make a special allowance for you?

Well, ideally I think that there should be two options when registering your game - either enter the CD Key and play your game or choose to register it online. And on installation you should be prompted to choose and be immediately notified of what features you will get.

I think that if you are to register the game online then it should enable the full software to load onto your computer and no longer require the CD to play. Personally, I hate CDs.. one scratch and its useless. And the limit of this CD-less application would be 1 per copy of the game (with the designated PC changeable by special request).

On the other hand if you chose to register via CD Key then you will require the CD to play the game. Each installed game requiring the specific CD it was installed from meaning you could install it on 3 or more and only one person could play it at a time (who shares anyway?). Your friends will buy their own copies to verse you on multiplayer mode.

What are your opinions?

With the Tages DRM used when settlers 6 first launched, the only time (apart from online games) you needed the key, was if you had imaging/copying software (Daemon/Alchol etc.) installed, and Tages needed confirmation of legal ownership, in case you were using a pirated copy, otherwise it wasn't needed to play, and there were no install limits, they only cut in if you had activated the game, due to the previously mentioned imaging /copying tools.

The full software installs anyway, and on un-activated systems, the disc was needed in the drive as proof of ownership, with activation, the disc wasn't needed and you could play without it.

DRM can be made as intrusive, or as invisible as a publisher wants, even the currently most hated one, SecuRom can be set from as low as a simple disc check, to the fiasco of the online verification every time you play that Spore originally had.

As far as the current Settlers 6 is concerned, Ubi removed the Tages DRM with a patch, and you can play without worrying about install limits, and without the disc in the drive.

So what Settlers 6 had, isn't a great deal different from the outlines in your post.

Will games in the future have no DRM? Ubisoft have released some lately wuth DRM, and some without any, that may have been testing the market, to see how people react, only time will tell.