Ubisoft Apologizes for DRM Server Switch Screwup

[Andy Chalk]

Ubisoft Apologizes for DRM Server Switch Screwup

Ubisoft has apologized for problems with its DRM server switch that have locked people out of games that were supposed to remain playable during the transfer.

Ubisoft made it known [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115635-Ubisoft-Games-Unplayable-During-Server-Switch] last week that several of its PC games would be unavailable for an indeterminate period of time because of a server move. No servers, no DRM, and thus no game, unless of course you happen to have an illegal, pirated copy lying around, in which case everything will work just fine.

Anyway, if there's one thing Ubisoft is known for, it's making bad DRM situations worse, and thus it will likely come as no surprise to anyone that the already-awkward outage has reportedly spilled beyond the games it was supposed to affect and knocked out games that were supposed to stay online during the changeover as well, including Driver: San Francisco and Anno 2070. Ubisoft had previously stated [http://static2.cdn.ubi.com/transition/details/] that both games would remain untouched by the blackout.

"We apologize for the inconvenience, it seems some of you can't connect to games announced as playable during migration," Ubisoft tweet [https://twitter.com/#!/Ubisoft/status/167196536130899969]. "We'll provide status updates throughout the day."

Unless you pirated the games, that is. In that case, you can just go ahead and play whenever you like.

via: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-08-ubisoft-apologises-after-online-server-switch-snafu]


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[DasDestroyer]

Good old Ubisoft, bringing some much appreciated variation into our otherwise bland lives.

 

[gigastar]

And no one in charge at Ubisoft even remotely thinks that it would be a good idea to not use this kind of DRM?

Come on, even EA dropped this kind.

 

[Something Amyss]

Lousy double post. See below for actual post.

 

[Something Amyss]

So, to recap:

Pirates can play these games fine.

Paying customers, you know, the guys you want to keep, cannot.

Or, in other words:

And no one in charge at Ubisoft even remotely thinks that it would be a good idea to not use this kind of DRM?

Come on, even EA dropped this kind.

To be fair, this is the company that thought what Ezio needed was a TOWER DEFENSE game.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Nothing I could say would be funnier than having this happen.

 

[gigastar]

And no one in charge at Ubisoft even remotely thinks that it would be a good idea to not use this kind of DRM?

Come on, even EA dropped this kind.

To be fair, this is the company that thought what Ezio needed was a TOWER DEFENSE game.

While a devastatingly good point, i find it hard to imagine that a man in a pinstripe suit emailed one of the 11 or so studios working on Revelations then told them to find room to cram in a pointless, genre-shifting minigame.

Either idiots attract idiots or Ubisoft has nearly transcended EA in opressing its dev stuidos.

 

[ResonanceGames]

I'm glad Ubisoft's games are so unappealing. It makes not buying them a lot easier.

 

[Something Amyss]

While a devastatingly good point, i find it hard to imagine that a man in a pinstripe suit emailed one of the 11 or so studios working on Revelations then told them to find room to cram in a pointless, genre-shifting minigame.

Either idiots attract idiots or Ubisoft has nearly transcended EA in opressing its dev stuidos.

Well, to be completely honest, I was thinking more along the lines of the whole "yearly iterations" schedule leading to them sticking in these new gameplay elements to satisfy customers without really changing up gameplay.

As such, I don't think they actually have to be more oppressive than EA, just think along the same lines of "churn out more sequels faster, dammit!"

But the idea of "idiots attracting idiots" seems to be fairly likely, with what we know of the gaming industry.

 

[Irridium]

Nothing I could say would be funnier than having this happen.

I got something.

Spoiler

 

[Sabrestar]

*turns on sarcasm mode*

It's a good thing they apologised. That makes everything okay. Now it isn't a problem any more.

*turns off sarcasm mode*

Let's hope the Ubisoft top offices are full of screams along the lines of "YOU DID WHAT?" and "GET THEM WORKING NOW!"

...or at least the French translations thereof. Heads need to roll for this kind of stupidity. Not that I'm holding out any hope of that.

 

[Baresark]

I have two permanent solutions for this problem. One is to not use the DRM (haha, I know, it's a ridiculous idea). The other is to stop making PC games altogether (something you are constantly threatening to pull out of anyway). There are so man good studios that don't stick us with terrible DRM that doesn't stop piracy anyway and don't just give the PC terrible ports that were optimized by rhesus monkeys on heroine.

 

[paketep]

The real screwup was putting such a stupid DRM in their games. Buyers can't play their games while pirates are unaffected.

The server switch shortage is just a consequence. Oh, and some unprofessionalism too. This kind of server switches should take minutes, not days. But hey, who's expecting any better from Ubi?. Certainly not me.

 

[Wicky_42]

... you pirate the games, [...] you can just go ahead and play whenever you like.

Lol, I thought advocating piracy was against the forum rules?

But yeah, way to go Ubisoft. You've sure shown everyone how you deal with copyright infringement! I'm sure you're customers are very pleased that your system is in place to do... well, whatever you think it's meant to do.

 

[Zefar]

The real screwup was putting such a stupid DRM in their games. Buyers can't play their games while pirates are unaffected.

The server switch shortage is just a consequence. Oh, and some unprofessionalism too. This kind of server switches should take minutes, not days. But hey, who's expecting any better from Ubi?. Certainly not me.

Oh I'm sure you got PLENTY of experiencing to move DRM heavy games from one server to a new one. How about you apply for their company and show how it's done in a day and you'll most likely get hired right away.

But that will never happen.

Btw what a surprise, my brother can play the latest Assassin Creed game without a problem.

Looks like this doesn't affect EVERY legit buyers out there. Maybe you guys should stop overreacting a bit.

Not to mention that Achievements in Uplay games can give you credit to buy some small DLC packs. Lets see if Steam allows you to do that at some point.

The DRM is also able to work Offline too. But I don't think you guys know about that so I'll just not mention it anymore. Assassin Creed series are actually quite fun.

 

[JayDub147]

... you pirate the games, [...] you can just go ahead and play whenever you like.

Lol, I thought advocating piracy was against the forum rules?

No, no, no; you see, Ubisoft is the one advocating piracy. This is merely its latest campaign. If only they can get other developers on board, we'll have fewer people than ever actually paying for their games!

 

[JoesshittyOs]

It's not your fault Ubisoft.

Ubisoft. It's not your fault.

It's not your fault.

It's not your fault, Ubisoft.

(Commence Ubisoft breaking down into tears.)

 

[Igen]

Wouldn't be any worse then a book publisher stealing half of my books just so they can update the front page copyright info and then refuse to give them back to me because they broke in the move.

Temptation to pirate rising... Why the hell should I be a paying customer when I get locked out of what I paid cash for?

 

[sean360h]

UbiSoft giving me reasons to never buy their games ever again
What they expect me to buy their stuff after they go and call the PC gamers "assholes" and Release the worst DRM in the world to punish the people who buy their games meaning the pirated copy is free and a better copy of the game
Thank god their Games suck (with the exception of Splinter Cell and Assassins Creed)

If this was a Valve game well I wouldn't be able to resist any longer than five minutes if I'm lucky but hey valve rock I don't think they can actually piss me off. (Even if it takes then another 50 years to make Half Life 3)