In a bold experiment by Sierra, Police Quest 1 will be the first 3-D adventure to ship completely un-copyprotected. This will allow users to install on their hard disk, or make backup copies, and not have to return to the original disks even to load the program (previous 3-D adventures have required a key disk during the loading procedure).
Ken Williams explained, "We tried this same kind of thing last year, with Wrath of Denethenor. There seemed to be a lot of people playing it (we were getting lots of players calling Customer Service for hints), but we didn't sell very many. So we figured a lot of people were pirating it, and that the world wasn't mature enough for unprotected game software."
Williams continued, "But Wrath wasn't one of our mainstream products. We wondered if we shouldn't have tried the experiment on one of our 3-D adventure games like Police Quest."
If the Police Quest experiment is a success (translated, that means, if Police Quest sells as well or better than other Sierra games), not only will there be a sequel, but Sierra will probably remove the protection completely from existing and future 3-D adventure games.
"By rights, Police Quest should be at least as big a seller as any of the other adventure games in the line. It's an excellent game, with a very interesting theme." explained Williams.
Williams continued, "If Police Quest doesn't do as well as expected, we can only assume that people are taking advantage of the unprotected disks, so as to pirate them instead of buying them. In that case, it's back to key disks again."
"We're going to let the market decide what we should do about copy protection." Williams concluded, "It's as simple as that."
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Issue 2: 1987
- Apple Graphics Book
- Are You a Hot Shot
- Calling All Smart Money Users
- Calling Sierra
- Collector's Alert
- Current Sierra Bestsellers - September/October 1987
- Editorial: Making the World Safe
- Entertainment: Bonus Word Search and Crossword
- First 3-D Adventure Game for Preschools
- First Unprotected 3-D Adventure
- Free Sierra T-Shirts
- From Customer Service: The 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions
- Hello, Customer Service...
- Hint Books Save You Money
- Inventory Closeout - September/October 1987
- Issue 2 Credits
- Larry Pick-up Line Contest Winners Announced
- Mailbag - September/October 1987
- Mother Goose a Hit with Kids
- New Shipping Policies Move Orders Faster
- New Versions of IBM HomeWord and Speller Released
- Order Form: September/October 1987
- Police Quest Ships
- PS/2 Adventures Ship
- Retailers Corner: Sierra Software Review
- Sierra Cartoon Contest
- Sierra Courts Computer User Groups
- Sierra Drawing Contest - September/October 1987
- Sierra Draws Visitors Worldwide
- Sierra First to Support Games in Color for the Macintosh II
- Sierra Goes to Kindergarten
- Sierra Newsletter Contest
- Sierra Ships 3-D Helicopter Simulator!
- Sierra's Own Lounge Lizards
- Smart Money: A Personal Note from the President
- Smart Money - The Comprehensive Financial Manager
- Smart Money Version 1.2 Now Available for Apple
- Space Quest and "Larry" Ship for Apple IIe/IIc
- Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge Preview
- SPOTLIGHT: Behind the Disk - Jim Walls, Police Quest Designer
- The Blue Knights
- Thexder Takes U.S. By Storm
- This Space Intentionally Left Blank
- Update Versions of Current Sierra Titles
- Win 1 of 12 R/C Helicopters
- Wrath of Denethenor: A Fantasy Role-Playing Game
- Wrath of Denethenor: A Review
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