Jimquisition: Ubisoft - A Sad History of PC Failures
- Thread starter Jimothy Sterling
- Start date
I am super glad I opted to wait a month before deciding to buy this game or not. And after seeing all the complaints on it, I passed on it and just watched a let's play. To be honest, the game is a bit of a disappointment. It's just inconsistent in it's storytelling and I thought we'd be able to interact more with the environment and the AI is a combination of smart and dumb. The police were run over each other with their cars in one video and at times help the gang members while the civilians called the police and the police go after the player instead of criminal NPC who fired the gun. Not to say it wasn't a bit hilarious to watch.
Wait. Ubisoft used the word "iconic" to describe stuff owned by brand new characters? What the actual fuck?
This, and the graphic downgrade practice (which was already linked here, so rock on guys for that), is pretty much exactly why I no longer own a modern console; I'm not getting anything for it.
In the Golden Age, consoles were more powerful (for price) than PCs because they were dedicated. They were easier to produce for and sell for because of this dedication. They wound up losing the graphical edge (when it had it) here and there, losing it almost entirely by the end of the PS2 era, but they were consistently solid products (due to denying games low-level access). There're also the benefits of user-mods, in the 5th-6th gen, though they weren't as widespread, and that was back when *actual* piracy (the *selling* of someone else's content... pirate carts, etc.) was actually a prominent thing.
I don't know... maybe it was growing up in MUDs and with tech that gave me respect for gaming and the culture... maybe it was just me and mine. The single argument that art and business don't mix is pretty much the end-all of it, for me... and EA and Ubi sorta show their asses to prove that right.
In the Golden Age, consoles were more powerful (for price) than PCs because they were dedicated. They were easier to produce for and sell for because of this dedication. They wound up losing the graphical edge (when it had it) here and there, losing it almost entirely by the end of the PS2 era, but they were consistently solid products (due to denying games low-level access). There're also the benefits of user-mods, in the 5th-6th gen, though they weren't as widespread, and that was back when *actual* piracy (the *selling* of someone else's content... pirate carts, etc.) was actually a prominent thing.
I don't know... maybe it was growing up in MUDs and with tech that gave me respect for gaming and the culture... maybe it was just me and mine. The single argument that art and business don't mix is pretty much the end-all of it, for me... and EA and Ubi sorta show their asses to prove that right.
This "PC vs Console" bullshit has to end, and I think I have a solution. All we need is to strip down irrelevancy/redundancy and construct the console to fit into a standard PC optical bay - many people don't even use them anymore, making it just so much empty space in many casings. Then, develop a secondary OS software that will allow the internal, standardized components to "take over" the primary CPU while active, turning the outside hardware into essentially a fancy, combination HDMI cable and internet connector (with access to certain other key components, of course). This way, one can retain the consistency of a gaming console AND the flexibility of gaming PC's in a single machine.
It wouldn't have to be one-way, either. The same OS software could allow the host computer to utilize this "console card" as a secondary GPU and/or HDRAM when not otherwise in use.
I believe this is the way to go in future. Certainly there could - and should - still be stand-alone machines, but this would bridge a lot of gaps. It opens up game developers to new audiences without the need to "port", as long as they are willing to put in the effort to allow for their software to run on more powerful systems (governed by the secondary OS, not the internal settings from either primary), while at the same time reducing overall production costs for the hardware developers.
Nintendo, of all people, seems to be getting closer and closer to this, with the Wii and WiiU designs, and I have to say, I wouldn't be sorry to see them do it.
It wouldn't have to be one-way, either. The same OS software could allow the host computer to utilize this "console card" as a secondary GPU and/or HDRAM when not otherwise in use.
I believe this is the way to go in future. Certainly there could - and should - still be stand-alone machines, but this would bridge a lot of gaps. It opens up game developers to new audiences without the need to "port", as long as they are willing to put in the effort to allow for their software to run on more powerful systems (governed by the secondary OS, not the internal settings from either primary), while at the same time reducing overall production costs for the hardware developers.
Nintendo, of all people, seems to be getting closer and closer to this, with the Wii and WiiU designs, and I have to say, I wouldn't be sorry to see them do it.
and another thing. I do not think it's fair calling Ubisoft the European EA. They are worse. They are the European Activision.
You know what's the real idiocy about all this?
When the first DRM game launched (AC2), yes, it stopped piracy... for about 3 days. 3 days after the launch there was a way around it. How? A server emulator. Granted, it was a bit more tricky than your usual copy-paste cracks, but still, 3 days after the launch, the game was playable by pirates. And a week or two after launch, there was a 'proper' (copy paste) crack out for those few people who play games on a PC but know so little about their computers not to be able to follow simple instructions for setting up the first crack.
After that? Every following title with DRM was pirated one day after release at most. In some countries, that was actually faster than waiting for an actual release (if the US release was 3 days before the EU one for example, people in the EU could play the pirated version 2 days before the release in their own country).
That's how effective DRM is. That's how much it stops piracy. So, hassle to pirates? Few days of waiting on the first game, none or faster on the following ones. Hassle to legitimate customers? Downed servers, bad connections and other things literally preventing them from playing a game they bought. Ubisoft punished their own customers far more so than it did the pirates.
When the first DRM game launched (AC2), yes, it stopped piracy... for about 3 days. 3 days after the launch there was a way around it. How? A server emulator. Granted, it was a bit more tricky than your usual copy-paste cracks, but still, 3 days after the launch, the game was playable by pirates. And a week or two after launch, there was a 'proper' (copy paste) crack out for those few people who play games on a PC but know so little about their computers not to be able to follow simple instructions for setting up the first crack.
After that? Every following title with DRM was pirated one day after release at most. In some countries, that was actually faster than waiting for an actual release (if the US release was 3 days before the EU one for example, people in the EU could play the pirated version 2 days before the release in their own country).
That's how effective DRM is. That's how much it stops piracy. So, hassle to pirates? Few days of waiting on the first game, none or faster on the following ones. Hassle to legitimate customers? Downed servers, bad connections and other things literally preventing them from playing a game they bought. Ubisoft punished their own customers far more so than it did the pirates.
Yes, that list was not exhaustive.
I expect this comment section fill up with stories. Here's mine:
I pre-ordered Heroes of Might & Magic VI in 2010, waited for it until Oktober 2011, got it, didn't work.
I couldn't even install it at first because the key wouldn't register, then, finally installed, the DRM crashed the game or didn't let it start at all.
I once even got in, started a game and after I was through the initial tutorials (boring, long, not skippable) the game crashed and I didn't appear to have an autosave or savegame.
So, I forget all about it through 2012. Seriously, I was so pissed for spending 60? a year in advance. I kept reading about bugs, bad AI, bad balancing, crashes, errors, etc.
So, here comes the kicker: Not immune to windows resets myself I had to re-install the game. I did this in 2013. I tried.
Despite numerous patches (2.something) the game wouldn't let me advance past the tutorial stage.
Fantastic.
I found no mention of this in the Ubisoft forums or help documentation, but thankfully there are a lot of HOMM fan sites. In one of *their* forums did I find a thread describing the problem.
The answer was "Yeah, Ubisoft has known about this since mid-2012. They haven't fixed it yet. And, oh yeah, don't bother with their forum: The delete those threads asking about HOMM VI because they have discontinued support/patches for that game."
Wat.
Turns out there is an email adress by Ubisoft where you can send a request to unlock your CD-key, which has to be done on a case-by-case basis, for all the thousands of customers who were affected, ever since 2012. A post dating to late 2012 just read "expect a wait period of a week".
Ubisoft won. They already had our money.
I expect this comment section fill up with stories. Here's mine:
I pre-ordered Heroes of Might & Magic VI in 2010, waited for it until Oktober 2011, got it, didn't work.
I couldn't even install it at first because the key wouldn't register, then, finally installed, the DRM crashed the game or didn't let it start at all.
I once even got in, started a game and after I was through the initial tutorials (boring, long, not skippable) the game crashed and I didn't appear to have an autosave or savegame.
So, I forget all about it through 2012. Seriously, I was so pissed for spending 60? a year in advance. I kept reading about bugs, bad AI, bad balancing, crashes, errors, etc.
So, here comes the kicker: Not immune to windows resets myself I had to re-install the game. I did this in 2013. I tried.
Despite numerous patches (2.something) the game wouldn't let me advance past the tutorial stage.
Fantastic.
I found no mention of this in the Ubisoft forums or help documentation, but thankfully there are a lot of HOMM fan sites. In one of *their* forums did I find a thread describing the problem.
The answer was "Yeah, Ubisoft has known about this since mid-2012. They haven't fixed it yet. And, oh yeah, don't bother with their forum: The delete those threads asking about HOMM VI because they have discontinued support/patches for that game."
Wat.
Turns out there is an email adress by Ubisoft where you can send a request to unlock your CD-key, which has to be done on a case-by-case basis, for all the thousands of customers who were affected, ever since 2012. A post dating to late 2012 just read "expect a wait period of a week".
Ubisoft won. They already had our money.
Not quite. You're describing one of the traditional ways games get made, but that is not how all do. There are many, many instances of games that the developer completes, and THEN a publisher comes on board to handle distribution and marketing in exchange for a cut of the revenue. (One recent example is Pillars of Eternity, where Obsidian has more than enough money to complete the game on their own, but brought Paradox on board as a publisher to handle marketing and promotion.) In the case of digital distribution, the platform basically is serving the role of the publisher in those cases. Look at Steam. They obviously are handling the distribution, and can also market the game by featuring it on the store page or sales pages and so on. And Steam takes their cut of the revenue, like any publisher.MarsAtlas said:
But they make GOOD GAMES, dammit! Or at least, they take over studios who have people who do!
Ugh, if only I could get Far Cry 3 without UPlay...
Ugh, if only I could get Far Cry 3 without UPlay...
That's my problem exactly.Saltyk said:
The best franchises are those that have serious thought put into every entry.
I think Kojima does it best. He doesn't go about trying to make a franchise, just an amazing game.
When that closes up he might eventually start considering a sequel.
That way every game turns out great, because every single one is going to wrap up a story.
This is why I only buy Ubisoft games when they're in the bargain bin for $5. That's what they're worth to me.
Truth be told, all of their PC games are terrible console ports anyway.
Oh yeah, Uplay is trash. They should just use Steam for everything. Origin is very annoying but it does work most of the time.
Truth be told, all of their PC games are terrible console ports anyway.
Oh yeah, Uplay is trash. They should just use Steam for everything. Origin is very annoying but it does work most of the time.
I've gotta say... hearing about Ubisoft's past does not make me feel very comfortable about some of the Triple A developers.
Even moreso when you realize that their trends are very unlikely to stop heading in said... very discouraging direction.
Even moreso when you realize that their trends are very unlikely to stop heading in said... very discouraging direction.
I am still wondering what kind of shitstorm would happen on the internet if you were suddenly able to play as a furry in the next assassin's creed.Therumancer said:
I am still wondering though what Ubi Soft's early PC output looked like. They used to only develop for the Amstrad CPC in their very first year as a company.
it is a bit sad how on a whole, the community is so willing to lap things up on faith alone, misplaced faith at thatmaximara said: