Ubishaft.

[FullAuto]

I do wonder if enough consumers will turn away from Ubi's new policy. I hope they do, and look forward to Ubi explaining away their poor sales with nonsense.

 

However, I've noticed that few people really use the internet, including the supposedly tech-savvy youth. They dip in and out, and that's it. If most people remain uninformed, they will continue to buy the games.

[Matri]

However, I've noticed that few people really use the internet, including the supposedly tech-savvy youth. They dip in and out, and that's it. If most people remain uninformed, they will continue to buy the games.

Well on that count, we're winning the war.

 

If they're on the internet all or at least most of the time, they're probably already aware of this and how it will impact them. If they're not connected all the time, then they're likely unaware of the draconian DRM and it will take them by surprise.

 

And not the good kind of surprise, either...

[Matri]

And, to the utter surprise of absolutely nobody, Ubisoft's first game to make use of this "super DRM" has been cracked before the game is even on the shelves. Again.

 

Honestly, who isn't going to use the crack, given the alternative?

[Space Voyager]

Me, cause I'm not getting the game.

[Gimli]

It turns out the crack isn't all that good. They say it doesn't work past the first level.

[Matri]

Give it time, you know they have contests to see who will be the first to break it.

[chiasaur11]

It turns out the crack isn't all that good. They say it doesn't work past the first level.

 

Depends on who you ask.

 

Some folks seems to be doing better.

[FullAuto]

Silent Hunter 5 suffers.

 

And finally, as one of the first games to receive Ubisoft's new copy protection, it's an embarrassment.

 

In case you're not aware (or at least not actively part of the PC gaming community that's been frothing with rage about this), Silent Hunter 5 requires you to be connected to the internet at all times so that Ubisoft's launcher program can stay connected to the game's authentication servers. Without internet access the game won't begin, and if your internet connection drops while you're playing then it saves your game and quits itself.

 

Now, this works the other way- if Ubisoft's authentication servers are down, you can't play your game. Staggeringly for a company introducing something like this, this Sunday and Monday Ubisoft's servers were in fact brought down, and myself and many others were left with a game we couldn't play. There's no way of knowing whether this was just the growing pains of a new service, but it's worth remembering all the same, especially so when a patched Silent Hunter 4 can be found cheaper and is, for now, the better game.

[Matri]

Naturally, Ubisoft blamed it on a DDoS attack and not, you know, the millions of copies trying connect to the server all at once.

 

MMO providers can't even get a few thousand to stay connected even in their dreams, and Ubisoft think they can handle millions?

[Sunflash]

I'm torn between laughing and crying. D:

[Bomb Bloke]

If it really is a DDOS, then it'll probably blow over shortly.

 

If it's not, then they'll either have to upgrade their server setups, or change their activation scheme via a patch.

[ERISS]

Yeay, few drms, scruck UBI & Steam!

[Space Voyager]

Now, this works the other way- if Ubisoft's authentication servers are down, you can't play your game.

This is sooooooo wrong. On soooooo many levels.

[Thorondor]

Settlers 7 game owners still getting 'served' by Ubisoft...

 

I doubt the folks who actually developed the game have a say, and these continued DRM-imparted niceties will surely bring the sales of their game down.

 

::

 

The gamer loses, the devs lose and I don't see Ubisoft winning anything but bad press either...

[Sunflash]

What really makes me sad is I've always enjoyed the Settlers series; but now I'm not even going to try to mess with this. *sigh*

[Azrael Strife]

This is entertaining, how do you think it will end? I think Ubisoft will just steal a crack from, say, Reloaded, and send 'patches' everywhere.

[Bomb Bloke]

Heh, I'd hardly consider that an "ending".

 

But yeah, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's either release a patch to break their own DRM, or pay for some serious network infrastructure.

 

Whatever happens, I reckon this'll seriously cut into their profits. I doubt they'll be using it with many more new releases.

[Sunflash]

If they DO remove the Ubishaft DRM, I wonder how they'll do it? Silent addeation to a different patch? Attempt to 'quietly' remove it while slipping it in a quick fix? Or do you think they'll actually have teh guts to go "Yeah okay so this was a stupid idea, and we've come to realize that. Kthx."?

 

Amusing way to spend a boring work day.

[Azrael Strife]

If they are already having these issues with a couple of games, imagine what will happen in time when there are more and more games, this is silly, it's an insane expense for the company to have servers running at all time for millions of players.

[Matri]

Heh, I don't remember which company, but there was a time when one of them linked to a crack by one of the famous groups and attempted to call it their own solution for copy protection problems.

[Azrael Strife]

Heh, I don't remember which company, but there was a time when one of them linked to a crack by one of the famous groups and attempted to call it their own solution for copy protection problems.

That is the reason I used Reloaded as an example, guess who

[Sunflash]

That is the reason I used Reloaded as an example, guess who

 

 

Aaaahahahahaha, I hadn't heard about that. That's RICH>

[Matri]

Lol! Yup, that's the one!

[Gimli]

Not exactly about Ubisoft specifically, but worth a read:

 

https://www.welt.de/webwelt/article7085505/...pieler-aus.html

 

It's in German, so I suggest using Google translate. It's good enough to get what the article is all about.

[Bomb Bloke]

https://boardsus.playstation.com/t5/PlaySta...y/td-p/45537963

 

https://boards.ign.com/ps3_general_board/b8267/191330467/p1/

 

https://au.ps3.ign.com/articles/108/1085230p1.html

 

Couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. Sony (or Capcom, really) has gone and applied the "always online" thing to a downloadable PS3 game, and hasn't bothered to mention this requirement pre-sale. Furthermore, if you wish to play the game on multiple systems (quite legally), you're required to wait at least 24 hours before switching machines - a point they also neglected to mention initially, but eventually added to their store description after complaints.