DRM Systems and the Publishers Who Love Them

[Shamus Young]

DRM Systems and the Publishers Who Love Them

Shamus Young revisits DRM and looks at the good progress companies are making... towards turning everyone pirate.

Read Full Article

 

[Altorin]

I find with Mass Effect 2, if I try and load the game without being connected to XBL, my DLC will become corrupted, and I can't load my game because of the corrupted DLC, which I have to sign back into XBL, redownload the DLC, and then load my game in order to play.

in the news thread about Ubisoft's DRMI suggested a way that scans our rectums to ensure only the registered rectum plays the game.. It's about the only place DRM could go from here.

A long while back I made an april fools post about a DRM that required you to keep constant pressure on a biometric fingerprint scanner to play the game. Doesn't seem like such a joke now.

My main issue with steam is that sometimes it will just say 'That game is currently unavailable" even if it's a single player game. Want to play Portal? Steam won't let you? screw you, that's what you get.

But all in all, I love Steam as a concept, I just wish it was a littler friendlier with the online activation.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

So thats why I can't buy Mass Effect 1 for the PC nowadays. Fucking resale has been killed completely.

 

[MurderousToaster]

I love Steam, personally. It may be online activation, but it has an offline mode, which is really useful. I think that out of the three, Valve's option is most certainly the best.

 

[Asehujiko]

Steam is a perfect example of how a DRM platform SHOULD work: Unobtrusive, reliable, versatile and with a ton of benefits.

Call me cynical, but I think that your idea of how ubisoft's future products are going to look might actually come true. And that you have to travel to an ubisoft establishment and show that note in order to be allowed to play your game there.

 

[SatansBestBuddy]

I'll tell you where it'll go from here:

They'll install spyware that they won't tell you about, it'll be part of the game so you can't uninstall it without uninstalling the game, and it'll constantly be monitoring your computer use, so that if you ever go to a website that the company has blacklisted (such as PirateBay, or something with "hacker" in the title), then the game will notify the company and any and all games you have already bought from that specfic company will be considered stolen property, and you will be locked out of those games forever, even after uninstalling and reinstalling.

And they won't tell you why it happened.

Naturally, this is all with the resrictions of having to always be online and having a registered account and all that jazz.

THAT's the only way I can see things getting worse...

 

[Altorin]

I'll tell you where it'll go from here:

They'll install spyware that they won't tell you about, it'll be part of the game so you can't uninstall it without uninstalling the game, and it'll constantly be monitoring your computer use, so that if you ever go to a website that the company has blacklisted (such as PirateBay, or something with "hacker" in the title), then the game will notify the company and any and all games you have already bought from that specfic company will be considered stolen property, and you will be locked out of those games forever, even after uninstalling and reinstalling.

And they won't tell you why it happened.

THAT's the only way I can see things getting worse...

haha.... wow, I didn't think anyone could come up with an idea worse then my "anal probing DRM" idea, but damn, that's it.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I have this sneaking suspicion that Ubisoft is just using the PC segment of their business as a "trial run" for implementation across the board, because the alternative (that they honestly think this will deter pirates) is indeed rather horrifying - how could somebody as highly paid as their management no doubt is manage to be so staggeringly stupid?

Of course, my theory is equally horrifying, but at least they would just be evil rather than clueless jackasses ruining good games with unwanted and pointless bullshit tacked on.

 

[Izerous]

I can imagine several ways it could easily get worse. Hell with AC2 even if you could keep playing and save your game but not load your save game until you re-connect that would be no where near as bad, not good but no where as outrageous.

 

[JeanLuc761]

Steam is a perfect example of how a DRM platform SHOULD work: Unobtrusive, reliable, versatile and with a ton of benefits.

Call me cynical, but I think that your idea of how ubisoft's future products are going to look might actually come true. And that you have to travel to an ubisoft establishment and show that note in order to be allowed to play your game there.

I have to agree with this. While I'd prefer no DRM at all, Steam is the best system I've seen in place. It's (mostly) background, they have auto-backup and make patches for EVERY game in the event Steam goes out of business, and they have some really fantastic sales.

 

[SharedProphet]

I am pretty sure Ubisoft is only doing this so that their real DRM scheme will be better received when they finally "relent" and reveal it.

Still, before long this will scare away enough customers that they will start having trouble making money on it. Assuming they run out of people and ways to lay the blame elsewhere besides themselves, they'll have to come up with more reasonable policies.

To the people who don't mind Steam: the problem is that every company is making a new one. Steam won't seem so great when it's (in Shamus's words [http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=2899]):

Steam. Impulse. EA Manager. 2kGames Nanny. The Activision Activator. Take-Two GameAction! Ubisoft UBehave. Eidos Eipod. Codemasters Master Decoder. THQ Launcher. Microsoft PC Live Launcher Suite for Windows 7. Lucas Arts Game Hutt. Capcom's Resident e-Ville. SEGA System Master. A stupid program for every game. A login for each one. All of them crowding around in the bowels of your system, downloading patches and updates and hopefully not sharing too much personal data. (Or you can set a policy of forbidding them to start, and then when you go to play your game you can sit there and wait while it updates.)

Impulse doesn't have to run in the background of course, so it doesn't really fit on the list. But you get the picture.

Battle.net 2.0 will be the next big Steam to come out, I think, but not the last.

 

[Dudemeister]

I hear that with the next system, we will be paying for a pass which we will be able to use to play the game at official Ubisoft Game Centers while a man stands behind us staring over our shoulders and asking "You a criminal?" the entire time.

 

[krellen]

I think it's worth noting that both Stardock and GOG.com both continue to provide completely DRM-free software - and pretty high quality software at that.

Most of my purchases in the past couple of years have been through these two excellent companies.

 

[Antari]

I already don't buy Ubisoft or EA games because of them buying up all the little developers and leaving us with this gigantic ineffective blob they seem to want to call a company, and which everyone seems to be copying. They have not taken the time to learn how the business functions from the customer's point of view, they only care about themselves. Good luck to them. They will need it with this sort of decision making process.

 

[Woodsey]

I think the reason people don't look at Steam as DRM is simply because it works. Not as DRM particularly, but it properly provides everything you listed and Valve puts work into it; they're constantly trying to make it better.

Then look at GfW LIVE - Microsoft couldn't give 2 flying shits about it.

After 1 activation you can also at least use Steam in offline mode. Still no good to those who don't have internet access, but good enough for most with a very patchy connection and onwards.

I doubt I need to add anything more to the shit-storm that is Ubisoft's DRM.

Petition against it here folks: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?ew15dl94&1

If I get anywhere with contacting a human at Ubisoft (who's job it is to look at customer complaints, or who is at least willing to) I'll post it on here.

 

[feather240]

I'll tell you where it'll go from here:

They'll install spyware that they won't tell you about, it'll be part of the game so you can't uninstall it without uninstalling the game, and it'll constantly be monitoring your computer use, so that if you ever go to a website that the company has blacklisted (such as PirateBay, or something with "hacker" in the title), then the game will notify the company and any and all games you have already bought from that specfic company will be considered stolen property, and you will be locked out of those games forever, even after uninstalling and reinstalling.

And they won't tell you why it happened.

THAT's the only way I can see things getting worse...

haha.... wow, I didn't think anyone could come up with an idea worse then my "anal probing DRM" idea, but damn, that's it.

That's a rootkit right? I'm pretty sure they're illegal.

Steam is a perfect example of how a DRM platform SHOULD work: Unobtrusive, reliable, versatile and with a ton of benefits.

Call me cynical, but I think that your idea of how ubisoft's future products are going to look might actually come true. And that you have to travel to an ubisoft establishment and show that note in order to be allowed to play your game there.

I have to agree with this. While I'd prefer no DRM at all, Steam is the best system I've seen in place. It's (mostly) background, they have auto-backup and make patches for EVERY game in the event Steam goes out of business, and they have some really fantastic sales.

Wait, they already made patches for the games? I now love steam even more.

 

[Dudeakoff]

I wonder how long until it gets cracked. Before release date would be a kick in the balls.

 

[JeanLuc761]

Wait, they already made patches for the games? I now love steam even more.

That's what I've heard. It's a very smart choice.

 

[Dark_Lemon]

I have easily spent a couple of thousand pounds on games. Typically my preferred platform is the pc, arguably one that has historically been an easier one to pirate games on. I have also never pirated a game.

I played Assassins Creed on the PC, however, when the second arrives I intend borrow a friend's on the XBox, rather than purchase my own. I don't intend to circumvent the systems Ubisoft intend to set in place, but neither do I wish to tolerate them.

To state the old diatribe, with regret, this is one sale they're not getting.

 

[Doug]

Where will they go from here?

2011

Ubisoft would like to announce our new service to the customer! Ubisoft games will now be [small](exclusively)[/small] available at our new Ubisoft gaming centers. Just buy the game from a store and you'll be able to install and play the game [small](only)[/small] at our centres [small](for a limited subscription fee)[/small].

[small]Blood tests, DNA checks, and photo ID will be required for entry to the facility. All customers must be accompanied by a Ubisoft 'helper' at all times whilst on site.[/small]