PC Upgrades Trigger Ubisoft Activation Limits

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senobit

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Jan 6, 2011
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Gotta to applaud Ubisoft, just when you think they've run out of ways to piss pc gamers they go the extra mile and find another.

It shame I used to love blue byte games since I had the settlers on the amiga.
 

poiuppx

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Nov 17, 2009
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*sigh* I wish I could be shocked by this, I really do.

I hate piracy. Putting that out there to start with. I think there is no valid excuse for it; pony up to the bar if you wanna play, wait for a sale or a price drop if you think launch price is excessive, and if you dislike a company, rather than pirate, ignore them. Tell your friends to ignore them. Do your part and move on to the companies you want to do business with, buy their games when they hit a price point you are comfortable with, and support the industry.

That said, ye gods, Ubisoft, you're not making the job of people who want to be anti-piracy easy. How many DRM-related snafus will it take before you look at the bottom line and ask yourself why people are deserting you on the PC in droves? How many more half-hearted excuses are you going to make for why your PC game sales lag so far behind your console sales? How many times do you intend to viciously screw over your legitimate customers, thus making the cracked copies a legitimately superior product?

What stings the most in this, what sticks in my craw the most violently, is one single element of their reply; '...there is simply no way to bypass that.'

Bull.

Pirates do it. Pirates who do not have the support of the company that made the damn game and have the source code RIGHT THERE. You do NOT get to play the 'It is impossible to change this' card when you made the game, own the studio, contract the programmers, and could look right the hell now at the code that says how it works.

Again, I preface; I am not supporting pirates here. This is not an excuse to pirate this game. It is, however, a legitimate reason to _avoid_ this game like the plague, as I already do with all of Ubisoft's PC ventures, and indeed, their console versions as well. Guess I took being called a pirate since I game on my PC a bit personally.

It's a shame, because the game looks pretty cool. But the sad fact, Ubisoft, is you're not the only game in town. Especially not in the PC market. And the more times I see things like this crop up, the more reason the PC market has to turn its back on you. Wise up or drop out, Ubisoft, before you pollute your name any further.
 

ritchards

Non-gamer in a gaming world
Nov 20, 2009
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And yet when I don't want to install a game because of DRM, I'm told to just deal with it, it's not that bad...
 

Baresark

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Dec 19, 2010
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Good old Ubisoft. You can always trust them to do what they think is best for them, even if that thing is shooting themselves in the foot. This is why I don't buy their games. I almost bought this, only to notice it was published by Ubisoft. Then I didn't. No regrets now.
 

OneCatch

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Jun 19, 2010
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Limited numbers of installs are bullshit anyway, but this is just absurd.
poiuppx said:
How many times do you intend to viciously screw over your legitimate customers, thus making the cracked copies a legitimately superior product?

If I bought this game and found out about it afterwards I'd be bloody fuming. I'd also crack it with no moral qualms at all, and I'm not fond of piracy either.
I'd almost want to be sued over it, just so I could walk into a court and present the copy of the game that I legitimately fucking bought!
 
Feb 13, 2008
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I'm amazed that this is even legal.

Even by the minimal chance that it is, surely Ubisoft are required by law to state it in clear packaging BEFORE there's a purchase made?

FFS, you can't even buy peanuts without them saying "May Contain Nuts", but not "Will Stop Working When We Denote It".

I prescribe a simple test to Ubisoft's entire department.

It starts with a Boot to the Head.

It then continues with a Boot to the Head.

And then repeats until the consumer is satisfied.
 

Steve the Pocket

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Mar 30, 2009
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Hasn't Ubisoft's DRM been around for like two years now? How are people just now discovering how it works? Are... are they literally the first people to legitimately b

poiuppx said:
I hate piracy. Putting that out there to start with. I think there is no valid excuse for it; pony up to the bar if you wanna play, wait for a sale or a price drop if you think launch price is excessive, and if you dislike a company, rather than pirate, ignore them. Tell your friends to ignore them. Do your part and move on to the companies you want to do business with, buy their games when they hit a price point you are comfortable with, and support the industry.
THANK YOU. What is it about media in particular that people refuse to just boycott it? Are we so entitled that the idea of going without entertainment is just going too far? My favorite thing is when people say "piracy is a good thing because it's free publicity" and then turn around and say "I'm pirating this thing in protest because I hate the company". Um, if you hate the company then why are you doing the very thing that you claim is good for them? Either you're lying or you're stupid, dude.

For my own part, I've boycotted Ubisoft entirely until they get their heads on straight. They've made some games that have come highly recommended and are even available on Good Old Games DRM-free, but I'm not fucking buying them until they ditch their DRM system and patch it out of every last game they've ever made. So basically forever. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Oh, and don't get me started on people who say "Welp, I guess I'm getting the console version." Great. So not only are you not willing to keep your hands off the game, you're even still going to give the company your money and send the message that the PC gaming market is dead, thus helping to make it so when they use that as an excuse to stop making PC ports at all. I don't have a lot of respect for pirates, but I have far, faaaar less respect for that crowd.

Actually, I should qualify that previous statement about boycotting. Because I don't think people in general have the balls to boycott anything else either. The Internet is generally full of the most anger-prone people out there, and I still can't remember the last time anyone admitted they were actually boycotting a company they thought was evil. And keep in mind, many of those companies are guilty of a hell of a lot worse than just making it inconvenient to play a video game. Those entitlement issues apply to pretty much everything; it's just that media is easy to get and still abstain from paying for.
 

Royas

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Apr 25, 2008
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DVS BSTrD said:
See there's your first mistake: playing a Ubisoft game on PC.
No, the first mistake was playing an Ubisoft game at all. It just doesn't make sense to support these thieves.
 

Suicideking

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Oct 28, 2009
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drkchmst said:
Here is an honest question I have for PC enthusiasts. I built my PC 3 years ago and have been slowly upgrading it to meet my growing gaming needs. At what point does it become a new computer? (This specifically got me thinking when I downgraded from XP to Win7Pro64 with their activation nonsense). Obviously Ubisoft think's changing a mouse makes it a new system. I would probably reluctantly set my bar at the MoBo although I don't think there should be a bar)
Normal consensus is that it is a new PC if the motherboard is changed.
 

Pebkio

The Purple Mage
Nov 9, 2009
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"No really, don't pirate our games. Yes, we understand that our games are, in essence, temporary unless you pirate them. Yes, we understand that only the people that actually paid money are at the whim of our less-than-functional equipment. Yes, we understand that our invasive programming is easier to manage if you rip us off. But... c'mon, I'm sure all of you will do the right thing."

"...well, for us... not... not for you."
 

jurnag12

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Nov 9, 2009
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And once again the actual pirates are the only ones who can enjoy the game without any hassles.
 

MercurySteam

Tastes Like Chicken!
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Apr 11, 2008
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It's a shame, because Anno 2070 is a graphically beautiful and at the same time, demanding game. Sadly, there'll most likely be more people who will run into this issue.
 

Cyrus Hanley

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Oct 13, 2010
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Kmadden2004 said:
Does this explain why I haven't been able to play Splinter Cell: Conviction on Steam for the last three weeks?
You're not missing much, it's the worst game in the franchise. Worse than the XBOX 360/PlayStation 3 version of Double Agent.
 

MercurySteam

Tastes Like Chicken!
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Apr 11, 2008
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jurnag12 said:
And once again the actual pirates are the only ones who can enjoy the game without any hassles.
Not really. The game requires you to be logged in and connected to the servers to gain diplomacy bonuses and Ark upgrades. Dunno if the pirates have gotten around it, though.

drkchmst said:
Here is an honest question I have for PC enthusiasts. I built my PC 3 years ago and have been slowly upgrading it to meet my growing gaming needs. At what point does it become a new computer? (This specifically got me thinking when I downgraded from XP to Win7Pro64 with their activation nonsense). Obviously Ubisoft think's changing a mouse makes it a new system. I would probably reluctantly set my bar at the MoBo although I don't think there should be a bar)
Typically, when replacing the mobo (and usually getting a new chipset and socket) will require a CPU change and sometimes also a RAM upgrade, as many newer processors don't support DDR/2.

With that many critical components upgraded, plus a fresh Windows install required, you may as well be getting a new computer anyway.

Andy Chalk said:
[a response]."

That conclusion was later confirmed by Ubisoft's marketing team in the Netherlands, where Guru3D is based. "Sorry to disappoint you - the game is indeed restricted to three hardware changes and there is simply no way to bypass that," it said in response to an inquiry. It also declined to give the site seven copies of the game to work with.

There's a reasonably happy ending to the story, at least for Guru3D: Ubisoft Blue Byte, which actually created the game, "unlocked" the key so the site could use the game in future tests without a lot of horsing around. The rest of us, however, remain pretty much hosed - a sadly common situation when it comes to Ubisoft DRM.



Permalink
Uh, Andy? You may need to give the article formatting a once over. Just pointing it out.
 

RikuoAmero

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Jan 27, 2010
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When Anno 2070 first came out on Steam, I noticed on the Store page that it did mention a 3 machine activation limit. I fired off an email to Steam asking why is Steam, the "install your games on as many machines as you want" service, only allowing me to install this game 3 times.
After several weeks, I got a reply...saying that I should contact Ubisoft.
At that point, I gave up on the game entirely. Didn't buy it. Didn't even download a demo, just dropped it entirely.
Steam, Ubisoft is a different company than you. I asked YOU, Steam, not Ubisoft.
 

Kmadden2004

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Feb 13, 2010
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Cyrus Hanley said:
Kmadden2004 said:
Does this explain why I haven't been able to play Splinter Cell: Conviction on Steam for the last three weeks?
You're not missing much, it's the worst game in the franchise. Worse than the XBOX 360/PlayStation 3 version of Double Agent.
Well, i like it... well, I liked it when I was actually able to play it...
 

TitanAtlas

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Oct 14, 2010
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A dark room somewhere in America, has gathered the most suspicious Guests:

??? - Finnaly... it appears you have joined us in the Screwing loyal fans and b.s. providing to the world.

*Everyone rises from the chair giving warm-welcomes*

Ubisoft - Thank you guys... May we ruin our name in the goal of screwing people up with idiots systems and useless services!!!

*The main director of the organisation reveals himself*

EA - No my dear friend... Thank YOU.... Activision... show our guest the ropes of the place...

*Everyone bursts in laughter, has the Corrupted Capitalist Legion Strikes again!!*

EA - Now also on the matter.... how can we support SOPA, withouth giving our direct presence or contribution....
 

Techno Squidgy

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Nov 23, 2010
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blalien said:
drkchmst said:
Here is an honest question I have for PC enthusiasts. I built my PC 3 years ago and have been slowly upgrading it to meet my growing gaming needs. At what point does it become a new computer? (This specifically got me thinking when I downgraded from XP to Win7Pro64 with their activation nonsense). Obviously Ubisoft think's changing a mouse makes it a new system. I would probably reluctantly set my bar at the MoBo although I don't think there should be a bar)
A modern version of the Ship of Theseus problem? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
Indeed.
I'd say it becomes a new computer as soon as you change the mobo and CPU. because that requires a fresh install of your operating system (well, for windows at least).