After the riftrunner voting, in the mainframe the sign of a broken picture appears. What should have been there?

Anthea, do you still have this problem?
I don't know what you mean. Could you please send me a screenshot?
I'll have a look at it.

nice site!!.....no problems with the site here..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />
cool screenshots too! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
looking forward to another great game...... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Can I say, I am drooling with eagerness to play Riftrunner and AWESOME name, I just love it. I hope Larian will advertise this game a lot more than DD.

But I thank you for making me look forward to XMAS this year and SNOW. DOH!

later phoenen

I couldnt find it on the site (but I just could be blind <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />) is this a stand alone expansion, or do you need the original game?

i sooo look forward to the game <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
you cant miss it madrake <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

there's a link on this site, www.larian.com
you can see the tabs : forum and divinity etc right?
between them now stands riftrunner <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

It´s a seperat game in teh same universe. Its an extension to DD.

Lynx

the name Riftrunner? is it in anyway derived from Africa?(the great rift valley) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />

This is a stand-alone game, so no need to have Divine Divinity.

So you do like the name "Riftrunner"?
Hope so, because this time we stick to it! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

I like it Lynn. A little less cumbersome than the last name <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />

Can't help, but somehow I have the feeling that it sounds neat. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Riftrunner, kina got a ring to it don'tcha think <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
when's it hit the shelves? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

I like the name, but if I'd hear it without knowing what game is behind it I actually wouldn't expect an RPG, reading the short game info I completely understand and the name fits in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />

I can't reproduce it. It was so that the upper and the left frame were there, but the main frame with the main content was empty except one sign of a broken image in the middle. So since it doesn't occur any more, and nobody else reported it, it was probably something due to the rifts of the internet <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

We checked it and the link to the image and the code were all ok.
It was probably a temporarily (local) download problem. Don't know what the cause is, but glad it's solved now <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

Is it coming out in Q4, or will there be a delay? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

If they knew in advance there would be a delay, they would not have said it would be out in Q4. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

i will wait.....it will come! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Register, Mr/Ms/It Anonymous! Who are we having the mysterious pleasure of typing to?

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" />

Wait a minute there you nameless thing until I cast my spell on you with my ruby ring.
I would never copy my game or even allow it for the treasures of the entire dwarven hall.
Have you no manners at all?
Your Orcish option number six comes from a cave full of poison and no wit.
What do you know about DAD to make you hint at such an idea which is full of <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shhh.gif" alt="" /> Sh.......aving cream <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" />

Riftrunner will be only in English version, or in other languages too.

And other question:I've got my <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> on start of may as NEW here Poland.
It was on market earlier everywhere.So my question is

WILL <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/riftrunner.gif" alt="" /> BE IN POLAND A LITTLE BIT FASTER OR THE BEST OPTION TO ME IS TO BUY IT DIRECTLY FROM LARIAN.

Please Answer

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/down.gif" alt="" />
Software piracy is the worst thing a RPG fan can do to Him/ Her self, because the company that produces your favourite game needs that money to survive and produce the sequel that you look for.

How do you expect a veteran senior programmer and programming instructor to encourage Software Piracy!
I might be CRAZY but I am definitely with ethics to the extent that I found a divine thief to be tasteless; read my posts.

Please everyone out there spread the message:
Do not encourage Software Piracy; it is simply illegal as much as grabbing the sexual organs of someone you do not know in a subway. It is as illegal as opening the post-box of your neighbour.

There is a legal method for trying out a game called the demo version, an if you like the game, BUY it, and if you do not have the money, Earn it, and then buy the game. Or what is your freaking life all about?

agreed. Johnson's life is about getting H.D. to go into his bed (he said that on MSN messenger) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shhh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shhh.gif" alt="" />

I like the name <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/riftrunner.gif" alt="" />, and yes, piracy ahs to stop. its bad for everyone. Larian deserves the money for the game, they have gone to a big effort for these games, they deserve to reap the rewards.

I agree - as it is mostly the smaller companies coming up with new ideas, software pirates deprive themselves of this in future and actually "support" the taking over of mainstream crap the larger companies produce, cause they prefer to be on the safe side - depriving honest gamers, willing to pay, too.

A lot of promising companies went bankrupt in Europe - and software piracy was partly responsible - partly, not always <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

I consider it theft, even if it's a "thriving" business in some countries and even if it considered a "cavalier's delict" in the belief of some gamers.
Kiya

Thank you Kiya for your endorsement.
Unfortunately I am quite aware of the existence of regular Piracy in Russia and China with the later including printing the box and the manual. I was fooled once and found myself with a pirated copy and reported the incidence immediately to the Software Company to take legal action as well as to the local authorities of THAT country (doubting they would do much).
Big companies only have the resources to produce an authenticity badge (Like Microsoft).
Sadly enough, I am quite aware that there is no absolute protection method, whether that was hardware based or software key based. So we must unite and fight back because the same countries print banknotes too. I see no difference between one illegal act and the other at this criminal level.

one of the future project could be an online downlaod of the game by the publisher itself. with some kind of unique software that only activates your game..

but that will be cracked also ofcours..

what microsoft will do is implement somekind of "chip" (TPM) wich detect if the software you install is legetimet
this technologie is called,
trusted computing platform alliance (TCPA)
it gives an intification code to a software product. if you "share "data on the internet , the software does't work annymore. you can not make kopies of the game etc..;

then you have to get a hardware crack of the system like a modchip of something?

i don't know but it's already a feature in the new operating system of microsoft palladium i think.

i don't like the pirate buisiness.
in the beginning it looked verry nice for some people.
but it goes to big..

remember you once kopied a musictape from someone?
that's was on a small scale.

now it's totaly exploded.

The TCPA part of Palladium builds upon a chipset defined by Intel. It's a long story with several pros if you think of it. But if you look at things in detail then there are a lot of cons also. If you want to know what the pros and cons are then you should read this excellent FAQ. Of course you can also visit the official site in favor of TCPA and the site against TCPA.

This is one of those things where you might end up with the 'Big brother is watching you' feeling.

I'm drugged up, amd I??? alot u know. well, yeah, u know a lot.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" />
When computers became personal, which was a revolutionary thing in the eighties, software for running the metal became popular only due to floppy disks. Such a media as you know is based on magnetising bits in the same way that music gets recorded on tape. Loud Speakers have powerful magnets in them, and it is quite probable to place a magnetic data media right beside one of those magnets. Also CRT monitors of good quality come with built in degaussing coils that emit very powerful demagnetising fields, and THAT was the major concern behind allowing users to backup their rightfully purchased software and make copies
Therefore the software customer as much as the audio customer must have all the rights to protect their property while software users do have more to say because of the dependency of secondary produced added value on the original software. You may still sit on a chair, which a hammer contributed in making after the hammer breaks but you may not be able to print a story that took three years to write if your word processor fails to start if you did not take the measures to protect your hard work by keeping a printed copy of your work as often as you produced. But if the work is huge and incorporated a team assembly such as electronic encyclopaedia materials then the problem becomes even worse.
Personal copies are as legal as making copies of the key to your home for your wife/ husband and kids, yet thieves do have the means to make copies or pick locks and that is why more pick-resistant designs came to be a reality. Physical locks with code that must be memorised came before the idea transferred to the implementation of CD keys. CDs may get scratched easier than magnetic tape could be demagnetised.
DVDs are even more sensitive to clean-room conditions, dust, and mechanical tear-and-wear etcetera. Protecting the software programming companies must come in parallel with protecting their customers who make their existence meaningful. Honest people would very normally call the police on seeing a burglar tampering with a neighbour’s lock Software police must become a reality very soon but TCPA and Palladium ideas are rip-offs and disastrous monopoly oriented concepts that we must fight as strong as we fight piracy. Larian Studios might not be able to produce a game that runs on MSOS unless they paid Bill a quota to allow them such application or else they have to crack and hack their way from a backdoor and be labelled as software terrorists while the fact is that Intel-Microsoft coalition is the true offenders here due to unlimited ambitions of dominance.
Live and let live.
In the old days, when a customer had problems with his authentic software media, he returned it to the nearest agent and replaced it while the vendor took care of the rest of the business. Now there are much organised pirating establishments in untouchable Countries that it is impossible to implement such a policy.
Customer education is the major key for a solution. If customers reject pirated copies as they reject kissing a leprous, pirates shall not find a source of income and look for another source. So why does youngsters and many individuals encourage pirated software other than software being overpriced to make it out of reach?
Software must become cheaper to the limit of bread because no thief copies bread. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
Jewellery imitations do exist because of the high price as well.
So how does software gets priced is beyond my understanding.
Eventually, in the future, there shall be such a medium that holds the data, but which needs a major powerful manufacturing facility to produce it in mass quantities. Software creators shall be clients of such firms and place their orders then distribute the product at low profit to keep them alive at dignified standards but not to become a Gates. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
Only then shall the problem be solved.

Cheers. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

if not meant for your own personal back-up = it's cheating and theft. And forwards companies to think up stronger copy protections that interfere with game fun - make installation procedure more difficult, try to spy on me e.g. Even with a legally bought game! Are these companies to blame?

I'll leave this answer up to you - my answer for myself in this case: I get angry! And a large part of my anger is directed at gamers, I hold them partly responsible for this situation.

Dammit, I'm sick and tired then of being on the shorter pole for my honesty - be it about games/copy protection or having to pay higher prices in shops for everyday items, cause the companies convert their losses due to thefts on to their customers.

It's about fair play, Johnson - Company A produces something at certain costs - customer B buys it and provides A to carry on. Just fair play and justice - oldfashioned? Yes, probably.
Kiya riding on her crusade <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/puppyeyes.gif" alt="" />

What does all this has to do with a riftrunner voting?
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

We are voting on the concept of Piracy. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />



<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" />

There you go. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Old tradition: Going off-topic and still having to say something with content - a tradition you are familiar with, right?
Kiya

But to bring the wide cycle back to RR = I vote for a legal copy and hope it will come out in German first <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/badsmile2.gif" alt="" />
Kiya - very selfish

I stil think we'll have the premiere <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

together with us, i hope <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

We'll see. We'll see <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/badsmile2.gif" alt="" />

@kiya
You know it wouldn't make a difference for me if it's in German or not.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

@DAD
Nothing personal. I really liked what you wrote. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

And ofcourse I voted for legal copy. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" /> wide cycle...
Interesting way of putting things.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

ivoted to have my copy from larian......duh! easy decision, bedsides,
i like when my new game comes with an instructional book, and fancy pictures all over the box! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

what is the premiere? some big special announcement type show or what?
sounds like fun, i think though Canada should be first to get the game,
because we never get anything first!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/puppyeyes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/stupid.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

Yes it would. It doesn't matter if he bought one or not. You making a copy is piracy.
How do you loose a CD/DVD btw?

is this just an example, or is this really true <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />
......excuse me for sounding stupid,
but that sounds somewhat like paying off the mafia, to protect your companies games and programs....this can't really be true is it? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
I certainly hope not!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/suspicion.gif" alt="" />

Jurak, let me tell you exactly what is wrong with TCPA.
Every society has its criminals, but also they do have lawyers, courts with judges and adjudicators, law makers and law enforcing police.
If I sold you any electronic machine on lease such that I can program it with bill-date lock-up algorithms, and if you fail to pay, you end up with a piece of junk; then I have enforced a law that I made and became the judge and the police altogether. So if that machine was a productivity tool of which you earn your living, you would most definitely fail to produce and comply even a little bit later. This forces you to borrow that money with huge interest to unlock your machine and live.

Even though you did owe me money I never had the right to be the judge, jury and police combined.
A criminal is not a criminal until it is proven and such proof demands professional law to avoid framing and monopoly.

That is why even though I fight against software piracy, I shall equally fight against monopoly and domination using disgusting methods such as the TCPA.
Consumers should never buy an electronic machine that contains an electronic cop-judge combined when the law maker is your technical opponent.
Microsoft and Intel are assuming that all potential customers are also potential criminals until they prove innocent, which is ridiculous. I would very certainly pay money to protect myself but why should anyone pay the price of electronic components and software development meant to protect M.S. and Intel from others? If that coalition lacks the monopoly we shall all take a turn and buy from their runner up competitor.
I would most certainly buy an Apple.

Just incredible,!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> "takes one to know one" or "what they think of as one"
..i guess, and how in hell are they allowed to do this to us?
Do we have any other choice..
..besides buying an apple? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

According to the law, if you did not get money in return for that copy then it is not piracy.
Civil crimes’ law demands the infliction of damage, which may include a financial damage.
If your friend did buy the game and did have an accident for which the game was damaged or lost and you volunteered to make for him a copy free of charge, then it is not piracy by the law at all.

On the other hand, if both of you and your friend bought a single game splitting the cost, then made a copy so that both of you end up with two games at the price of one game, it is absolutely piracy and damage was inflicted.

If you cut my face with a knife you may have to go to jail, but if a doctor cuts my face with a knife in an operation he might get a reward.
Acts in themselves do not incriminate unless intentions and damage infliction are associated to that act.
That is why it is the job of professional lawyers and law makers to design the law and police to enforce it, not you and me.
Cheers.

key-word being "design"
----time for some new design's then..........

i think a definite re-defining of some modern day
laws and policies ought to be re-assessed! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
Isn't it past due?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />

Why don't they just walk into a computer store, stick a few copies under their jacket and run out? That way, they wouldn't have to pay for the first copy either, and everyone would get manuals, etc.




So you can not see the difference between making a backup for yourself to protect against scratches or other damage to the CD, and distributing pirated copies of software? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" />

Says you - in the endeffect it's the same, Johnson: theft!
Kiya

yeah, Larian deserves to reap the rewards of what they worked for. Lar mentioned that in the manuel, IIRC, very nice forward of his, and I just hope, no one here has stolen it.

you think??

game companies dont get the profit for their games.
they get money if their games are put in stores..
not when they are downloaded from the internet or copied..

and if they dont get their profit, they are unable to create more games..

"making a copy isnt as bad" ... "its the same concept but less damage done"

It is still stealing. If my friend stole something and gave it to me, I would turn them in. Benefiting from theft isn't far removed doing it yourself. You can quibble over one being more wrong than the other, but they are both still wrong.

Just because software companies do not produce something physically tangible, does not mean they do not have to invest a lot of resources into doing so. Due to piracy, companies have to devote energy to copy protection that could better have been spent on the software, then handle the increased support that this can cause due to conflicts or lost registration keys, etc. This means less money for the developer and higher prices for the consumer.

and you don't think its wrong

Software is like Books.

The font, the printed text, the paper, the material which was used to actually "print" - all that belongst to you.

What does NOT belong to you is the spiritual content of what has been shaped into a visible - or machine-readable - form.

Johnson, you might be somehow taking it lightly, and yes we might need to explain it to you.

The law is a blind sward of JUSTICE .

Basically we are all FREE

Freedom basically means that you may do whatever you wish.

Now there is not only you but there is also me, and my freedom may very possibly interfere with yours and conflict is born.

There are basic logic rules behind law making with fairness and a BALANCE at work.

I build a house and you come and live in it kicking me out of it is considered to be a criminal act because it is my most basic rights to reap the benefits of my own effort and it is absolutely NOT for you to put your hands on it without compensating me. That is why you could BUY the house, which I built and that would be quite legal for you then to live in it.

The very same thing applies to the software.

There is a huge effort and work-hours invested in creating a game, during the production time many bills must be paid for electricity, rent etcetera; many salaries must be paid too and food must be bought and eaten to continue to survive.

It is quite legal to buy the copyrights COPY and RIGHTS then start copying rightfully.

Without buying the copyrights, making copies is absolutely an act of offence that causes damages and IS promptly incriminated by the law.

While making copies in the continuous sense of the meaning is plain crime, the software house gives legal permission to its customers to make backups, which are basically NON PROFITABLE [b] copying acts.

Therefore, buy the rights given to your friend who DID BUY the software he is authorised to make a backup of his software, which was lost before he could practice his rights. Now if you assumingly make a copy of an identical software for him or if he borrowed your authentic medium and copied it with the intention of a backup in mind, it is quite legal.

By the law, the end result is that he has a copy which he basically paid for.
No damage infliction is to be found in this particular case.
****** Case Closed ******

If you decided to make ten copies and give them as a present to your neighbourhood friends, you have caused the damage of preventing the potential profits of the software house when your friends visit you, see the game, like the game and decide to buy an authentic copy for themselves.

This is like opening the backdoor of my house and inviting your friends to party in my place without my permission, consent or compensation.

[b] NOW THAT IS PLAIN CRIME

DID YOU UNDERSTAND <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" />

tell him to go fork out his own cash.....freeloader!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/suspicion.gif" alt="" />

no harm asking johnson...thats just what i would say to
whoever asks me for MY game.....that i paid my hard earned dollars for! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Well, I do lend my games to friends - they are trustworthy <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> - as they know my passion for collecting games, they use mine to make up their minds whether to buy it or not.

And I get games from them, too - specially the genre I don't like, so I can decide, if I buy the game for the library or not. It's more for recommendation, I guess - when it deals with games I normally wouldn't even bother to look at the demo. Another one is getting violent games, so I can get a better pic of them and have more arguments against it if my members insist on me buying them = information, I guess.

Kiya

Addendum: And I play only original CD - though I have a burner, I haven't even installed the appropriate software - I simply use it as my CD drive <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> - too lazy to delve into this copying stuff <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> - my trader recommended DVD + burner <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />
The only copy CD I use is the one from the old forum, when I need it for research. Ok, laugh at me, I've deserved it <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

Johnson, I'm NOT going to discuss my library politics here on this forum. You asked about lending, I answered. Leave it at that, please.
Kiya

DONT start this way johnsonn..
even though you are a kid, you SHOUL know the difference between a violent game and a FANATASY game..

even in kirby games you "kill" your opponents <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

gore is dirty things like blood.
not all violent games have that

That depends on the local law. There are countries where it is fully legal to make a copy for personal use of digital media. This includes games, but also videos and DVDs. The keyword is 'personal' of course. You are entitled to make a backup copy in case something goes wrong with your original product. You've gotten that right when purchasing the copy. In that sense it is not illegal.
However the software you've purchased is in most cases restricted to be played on ONE machine only at a given time. So it's fully legal, to give the original to a friend, making it impossible for you to play, but allowing the friend to play. Using your copy instead is illegal again, although owning the copy is not (if you have the original also).

i see we're walking the fine line of crime here.....splitting hares! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/suspicion.gif" alt="" />
yes you are allowed to make a "backup" copy for yourself

So it's fully legal, to give the original to a friend, making it impossible for you to play, but allowing the friend to play.
[color:"orange"] I don't agree, you are the one that paid for those rights not your friend! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> [/color]

Using your copy instead is illegal again, although owning the copy is not (if you have the original also). [color:"orange"] using the copy yourself is not illegal, but "lending" it to a friend.....technically is illegal.
Yes i have lent games to my friends to check out.....and that means i can't play anyway.....cuz thay have my disk or disks,

well this for me is equal SNES(others too) roms, i get the game and i test it for 24 hours, after this i've decided if i'll buy it or not.

What I actually DON'T like, is, that in some countries it is allowed to SELL your "geistiges Eigentum" - your work.

It's like selling thoughts, for me.

And that is something I simply cannot understand.

Yep, Alrik, same here - hope my dictionary is correct: "geistiges Eigentum" = intellectual property - not identic with plagiarism.
Kiya

so if you steal or copy someone's intellectual idea(s)...
....your not held accountable??? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />
is that what you mean here?
time to update the copyright infringement laws...wouldn't you say?

infringement....An act that disregards an agreement or a right,
A crime less serious than a felony! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />

I've paid for the rights. So if I gave the game away then the other person is not entitled to play the game? That makes it virtually impossible to give the game as a present to someone.

And my line about using the copy being illegal was related to the previous one, where I alrealy gave the original game away. Using the copy is illegal then.

By european law it is no problem at all to lend the original to any friend. You bought it, so you can give it away. Important is only that no one makes an illegal copy which means only one person is allowed to play with your game at a time. Exception are some multiplayergames which allow spawned versions or make sharing possible but the game usually must stay with one owner. You are so far (the law is changing this month) allowed to make ONE backup copy of your software. But only for yourself.