In case you missed it, watch the Xbox One recap here
Xbox One doesn't require always-on connection, but mandatory installs tied to accounts
Call of Duty: Ghosts preview: rebooting a franchise
Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC exclusive to Xbox One first
Ubisoft's New PC DRM Really Requires Net Access, Ends Game If Disconnected
by Chris Faylor, Feb 17, 2010 1:20pm PSTUbisoft wasn't kidding when it said that its new digital rights management technique mandates "an active Internet connection to play the game, for all game modes."
Advance copies of the first two games to embrace the new solution--Assassin's Creed II PC and The Settlers 7 PC--recently arrived at PC Gamer, leading to the discovery that the games automatically shut down if temporarily disconnected from the Internet.
In the case of Assassin's Creed II PC, a single-player game, players will lose any progress since the last checkpoint in the event that they briefly lose their connection to Ubisoft's master servers, be it because of client-side or server-side issues.
Other aspects of the new system include a lack of disc checks and installation limited, along with the ability for saved games to be stored in a server-side cloud. "Most upcoming Ubisoft PC games will make use of this system," according to the company, which has also promised to patch in offline support when or if the system shuts down.
Comments
There is a cycle, and the only way to break it is for one side to stop. If we don't buy the game, and don't pirate it either, it will send a very solid message. If we just pirate it, we are only feeding their excuse for the DRM, thus we are bringing the DRM on ourselves.
But whatever, people will do what they do, few gamers have actual conviction, at least enough to not play a good game because of principles. So I predict that the cycle will continue, devs will complain about piracy, and gamers will complain about "gimped" product and draconian DRM.
I used to take a side on the issue, claiming that DRM was killing PC gaming, but now I realize thats not true; we are all killing PC gaming. All of us, the devs and the gamers. When you finally step back and see the big picture, you'll see that It's an amazing joint effort, with niether side willing to move an inch.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 3 replies.
http://i.imgur.com/GxzeV.jpg
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
Please have a look at torrents and usenet a week after you release any game with this DRM. You'll find that the game will already be there, without DRM, probably for about 6 days by then. Just do this to see that you are only screwing your honest customers, which is the exact reverse as what you planned.
When will they ever learn?
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 13 replies.
The problem is all the PC gamers are angry at the symptom and not the infection. If people were to stop pirating games and torrenting them, you wouldn't have this DRM issue.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 29 replies.
Sorry for my rant I just got done trying to play the new AvP which is also a PC game I highly looked forward to that is...... you guessed it buggy.
This past year in PC gaming has to go down as some kind of record as some of the dumbest decisions by developers/publishers and QA teams in history.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 16 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
Oh that's interesting.. for the $108 'White' edition, you get an 'in-game bonus quest'.
I really can't support anything with that kind of marketing, I'm sorry 8-(
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
The argument goes something like "What's the big deal? I mean who doesn't have high speed internet nowadays?" But that's missing the point. What about customers who just want to be able to use their software the way they want to? Playing a single player game without being connected to the internet doesn't seem all that unreasonable but apparently Ubisoft doesn't think so. What about laptop users and others who aren't able to be connected to the internet all the time?
Look at what EA\Bioware did with Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2. They learned the first time that all the InSecuROM DRM did was cost a lot of money and thoroughly piss off paying customers and passionate fans. I had to download a crack for the first Mass Effect about a month after I bought it because EA said I had reached my limit and were dragging their feet with issuing more activations. There wasn't even a revocation tool for the first year and a half that Mass Effect was out. So while waiting for EA support to get back to me via e-mail I just said screw it. Very sad.
This whole thing is so illogical. However if EA can learn a lesson there is yet hope for UbiSoft. Thankfully Ubi makes crap games for the most part so I won't be missing much by not buying their buggy ass games.
Sry if i said it wrong, english is not my main language :).
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 10 replies.
I mean... really?!
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 5 replies.
Piracy is killing pc's, and if this can help, good.
Honestly, can you think of any other way around piracy ?
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 37 replies.
First, there will be negative reviews in the media, which publishers take very seriously. Second, upon launch, the system is not going to work very well. Forget about activation, you can't even play without a persistent connection, so imagine the Steam launch in 2004 amped up to 11.
Consumer outrage will come through on customer service channels. Many customers will not be able to play the game they paid for whenever they want because of net congestion, server overload, port forwarding, etc. Someone will inevitably file a class action suit.
Now Ubisoft has to fend off bad press, pissed off customers, and litigious consumers simultaneously. My bet is that they scrap the system within a year. The end result? Ubisoft slips against the competition, blames the PC market, and PC games become even more of an endangered species. Thanks for fucking everything up, Monsieur Guillemot.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 5 replies.
1. How comes that Valve is so well in business with games like Left4Dead without having to use stuff like this?
2. Can you name one thing that successfully prevented piracy only in the slightest that is more than a CD check?
I believe the cd/dvd check is the only thing that prevented something, as it didn't allow people to just copy stuff of of a CD and give it to a friend.
Everyone who goes on the internet to find a pirated copy on torrents or where ever is going to find it. These people are one step further. They aren't the kind of people who go like "Oh crap I can't copy it now I have to buy it". None of these measures prevent piracy, they may slow the crack coders down for 2 hours, but then its available and everyone who wants to get it gets it.
Only difference being the company spent a lot of money on DRM and there are probably even more people either not buying it or pirating it because they get the better product in the end, not having to deal with this hook up your ass.
I'm sad that these games are now off my list, I was interested in the new Settlers and was going to buy them both.
And piracy is not a new thing, it was always there and will always be there. People bootlegged vinyls, copied CDs and tapes to other tapes, and guess what? Industry still lives.
Some of the older people may remember how the record industry went all teary eyed explaining to us that tape recorders are killing the business. Sure, this may be a whole new scale, (but so are the sales I guess), but it is essentially the same thing. And companies like Valve seem to show how to do it right. They have their DRM in place, it doesn't work 100 % but its not a complete pain in the ass either, offers offline support and more functionalities besides "being checked and x rayed".
If you don't agree, fair enough, something might have come off as a little extreme but I'm very disappointed at the route PC gaming is taking. Remember the outcry when Half Life 2 needed Steam?
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 5 replies.
I am going to sadly cancel my preorder. I am not going to have to deal with crappy DRM like this when the bootlegged version might already out a week before and/or at the same time, plus it didnt require stuff like this to run.
Dont mistake me for a pirate, I bought all the Ubisoft games on PC (yes, including that great Chaos Theory with the super crappy Starforce DRM) and all the games before this that doesnt even have any copy protection rather than cd-check and I was super happy until I see this. Way to treat your customer well, Ubi. And to think that I am waiting for the PC version for this, including Settlers and Splinter Cell.
Might as well rent the game and return it on console (although I prefer PC, really). At least I dont have to friggin stay ONLINE all the time when I play it. Yes, my place stupidly has connection issues most of the time for some reason. Comcastic!
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
Though in the end I know I won't, good job making the descision whether or not to pirate a game a legitimate question to me, Ubisoft. That was what you were trying to do, right?
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 3 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 5 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 9 replies.
The only questionable assumption my prediction makes is that an AIDS cure or vaccine would not have been discovered by then.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 5 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
I buy all of my games but I'm not buying UBISOFT anymore. They've honestly lost their minds. Even with cable internet I can't guarantee I'll be connected 100% of the time.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
It'd probably work best if the DoS were distributed and the materials necessary for it handed out along the same avenues as the pirates are currently using. What's Ubisoft going to do if every PC gamer decides to DoS their servers to protest?
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 7 replies.
I am not saying that games aren’t pirated but I think there has been a gradual shift over the years with the further implementation of more and more hideous DRM leading to an increase in piracy. The increase of a more tech aware youth has most likely helped facilitate this.
I truly believe now we are in a situation where we are at the tipping point either Developers/Publishers have the balls to say we not going to use DRM, or they write off PC development anything in between is an exercise in futility. There will always be exceptions to this the MMORPGS, and other PC centric games but the golden age of PC gaming is over, console is now King and that makes me sad. I’ve always believed PC gaming was the way forward if you wanted superior controls and graphics, (again notable exceptions here, street fighter etc was made for console gaming), trying to play an FPS on a console though...
Finally the way in which consoles are becoming more PC like makes me wonder where this heading, we may just go full circle...
/Rant
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 13 replies.
"Most upcoming Ubisoft PC games will make use of this system," according to the company, which has also promised to patch in offline support when or if the system shuts down.
PCG is playing these games before they are released to the public. If they don't have this offline system in place when the game launches, then I will join the bitchers in saying this is the biggest load of shit in the PC gaming world to come around since Starforce. But, until then I await with bated breath. Ass Creed 2 is already fucking $59.99, so please please I hope this offline stuff they're patching in works. I am really looking forward to it on PC.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 27 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
I bet they made a lot of pirates happy, confirming what they do gives them the better product, plus 80 Dollar less to pay per game (in Europe, thats what Ass Creed 2 is going to cost),
Seems Valve is one of the only big companies out there I and a lot of others still "trust" when it comes to games.
If a company doens't play fair, it deserves the backlash against it. If that company can get away with it, then lawmakers should fix this asap.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 6 replies.
You must be logged in to post.