Hi,
I was wondering, just how often do game cd's wear out? My music cd's never do and game cd's aren't accesed nearly as much. True, it reduces the risk of scratching but cd's are pretty scratch tolerant. Hell, I keep most of my music cd's loose (no case) in the glove compartment of my car and they work fine. When it comes to game cd's, by the time they might wear out, the game no longer runs on my current rig.
Like you I buy my software and yes I miss the days of thick manuals and lower tech protection like code wheels
or questions requiring the manual to answer. I can't believe that producing a good hardcopy manual is too expensive considering the amount of money that goes into game production. Besides, simmers that play the games on this site are so hard core, the game companies could probably recruit a few to write very high quality manuals for little cost.
I know I'd pay a few extra bucks for a decent manual.
Good Hunting,
Sillius_Sodus